Amid AZ Cancer Cupcake Ban, Questions Swirl Around One Executive

Peter Rost has just posted an extremely interesting internal email from AZ regarding its provision of promotional pink cupcakes to cancer patients (AZ markets the cancer drug Arimidex).

The email—which calls for AZ reps to stop giving cancer patients cupcakes—is interesting because it was written by Andrea Paskman, who Rost describes as "the full-time 'Compliance & Ethics Leader' in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Office where Mike Zubillaga worked." (Full email after the jump.)

Regular readers will remember that Mike Zubillaga was one of two AZ execs fired for encouraging AZ sales staff to improperly compare Arimidex to the rival brand Femara when there's no head-to-head data on such a comparison, and  when AZ had an agreement with the feds to not do exactly that. (New readers start here.)

The emergence of Paskman's name into the public sphere, however, raises some more unanswered questions about the Bucket of Money scandal. In a recent chat with a Group of 7 whistleblower, I learned that Paskman's role has never really been made clear.

I spoke to Paskman briefly just now, and she declined to comment.

These were the questions I had for her:

1. If Paskman is the compliance and ethics officer in Zubillaga's office, did she see the Bucket of Money newsletter that Zubillaga published encouraging wrongful Arimidex/Femara comparisons?

2. If she did see the newsletter, why did she let it be published?

3. If she did not see the newsletter, why not?

4. When AZ conducted its internal probe of Zubillaga's office—which resulted in the sudden departure of AZ’s national sales director/oncology, Scarlett Spring—did Paskman recuse herself from the probe?

5. If not, why not?

6. If Paskman did recuse herself, is that because she had a role in the publication of the newsletter and AZ's wrongful comparisons of these two drugs?

7. If so, what was her role?

I'd love to hear from you, Ms. Paskman. 646 654 5406.

From: Paskman, Andrea
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 4:49 PM
To: Danhoffer, Ronald E; Hardesty, Edward L: Russel, Joseph; Cioll Richard E (ONC DSM); Karcewski, Thomas M; Call, Teresa
Cc: Kelly, Shawn; Hagelbarger, Jeff A
Subject: FW: MUMs Programs
Importance: High

For those who have been asking about the MUMs program:

Recently, questions have been raised to both legal and compliance personnel regarding the sales force’s ability to distribute patient educational materials for the MUMs programs. During the month of May 2007, the sales force will be permitted to conduct such in-office MUMs programs, however the following provisions apply:

1. Approved patient education materials may be distributed to patients in the office on behalf of, and with the permission of , the HCPs
2. PSS may display patient education materials on a small table in the office waiting room
3. The provision of food, snacks, beverages, and/or flowers to patients is not permitted.

The future of the MUMs program and similar in-office programs is currently being evaluated. You will be notified once the evaluation is complete.
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personnel regarding the sales force’s ability to distribute patient educational materials for the MUMs programs. During the month of May 2007, the sales force will be permitted to conduct such in-office MUMs programs, however the following provisions apply

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The emergence of Paskman's name into the public sphere, however, raises some more unanswered questions about the Bucket of Money scandal. In a recent chat with a Group of 7 whistleblower, I learned that Paskman's role has never really been made clear.