I was simply stunned. This time, it hit close to home. My deceased father had been in a highly invisible group of people … a group which, in many cultures, is revered and held in esteem.

Writing this in a chaotic post-truth era, the words of the Acting White House Press Secretary currently ring in my ears for all things emanating from the White House: “Get over it.”

The January 2018 news broadcast which left me in disbelief was an announcement that former Eli Lilly pharmaceutical executive, Alex Azar, was about to be confirmed as Secretary, Health and Human Services (HHS).

Brought in to HHS to reduce pharmaceutical costs, the new drug czar was an Eli Lilly executive 2007 to 2017 during which time the price of insulin tripled.

In addition, Eli Lilly’s improper marketing of Zyprexa led to a surge in lobbying of federal officials and Congress in 2007-2009, prior to a $1.4 billion settlement with the Justice Department in 2009. During these years he was the company’s top lobbyist and spokesman.

Eli Lilly pled guilty to criminal misdemeanor

Alex Azar, the Health and Human Services Secretary who now oversees the $1 trillion HHS agency, was head of Eli Lilly’s US division, a pharmaceutical company which pled guilty to criminal misdemeanor and settled for $1.42 billion for the practice of knowingly and illegally marketing Zyprexa to physicians for “off-label” use with elders with dementia. This practice caused suffering and death.

According to The New York Times, “Zyprexa generated more than $39 billion in sales since its approval in 1996, making it one of the biggest-selling drugs in the world.”

Why would this appointee to the President’s cabinet now be trusted to work for the people he’s responsible to protect? His impressive biography appears on the HHS site.  Some online research is adequate, however, to connect the dots about the criminal activity of the company – and his role.

What should we expect from a Secretary, Health and Human Services, who served as top lobbyist and spokesman for a company which was violating people diagnosed with dementia – knowingly and illegally doing harm for profit?

Egregiously, this group of people diagnosed with dementia included an uncommonly common man – my father. Zyprexa was one of the medications prescribed for Dad by his neurologist in 2002. How well I recall my frequent  reporting via phone to the physician’s office to relay anecdotes in attempting to determine the proper dosage – only to conclude within a matter of weeks that there was no proper dosage for Dad!

Once again, without due diligence and attentive observation of Dad’s response to this medication, his reaction to the medication would easily  –  and incorrectly –  have been viewed and accepted as part of his diagnosis.

We received formal notice of the pending lawsuit sometime after his 2005 death, but we did not participate. See our story, “Big Pharma and The Constant Gardener.”

This appointment to the top position in Health and Human Services creates an extraordinary breach of trust in the integrity of the process leading up to his confirmation.

Connecting the dots in an environment of conflict, controversy, and chaos

Is the WH vetting office plagued by inexperience, as this Washington Post article suggests?  The way in which this key office – the vetting office – is run is both revealing and alarming.

The author, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, observes: “An obscure White House office responsible for recruiting and vetting thousands of political appointees has suffered from inexperience and a shortage of staff, hobbling the Trump administration’s efforts to place qualified people in key posts across government – documents and interviews show.”

According to the article, few have heard of the Presidential Personnel Office (PPO). However, it states, its influence as gatekeeper for government officials appointed to run federal agencies would be unquestionably far-reaching.

Did the inexperienced and understaffed office described in this article contribute to a less than thorough and complete vetting of candidate Alex Azar? Did he slip through a background check – due to a chaotic working environment? Or did he bypass the vetting system altogether? Did the Senate receive full disclosure about his history? Or was due process dismissed as part of the current chaos?

According to one report, the candidate was introduced by fellow Hoosier, Mike Pence, VP, to the White House, who then presented him as the appointee for confirmation by the Senate.

VP Pence served as House Representative from Indiana during the period when Alex Azar was lobbyist for Eli Lilly, and at the time of the $1.4 billion settlement in 2009. In addition, he was Indiana governor during Azar’s service as CEO of Eli Lilly, one of the largest corporations in Indiana and based in Indianapolis, close to Pence’s hometown.

How could VP Pence have escaped the headlines of this historical settlement in 2009? As such, his moral and ethical compass need to be held in question for presenting Azar for this position.

At the swearing-in ceremony of Alex Azar, the President commented, “Nobody knows the system better than Alex.”

Not left. Not right. Not a sports event. It goes far deeper:  we all stand to lose.

Now is the time to search one’s conscience before casting a vote in the ballot box.

Secretary Alex Azar’s primary role as cabinet member is to advise the President. In addition, the Secretary, Health and Human Services Department oversees eleven agencies, including Medicare and Medicaid. This $1 trillion agency now being led by Azar, a former executive of a company with a history of criminal practice with a group of people living with dementia, also has “cradle to grave” oversight in the HHS department. He was appointed to protect and serve all Americans, a responsibility which includes the intolerable conditions at the border and the debacle and devastation of family separation under this administration.

Come in Close 

When you experience the needless suffering of a parent, only later to learn that it was due to the inhumanity and greed of a pharmaceutical company, the devastation and anguish are quite profound.

What kind of person would…?

  • promote this deadly corporate practice with disregard for human life –  only to gain corporate profit?
  • lobby elected officials to affect the financial settlement to families for the suffering and death of a family member?
  • appoint a morally corrupt person to his own presidential cabinet?
  • support this confirmation by the Republican-led Senate?

This is definitely not my father’s GOP.  This appointment violates every ethical and moral standard. This is not normal. May this never be considered normal.

Vote values

With the politicalization of everything – and despotism at the highest level – our values respecting human life are dangerously at risk. We stand to lose what we have long held to be precious – our fragile “democratic experiment,” the ingeniously well-crafted constitution with its system of checks and balances – and, importantly, our deeply-held shared values.

Will our democracy survive this moment in time?

Choose wisely 

Pretend for a moment that the facts matter – and that the facts move people. These deadly practices would clearly be considered abusive and criminal.

I may stand alone, but this was wrong. . . and it is a deeply saddening time. We need to discern the difference between fact and fiction – and stand up for truth and what is right.

Burt Bacharach has said it simply: “… Anyone who had a heart…”

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References:

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Author: Susan Troyer