Gray Clouds Imperil Drug Firms

Kevin Fagan had never heard of AmerisourceBergen (ABC Quote) -- let alone seen the company's escalating stock chart -- when he said his teenage son received counterfeit medicine supplied by the giant drug distributor.

Fagan's introduction to the mysterious world of drug middlemen would come two months later. Fagan first had to watch his son suffer through agonizing spasms after taking medicine bought at a local CVS (CVS Quote) pharmacy that was supposed to help him recover from a life-saving liver transplant. He felt stunned when he finally learned that his son's medication, obtained by AmerisourceBergen after passing through the shady gray market, was a low-dose fake at best.

Three years later, Fagan is still waiting for AmerisourceBergen to explain how the company wound up with what he calls tainted drugs -- and to offer some reassurance that it won't happen again. ...