Anne Milgram, who has already formed a task force to explore the curious interplay between docs and pharma, is intrigued by the plight of two former Amgen reps. You may recall that we wrote how a rep from New Jersey charges the biotech forced her to illegally promote Enbrel for off-label use - in this case, people with mild, not moderate or severe psoriasis. And a former California rep says he was told to rummage through patient files in physician offices, which violates privacy laws.

And so the New Jersey attorney general has issued a subpoena seeking a “comprehensive array of documents and information concerning the marketing, sale and prescription of Enbrel between July 2002 and the present,” according to a statement. The principal focus of the inquiry is whether Amgen unlawfully engaged in off-label marketing and whether the company violated medical privacy laws for the purpose of direct marketing, the AG’s office says, which notes that past FDA warnings have cautioned that Enbrel may lead to significant, and potentially life-threatening, side-effects in some patients.

Meanwhile, the US Senate Finance Committee is also investigating Amgen’s Enbrel marketing as part of a broad inquiry into marketing practices of drug and device companies and their payments to doctors. A conference call was held yesterday with committee investigators, according to the lawyer, Lydia Cotz, who represents both former Amgen sales reps.

[UPDATE: Cotz sends us this message: "We believe the State of New Jersey and others have taken these complaints seriously, and will protect patients from Amgen's unethical marketing abuses."]