Which Pfizer Employee Photographed Medical Students Demonstrating Against Commercial Influence?
A Pfizer employee showed up on the campus of Harvard Medical School and took a photograph of medical students demonstrating against commercial influence over their education. But who is the employee (pictured) and what was he doing on campus?
If you know the answer, please tell BNET either through the mail form here or directly at jimedwards123@hotmail.com. We will not reveal your identity.
The NY Times reports that 1,600 teachers in the school have interests in outside businesses; 149 take money from Pfizer and 130 take money from Merck. The American Medical Student Association organized a protest against commercial influence in their class rooms and then this happened, per the Times:
David Tian, a first-year Harvard medical student, said he found it "strange and off-putting" last fall when a man who identified himself as a Pfizer employee took a cellphone photo of students as they demonstrated against pharmaceutical industry influence on campus. "We could only assume he intended to share this with his company," Mr. Tian said.Perspective: This happened last October; the story indicates it was a single photo taken with a cell phone; and everyone has the right to take photos of others in public spaces. As such, I'm tempted to conclude that this is a non-story shoehorned into a larger piece about research funding at a respected institution. (If it was a surveillance operation he would have used a better camera, no?)The students did not get the man's name, but they took his picture.
Asked about the mysterious Pfizer man on campus and shown his picture, a company spokesman said he had recently contacted the employee and concluded that he had done nothing wrong. Declining to name him, the spokesman, Ray Kerins, said the employee had photographed the students for personal use.
However, as we have a nice clear picture of this guy, and as Pfizer pr chief Ray Kerins was able to identify the employee either from the photo or his location on the day, BNET is asking you, dear Pfizer readers, to tell me who it is and what he was doing there.
Image: From David Tian