To do your part you must move beyond what your company does and what your shareholders expect of you. You must set benchmarks beyond just being a pharmaceutical company. I suggest you use the impending increase in your revenue to diversify your company’s portfolio into other aspects of healthcare. A good start will be the establishing of a network of non-profit or No-Frills hospitals and centers for primary care. This will help reverse the profit orientation of current private hospitals through their ridiculous construction of 5-Star hospitals that rival luxury resorts, catering for rich and sick people.( Do you really notice the piped in sound of bird songs amidst gushing fountains when you are lieing in your sick bed recovering from your heart surgery? These luxury hospitals are like expensive funeral parlors. They provide services that can only be appreciated by the relatives and friends of the dead and dying.) Unfortunately,they have set the standard of greed in the healthcare industry.

Jeff, this is all about numbers and money. Please could we have feedback on cancer research and the % of your R&D and for that matter, of the Health Bill and all the drama surrounding it.

Is it curable or are we chasing our tails and do we throw in the towel ? I know it is about quality of life etc. but that is talk, ultimately we will all hang on to dear life,is there a way to make it more ‘pleasant’ ?

I agree with your points on counterfeit drugs Jeff, unfortunately these tend to be a problem in 3rd world countries where money and education is not readily available for innovator or even generic alternatives. I realise that companies like Pfizer, Novartis, AZ, Novonordisk and Sanofi etc have set up some amazing programmes in Africa & Asia which should in no way be downplayed. But counterfeiting is a massive problem what can we all be doing to stop this problem?, do you feel pharma as a whole are making free drugs more readily available in these counterfeit hotspots to bring down the price of drugs as a whole? And are there enough outreach programmes to educate isolated communities on the dangers (or lack of effect) of counterfeit drugs as well as the diseases these drugs will treat. Is enough being spent? What are your thoughts on this.

Many thanks for your time and your candid interview.

Michelle Petersen

Can you give an example of any time your company, or any company for that matter, has ever TRULY gone against the bottom line to do what is right?

PS: Your giving away zithromax is very commendable, but I don’t count that. It’s a very low cost drug, and giving it away was a great PR move and probably costs less than a good ad campaign. Ever give anything really expensive away?

1) This was mandated by a court settlement, was it not? It seems that this, and other regulatory measures mandated by court settlement, are overseen by Pfizer officials. Do you feel these court mandated, but self-supervised, measures add to the distrust your company faces?

2) By mention of these court mandated actions taken, you seem to imply a sense of pride in them and their ability to rebuild consumer trust. Does this mean you would be willing to cooperate in further court and/or government regulation?

Thank you and I look forward to your answers.
P. Moon