An attorney who specializes in legal public relations said a Philadelphia claimants’ firm provided a “blueprint” for how to respond to a negative investigative report.

Wayne Pollock

The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sept. 24 published a front-page story on the firm Pond Lehocky Stern Giordano about its co-ownership with physicians in Workers First Pharmacy, which the newspaper reported charges exorbitant prices for drugs, many of them compounded medications, and asks physicians to refer injured workers there.

Pond Lehocky Stern Giordano issued a statement calling the investigative piece a “political hatchet job.”

“The response challenges assertions in the Inquirer article, provides more information about the firm’s relationship with the pharmacy, and contains testimonials from the firm’s clients about their experiences with the pharmacy,” Wayne Pollock wrote in The Legal Intelligencer.

Pollock is the founder and managing attorney of Copo Strategies, a Philadelphia firm that helps other attorneys and clients make their cases in the court of public opinion. He also is a director at Baretz Brunelle, a national public relations firm.

“But when faced with negative publicity about its business practice, Pond Lehocky made a decision that many lawyers and their clients choose not to make: Pond Lehocky decided it would make its voice heard and seek to control the narrative. When faced with similar situations, other law firms and lawyers would be wise to follow suit,” Pollock wrote.

A medical ethicist told WorkCompCentral that the pharmacy arrangement was highly unethical from a medical standpoint.