Ross vs Rost - a MUST read!

Big Pharmas' perspective of whistleblowing is shown up here through one of their front organizations, the "American Council on Science and Health" (ACSH).

The piece is written by the ACSHs' Gilbert Ross MD, Executive and Medical Director of the ACSH.

http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.680/news_detail.asp

Ex-Pharmacia/Pfizer employee, Peter Rost (pic) tells Insider that "to be officially nominated "Whiny Whistleblower of the Year" by a paid front organization for Big Pharma is an honor, even more so since I apparently competed against two other PhRMA demons: Dr. David Graham, of the FDA, and Dr. Eric Topol, of the Cleveland Clinic."


The whistlblowers' path can be a lonely and difficult one. Whistleblowers are to be saluted, if they reveal corruption or malpractice. Clearly the US government sees their value, as they are sometimes rewarded for this activity.

Serono - Kickback in Cannes

Margaritagate


But what of the ACSHs' Good Doctor Ross?

Dr. Ross may not be ACSH's most prudent choice to question the character of others.

Although the biography posted on the organization's website doesn't mention it, Ross actually had to abandon medicine on July 24, 1995, when his license to practice as a physician in New York was revoked by the unanimous vote of a state administrative review board for professional misconduct.

Instead of tending to patients, Ross spent all of 1996 at a federal prison camp in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, having being sentenced to 46 months in prison for his participation in a scheme that ultimately defrauded New York's Medicaid program of approximately $8 million.

During a three-and-a-half-week jury trial, federal prosecutors laid bare Ross' participation in an enterprise, headed by one Mohammed Sohail Khan, to operate four sham medical clinics in New York City.

Ross testified at his trial that he had no knowledge of the ongoing fraud at the clinic where he worked. This defense only added to his troubles when, following his conviction, the judge ruled that Ross had obstructed justice by committing perjury.

In addition to his prison sentence, Ross was ordered to forfeit $40,000 and, for his role in the fraud, to pay restitution of $612,855—an amount that was later reduced to $85,137 on the grounds that he didn't have the assets to pay more.

In 1997 a judge sustained a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to bar Ross for 10 years from participating in either the Medicare or Medicaid programs, holding that he was "a highly untrustworthy individual" who had, at Khan's clinics, engaged in "medically indefensible" practices.

So, just one more year to go before the ban is lifted, eh Gilbert?

Read All About It


Insider is sure that Dr Ross is now fully rehabilitated and that this convicted felon has paid his debt to society. The USA is, after all, the "land of second chances"; look at Martha Stewart!

Regarding Dr Ross and his criticism of Mr Rost, however. The phrase : "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" springs to mind.