Do Pfizer Reps Deserve A Bill Of Rights?
3 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // March 28th, 2007 // 11:21 am
One alleged sales reps says, “Yes!” And so ‘John S’ has started a blog devoted to bashing Pfizer; lampooning such topical pharmaceutical issues as executive pay and freebies to doctors; and, in general, highlighting the need to improve the lot of employees everywhere.
Earlier this month, he introduced himself by saying: “Pfizer needs to address the serious lack of leadership about mistreatment of sales reps. I see on a daily basis the anger towards management’s lack of leadership and control of DM’s gone haywire.” A DM, by the way, is a district manager.
Today, ‘John’ harps on compliance in the wake of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling limiting awards to whistleblowers. He does so by posting phone numbers and e-mail addresses to various Pfizer compliance hotlines and offices. For instance, the corporate compliance group can be reached at 212-733-PFIZ (7349). There are also links to compliance documents such as The Blue Book and The Orange Guide.
Since his March 15 debut, ‘John’ has posted 110 times, which leads one to wonder when he has time to call on doctors. The posts are amusing and, often enough, informative, but ‘John,’ do give us some first-person insight into this downtrodden world. Take us on a visit with you. Show us the sales material you must memorize. Tell us what a DM is saying today. Instruct us on the best way to pigeonhole that disrtracted doc. And feed us more documents.
Nice to have you aboard, ‘John.’ Here’s the blog everyone:
The Pfizer Sales Representative Bill of Rights?
[tags]Pfizer, Sales Reps, Whistleblower[/tags]
John S
Hi Ed,
I am a little surprised about how this has gained traction. I am actually on a wi fi card so in between my calls I do some googling and some posting. I started this not to talk about my life as a rep anyone who is one knows the drill. I am doing it to mimic the feelings of other reps in both a serious and satirical way although I like many things I just did it out of sheer frustration at first. I posted my reason for being here on the site and for what it is worth I made a decision to break the mold I have been in for the last decade. I will post more specific experienceswhen I can the time just isn’t right. Doing the blog has allowed me to see some things I had been ignoring for quite some time and it is very specific to our industry. Sure the pay is good but with the personal and ethical trade offs the scale is tipping for many. The money just doesn’t equal the job as it has been defined not only by the company, the FDA but also the public in general. I once asked a doctor what he thought I did when I wasn’t working. I told him I go home and take a long hard look at myself then I mow the lawn and become a real person for awhile.
I enjoy reading your blog it has enlightened me a great deal.
JS
ed
Hi ‘John,’
Good to hear from you and what you say is very interesting, although its also sobering.
Interestingly, I’ve been accused of being too tough, sometimes, on the industry, but find that it can be helpful to hold up a mirror now and then to spur a little dialogue and thought.
I think you’re blog is fun - the notion that your posts somehow reflect your view of being sales rep comes through often enough. I do look forward to more first-person accounts or real-life scenarios, if only because that would help others better understand the feelings you’re expressing somewhat indirectly. But that’s not a criticism, just my take.
Anyway, it’s nice to see someone in the industry willing to go beyond the party line, however it must be done. Candor is always enlightening.
Keep at it.
ed
madison
i made the job mine, and unless the dm was working with me, did it my way:
ethically,passionately, with my values, not pfe’s…and it worked, until 1 division’s (se) way became the only way…gathering signatures was the goal.the impression re-created by this tactic(done in order to convince other pharmas to co-promo their drugs) destroyed
years of personal work that put a ‘face on pfe’,. that new execs didn’t ‘get’!Now, how is the company adding $ to the bottom line? Try using benefits you paid for….maybe the IRS audits of last 5+yrs returns of pfe will find our $.
Has anyone out there had to fight this fight? If so, what works to beat the SOB’s?