‘I would if I hadn’t signed a confidentiality agreement when I joined the company and a gagging clause when I left.’
At that moment Diana could understand the buzz of Rachel’s job. It was a series of puzzles you had to unlock, a game, a cat-and-mouse chase where you used your skill to tease out of people what you wanted. Diana had always relied on her looks for that purpose, but seeing Rachel in action made her wish more than ever that she had her sister’s smarts.
‘Diana is the CEO’s wife. A member of the Denver family,’ began Rachel pointedly. ‘They sign off every pay cheque, every redundancy, every contract, every arrangement . . .’
Dr Russi looked uncomfortable, but then softened.
‘Rheladrex was an enormously exciting drug for the company. Everyone has heard about the obesity problem in America, but it was the global opportunities that really excited every single pharmaceutical lab in the world. I mean, did you know that there are as many overweight people in China as there are in the States? This one drug had the potential to transform the company. Generate profits that it could then plough back into revitalising research and development.’
‘What made it different to other anti-obesity drugs on the market?’
‘Its effectiveness. The fact that you could use it long-term,’ said the doctor bluntly.
‘And was it safe?’
She pause
d. ‘Rheladrex jumped through all the appropriate hoops to get approval,’ she said cautiously.
‘Adriana, please talk to us. We know that Julian supported you.’
‘How much do you know about clinical trials in the pharmaceutical industry?’ she said after a moment.
‘Not as much as you do.’
‘Drugs trials are generally conducted by or on behalf of the companies manufacturing them. Is it any wonder when trials then tend to produce results that favour them?’
She didn’t wait to hear their reply.
‘Of course, no one wants a drug to be unsafe. Thousands of drugs don’t make it to market and of those that do, possible side effects are always put on the literature that accompanies the medication.’
‘You mean all the tiny writing on the leaflet that we never take any notice of?’ said Rachel cynically.
‘Perhaps you should,’ replied Dr Russi. ‘Then again, perhaps you would never take so much as an aspirin if you believed it. But medication is about risk management. Is the tiny chance that I might suffer a side effect worth the benefit this drug might bring me? For most people, it is.’
‘You were going to tell us about your role at Denver,’ said Diana. ‘What is pharmacovigilance exactly?’
‘When a drug is approved by the FDA, it still has to have a period of review. That’s what I did. I monitored drugs. We particularly looked out for adverse side effects.’
‘And you found some with Rheladrex?’ said Rachel, leaning her elbows on the table.
Dr Russi nodded. ‘I had my reservations about it from the start. I felt it was too close in compound structure to another diet drug that was pulled off the market over a decade ago. So I wasn’t entirely surprised when we started to receive reports of heart and respiratory problems amongst people who had taken the drug for longer than nine months.’
‘I thought you said it was supposed to be an obesity drug suitable for longer-term use,’ said Diana, getting drawn into the story.
‘Perhaps not,’ replied Dr Russi.
‘So why didn’t you report it to the FDA?’ asked Rachel.
‘Let’s just say I encountered resistance from my superiors.’
‘Simon Michaels?’ asked Diana.
‘He wasn’t directly involved, but perhaps he would have been informed about it.’
‘Surely they can’t do that?’ said Diana, aghast.
‘There are ways of burying the truth,’ said Adriana obliquely. ‘Twisting the definition of regulatory requirements to meet your purposes.’