Two weeks after the drugmaker says its internal investigation has ended into the infamous ‘big bucket of money’ affair, national sales director Scarlett Spring has resigned. However, Question Authority’s Peter Rost writes that she’s been fired, and cites an unnamed ‘whistleblower.’

Who is Scarlett Spring? She supervised Mike Zubillaga, the regional sales manager whose remarks in an internal newsletter caused a firestorm. He called doctors’ offices a ‘big bucket of money’ and then referred to practices that smacked of off-label marketing. Zubillaga was fired the day after the newsletter was circulated on the internet. He is still looking for a job.

Apparently, the person who disclosed Spring’s departure to Rost is the same one who originally supplied him with the newsletter. The scandal, which began last month, led the drugmaker to take disciplinary action against an unspecified number of people, but details were never disclosed. Meanwhile, the scandal led to Congressman Pete Stark to ask the HHS Office of Inspector General to open an investigation into AstraZeneca and off-label marketing, in general.

For its part, AstraZeneca disputes that Spring was fired, but admits to Rost that she has left the company. Emily Denney, an AstraZeneca spokeswoman says: “She is leaving for personal reasons, that’s what I can tell you. This is personal. We have not dismissed her at all.”

And Scarlett Spring yesterday left a voicemail for her employees, saying, “It is my choice to leave AstraZeneca at this time. I’m taking some time for myself to ask the question ‘what’s next’.” Rost claims Spring’s base salary was $250,000.

[tags]AstraZeneca, Mike Zubillaga, Off-Label Marketing, Scarlett Spring[/tags]