Two major shareholder advisory firms are recommending that AmerisourceBergen (ABC) stockholders support a proposal to require the pharmaceutical wholesaler to report the steps being taken to manage financial and reputational risks associated with the opioid crisis.
The firms — Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services — also recommend shareholders back a proposal to disclose if its board claws back compensation from senior executives due to misconduct and another to split the chief executive and chairman jobs, a move that corporate governance experts often endorse as sound practice. The wholesaler holds its annual shareholder meeting on March 1.
The recommendations come amid mounting scrutiny of the role that wholesalers have played in the escalating opioid crisis gripping the U.S., notably monitoring suspicious orders and preventing the diversion of the prescription painkillers. Over the past year, Congressional lawmakers as well as more than 40 state attorneys general have opened probes into both drug makers and distributors.
About the Author Reprints
