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Sales reps around the country express their condolences for murdered Lilly rep.

Sales reps around the country and from various pharmaceutical companies are expressing their condolences for murdered Eli Lilly sales rep Nailah Franklin on Cafe Pharma.

If you wish to read or add a note, go to the post THEY FOUND HER Deceased.

Body today identified as Lilly sales rep Nailah Franklin.

Dental records today identified the badly decomposed body of Nailah Franklin, found yesterday. Franklin was a 28-year-old pharmaceutical representative reported missing for more than a week.

The woman's body was discovered naked and partially buried in a densely wooded area behind a vacant store about 4:45 a.m. Thursday by two Calumet City police officers on routine patrol, according to police and a law enforcement source.

Two officers found ear buds from a portable music device, which seemed out of place, and this discovery led them to the body.

Bristol-Myers Squibb: Second drug company to pay more than $1 billion in fines.

Schering-Plough was the first drug company to break the $1 billion barrier for fines paid to various government agencies. And now Bristol-Myers Squibb is following Schering's lead.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and a subsidiary have agreed to pay more than $515 million to settle federal and state investigations into their drug marketing and pricing practices, U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan announced today.

Last year, on June 8, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that BMS would pay $750 million which would be distributed to compensate shareholders injured by fraudulent earnings management at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. The distribution fund included $150 million BMS paid to settle fraud charges brought by the Commission. The fund also included $300 million BMS paid to settle a related civil class action, and $300 million paid by BMS in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey to address the company's criminal liability.

In total, Bristol-Myers has now paid about 1.25 billion dollars in fines and restitution. Oh, did we mention FBI recently searched their offices?

Nice going.

Download BMSPressReleaseFinal.pdf

Download SettlementAgreement--FinalSignedVersion.pdf

Here is a list of aggregated fines paid by a few drug companies to the Justice Depatment, SEC and FDA over the last few years due to marketing fraud, accounting fraud, and bad manufacturing:

Company	Fines and settlements (M)
Schering-Plough	1280
Bristol Myers Squibb	1265
Takeda-Abbott	875
Serono	704
GlaxoSmithKline	563
Pfizer	514
Abbot	482
AstraZeneca	355
Bayer	271
Eli Lilly	36

Justice Department to announce $515 million settlement with drug company today.

Michael Sullivan, the U.S. Attorney in Boston, will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) to detail the settlement.

Wyeth names new CEO and causes surprise.

A number of writers and Wall Street pundits have been surprised that Wyeth today named Bernard Poussot its new CEO, starting January 1, 2008.

The WSJ Health Blog wrote, "In a surprise, Wyeth said today that Bernard Poussot (pictured) will take over as CEO starting on Jan. 1 of next year. He’ll be replacing current CEO Robert Essner, who’s only 59."

Pharmalot wrote, "it will be interesting to see if he has any new ideas about transforming Wyeth - or if he’ll just sell the company."

Bloomberg News wrote, "The change came ``faster than people had thought,'' said Michael Krensavage, an analyst with Raymond James and Associates Inc. in New York, in a telephone interview today. ``I wasn't expecting it this early. I think the shareholders are frustrated with the string of pipeline setbacks.'' "

and

"Bernard Poussot, having been president and COO, was the heir apparent,'' said Lehman Brothers analyst Tony Butler in a telephone interview. ``But the timing of the announcement is a bit of a surprise."

Philly.Inc wrote "That was a bit faster than expected."

So, everyone is surprised. What is interesting is also that Wyeth announced only a few months ago that CFO and vice chairman Ken Martin would "leave the company to pursue personal interests at the end of June."

So what's up over at Wyeth? Normally CEO's don't just hand over the reins voluntarily and CFO's don't take up personal interests.

I can't help but wonder if the explanation is right there in my article Pfizer should buy Wyeth. Here's why.

Michael Moore on Oprah today at 4 pm EST

The theme of Oprah's show today is, 'Sick in America: It Can Happen to You.'

Check local listings for show times.

After Michael's first appearance on The Oprah Show, thousands of viewers wrote in to share their healthcare stories. "After seeing Sicko, I cried for hours, then became enraged," wrote a viewer named Teri. "While I'm searching for affordable healthcare, my daughter may die. Why can't we join together to change this? Where is the collective American heart?"

Body of missing Lilly sales rep found?

A body was found this morning in an area of Calumet City where police have been searching for Nailah Franklin, an Eli Lilly sales rep missing since last week. The body was found close to Nailah Franklin's abandoned car and relatives have confirmed this is Ms. Franklin.

$10,000 reward for missing Eli Lilly sales rep.

The family of Nailah Franklin, a missing Lilly sales rep from Chicago, is now offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

View: Police Question Nailah Franklin's Friend (MyFoxChicago)

Nailah Franklin was last heard from a week ago and her car was found near an abandoned building.

The pharmaceutical sales representative for Eli Lilly was reported missing September 19.

Nailah filed a police report about threatening phone calls she received from former boyfriend a few days before she disappeared.

The family has now set up a web site, http://www.bringnailahfranklinhome.com/:

How women in advertising become beautiful.

Any woman can become beautiful. It doesn't take plastic surgery, drugs, or liposuction, just the right make-up and some hi-tech help . . .

And here's a picture from a contest featuring regular women who got a 12-hour makeover. The one second from the left won. Click on image for large size.

Guess what this commercial is trying to get you to buy!

Highlight this: Life Insurance in Thailand with your cursor to find out!

- Peter Rost, M.D. is a former VP of Pfizer and the author of Killer Drug and The Whistleblower.