Murder by Prescription

by Breakell Richard

  “Remind me to always get the women on my side in any investigation.”

  The tension was relieved and they all laughed.

  Kelly wiggled eagerly, “Well, wait until you hear what Pam has to tell you about what just happened before you got here.”

  “OK, Pam… shoot.”

  Pam proceeded to outline the recent events.

  Again, Clay was astonished as he looked at Kelly, “…and you got the license number?”

  “Yes,” said Kelly excitedly as she pulled out her cell and showed him.

  “Can you describe the vehicle?”

  The women looked at each other. Their bafflement was obvious. Finally, Pam spoke.

  “It was a black sedan… maybe a Japanese make.”

  “Well… We’ve got the license. Give me a minute. I need to make a call.”

  Clay walked outside while dialing Richard Guy.

  “Hey, Clay. I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Richard, I have just had a major break develop, but before we talk, I need you to immediately put out an APB on a black four-door sedan, license number Texas GGK-8144. Don’t apprehend, just follow and get the owner location. Meanwhile, come over to the coffee shop across the street and I will fill you in.”

  He walked back into the coffee shop and signaled the women to follow him over to a corner booth. Looking at Kelly, he said, “I have a colleague, Richard Guy, coming over immediately and we can try and make sense out of all this. Kelly, you mentioned that you had the numbers from that cellphone in the trash.”

  “Yes… I have them on a piece of paper right here in my purse and on my cell, just in case.”

  Clay smiled. “Very thorough,” he said, as he took the offered paper from her.

  Chapter 16

  Marty and Myra, having arrived home eight days early, had been under a constant barrage of questions from Dorothy, her mother, none of which they could answer, causing a continuous stream of complaints and grumbling. It was impossible for her to understand they were under gag orders, which she interpreted as a personal attack on her character.

  They finally got to sleep around midnight and now Myra was off to the gym. She leaned over to give Marty a goodbye peck, “I have to meet Jenny. Don’t forget, last night we arranged for dinner tonight with Ric and Mary Margaret. Please, try and be home early.”

  “Uh-huh,” Marty grunted, deep into a document, “what time?”

  “7:30… Gotta run… Have a good day.” She picked up Cara, waved goodbye to her mother who was just entering the kitchen, and rushed out the garage door.

  Marty looked up and smiled to himself. What a life, he thought. Here I am at thirty-five, just home from a Mediterranean cruise (albeit aborted), living in a million-dollar house in Plano, Texas, married to my college sweetheart, a beautiful daughter, two cars in the garage, member in a prestigious golf club, six figure income, and a hefty bonus on the way. Where do I go from here? His reverie was interrupted by his mother-in-law.

  “I don’t know why she couldn’t have left Cara here with me,” she pouted. Marty stared at her for a moment and decided nothing was his best response.

  ***

  Kelly was just back at the office when Marty, having finished his work at home, arrived.

  “Your meeting with Tom is in ten minutes. He’s been asking for you.”

  Marty smiled, turned, and started up the ostentatious staircase to the 16th floor, carrying his finished document.

  Pam pointed to the door, “He’s expecting you.”

  Marty tapped on Tom’s door. As he turned the knob to enter, he heard Tom just finishing a telephone conversation, “I don’t give a shit if he’s got the entire Supreme Court in his pocket. I want that son of a bitch shut down. We can’t afford to have this problem just as we are about to launch Sistophan and then Testocel. Get it done, Barry.”

  Marty was shocked at Tom’s appearance. His red face and disheveled appearance were certainly not the norm. That was the least of the surprises. Tom slammed down the phone and waved Marty in. Derek was sitting in front of the desk. Marty wasn’t through the door before Tom barked, “Marty, I thought you were taking care of our problems with these lunatic homeopathic assholes.”

  “Yes… we…”

  “Never mind the bullshit! Barry just informed me that the Council on Safe Medicine (COSM) is filing an injunction to stop our launch and when our best legal mind says that we have a problem… then ‘we have a problem.’”

  “Mr. Chiles…”

  “Marty, I don’t need to tell you the importance of this issue. We have been screwing around with COSM for weeks and you told me that you would handle it. These do-gooders could cost us millions of dollars. We have been handling the media up until now, but we can’t keep dodging forever. I don’t care ‘what’ it takes! Do what you need to do. Do you hear me!” he said, waving him out.

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Chiles,” Marty tried to maintain some dignity leaving the office. Pam gave him a sad smile as he walked to the elevator. Marty had never had anyone talk to him this way, particularly Tom, and his anger showed as he slammed the wall of the elevator with his fist. Thank God, I’m alone in here. He had not even had an opportunity to show the document, which pertained directly to Tom’s explosion

  He didn’t understand the intensity of Tom’s anger. Yes, there were problems, but Tom’s normally pragmatic manner in addressing issues was definitely not on display. Nancy looked up from her desk as Marty arrived.

  “That was quick,” she said and then she noticed his agitation.

  Marty continued into his office and sat down at his desk. He turned, staring out the window, and tried to get a grip on his emotions. After a few moments, he grabbed the report intended for Tom and decided to review it again. Perhaps he could come up with a new angle to get these people to see reason. This bombshell of a possible injunction had not been discussed.

  Reaching his intercom, Marty called, “Nancy… Get me Norm Arthur, please.”

  “Yes, sir,” came the reply.

  He had no idea what he was going to discuss, but he knew he had to start somewhere.

  The strange thing was that, in the back of his mind, he was sympathetic to their viewpoint and their arguments. Try as he might, he could not shake the feeling that there was validity to their claims. He, of course, could not expose these thoughts to anyone, as it flew in direct opposition to everything for which his job, his company, the industry, and the FDA stood.

  Never could they entertain the thought that there may be natural answers to a myriad of medical issues. Not to mention that a financial pyramid of astronomical proportions depended on the present structure.

  The Big Pharma view, which Marty acknowledged, was that any discussion point that was acceded to, could spell financial disaster of unimagined consequences for the pharmaceutical industry.

  He had to admit that this was not the first time, over the years, he had wrestled with the hypocrisy of accepting his high standard of living based on, at the very least, some questionable scientific conclusions.

  However, for Marty, expediency and practicality, united with the glittery realities of luxury living had been overriding the quiet, insistent voice of his conscience.

  “I have Mr. Arthur on the line.”

  “Thank you, Nancy. Norm… How are you?”

  “Good… what about you, Marty?”

  “Well, obviously, it’s been a rather sudden turn around, and I feel like we all have just been through the wringer from the aborted trip.”

  “Yes… I know what you mean,” responded Norm.

  “Norm, I just got news that you may file an injunction”

  “Yeah, Marty. The board moved ahead with it while we were on the cruise and I want you to know that I am sorry it has gone this route.”

  “Me as well. Before we go any further, would it be improper for me to ask if you and I could have a ‘one-on-one’ to see if there is another direction we could go.”

  “Personally, Marty,
I would like that, but let me check with my attorney to see if we are clear to do that.”

  “Thank you, Norm, just get back to me when you can.”

  “Will do. Talk to you soon.” The line went dead.

  Marty was sure that this impulsive call had probably gotten him in legal trouble, but right now it seemed like the only possible avenue out of this muddle.

  Marty spent the next few hours cleaning up administrative junk and making calls and then headed out the door just as his cell chirped.

  “Hi, Myra… I am walking out of the office right now and will be home in time to be ready for dinner.”

  “You better be. It’s 5:45 and you are catching all the traffic. We are meeting Ric and Mary Margaret at 7:30 at Tony’s Steaks on the Tollway.”

  “No problem, My. Give our angel a kiss and a hug. See you in a few.”

  Marty enjoyed the company of Ric and Mary Margaret. He hoped that he would never need Ric’s services as a lawyer. He generally abhorred lawyers. They seemed always to work in ‘situational ethics’ which meant that all boundaries were movable. He laughed to himself out loud! …and were you not just pondering your ethical boundaries a few hours ago. …perhaps the ‘glass houses’ analogy applies.

  Having arrived home on time, Marty had finished showering, dressing, and picking up the sitter and he and Myra were ‘on the road.’

  “You seem subdued tonight,” queried Myra

  Damn it, he thought, How can she always read me so well. “Well, I did get into it a bit with Tom today.”

  “Oh… how so?”

  “Same ’ol, same ’ol. He wants a quick resolution of the difficulties with COSM and it appears we are at an impasse.”

  Myra frowned, “I know you have been having problems with it. Are you going to be able to solve them?”

  “I really don’t know! To be honest, I am having my own concerns about the developing militant attitude of Tom, the company, and the industry in general. It is like they are reaching some crisis point and they need COSM to be gone.”

  “What do you mean… gone?”

  “I don’t know. There seems to be some time frame that I am not privy to and it’s causing increased tension and increased focus on solving the COSM issue.”

  “Well, I know you’ll figure it out. Now let’s have some fun tonight.”

  Ric and Mary Margaret were already seated with their drinks when they arrived at the restaurant. After the hi’s and hugs, Marty and Myra sat down and the waiter was instantly at their elbow. Marty normally wasn’t a drinker nor was Myra, but the unsettling days motivated him to order a double vodka martini.

  “Whoa,” said Rick, “…tough day?”

  Marty grimaced, “Yeah… well, it could have been better. How was your day?”

  Rick shrugged, “…oh, the usual.”

  Mary Margaret laughed, “Oh, he always says that, but if you can pry anymore conversation from him, you find out that he’s actually involved in solving the world’s problems.”

  Ric jokingly jabbed Marry Margaret.

  “Well, maybe I should give Rick my problems to solve,” Marty joked.

  Ric looked at him with concern, “Is it really that bad?”

  “Well, let’s just say at the moment I don’t have any answers.”

  Mary Margaret tried to ease the seriousness, “And here I thought you had solved the world’s health problems”

  Myra snorted, “Yeah… at the expense of his own.”

  Marty looked at her in shock, “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you haven’t had a complete night’s sleep for the last week.”

  “What?” said Marty.

  “You didn’t think I noticed?” scowled Myra.

  Just then, the waiter arrived and they completed their order and Marty ordered another drink.

  “Marty,” yelped Myra.

  “Oh, what the hell, Myra, I may as well get blasted. Maybe that will help the solution to magically appear.”

  Ric and Mary Margaret focused with concern on Marty. Ric was first to react, “This sounds serious.”

  Marty shook his head, “Well, I hope I am overreacting.”

  “Can you share anything with us” Mary Margaret queried.

  “Well, as your husband well knows, there are areas that I cannot address under my nondisclosure agreement. Let’s just say that I am being asked to do something that I am not comfortable with.”

  Myra gawked at him, “You never told me that.”

  Marty hung his head, “I guess I didn’t want you to be concerned.”

  He paused, “OK… As you all know, the pharmaceutical industry has been in a battle with groups, such as COSM (Council On Safe Medicine), that constantly challenge the launch of new drugs. They are relentless and persistent in their belief that the pharmaceutical industry has conspired to coerce Congress, the AMA, and the FDA, not to mention the media, into approving what COSM believes are badly researched drugs. My career and specifically, my specialty has been to research and try to debunk or reduce the claims of these groups. To date, I have been fairly successful, which has heightened my profile and I might say, my remuneration.”

  “Chiles, Arken are about to launch a new product and senior management seems to be ramping up the intensity of attacks on any opposition. For the life of me, I can’t understand what is different with this launch, yet, I have been instructed to ‘go to the mattresses’ on this one.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Mary Margaret.

  “It’s a Godfather reference,” Ric said, “I’ll explain it later.” He turned back to Marty. “Surely, they’re not asking you to do something illegal.”

  “No… And stop calling me Shirley.”

  Myra spewed her drink into her dinner, “I think the drinks are getting to you, Marty.”

  Marty watched Myra clean up her drink from her blouse and then looked back at Ric, “I would be lying if I didn’t feel as though there seem to be ‘no’ boundaries. The exact words were, quote, ‘do what you have to do’ and it was strongly inferred that that’s what my company was hired to do.”

  “Marty… that scares me,” murmured Myra.

  “Yeah, it didn’t really give me a sense of comfort myself.”

  Everyone ate in silence for a few minutes.

  Finally, Ric said, “So, let me get this straight. Your job has been (and is) to monitor and research any entities that are publicly in opposition to Big Pharma’s research conclusions.”

  “Yes,” replied Marty.

  “…and you answer this opposition by using the FDA approvals and other additional sources for confirmation to the public that the research is legitimate and stringent, thus supporting the efficacy of Big Pharma.”

  “That’s about it,” nodded Marty.

  “There’s something I don’t understand,” Ric mused, “if the FDA is the government protection agency for the public, and they have approved of the new drug, why would… what did you say the major group’s name was?”

  "COSM."

  “Yes… Why would COSM fight the FDA approval. Aren’t they both acting on behalf of the public?”

  Here it is, thought Marty, the crux of the dilemma. Do I expose my developing doubts or do I ’toe the company line’ and plead ignorance’? Either way, Ric, in typical lawyer fashion had cleared away the PR noise and asked the question that would expose what could end up as a medical, political, and financial scandal the likes of which had never been seen.

  The downstream questions were only the beginning:

  Did the drug companies alter, tamper with, or outright lie in their conclusions?

  If the answer was ‘yes,’ was the FDA aware of the false conclusions?

  If they were not aware… why not?

  If they were aware, why did they approve the drug(s)?

  Marty was not able to address the scope and the consequences of the answers and the direction his further thinking was taking him, so he had conveniently slammed the door and not addressed it further�
�� until now.

  Ric, Mary Margaret, and Myra were all staring at him, intently waiting for the answer to Ric’s question.

  After a long pause, Marty finally lifted his head and stared deep into Ric’s eyes, “At this point, I need to ask you a very important question. If the answer is ‘yes,’ I can continue this conversation. If the answer is ‘no,’ then this conversation is over.”

  Mary Margaret and Myra both gasped. Ric just continued eye contact and nodded as if knowing already what the question was.

  Marty reached into his pocket and extracted a $5 bill from his pocket. “Will you accept this as a retainer and represent me as my attorney?”

  Ric stared at the $5 bill as he pondered the implications of his answer. Their friendship was very important to him, but he surmised that his friend was either in or approaching some ‘deep water’ and he felt Marty was reaching out for help. If he accepted the offer, he could always resign later.

  “I will accept the retainer on three conditions. One… We end this conversation in front of the girls; Two… We can mutually terminate this relationship at any time; Three… This $5 does not represent my normal fee.” They all chuckled. “…after all, I am a lawyer and I have to uphold our reputation.” Again, they all laughed.

  Myra chimed in, “Do we have any say in this?”

  “No. Only when you are alone with Marty and he can operate under spousal privilege.”

  Maty nodded, “Why don’t we finish dinner and then go back to our place and you and I can talk.”

  “Great,” they chorused together.

  Having arrived back at Marty and Myra’s home, Marty and Ric went into the den with their drinks. Marty shook his head in puzzlement. “This is so bizarre,” he offered.

  “Why so?” queried Ric.

  “It’s just that an hour ago we were good friends having dinner and now I feel our relationship has changed.”

  Ric looked up. “It only has to change if we allow it,” he offered, “why don’t you start at the beginning and let’s see where we go.”

  Marty took a deep breath, “First of all, most of what I am going to say is conjecture with no fact backup. My gut is telling me there is something wrong, but I can’t figure out what it is. The death of the congressman has ‘shaken me’ more than I realized and today’s events have not eased those feelings.”