Article via the very fine Day on Torts blog produced by attorney John Day of Brentwood Tennessee's Branham & Day.

Merck Announces Resignation of Chief and Names Replacement

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 5, 2005

The other shoe finally dropped at drugmaker Merck & Co. With lawsuits mounting, revenues, profit and stock price all down sharply since it recalled its blockbuster painkiller Vioxx, and its top drug losing patent protection, Merck on Thursday replaced longtime CEO and chairman Raymond V. Gilmartin.

Richard T. Clark, head of Merck's manufacturing operations, was named president and chief executive, but how much power he will wield is in question. Merck's board chose to go without a chairman for up to two years, giving those duties to a new, three-member executive committee headed by heavyweight board member Lawrence Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell International Inc.

Read more about Merck's upcoming plans here.

And in the category of further corporate embarrassment, there has been wide reporting today about Merck's overwrought and seemingly delusional training for it's sales reps. Among the historical figures used as examples of effective salesmanship were Helen Keller, George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr., according to the L.A. Times.

Surprisingly not mentioned in the sales training? The health risks associated with Vioxx - risks that have since seen the drug pulled from the market.

Think Progress has further details about exactly how these figures were evoked and how their respective accomplishments and personal sacrifices were used to shill pharmaceuticals. TP also have links to the congressional testimony where these details came to light as well as a link to the 30 page memoranda submitted to congress by Rep. Henry Waxman.

We shall overcome, indeed...

-- MDT

Labels: HP