[4] On April 27, 2016, Pearson, Bill Ackman and Howard Schiller appeared before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging to answer concerns over the repercussions for patients and the health care system whom are affected by Valeant's business model.

[10] In 1981, he graduated summa cum laude from Duke University, where he earned his BS and BSE; he was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

[14] In 2008, Pearson began implementing his strategy by selling off portions of Valeant's European business to Meda AB.

[17] The Biovail merger allowed the company to reduce its tax rate to approximately 5% by situating its headquarters in Canada.

[18] Later, Valeant would be called upon to testify before Congress, along with Burger King, about how its tax inversion potentially gave it a competitive advantage over American companies.

[19] A New York Times article credits Pearson's "tough tactics" for the financial success of the "fast-growing" Valeant.

The committee included Robert Ingram, president of ValueAct Capital Mason Morfit, and former Valeant CFO Howard Schiller.

[25] Industry critics claim that since Valeant has suffered from credibility issues over the pricing controversy and is still not on solid ground, the company needs strong decisive leadership and not a "cumbersome" committee.

The removal was ordered by the Senate Special Committee on Aging who have been probing the soaring price of prescription drugs.

[18] Congress used Burger King and Valeant as examples of companies with tax advantages in a July 2015 investigation of corporate taxation.

[36] Many have accused Pearson's strategy at Valeant of being a roll-up dependent on acquisitions and aggressive accounting tactics while others claim it is not.

[22] Notable defenders of Valeant against these allegations include activist investors[43][44] Bill Ackman[45] and Jeffrey Ubben.

Pearson agreed to pay civil penalties of $250,000, and to reimburse Valeant $450,000, representing a portion of his incentive compensation.