A former employee of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has filed suit against the pharmaceutical giant, claiming he was fired without cause for whistleblowing. Alexandre Selmani, a research scientist who was employed by GSK until 2015, claims that he was fired for exposing “illegal, deceptive [marketing]” statements GSK made about its nicotine replacement product, NiQuitin.
Nicoderm: Concerns About Safety
Selmani alleges that the research findings on NiQuitin, also known as Nicoderm, are inconsistent with the marketing claims of product superiority made by GSK. He says that he found “numerous mistakes” in a study called the Smokers’ Health Project and that these statistical errors made the study’s results unreliable.
His lawsuit states that GSK’s mistakes “had the capacity to cause negative consequences and potential health and safety issues for the general public.” Selmani also claims that GSK has been falsely “asserting, without justification, that NiQuitin was superior to existing nicotine treatment.”
Nicotine replacement therapies like NiQuitin are intended to help people stop smoking by replacing cigarettes with increasingly lower doses of nicotine over time. The goal of these therapies is to reduce cravings for nicotine, the addictive ingredient in tobacco, and ease withdrawal symptoms. Many of these therapies, including NiQuitin, can be purchased over-the-counter. Nicotine replacement therapies include nicotine gum, lozenges, transdermal patches, and nasal sprays.
According to a recent report by Transparency Market Research, the market for smoking cessation and nicotine de-addiction products was worth $5.1 billion dollars in 2012 and is expected to grow to $16 billion by 2019.
A Backlash for Blowing the Whistle
Selmani says that, up until the time he pointed out the NiQuitin research errors, his career at GSK flourished. He started at the company in 2006 and claims he had “stellar” performance reviews including generous yearly bonuses. His career hit a roadblock in 2012 when he began to openly question GSK’s research methodologies for NiQuitin.
Selmani informed his manager of his concerns and sent emails to top GSK executives, including Sir Andrew Witty, the firm’s CEO. Selmani says his employers then started giving him poor reviews and smaller bonuses. Finally, GSK fired him from his $134,000/year job in October 2015. By retaliating against him, Selmani claims that GSK violated New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act, also known as the “Whistleblower Act.”
The New Jersey Whistleblower Act, enacted in 1986, prohibits employers from taking “retaliatory action” against employees who provide information of “a practice of deception or misrepresentation which the employee reasonably believes may defraud any shareholder, investor, client, patient, [or] customer.” However, the law does not provide a definition of “retaliatory action.”
Although GSK didn’t address Selmani’s lawsuit specifically, GSK spokesperson Pamela McKinlay told CNBC, “We stand fully behind Nicoderm as a safe and effective form of smoking cessation which continues to help people to quit.” Further, McKinlay said, “We also continually educate our employees about how they can report complaints so they can be appropriately investigated.”
More About GlaxoSmithKline
London-based GlaxoSmithKline is the largest pharmaceutical company in the UK. In 2009, GSK reported selling $339 million in Nicoderm products. The value of GSK stock has risen approximately 61% since October 2012. Selmani began raising concerns over Nicoderm in December 2012 and was fired in 2015.
The company is also currently at the center of several lawsuits filed by patients who took Zofran and who subsequently had babies with birth defects. Sir Andrew Witty has served as GSK’s CEO since 2008. Witty was knighted in 2012 in part for his contribution to the UK pharmaceutical industry. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Nottingham University.
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