A Moose on the Loose

Source: www.pharmalot.com

April 24, 2007

For Wyeth, A Moose On The Loose

This will not please Bob Essner.

A union is targeting big pharma for contributing to the nation's health care problems and, to make its point, has created a Healthcare Hustler list that singles out various companies. This time around, one of the awards goes to Wyeth.

And so Working America, an AFL-CIO affiliate that wants to underscore the ongoing controversy over obtaining lower-cost meds from Canada, will have a Canadian moose at the Hyatt Hotel in Morristown NJ, where Wyeth will hold its annual meeting on Thursday.

Wyeth now? The union proposed a shareholder resolution calling for Wyeth to conduct a report on the impact of its policy on reducing supplies of its drugs to Canadian wholesalers and pharmacies that sell to US citizens who cross the border to make purchases.

The moose will point the way from New Jersey to Canada.

"People need to know that the mess that is our health care system is not the result of a natural disaster," says Karen Nussbaum, Working America director. "This is one way of drawing attention to the fact that companies like Wyeth have pushed policies and made decisions that boost their profits at the expense of other Americans."

There could be an interesting epilogue: There's another shareholder proposal concerning Wyeth's animal-testing policy

You can read more about this distinguished award here;
The shareholder proposal is on page 79 of the Wyeth proxy.