Whither the Common "Business" Sense, at Schering?

It does seem "all-too-uncommon" (to paraphrase Mark Twain), of late, at Schering-Plough.

Putting aside for the moment the question of whether this, this [or even this and this] is a fully-lawful course of conduct during a crisis, I am truly-surprised that apparently no one at Schering is asking the business reputation questions -- even if it all turns out to be legal -- "How is this going to look to our employees, to our medical customers, to Congress, to the SEC, to the DoJ and. . . to our shareholders?" and/or "Is this course of conduct in our longer-term enlightened self-interest?"

"Is this wise?"

Will it feel ethical, and trust-building, to the shareholders? Speaking of shareholders, that meeting is only nine (9) days away, now. That should be an interesting meeting -- for all four of the above reasons.

[Side note: Tomorrow's Congressional Hearing Witness List is now up -- Deepak Khanna, VP and GM of Merck/Schering Pharmaceuticals, will testify at those DTC hearings tomorrow morning on the Hill -- watch this space.]