Alejandro Garcia arrived home from work visibly agitated. “I hope they won’t ask me to do this,” he said to his wife. The Ecuadorian was speaking about a rumor that had been circulating in the pharmaceutical lab that h worked for. Alejandro was a new young salesman for the company and since taking the job discovered that his company Tecnofarma would be distributors for Glanique, the controversial morning-after pill.
Alejandro was the specialist in gynecology products so he was the one most likely to be chosen to sell this drug. He had reached a crisis point. His salary was double that of his last job and since he was the “new guy” it would be hard for him to say no.
His family, 4-year-old Anabel and 1-year-old David, along with his wife Araceli and his parents were reaping the rewards of the increased salary.
“Honey, you know what will happen if they choose you. You simply cannot promote that,” Araceli was emphatic.
The pharmaceutical salesmen were instructed to conceal the abortifacient properties of the MAP and to adopt the fallacious arguments of the WHO (World Health Organization), which makes “conception” synonymous with “implantation.” Alejandro was desperate to find some loophole that would allow him to keep his job without compromising his beliefs. In his search, he found PRI’s website www.tererefecto.com.
“Who are you trying to fool? You know what you must do. The Lord will provide,” exclaimed Araceli. How fortunate he felt to have such a supportive wife. During this time, their children had begun to suffer from asthma and were prescribed long and costly treatment. To make matters worse, their relatives were not in agreement and urged Alejandro not to resign from his job.
For Alejandro the next step in the process was seeking the advice of a priest. The priest told him: “It is better to be dead rather than to be responsible for the death of a baby.” Alejandro and Araceli knew there was but one choice and that was to be faithful to their conscience. When they spoke to me they said, “We always knew what we had to do: Expose MAP and fight it.”
The Promotion of Glanique
Glanique, the MAP drug in Latin America, was launched with much gaiety and fanfare. An event specifically arranged t0 introduce Glanique to medical professionals looked more like the release of a Hollywood premiere. It wasn’t the gala that took Alejandro by surprise but the marketing strategy. A scene of a young couple kissing in a car upholstered in leopard skin with a night sky as the backdrop was to be posted in city drugstores. In Latin America, the issue is no longer the good of the family but promotion of reproductive rights. This whole campaign was targeted at young people to offer them freedom without responsibility or pregnancy.
Alejandro told his supervisor he would not promote or sell MAP and he would submit his resignation if they insisted. He asked if he could be reassigned to other duties or transferred to another location. It was the first time anything like this had happened.
His first act of disobedience was to neglect to pick up the samples which were to be distributed to the doctors’ offices. Alejandro’s colleagues recommended that he pick up the samples just to keep his job. He agreed. He believed that the doctors wouldn’t care if they didn’t receive the samples since they knew of its abortifacient effect and would not use it or recommend it.
Alejandro was then called on the carpet by Glanique’s product manager who claimed to be a Catholic devoted to the Blessed Virgin, but not in agreement with the “old-fashioned ideas of the Pope.” He then ordered Alejandro’s supervisor to be present for his visits to doctors. But Alejandro was adamant. He repeated that he would not promote Glanique. His supervisor eventually selected another subordinate to replace him.
The CEO of Tecnofarma called Alejandro into his office. He also attempted to convince him for the last time but finally concluded: “We are a sales company. If you can’t sell our products, I will have to accept your resignation.”
Alejandro went back to the laboratory where his career began. His children no longer suffer from asthma. He earns less but his life has been enriched beyond words. He says, “There are things that most people would not comprehend, a man’s integrity is worth more than a thousand salaries.” And Araceli, a woman and mother of faith, always had the key: The Lord will provide.
This article first appeared on PRI’s Spanish website, www.tererefecto.com as La historia de Alejandro y Araceli; it was then published on the Mexican website: yo influyo, A.C., Suplemento Familia Y Mujer; No. 058, 21 July 2005. Carlos Polo is Director of PRI’s Latin American office, located in Lima, Peru.
