The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Pfizer" ...
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Inside Pfizer's Palace Coup
The inside story of the abrupt downfall of the leader of one of the world's largest and most important companies. Named CEO of Pfizer at the age of 51, this man was a brilliant litigator who harbored ambitions to join Barack Obama's cabinet or launch his own political career. Instead, he found himself out a job, the target of a sophisticated palace coup. He departed with a $25 million severance package, even as the company's stock declined 36% under his watch.
Tags: Obama; Pfizer; CEO; Barack Obama
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"Physicians on Pharma's Payroll: Educators or Marketers?"
This story focuses on doctors as industry speakers and their relationship with pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical companies claim to choose speakers based on expertise, but further investigation shows that many of the hired physicians have "serious transgressions on their state records." They also tend to be "high prescribers" of the company's products.
Tags: pharmacy; prescriptions; Geodon; Pfizer; antipsychotic drugs; pharmaceutical companies; Department of Health; New York; Food and Drug Administration
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"Big Pharma's Crime Spree"
David Evans investigates the criminal activity of some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Drug companies are fined billions of dollars for illegally marketing their products, yet continue to do it. Evans asks why.
Tags: Pfizer; Eli Lilly; pharmaceutical; FDA; drugs; Zyprexa; medicaton
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Brian Ross Investigates: Disposable Heroes
In a joint investigation with The Washington Times, ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross revealed that mentally distressed veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan were being recruited by the Veterans Administration for tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects.
Tags: Chantix; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; suicide; veterans; drug protocols; Pfizer; pharmaceutical drugs; violent side effects
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Disposable Heroes
The original story focused on Iraqi war veteran James Elliott, who suffered a psychotic breakdown and was stun gunned by police while taking the drug Chantix in a smoking cessation study by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The series examined the use of military veterans as guinea pigs in drug experiments conducted by the federal government and exposed numerous ethical lapses, including a system-wide failure to notify participants when the Food and Drug Administration issues new drug warnings.
Tags: Department of Veterans Affairs; veteran; drug trials; Food and Drug Administration; Soldiers for the Truth; human research studies; Pfizer; PTSD; smoking
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Hidden Risks, Lethal Truths
This story was initially reported in June of 2000, when the dangerous effects of the diabetes pill, Rezulin, were first discovered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The pill, which was found to cause liver-related deaths in patients, was finally taken off the market in March 2000 after bringing in $2.1 billion in sales for Warner-Lambert Co. This investigation looks at internal documents which uncover Warner-Lambert executives hid early indications of the drug's effects from regulators. The documents also indicate that the company put off sharing the information with family doctors prescribing the medicine with their patients.
Tags: Warner-Lambert Co; Rezulin; federal regulation; Food and Drug Administration; Pfizer; Inc.; drugs
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Drug Danger Cover-up? Evidence of Suppressed Information
In a six month investigation of the antidepressant manufacturers, PrimeTime Live uncovered a trail of internal documentation revealing efforts to suppress information regarding serious adverse health risks from consumers and the doctors who prescribe these powerful psychoactive medications. Patients, and parents of juvenile patients, suspected that the drug companies were not coming clean about the negative effects of antidepressants.
Tags: antidepressants; psychoactive medication; suicidal behavior in children; Glaxo SmithKline; Paxil; Vioxx; Wyeth; Effexor; Pfizer; Zoloft
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The World's Greatest Fakes
In this hidden camera investigation, CBS News/60 Minutes look into the underground counterfeit factories of China. One correspondent travelled deep within the country to meet with the owners of these factories, as well as government and law enforcement officials. What he found was a number of different American products being counterfeited, from Callaway golf products to J.K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series. According to the report, the Chinese economy is heavily reliant upon these counterfeit operations and, as one officer told the reporter, "it's simply the price of doing business in the fastest growing economy in the world."
Tags: counterfeit goods; trade; distribution; intellectual property; copyright; Callaway; Pfizer; hidden camera; underground factories
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Inside the happiness business
New York reports on the aggressive marketing of drugs, and antidepressants in particular. The story looks at the techniques used by drug sales representatives to attract doctors' attention to the new medications available on the market. The promotion strategies - including free lunches, vacations and gifts - have convinced many doctors to start prescribing a new drug despite some evidence of potential side effects, the investigation reveals. The article focuses on the sales of the newest antidepressant in the U.S.A., Celexa, originally developed by a small Danish company in 1972. The reporter points to the concerns of Dr. Robert Goodman who has started a 'no-free-lunch' campaign against the practices of the drug sales reps.
Tags: Prozac; Zoloft; Paxil; health; doctors; patients; psychiatry; corruption; Pfizer; FDA; depression; weight gain; American Psychiatric Association
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Adverse Reaction: AIDS Gaffes in Africa Come Back to Haunt Drug Industry at Home
The Wall Street Journal examines the increasing risks to the pharmaceutical companies, if they continue "to conduct their business as usual - by finding and patenting a few new drugs, pricing them high and marketing them aggressively..." The story finds that AIDS-drug price cuts in poor nations have deepened U.S. pharmaceuticals industry domestic trouble, as the firms have revealed the 'true' cost of pills. The article points to evidence that some "medicines are priced - excluding research expenses - at eight to 10 times their cost of manufacturing and distribution. The reporter finds that even though drug makers "poured $80 million into last year's Congressional campaign... their credibility is weakening in the public eye." The story also looks at the possibility for government-mandated price-controls for prescription drugs.
Tags: politics; research; patenting; Medicare; Medicaid; AIDS; HIV; politics; legislation; United Nations; Pfizer Inc.; Glaxo; Merck; Bristol-Myers; Abbott Laboratories