An Open Letter to Vas: What defines us is as how we respond to this difficult situation

Quote

anonymous

Guest
Vas,

Stop preaching to the choir. A good 80% of the company come to work every day for the purpose of serving patients and earning a comfortable living wage in return. They respect the Code of Conduct and can be counted on to continue doing the right thing.

The public, our customers and us associates await YOUR response via ACTIONS. Perhaps some insights can be drawn from some of the Top Tweets below to inform the company's next steps.

A Concerned Associate



"There is no legit reason any company in the world would sign an agreement where the inability of the vendor to provide services (other than force majeure) wouldn't be cause for termination, or execute that clause if the vendor couldn't deliver. Novartis is lying - period."


"I call bullshite that you couldn’t get out of your “Contract” with @MichaelCohen212 You had a whole firm of lawyers show up to court against little old me a terminally ill cancer patient fighting simply for the right to chemo. Fuck you #Novartis"


"Yea, this is entirely credible @Novartis - throwing around $100k/month, annual guaranteed, without any meetings. If you actually did this, your shareholders should fire your entire management!"


"Any Novartis and AT&T shareholders feel like filing a class action lawsuit? Anybody...?"


"I'm dumping @Novartis at market open. Good companies don't need to bribe the president."


"Stop investing in #ATandT, #Novartis and others who tried to buy presidential access to manipulate policy outcomes and take political advantages. Pathetic abuse of stakeholder interest and investor trust. Not a mistake !!"


"Novartis has a long history of bribing governments, officials, bankrupting small research companies, holding life saving medications hostage to obscene profit margins, and suing terminally ill patients who stand up to them. That’s just the tip of the iceberg"


"The news re Vekselberg/Novartis/Cohen/Stormy might be too complex for some to assimilate, so here’s the user-friendly bumper-sticker version: Consigliere Michael Cohen was the bag man for Fortune 500 and Kremlin bribes designed to move Trump’s policies their way."


"First I see the cost of Gleevec and Im sad for the patients currently trying to find a way to pay for it. Next I see how much cash was donated to Cohen’s shell company and Im pissed. Then I see your pathetic response and I’m absolutely appalled. #novartis #bebest"


"I agree! I just stopped my MS meds from #Novartis they r charging $23,000 for 90 Days supply (90 Tablets)! There has never been so much swamp in Washington!"


"Consult your Doctor immediately if the Novartis drug you're on has caused feelings of treason. #MichaelCohen #TrumpRussia"


"Shame! Novartis is a corrupt organization and should be boycotted by American doctors. Don't prescribe and buy their expensive pharmaceuticals."


"I will make a point of asking my doctors to not prescribe #Novartis drugs. It’s absolutely disgusting that you paid BRIBE money for access to the corrupt Trump White House. Absolutely sickening, especially given your obscene mark-ups. Truly shameful"


"Docs, unless absolutely necessary, please do not prescribe meds made by Novartis."


"@Novartis You betrayed your customers by paying Michael Cohen for access to Trump. Now, I dedicate to a full boycott by doctors who prescribe and consumers who use your drugs. Ask your doc for a drug from another company and switch if possible."


"@Novartis super concerning how shady this is. i prescribe your products all the time. #cipro #diovan #lamisil #ritalin #trileptal #zofran // please clarify how y’all are going to handle this matter that has come to light"


.@Novartis: Due to your apparent corrupt practices for profit, (and the availability of the the same agents from other suppliers), henceforth, when (as a psychiatrist) I prescribe methylphenidate, carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine, it will say, “No Novartis brand”
 

<



You are spot on!

Will add, that has someone who has always adhere to (and beyond) the Code of Conduct - and knowing that those that don't are terminated - it makes me wonder, why hasn't those responsible for this unethical faux-pas been sanctioned and terminated?

Do we also have a Swamp over at Basel, in which double standards are being applied?

I am disgusted by this events
Which add salt to the wounds of my corruption from scandals in other country Pharma organizations like Japan and Greece.

Stockholder should hold Senior Leadership and the Board-of-Directors accountable.
 




Thank you for sharing. I now shouldn’t be surprised when Entresto sales in my territory take a dip and they fuck us over. They will not have to pay our bonus money due to incompetent management. I can’t wait to use positive tension when customers bring up this fiasco.
 




My "democratic" and "liberal" docs already told me not to come to their offices - that they are not prescribing our products anymore.

As one said: "...a dollar to you is a dollar to Trump's pocket..."

It sucks

I already started to look elsewhere for a job
 




For Vas, how he manages this crisis will be the defining point of his career.
For him and the company it’s vital to regain a sense of credibility with Novartis associates first and then society at large, but he will need to do the following:

1. Come clean, and make sure the whole truth is made public, regardless of the consequences and who it will impact. It’s nolonger realistic to think you can keep anything a secret. Better come forward and be proactive.

2. Ensure those guiltly of allowing this contract to be entered into are named and shamed publically and are held accountable. None of these honourable discharges with golden parachutes ie xxx has retired etc...

3. Don’t punish the many for the stupid actions of the elite few. Don’t go into compliance and ethics overdrive as knee jerk reaction. I would say 99% of the 120k associates worldwide follow the code of conduct, ethics, P3 and all other rules . Many of us go above and beyond to serve our patients and also ensure our shareholders get an honest return every day.
 




For Vas, how he manages this crisis will be the defining point of his career.
For him and the company it’s vital to regain a sense of credibility with Novartis associates first and then society at large, but he will need to do the following:

1. Come clean, and make sure the whole truth is made public, regardless of the consequences and who it will impact. It’s nolonger realistic to think you can keep anything a secret. Better come forward and be proactive.

2. Ensure those guiltly of allowing this contract to be entered into are named and shamed publically and are held accountable. None of these honourable discharges with golden parachutes ie xxx has retired etc...

3. Don’t punish the many for the stupid actions of the elite few. Don’t go into compliance and ethics overdrive as knee jerk reaction. I would say 99% of the 120k associates worldwide follow the code of conduct, ethics, P3 and all other rules . Many of us go above and beyond to serve our patients and also ensure our shareholders get an honest return every day.
 




anonymous said:
For Vas, how he manages this crisis will be the defining point of his career.
For him and the company it’s vital to regain a sense of credibility with Novartis associates first and then society at large, but he will need to do the following:

1. Come clean, and make sure the whole truth is made public, regardless of the consequences and who it will impact. It’s nolonger realistic to think you can keep anything a secret. Better come forward and be proactive.

2. Ensure those guiltly of allowing this contract to be entered into are named and shamed publically and are held accountable. None of these honourable discharges with golden parachutes ie xxx has retired etc...

3. Don’t punish the many for the stupid actions of the elite few. Don’t go into compliance and ethics overdrive as knee jerk reaction. I would say 99% of the 120k associates worldwide follow the code of conduct, ethics, P3 and all other rules . Many of us go above and beyond to serve our patients and also ensure our shareholders get an honest return every day.
Click to expand...

Could not agree more.

If Vas first found about the transaction when Mueller started questioning the company last November in middle of his transition to CEO, then that's one thing. But, did he try to have the monthly payments terminated if it was accurate Cohen was not holding up his end of the contract?

If Vas found out the same time that the public did and wants any chance at rebuilding trust with associates, then he must adequately vent his frustration as you laid out in point #2.

However, Vas will have a big problem in either firing those responsible or making them "decide to pursue opportunities outside the company." Those culpable would likely not blink an eye to blackmail the company for a hefty price to sign NDAs.

Ball in Vas' court. Let's see how he explains himself and handles questions on the leadership call tomorrow morning.
 




What field based associates can "bank on" are more frequent two day field rides from our ABL's. Not for the sake of coaching or moving business, rather for assessing the climate and subsequently reporting the damage to their readership. The micromanagement will increase and an inevitable barrage of compliance training will ensue. Damage control in its purest form. Vas, maybe this is a time to truly change the climate here at Novartis and empower the employees that have the best interest of the patient, customer and company alike. Most of us do. There was clear wrong doing, undeniably so. Own up to it, and rid those that perpetuate the nonsense and give this industry such a toxic reputation. Perhaps, after shedding millions in useless salaries, with those savings and massive corporate tax cuts, some of that windfall can be passed along to the grunts who make it happen on a daily basis. Just a thought. Either way, your response has the ability to make or break the morale across the entire division. Do the right thing..
 








anonymous said:
What field based associates can "bank on" are more frequent two day field rides from our ABL's. Not for the sake of coaching or moving business, rather for assessing the climate and subsequently reporting the damage to their readership. The micromanagement will increase and an inevitable barrage of compliance training will ensue. Damage control in its purest form. Vas, maybe this is a time to truly change the climate here at Novartis and empower the employees that have the best interest of the patient, customer and company alike. Most of us do. There was clear wrong doing, undeniably so. Own up to it, and rid those that perpetuate the nonsense and give this industry such a toxic reputation. Perhaps, after shedding millions in useless salaries, with those savings and massive corporate tax cuts, some of that windfall can be passed along to the grunts who make it happen on a daily basis. Just a thought. Either way, your response has the ability to make or break the morale across the entire division. Do the right thing..
Click to expand...

If you don’t like it, LEAVE!!!! I’m all in on what my ABL tells me!!!
 




anonymous said:
Could not agree more.

If Vas first found about the transaction when Mueller started questioning the company last November in middle of his transition to CEO, then that's one thing. But, did he try to have the monthly payments terminated if it was accurate Cohen was not holding up his end of the contract?

If Vas found out the same time that the public did and wants any chance at rebuilding trust with associates, then he must adequately vent his frustration as you laid out in point #2.

However, Vas will have a big problem in either firing those responsible or making them "decide to pursue opportunities outside the company." Those culpable would likely not blink an eye to blackmail the company for a hefty price to sign NDAs.

Ball in Vas' court. Let's see how he explains himself and handles questions on the leadership call tomorrow morning.
Click to expand...


Any highlights to share from the call?
 








anonymous said:
AT&T fired its head of Government Affairs. Shouldn't his Novartis counterparts be accountable too? This is beyond stupid.
Click to expand...

Vas says the contract with Cohen wasn't a lobbying engagement. Who all took part in the Cohen meeting is still a mystery. Government Affairs may have been purposefully left out to avoid any public reporting requirement. Still too many questions left open.

Another issue seems the lax governance and a different code of conduct for select few. So how does a sole-source consulting contract over $1m process with a firm that is not "strategic" or on the existing vendor list? Compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley very questionable there. Convenient and self-serving for Vas to pin the blame on his predecessor, and I don't see Joe raising the PO against the Lux acct on his own. Harry and Felix have some explaining to do.
 




















Extremely happy that I left Novartis years ago as this corrupt activity stains everyone who faces the public. My sympathies to the respectable, honest reps who now bare the disrepute for the perpetrators.
 




Whimsical to watch what Vas says publicly v. privately :confused:

We all speak forked tongue time to time, but Vas pertinaciously plays the part :cool:

I fancy facts and tough truths, but we both subscribe to the shallowness mesmerising the masses :(

Show us the money Vas :)

Because if money matters not, just do it o_O

Joerg and the BoD have your back :p

Proceed plotting the plan behind their backs, they are oblivious obviously ;)

I have yours and maybe the masses too :D
 




anonymous said:
Whimsical to watch what Vas says publicly v. privately :confused:

We all speak forked tongue time to time, but Vas pertinaciously plays the part :cool:

I fancy facts and tough truths, but we both subscribe to the shallowness mesmerising the masses :(

Show us the money Vas :)

Because if money matters not, just do it o_O

Joerg and the BoD have your back :p

Proceed plotting the plan behind their backs, they are oblivious obviously ;)

I have yours and maybe the masses too :D
Click to expand...

Lay off the sauce, mate
 




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