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For the first time, Lisa Pratta shares her story of going undercover as a whistleblower at a Big Pharma company and standing up to systemic corruption, greed, and harassment--all while caring for her special-needs son as a single mother. When Lisa Pratta started her career as a pharmaceutical sales representative, she had no idea of the industry''s depravity, and the endemic sexual harassment, bribery, and fraud she witnessed only got worse over time. Lisa hoped that might all change when she landed her dream job with a small company called Questcor which sold a drug that, when prescribed correctly, could help patients with multiple sclerosis. Yet Questcor realized they could make more money prescribing the drug incorrectly . While the FDA had approved the drug for two- to three-week treatments, Questcor was training, encouraging, and incentivizing its sales force to push a five-day treatment plan not backed by any science--and arbitrarily increased the drug''s price to $28,000 for a single vial. Pratta recognized this as being not only dangerous for patients, but also highly illegal. As the single mother of a special-needs son, Lisa couldn''t risk losing her job--but her moral compass also wouldn''t allow her to stay silent. Thus began her double life as a whistleblower. For nearly a decade she clandestinely fed information to the Department of Justice. Resisting internal pressure to succumb to Questcor''s illegal sales tactics, she was constantly harassed by supervisors and in danger of being fired, while the government offered her no protection in the event her betrayal was discovered. This incredible story offers an insider''s look at the unscrupulous sales methods used by America''s corrupt pharmaceutical industry, analyzes the levers they pull to extract ludicrous profits from the sick and dying, and is a page-turning portrait of one woman''s epic fight against Big Pharma and a mother''s heroic struggle to protect her family. ...
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Lisa Pratta was a top-selling pharmaceutical and biotech sales representative for thirty-two years, helping to pave the way for women in the field, only to see the entire industry corrode with sexual harassment and fraud. Lisa was an honors graduate of Albright University before launching her career at pharma giants such as Astra Zeneca, Serono, and Questcor/Mallinckrodt. In 2012, while still employed at Questcor, Lisa became a whistleblower reporting off-label prescriptions and Medicare fraud to the United States government and went undercover for nearly a decade. She is a single mother with a special needs son.
Riassunto
In Big Pharma, lives are secondary to profit margins. But in this gripping whistleblower memoir, Lisa Pratta stood her ground—risking everything to expose the lies of a billion-dollar pharmaceutical business mired in deception, greed, and the systemic abuse of both patients and employees.
As a rising star in pharmaceutical sales, Lisa Pratta wanted to believe that she was helping improve the lives of people who suffered from illness. But as she climbed the corporate ladder, she uncovered a sinister world of corporate corruption, bribery, fraud, and sexual harassment—all papered over with a thin veneer of corporate respectability.
At Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Lisa found herself at a small company with a blockbuster drug that could have been a lifeline for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis—that is, if it was prescribed properly. But instead, Questcor chose profits over patients, training its sales force to push untested treatment regimens with the sole purpose of beating its competition. Lisa recognized this dangerous medical fraud as not only dangerous but highly illegal. In the midst of this controversy, Questcor arbitrarily inflated the drug’s price to a jaw-dropping $28,000 per vial. Torn between her morals and the financial stability the job provided for her special-needs son, Lisa made a decision that would change her life forever: she reported the fraudulent practices of the company to the federal government.
For nearly a decade, she led a double life—feeding insider information to the Department of Justice for a landmark whistleblower lawsuit while enduring the relentless demands of her company to sell their drug using illegal marketing tactics. She faced constant fear of exposure, knowing that the government offered her no protection if her secrets were revealed. Nonetheless, Lisa pressed on, determined to hold Questcor accountable for the laws they were breaking and the lives they were endangering.
This incredible true story offers a sobering look at the unscrupulous sales methods used by America’s corrupt pharmaceutical industry, spotlights the levers they pull to extract ludicrous profits from the sick and dying, and is a page-turning portrait of one woman’s heroic fight against Big Pharma and a mother’s struggle to protect her family.
How does a single mother and pharmaceutical insider take on a billion-dollar giant and expose its crimes to the federal government?
- A Whistleblower’s Double Life: For nearly a decade, Lisa Pratta fed information to the Department of Justice, living in constant fear of exposure while fighting to protect her special-needs son, Marco.
- Big Pharma’s Playbook: Discover the shocking tactics—from bribing doctors to pushing untested treatments and inflating a drug’s price to an astounding $28,000 a vial—used to put profits over patients.
- A Landmark Lawsuit: Get an inside look at the high-stakes legal battle where one woman’s courage led to a historic case against Questcor Pharmaceuticals under the False Claims Act.
- A Mother’s Fierce Protection: At the heart of the story is a parent’s unwavering fight for the financial stability needed to care for her son, forcing an impossible choice between her conscience and her family.
