NEW: DOJ Attorney Erin Colleran Deletes LinkedIn Account After Conflicts of Interest Exposed in Pfizer Fraud Case

Former FDA Chief Legal Counsel for Enforcement is now trying to dismiss Pfizer Clinical Trial Whistleblower Brook Jackson's Fraud Case that took place while she was employed by the FDA

Attorney, Erin Colleran, started her new role at the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a Trial Attorney in the Fraud section in 2021. Prior to Colleran’s role at the DOJ, from 2019 to 2021, Colleran was working at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). 

Why is Colleran’s career history relevant? 

Well, that’s where things get interesting. Colleran is now representing the DOJ for alleged fraud crimes between Pfizer and the FDA that took place while she was the Chief Counsel of Regulatory Enforcement of the FDA. 

By transitioning from an attorney defending the interests of pharmaceutical companies to serving as the FDA’s Chief Counsel for Regulatory Enforcement to now being in charge of fraud cases at DOJ, Colleran exemplifies the intimate ties between the pharmaceutical industry and government agencies. Colleran’s story is just one of many that raises significant concerns regarding conflicts of interest and the risk of regulatory capture.

Colleran’s latest reaction to a post made by Attorney Robert Barnes, who’s representing Pfizer Whistleblower Brook Jackson in her lawsuit, was a tell-tale sign that she’s very much aware of her conflicts of interest. After Barnes posted on X calling out Colleran and her conflicts of interest, within minutes she deleted her LinkedIn profile. Which is an arguably an obvious reaction by someone who has something to hide. 

Colleran’s conflicts of interest are egregious. 

Any respectable, ethical attorney would have recused themselves from a case in which the they were the Chief Legal Counsel representing the organization directly involved in a fraud claim. 

However, instead of recusing herself, Colleran had the audacity to intervene in the case after 3 years of ongoing litigation—and after it appeared that the case would soon move to discovery—Colleran filed a request on behalf of the DOJ to dismiss the case.

The good news for Jackson & the 3 years of her life that she’s invested in this on-going litigation is that the case has not been dismissed. The DOJ now must prove to the court that they (the DOJ) are acting in good faith.

So why might Colleran want to dismiss this case? 

Well, that’s where her conflicts of interest really paints her in a bad light. When she was employed as the FDA’s Chief Legal Counsel for the FDA, Colleran had a “primary responsibility for prosecuting violations of the FDCA or related statutes.”

However, while Colleran was Chief Counsel of Enforcement for the FDA—Whistleblower Brook Jackson filed a complaint to the FDA about the fraud she witnessed while overseeing Pfizer’s clinical trials for the Covid-19 vaccine.  She notified the FDA after alerting her employer 
and after discovering management was directly implicated in the fraud as well. 

Beyond any reasonable doubt, a complaint of such significance would have been on the radar of the FDA's Chief Counsel for Enforcement.

Therefore, if the case were to move to discovery, it could likely implicate any culpability the FDA might have had in the alleged fraud. 

So what’s the latest on the case?

The next court date for oral arguments from Pfizer, the DOJ and Brook Jackson’s legal team has been scheduled for May 1, 2024 at 2pm CST in Beaumont, TX. The public is encouraged and welcome to attend:

Jack Brooks Federal Courthouse
300 Willow Street Suite 104
Beaumont, Texas 77701

Anyone and everyone is encouraged to attend this hearing.

Additional Background on Brook Jackson’s Pfizer Whistleblower Case

Pfizer Clinical Trial Whistleblower, Brook Jackson, filed this False Claims Act lawsuit on behalf of the people of the United States back in early 2021 after witnessing and documenting a countless amount of fraud. The same day that Jackson blew the whistle she was fired from job and the FDA took no action to investigate her claims.

The fraud Jackson witnessed was investigated by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 2021 and a peer reviewed article published was able to substantiate the validity of her claims.

Jackson’s case is significant because it could undo the protection of the PREP Act that currently shields pharmaceutical companies from being sued by those injured by their products. How? Well, if proven in court that Pfizer did in fact commit fraud in their clinical trials and deceived the government, then it could void the contract that gives them liability immunity. In layman’s terms it could allow people injured by the Covid vaccines to sue them for harm.

Read more here & here.