Where's That Headline I've Been Expecting?

Ever since the news broke Thursday that Pfizer had agreed to pay $2.3 billion in civil and criminal penalties relating to the marketing of its now-withdrawn painkiller drug, Bextra, and other drugs, I've been looking for this headline: "Pfizer Board Fires CEO Jeff Kindler"

Big surprise -- so far, I haven't seen it.

For those of you who haven't followed the story (a sample of newsreports are here, here, and here), this was, as Gardiner Harris of the New York Times notes, "the largest health care fraud settlement and the largest criminal fine of any kind ever."

According to the government's investigation, Pfizer actively promoted Bextra for off-label uses by providing all-expenses-paid trips to doctors, and even kickbacks.

What makes this especially upsetting? A couple of items:

(1) This is Pfizer's fourth settlement regarding illegal marketing activities since 2002.

(2) 2002 is the year that Jeffrey Kindler joined Pfizer, as executive vice president and general counsel. I don't want to assume that ethics is not taught at Harvard Law ( from which Kindler graduated, magna cum laude, in 1980, and at which he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review), but if there was an ethics requirement, I'm thinking he didn't pass....

(3) The settlement may be huge to your eyes and mine, but it represents less than three weeks of Pfizer's sales, according to the Times.

(4) What happened to the companywide corporate integrity statement that Pfizer signed in 2004 (in conjunction with a $430 million fine over improper marketing of its epilepsy drug, Neurontin)?

The point is that while a great many people in Pfizer sales are responsible for the illegal marketing activity surrounding Bextra and other drugs, given the company's history, I don't see how it could have occurred without (at the very least) a wink-and-a-nod from the top.

The Times quotes one of the Pfizer whisteblowers, John Kopchinski, as follows: "The whole culture of Pfizer is driven by sales, and if you didn't sell drugs illegally, you were not seen as a team player."

I'd say it's time for regime change at Pfizer. Hello, board -- Are you listening?