Grassley, that is, the GOP senator from Iowa. His no-nonsense missives requesting congressional testimony by this or that pharmaceutical executive come often to Philadelphia. Now a Grassley letter is chasing a former Philadelphian to Seattle. GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C.'s former R&D chief, Tadataka "Tachi" Yamada, who is retired from the industry and now works at the Gates Foundation, has been "asked" to testify to Grassley's Finance Committee about alleged intimidation of a researcher who was critical of GSK's diabetes drug Avandia. The story blew open last week when the committee released its report on the John Buse affair and concluded GSK behaved badly.
No indication when, or if, Yamada will comply. But it does show, you can take the man out of Big Pharma, but you can't take Big Pharma out of the man.
