The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman

by Peter Rost

Book Overview

A number of books critical of the pharmaceutical industry have recently been published, but none has been an expose written by a senior executive of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193336839X
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Soft Skull
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Warning: Don't Read Before Bedtime

"The Whistleblower" by Peter Rost ought to come with a warning label: "Don't read before bedtime. This page-turner won't let you sleep until you've read it cover to cover." "The Whistleblower" is much more than a story about one man's titanic battle against corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. It's a story of courage in the face of corruption in any industry ... and a must-read book for anyone who has ever fought (or thought about fighting) the system.

HONEST

I have read many books about the healthcare industry and this is a very HONEST book... it amazes me how we all got into the healthcare business to help people and then you get SUCKED into the politics that rampage the healthcare industry. If you are a honest, hardworking person and you irregularities and tell senior management the next thing, you know you are out looking for another job.... THEY FIRE YOU! When I read this book I didn't feel like I was the only this has happened too!

The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman

An excellent book on the new age of mergers and the lack of support for the employees that don't get the golden parachutes. Good reading for all ages.

A Real Page Turner!

This is a fascinating read, very credibly told. It is really a business thriller, especially for anyone familiar with the workings of large corporations, a sort of David and Goliath epic. I picked it up to read the first chapter and literally could not put it down for about the first 130 pages, cliché notwithstanding. It moves fast, develops characters nicely and retains suspense as the story expands. For a book about business it provide a lot of action in a way that gives you insight into the drug industry, the greed of large drug corporations and their CEOs, the behavior of people in large organizations, the role of government institutions, big legal & PR firms and the media - and it does all of this not only painlessly but also interestingly. Quite a ride! I think the review below titled "Don't Take Him Seriously" was written by someone who either did not read the book or who is a shill for the drug industry; when I checked his two other reviews each give one star and panned books about "Big Pharma". So I would not give much credence to that review. You will love reading this book and learn something along the way. Peter Rost deserves praise for his courage, ability to tell a story and for providing a revealing look inside big drug corporations.

Too bad this rating system goes only to 5 stars!

This book was a pleasant surprise. I expected an expose' of dangerous shortcuts in clinical trials and FDA submissions by the drug industry, but I found something else. An extremely entertaining (yet disturbing) story about how Pfizer -- one of the world's largest prescription drug manufacturers -- tried to stomp on an executive who first tried to right the wrongs of the company's marketing techniques, and failing that, tried to undermine that executive's efforts to disclose the problem to federal authorities (which by federal law he was required to do, or go to jail). It all began when the company that Pfizer bought (Pharmacia) began marketing a drug for non-FDA-approved uses, which is highly illegal and could indeed kill people. And it may have, we just don't know. Rost's book is one of the few that, once I started reading, I couldn't put down until I finished it. A rarity for me. Thanks to all of the Peter Rosts of the world who put integrity above profit -- but to Pfizer, shame on you.