Forest firing

摘要

LAST year Howard Solomon, chief executive of Forest Laboratories, declared the end of an ordeal. After a long battle, the drug company agreed to settle charges of illegal marketing and distribution. But last month Forest got a surprise: a notice from America's health department saying that it planned to bar Mr Solomon from doing business with federal health programmes such as Medicare. Unless he resigns, Forest would be barred too. As The Economist went to press Mr Solomon was planning a vigorous defence. Forest is burning with outrage. Other executives are shuddering.