I haven’t known Allen Jones long and only recently met him in person [in Austin last week]. Until this morning, his lawyers had him on a tight leash – a very tight leash, and that has been true for years. In my practice, I saw a lot of people who had lived in adverse circumstances in forced silence for years, and I saw what that does to people – living in an abnormal reality where the unacceptable becomes acceptable, in fact the norm. I wrote something about that on the afternoon after he testified [
the lonliness of a whistle-blower…]. I usually stay clear of my actual areas of interest and expertise on this blog. This blog has become about the invasion of PHARMA into psychiatry, the misbehavior of a number of psychiatrists, and the decline of something that matters to me – the treatment of the mentally ill. And I intend to keep that focus in this blog. But being there in that courtroom, I couldn’t help but think about his situation.
In response, I got some comments on the blog and even more privately from people who’ve been medically wronged, seen things that shouldn’t have happened, had kids who were inappropriately medicated and hurt by the medications – people who haven’t found a way to get their stories told. We often hear accusations of people "playing the victim role" in derogatory ways. Sure that happens, but real victims pay the price of living in constant fear that what they say will be misinterpreted – as a trick for personal gain. It’s a double whammy for them – being the genuine object of injustice and terrified of being discounted as a trickster. They often suffer in silence as their best compromise. The reason I said that the answer to, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?" is "No!" is that people with this kind of story who aren’t listened to are sentenced to keeping the things that happened to them always in their minds on the front burner, but not talking out loud. The alternative is to allow them to go unconscious, and they live their lives in pieces – the most important parts of their "story" missing from their "history." Either option is painful…
That night, after his testimony, I met Allen for the first time in person. He was still on a leash and pristine about not discussing the trial. But he was obviously relieved. He both said and looked like a guy who had finally gotten "heard." Oh, by the way, he’s a peach of a guy – genuine, personable, funny. He read my blog post and later responded:
I recognize and acknowledge that this trial, and all the events, matters, decisions and actions subsumed therein sort of hijacked my life so far back that it is difficult to remember any time relevant to my future when it was not there. But I am still confident in looking ahead to a future that does not include these things. I am not the person that I am because I did these things. I did these things because of the person I am. My essential core has not changed that much. My body has thickened and slowed and grayed, but that probably would have happened anyway.
I also had some advantages over some whistleblowers. My plight was bifurcated. I had the Texas matters and the Pennsylvania matters. I could not, and did not, violate the confidentiality of the Texas suit, but I was free to fight back in PA, and nationally on PA matters, while Texas was under seal. I did not have to be passive and I remained free to speak out about events there – and speak out I did. The PA MH Director was asked to resign, Fiorello is a convicted felon and PennMAP quietly disappeared.
…I could not discuss Texas, but I could fight back.
There is not the slightest doubt that whistleblowers are victimized. Severely. During what I describe as the “dark years” late 2002 thru early 2006, my experience was much like the darker images invoked in the words of some of your followers and in the touching poem you shared with me. I know those people. I know the places inside myself that they would recognize…
I was very fortunate that, even during the dark years, I was fighting back in Texas – assisting in the development of the investigation and the overall case. The financial and emotional hardship resulting from my experience with PA was severe, but I was never “just” a victim. I was fighting back…
In time I came to see myself as more of a warrior than a victim, and I waged a very personal war to the best of my ability. That is what I continue to do. But I admit that I am getting very weary even of this. I hope to return home as a warrior who has taken his hill and who now can rest – rather than as a victim who has gained vindication.
…People on your site have expressed concern for my suffering and for my future. If there is some indirect way you can put there minds at ease and let them know I will be OK, that would be a good thing.
I believe him and pass on his response because he wanted me to. I hope he’ll speak for himself soon. At a later meeting, he seemed even more relieved. I wish everybody harmed by this whole story could have had Allen’s opportunity to "fight back." I think I probably pissed off some people with my lack of outrage about the size of the settlement. That sure didn’t have anything to do with J&J/Janssen. If I had a new baby, I’d use Oxiclean or make my own soap before I’d buy another bottle of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo – use olive oil instead of Johnson’s Baby oil too. And if there’s a picket line about Janssen or Exerptia Medica, I’ll meet you there and bring a tent. But I was there in that courtroom, and I could smell the possibility that they might have sold the Jury on the wonders of Risperdal just like they sold us when it first came out. And Risperdal does have a lower incidence of TD [and that video was absolutely horrible!]. Failing that, they’d set the stage for appeals that might’ve made it into the next century. Maybe I mis-read the tea leaves – but it remained my real worry at the end of each day in court in spite of the enthusiasm of my friends. But I’m not very good at poker either. Those jurors paid close attention, but they have no idea of all the things the rest of us know about this story, and there’s no way all of that could’ve been admitted without severely jeopardizing the trial. At least that’s what I thought.
That said, if there’s a petition to the Attorney General of Texas demanding a criminal investigation, I’ll post it top left and sign it as soon as it appears. In fact, that’s not a half bad idea…
This is a great post, I like hearing Allen Jones thoughts for sure. Here’s a petition:
Petition To the Attorney General of Texas demanding a criminal investigation of J&J Janssen marketing of Risperdal http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/to-the-attorney-general-of-texas-demanding-a/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=button
I was reviewing David Rothman’s expert witness report this morning when Judge Dietz entered the courtroom sans judicial robe and asked to speak with the attorneys.
According to the American-Statesman, “Jones said there was a part of him that was disappointed that trial ended early. He said he wanted more information to come out about how the companies may have exaggerated the efficacy of Risperdal and how they unlawfully profited from the Medicaid program…There were other bombshells coming,’ he said (Eaton T. Drugmaker settles suit with Texas for $158 million. American-Statesman 01/19/12).â€
Like Allen, I wanted to hear it all.
Mickey–
I believe BigPharma has templates, already, and the end-game is predictable. Like some of the other commenters, the “settlement” is just the cost-of-doing-business for these Big Pharma players. Lilly laid the groundwork–though they may not have been the first–in the case of Prozac. A good review of John Cornwell’s The Power to Harm can be found at http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/john-cornwell/the-power-to-harm/_/R-400000000000000032879
Like you, I would have appreciated hearing the WHOLE story, but I appreciate that Allen must feel like a prisoner who’s just been pardoned. I wish him good luck, and thank him for the courage and tenacity to expose the wrongdoers who, from positions of power, are willing to prey on an unsuspecting patient population. Whether Lilly did, indeed, provide the roadmap, the other pharmas have learned from each other how to factor in the cost of doing business while minimizing the damage to their organizations. As a conspiracist, I envision a backroom assembly of BigPharma shills, with an invocation that has them all chanting “Profits before patients.”