1. A Presentation on Whistle-Blowers
Manoranjan Kumar
John Kopchinski
Presented by :
Shubhamveer Singh MB15
Saurabh Pratap Rao MB43
2. Table of Contents
1. Manoranjan Kumar
Introduction
Port of Scam
Blowing the Whistle
Consequences
2. John Kopchinski
Introduction
The Case
Outcomes
4. Introduction
Kumar is a 1986-batch Indian Economic Service officer
He was sent from the Textiles Ministry to the Kandla Port Trust
(KPT) as Chief Vigilance Officer
Kumar blew the whistle on a multi-crore land scam at the (KPT)
He exposed the mammoth land scam in which 16,000 acres of
prime land were leased out for a mere rent of Rs. 144/acre
Kumar prepared a detailed report on the lease of land, which he
submitted to the Shipping Ministry in 2007. He was shifted to
Delhi in January 2008 without a post and was not paid any
salary since August 2008 untill he won the case in 2009
5. The Port of Scam
Kandla Port is one of the most important ports servicing western
India
The Kandla Port Trust owns 2,44,000 acres of land
Nearly 16000 acres of land belonging to Kandla Port Trust have
been leased out to salt manufacturing firms for as low as Rs.144
per acre
leases were twice renewed in 1996 and 2000 for a period of four
years
The land is now said to be worth Rs. two crore per acre
6. Blowing the whistle
Kumar blew the whistle in August 2007 by submitting his report
Kumar's report stated that in 1960s and 70s, 16,000 acres were
leased out arbitrarily to a few parties on nominal rates, without
any valuation or auction
Kandla Port Trust authorities were aware of the scam and were
doing nothing about it.
Kumar, along with four other colleagues, was asked to proceed
on leave by the shipping ministry in January 2008
7. Consequences
Kumar moved to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)
, which gave orders to the Shipping Ministry for his repatriation
The Shipping Ministry did not act on the CAT order and went to
Delhi High Court for seeking a stay on CAT order
A divisional bench of Delhi High Court rejected the Shipping
Ministry's plea to seek a stay on the Central Administrative
Tribunal (CAT) order
The High Court also observed that KPT must pay his entire
salary which has been held back since August 2008, along with
the arrears'
9. John Kopchinski
"In the Army, I was expected to protect people at all costs. At
Pfizer I was expected to increase profits at all costs, even when
sales meant endangering lives. I couldn't do that.”
John Kopchinski
10. Introduction
Former Pfizer sales representative hired by Pfizer when he
left the Army in 1992
worked in South Florida until he was fired by the company in
2003
In pursuing a case against Pfizer for fraudulently promoting
drugs that eventually led to the largest health fraud
settlement in US history
At the time of his dismissal after raising his concerns with the
company, Kopchinski had a baby son and his wife was
pregnant with twins
11. Continued…..
He went from earning about $125,000 a year to living off his
retirement fund before landing a job with an insurance
company for $40,000 a year.
His 2009 qui tam lawsuit launched a massive government
investigation into Pfizer’s illegal and dangerous marketing of
Bextra, a prescription painkiller
Pfizer paid $1.8 billion to the government to settle the
case, including a $1.3 billion criminal fine — the largest
healthcare fraud settlement in U.S. history
12. The Case
Pfizer company was engaged in illegal and unethical marketing
of Bextra, a painkiller, in dangerous doses and for
unapproved, unsafe uses
The FDA approved Bextra to treat arthritis as well as menstrual
pain in very limited doses. Kopchinski alleged in his qui tam
lawsuit that Pfizer promoted Bextra for uses and in doses that
far exceeded what the FDA had approved.
This put patients at risk for serious health problems such as
heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the
lung)
13. Continued…
Kopchinski exposed the company's illegal sales and marketing
campaign for uses and in doses that endangered patients'
health and lives
Kopchinski also reported that Pfizer paid doctors money in
various ways to influence them to prescribe and endorse
Bextra for these "off-label" uses
He first complained to management about aggressive
promotion of Bextra far beyond the uses approved by FDA.
But his concerns were brushed aside, and, over time, the
company kept moving in the wrong direction. He didn't want
to go along with that
14. Outcomes
Bextra was withdrawn from the market in 2005
Pfizer paid $1.8 billion in September 2009 to the government
to settle Kopchinski's qui tam lawsuit
John Kopchinski received $51.5 million for his allegations
involving the marketing of Bextra
Pfizer settled four other whistle blower lawsuits at the same
time, bringing the total settlement to $2.3 billion
Ethisphere, a think tank that focuses on business
ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and
sustainability, named Kopchinski number one on its 2009 list
of 100 most influential people in business ethics
