---

Imagine, if you will, an industry that is hated even more than the government. Within that industry, there is a corporation that has a reputation so low that even among its peers, they were ranked as the worst in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Now imagine you are told if you do not let that company inject an experimental drug into you, using a never before tried delivery system, you will lose your livelihood, freedom, and possibly your life. You are not in the twilight zone. It is 2021 and that corporation is Pfizer.

The above is the introductory paragraph to a series of articles written by Jestre in early November 2021, titled ‘Guide to an Evil Empire: Pfizer’, which detailed some of Pfizer’s exploits.

In the first of the series, Jestre gave an abridged view of the illegal history of Pfizer – a handful of the many lawsuits brought against the company.  “Not all of the cases have been fully litigated; some of the outcomes are unknown. In the majority of cases, Pfizer alleges no wrongdoing even when they pay out a hefty settlement.”

Jestre’s article covers lawsuits regarding:

• Pfizer’s Ibuprofen product, Advil
• Pfizer’s drug for Alzheimer’s, Aricept
• Pfizer’s drugs Bextra, Geodon, Zyvox, and Lyrica.  Which also involved “gifts” to doctors, blackmail and bribery to avoid prosecution.
• Pfizer’s drugs Celebrex, Lyrica and, again, Bextra
• Pfizer’s drug Chantix
• Pfizer’s drug depo-testosterone
• Jestre’s list goes on with lawsuits involving at least, if we have counted correctly, another 19 of Pfizer’s drugs.

The second article in Jestre’s series is an expansion of the first. “Pfizer has been involved in more lawsuits than I can count, so I attempt to use individual lawsuits as examples of their business practices. The goal of these articles is to make the most extensive and exhaustive account of the long history of the Pfizer empire.”

In the first article, Jestre started at the end.  But there was an evolution, somewhere along the line, that turned Pfizer into what they are today. “[In this second article], I wanted to start at the beginning to show how far from grace this company fell.” 

Jestre began when Pfizer started, where Charles Pfizer and his cousin, Charles Erhart, borrowed money to produce an anti-parasitic drug called santonin – a drug that was effective but far from safe. With the revenue from santonin, Pfizer was able to open their head office on Wall Street in 1868.

Jestre’s second article ends in 1964 describing how Pfizer began working with the United States (“US”) military to create chemical incapacitating agents. “[During] the late 1950s and 1960s appear to be where Pfizer begins to become a fractional representation of today’s corporate empire.”

Jestre’s third article covers the1970’s to the year 2000 – the era of expansion for Pfizer.  Its full catalogue of drugs became immense and the acquisition of other companies, for better or for worse, further diversified its holdings. With expansion came the increasing drive for ever-more profits. As such, Pfizer’s drive to grow brought many well-publicised scandals.

In 1976, was the first time Pfizer was caught bribing foreign, non-US, government officials.  Jestre then goes on to give more detail about a few of the cases listed in the first article: the Convexo-Concave heart valve, popular arthritis Feldene, Advil, as well as Pfizer’s involvement in price fixing, promoting drugs for off-label use, testing deadly drugs on children in Nigeria, price gouging in Africa, and hiding adverse effects noted in clinical trials for the anti-diabetic drug Rezulin.

In the fourth and final article of the series, using the example of the case with the anticonvulsant drug Neurontin, Jestre demonstrates how Pfizer buys and influences scientists’ opinions.

“Until proven otherwise, it might be best to assume that every opinion scientists give are being whispered in their ear by a shady public relations professional that is telling them exactly what to say. After you read this part of the series, you might even agree with me.”

You can find the articles in Jestre’s series by following the links below:

1. Guide to an Evil Empire: Pfizer Lawsuit HERE
2. Remastered Guide to an Evil Empire: Pfizer, part one HERE
3. Remastered Guide to an Evil Empire: Pfizer, part two HERE
4. Remastered Guide to an Evil Empire: Pfizer, part three HERE