Plot Synopsis

Hosted and executive produced by attorney Alex Ferrer, WHISTLEBLOWER is a one-hour true crime series that explores the real-life David vs. Goliath stories of heroic people who put everything on the line in order to expose illegal and often dangerous wrongdoing when major corporations rip off U.S. taxpayers. Each hour introduces cases in which ordinary people step up to do the extraordinary by risking their careers, their families, and even their lives to ensure others are not harmed or killed by unchecked, unethical corporate greed. In the series opener, "Blow the Whistle, Change the World," two dentists are alarmed by the unsafe and fraudulent practices that they say were standard at a pediatric dental chain that provides services in underserved communities. Fearing that it would lead to overtreatment, overbilling and putting children at risk, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Also, a whistleblower takes on a pharmaceutical giant, accusing the company of using illicit bribes, expensive vacations and sumptuous dinners to gain illegal access to patient medical records and coerce doctors to prescribe the company's high-priced meds.

On Friday, May 24, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT, CBS premiered the second season of WHISTLEBLOWER. In the season opener, "Chicago PD: Breaking the Code of Silence," Ferrer interviews a whistleblower who exposed corrupt officers who stole from drug dealers and planted drugs on innocent people. Additional cases that are examined this season include a medical system where midwives are in charge of high-risk pregnancies; kickbacks at a crematorium; a scam allegedly involving counterfeit healthcare hardware being used in back surgery, which may have defrauded Medicare; and, for the first time on national television, two whistleblowers discuss how they brought suspicions of massive fraud by members of a polygamous cult to the FBI.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBS premiered the Season 2 finale of WHISTLEBLOWER on Friday, June 28, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT. In the season ender, whistleblowers expose a $7 billion no-bid defense department contract and the illegal marketing practices of a pharmaceutical company promoting an addictive opioid for treatments not approved by the FDA.

"Bunny's War: The Case Against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers": In 2005, Bunnatine 'Bunny' Greenhouse was selected for the top civilian post in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for approving all outside contracting. It was a far cry from her humble beginnings in rural Louisiana, but what should have been the pinnacle of her civil service career became something much darker. Greenhouse spoke out about a $7 billion contract called "Restore Iraqi Oil," which was to help rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure in the wake of the U.S. invasion of that country. Greenhouse felt that the contract, which was awarded to KBR, a subsidiary of the oil services company Halliburton, was uncompetitive and overly generous in budget and duration. In addition, there was documented evidence suggesting that the office of Vice President Dick Cheney -- who had formerly served as the CEO of Halliburton, KBR's owner -- had exerted influence in assigning the contract. Greenhouse says that, because of her opposition to the contract, she was retaliated against, demoted and ultimately, in an act of physical intimidation, someone rigged a tripwire in her office, causing her to suffer a serious accident. Refusing to let the "good ol' boys" club get away with their violations, she filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit. Host Alex Ferrer examines the case against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and a second story about a pharmaceutical company that illegally marketed addictive opioids for treatments not approved by the Federal Drug Administration, resulting in serious danger to patients -- allegedly including a number of fatalities.

"Opioid Lollipops: The Case Against Cephalon": Whistleblower Bruce Boise was a pharmaceutical rep for Cephalon Inc. who, in 2002, refused to follow company-ordered sales strategies to convince doctors to prescribe several drugs for "off-label" uses unapproved by the Federal Drug Administration. One of the drugs was a pain-killing lollipop called Actiq. Actiq, whose active ingredient is the powerful opioid Fentanyl -- implicated in the death of the musician Prince -- is a lollipop that relieves extreme pain and is FDA-approved only for cancer patients in acute pain. Cephalon was pushing its reps to market it for off-label uses, such as treatment for migraines and lower back pain, to doctors who were not pain specialists. Starting in early 2003, Boise agreed to wear a wire and do undercover work for the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigation (OCI), gathering evidence of Cephalon's illegal, off-label marketing practices. Later that year, he was fired from his job and then blackballed in the pharmaceutical world. Divorced with three children, he was forced to sell his houses before they went into foreclosure and his cars were repossessed. To earn a living, he painted houses with his son before he injured both of his shoulders, did renovations, and ended up flipping burgers at county fairs. In 2004, Boise filed a whistleblower lawsuit, alleging the company had violated federal law by illegally marketing pharmaceuticals off-label.