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Consultant Meetings

Mr. Steinke was personally aware of Merck's marketing scheme = known as=20 "Consultant Meetings." These were a form of Merck's kickbacks to=20 high-prescribing physicians, as alleged in this case. The pretext = of these=20 meetings was that physicians would "train" Merck sales = representatives=20 and, at the same time, provide marketing information to Merck.

One such consultant meeting was held over a September 1998 = weekend at=20 the luxurious Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville, Michigan. = During=20 this event each selected physician was asked to serve as a Merck=20 representative training consultant and evaluate the sales message = of Merck=20 sales reps. In return, Merck paid each physician a $500 honorarium = for the=20 training and consultative services, Friday and Saturday nights' = lodging=20 expenses, and an additional $100 for incidental expenses.

Physicians invited by Merck had been ranked by Merck as "A" or = "A+"=20 doctors based upon the volume of statin and hypertensive drugs = they=20 prescribed. Furthermore, Merck reps were the hand-picked top = salespersons=20 known as Merck's "Zocor Hit Squad." Two additional meetings were = held at=20 Crystal Mountain in September 1999.

The Ritz Carlton in Dearborn, Michigan was the site of a = similar Merck=20 consultant meeting at the end of October 1998. Attending = physicians were=20 paid $500 honoraria plus $100 in incidentals. This consultant = meeting was=20 another all-expense-paid weekend. Although the meeting's stated = purpose=20 was market research, no marketing data was collected. A third such = meeting, called a "Customer Focus Group Meeting" was held at the = Dearborn=20 Ritz Carlton in February 1999, which at least 47 physicians = attended. Once=20 again, no market data was recorded, analyzed, or kept.

In March 2000, another purported customer focus group meeting = was held=20 at the Amelia Island Plantation. Like the first Crystal Mountain = meeting=20 (above), top Merck sales reps were brought to Florida to party = with=20 high-prescribing doctors, all under the guise of training. Merck = paid=20 honoraria to the physicians participating in the training = consultant=20 meeting, and additional honoraria for also participating in a = so-called=20 customer focus group.