Strong Medicine (19 page)

Only one person in the company's top echelon failed to acknowledge Celia's

role. The director of research, although he was one of those who had

originally urged wide testing of Thalidomide-including giving it to

obstetricians, which Celia specifically opposed --- chose to keep quiet

about that portion of his involvement with the drug. Instead he reminded

others that his had been the decision to turn it down when it failed during

testing on old people. His statement was true, though incomplete.

There was, however, little time for prolonged discussion. The death of Eli

Camperdown occurred two weeks after Celia visited him. In newspapers the

following day, November 8, 1962, the Camperdown obituaries were

respectfully long, though even longer were those for Mrs. Eleanor

Roosevelt, who also had died the day before. As Celia said to Andrew, "It

seems as if two pieces of history ended together-one that was big history,

the other smaller, but which I was part of."

The death of the Felding-Roth president resulted in changes within the

company, as a new president was named by the board of directors, and others

moved up the promotion ladder. Among those affected were Sam Hawthorne, who

became a vice president and national sales manager, while Teddy Upshaw, to

his great joy, was appointed sales manager of over-the-counter products,

marketed by the company's Bray & Commonwealth division. "A smashing chance

with O-T-C to do some really drag-'em-in, knock-'em-down selling" was how

Teddy described his impending move excitedly to Celia and told her, "I've

recommended that you get my job, though I have to tell you there are still

some around here who don't like the idea of a woman being director of

anything." He added, "To be honest, I used to feel that way myself, but you

changed my mind."

Another eight weeks passed during which Celia functioned as head of sales

training in everything except title. Day by day her frustration at the

unfairness increased. Then, on a morning in early January, Sam Hawthorne

walked into her office unannounced and beaming. "By God, we did itr' he

declared. "I had to plunge my sword into the entrails of a few male

diehards, and blood has flowed, but word has now come down. You are

director of this bailiwick and, what is more important, Celia, you are

officially on the company'i fast track."

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TWO

1963-1975

Being on the fast track at Felding-Roth meant much the same as it did at

other companies. You had been selected as a candidate for senior

management and would be given better than normal opportunities to learn

the business and to prove yourself Of course, not everyone on the fast

track made it to the finish line. There were others on the track.

Competition was keen. Also, a name could be removed at any time.

Celia realized all this. She also knew that, as a woman, she had overcome

an extra hurdle of prejudice which men didn't have to. The need for

double achievement made her keener still.

Which is why it seemed unfortunate that the 1960s were already proving

a dry, non-innovative period for the prescription drug business.

"It's happened before," Sam Hawthorne said when Celia raised the subject.

"Look, we've just gone through twenty years of miracle drugs-antibiotics,

new heart medicines, the Pill, tranquilizers, all the rest. Now we're in

a flat spell before the next big scientific breakthrough."

"How long a flat spell?"

Sam rubbed his bald head thoughtfully. "Who knows? Could be two years,

could be ten. Meanwhile, our Lotromycin is selling well and we're

developing improved versions of existing drugs."

Celia said pointedly, "Don't you mean developing 'me-toos'? Copying the

successful drugs of our competitors? Playing molecular roulette by

changing them just enough so we can't be sued for infringing someone's

patent?"

Sam shrugged. "If you choose to use our critics' language, maybe SO-,,

"Speaking of critics, isn't it true they accuse us of wasting research

effort on 'me-too' drugs, effort we ought to use in more productive,

beneficial ways?"

"And isn't it time you realized this industry is criticized for ev-

103

erything?" An edge of sharpness crept into Sam's voice. "Especially by

people who don't know or care that 'me-too' drugs keep companies like ours

afloat when nothing much is happening in science. There have always been

gaps. Do you know that after vaccination for smallpox began to be used

successfully, scientists took another hundred year% to find out why it

worked?"

Though the conversation depressed Celia, she discovered afterward that

other pharmaceutical companies were experiencing the same dry period, with

little that was new or exciting being developed. It was an industry-wide

phenomenon which-though no one knew it then-would last until the 1970s,

eventually proving Sam an accurate prophet.

Meanwhile, through most of 1963, Celia continued to work successfully as

director of sales training. Until November.

"I sent foi you," Sam told Celia on an afternoon in late November, with the

two of them seated in his oak-paneled office, "to tell you you're getting

a new assignment. And, oh yes, it's also a promotion."

Celia waited. When Sam said nothing more, she sighed and smiled. "You know

perfectly well I'm dying of curiosity, but you're going to malke me ask the

question, so I will. Okay, Sam: what's my new job?"

"General manager of over-the-counter products. You're to be in overall

charge of Bray & Commonwealth. Teddy Upshaw, who used to be your boss, will

now report to you." Sam smiled. "Celia, I hope you're suitably happy and

impressed."

"Oh, I ani! I really am, Sam. Thank you!"

He looked at her shrewdly. "Amid that enthusiasm, do I detect a

reservation?"

"No reservation." Celia shook her head decisively. "It's just that . . .

Well, the fact is, I know nothing about our over-the-counter business."

"You're not unique," Sam said. "I used to have the same gap in knowledge

until I served a couple of years in 0-T-C territory. In some ways iT's like

going to a foreign country." He hesitated. "Or crossing the tracks to

another side of town."

"The I - ess reputable side?"

"Could be."

What the~ both knew was !hat Felding-Roth, like other big pharmaceutical

firms, erected a wall between the prescription drug por-

104

tion of its business, which was considered prestigious, and its O-T-C

activities which frequently were not. On each side of the wall all

activities were separate. Each side had its own administration, research

staff, and sales force; there was no liaison between the two.

This policy of separation was why Felding-Roth kept alive the name Bray

& Commonwealth-originally a small, independent drug house. It had been

acquired by Felding-Roth many years earlier and was now concerned solely

with non-prescription products. In the public mind Bray & Commonwealth

had no connection with Felding-Roth, and the parent company preferred it

that way.

"Bray & Commonwealth will be an educational experience," Sam told Celia.

"You'll learn to care about cough remedies, hemorrhoid ointments and

shampoos. Also, O-T-C is part of the whole drug scene-a big part, and it

makes a bundle of money. So you have to know about it, how it works, and

why."

He continued, "Something else is that you may have to suspend your

critical judgments for a while."

She said curiously, "Would you explain that?"

"You'll find out."

Celia decided not to press the point.

"There's one more thing I should tell you," Sam said. "The Bray &

Commonwealth division has been stagnating and our O-T-C line needs new

initiative, new ideas." He smiled. "Maybe the ideas of a strong,

imaginative, occasionally abrasive woman-Yes, what is it?"

The last remark was to his secretary, an attractive young black woman who

had come in and was standing at the open doorway.

When she failed to answer immediately Sam said, "Maggie, I told you I

didn't want to be-"

"Wait!" Celia said. She had seen what Sam did not-that tears were

streaming down the secretary's face. "Maggie, what's wrong?"

The girl spoke with an effort, words emerging between sobs. "It's the

President . . . President Kennedy has been shot . . . in Dallas . . .

It's all over . . . on the radio."

Hurriedly, with a look combining horror and unbelief, Sam Hawthorne

snapped on a radio beside his desk.

Forever after, like most others of her generation, Celia would remember

precisely where she was and what she was doing at that terrible moment.

It was a shattering, numbing introduction to the

105

apocalyptic days which followed, a time of ended hopes and deep dejection.

Whether Camelot had been real or illusory, there was a sense of something

lost for always; of a new beginning which suddenly went nowhere; of the

impermanence of everything; of the unimportance of lesser concerns

including-for Celia-her own ambitions, and talk and thought of her new job.

The hiatus ended, of course, and life moved on. It moved on, for Celia, to

the head offices of Bray & Commonwealth Inc., wholly owned subsidiary of

Felding-Roth Pharmaceuticals, located in a four-story plain brick building

a mile and a half from the parent company headquarters. There, some two

weeks later, in her new modest but comfortable office, she met with Teddy

Upshaw, the division sales manager, to review over-the-counter products.

Through the preceding week Celia had immersed herself in papers-financial

statements, sales data, research reports, personnel files-all relating to

her new appointment. As she read on, she realized what Sam Hawthorne had

told her was true. The division had been stagnating under uninspired

leadership. It did need new initiative and ideas.

At the beginning of her talk with Upshaw, Celia said, "Teddy, a plain,

blunt question. Do you resent my sitting here and your having to report to

me? Does it matter that our roles have been reversed?"

The whippetlike sales chief appeared surprised. "Matter? My God, Celia, I

couldn't be happier! You're what this division needed. When I heard you

were moving over, I felt like cheering. Ask my wife! The night after I got

the news, we drank your health." Teddy's energetic, bouncing head

punctuated his remarks. "As to resenting you, no my dear, I'm just a

salesman-a damn good one, but that's all I'll ever be. But you've the

brains to give me something good, a whole lot better than what we have, to

sell."

Celia was moved by the reaction. "Thank you, Teddy," she said. "I like you

too. We can be good for each other."

"Damn right!"

"You've been on both sides of this business," she pointed out.

"Prescription drugs and O-T-C. Tell me what you see as differences between

them. "

"It's pretty basic. O-T-C is mostly hype." Teddy glanced at papers spread

around the office. "I guess you've discovered that from studying costs."