Keith:

The underlying tort cases referred to below (there are now 54 of them)
involve the purported criminal dilution of a Lilly cancer drug (Gemzar) by a
Missouri pharmacist.  The public comments by the Lilly CEO that I felt were
gratuitous and unwise can be found in Jeff Swiatek, "Indianapolis-Based Eli
Lilly CEO blames Lawyers for Woes in Diluted-Drug Case," Indianapolis Star,
Aug. 7, 2001.  This article and the remaining reportage on this mess can be
found with a NEXIS search using "Eli Lilly" and "Taurel" as search terms.

The CEO's (Sidney Taurel) statement that, I think will prove devastating in
a jury trial, should it come to that (Lilly moved yesterday for dismissal of
7 of the 54 cases), was: "Taurel said he first heard about the scandal at
that time, and he's not upset that he wasn't told earlier by the Kansas City
salesman or his regional manager.  'there was no way to foresee the turn of
events.  I don't think it's realistic for me to be informed earlier.'"

The plaintiff's attorney crticized Taurel for saying he didn't feel a need
to be told by company employees of the suspected dilution.  "For the CEO to
say, 'that's not something I should be bothered about,' I think that's
reprehensible.  Where does the buck stop at Lilly?  Does it stop at his desk
or not?"

First semester business law agency principles would have helped Mr. Taurel
here.  There's more.

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Maxwell [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 5:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Comments of Eli Lilly's CEO (was Our comments to AACSB)


Jordan,

I, and perhaps others, would love to know the context and the details of
the CEO's comments. Any chance you can pass that info on to us?

Keith


At 01:44 PM 10/23/2001, Jordan Leibman wrote:


>  Recently, the CEO of our local corporate giant, Eli Lilly and
>Company, gave a press conference that, in my opinion, gratuitously opened
>the door to punitive damages in a coming tort action against the company.
As
>a shareholder in the company, I am not looking forward to the CEO's
>cross-examination should this case come to trial as the CEO swears it will
>before Lilly will settle.
>

Keith A. Maxwell                        | Phone: (253) 879-3703
Professor of Legal Studies and Ethics   | Fax:     (253) 879-3156
University of Puget Sound               | e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Tacoma, WA 98416                        | www.ups.edu/faculty/maxwell