This is Fred Eshelman, CEO of PPD, Inc, the man paying millions to attack Barack Obama with his own 527, RightChange.com.  Perhaps Fred Eshelman is funding RightChange.com attacks on Barack Obama because he is chafing under Federal oversight after his performance at the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing in February 2008. The Committee was investigating FDA approval of the drug Ketek, which caused liver problems, despite being based on fraudulent clinical research.

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Fred Eshelman Congressional Testimony 1 of 3

Not much in the first clip.  It gets more interesting in the second two clips:

Fred Eshelman Congressional Testimony 2 of 3

Fred Eshelman Congressional Testimony 3 of 3

Eshelman disavowed PPD Inc responsibility to directly alert the FDA to fraud in clinical trials for the new antibiotic Ketek for which PPD was paid $20 million by drug maker Aventis. The FDA found the fraud 2002 in a trial supervised by PPD, the doctor was indicted 2003, convicted 2004 and Ketek was approved 2004 by the FDA using the faulty data. It wasn't until early 2006 that liver problems in patients using Ketek came to light and subsequently, the continued reliance on the fraudulent data. Congressional hearings were called for in 2006 which were held 2007 and again 2008 when Eshelman testified with a prepared speech and with verbal responses to questions.

The FDA and drug maker Aventis were directly faulted. Eshelman washed his hands. Now he wants to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty in swiftboating for an administration that would further curtail FDA oversight of drug approvals.  These clips show Fred Eshelman's verbal responses to questions.

PPD stock (PPDI) is now hovering around $35.  It has averaged about $40 in the last year and has been as high as $49 in January.  According to a proxy document for a May 21 shareholders meeting, Fred Eshelman is the owner of 8,564,415 shares.  So it's clear that when the stock goes down $1, Fred Eshelman loses $8,564,415.  In that context $2,733,919 to RightChange.com is small potatoes.  Chairman Ernest Mario who contibuted $1,000,000 to RightChange is the owner of 644,843 shares.  Both men have schools of pharmacy named after them.  Eshelman at UNC Chapel Hill and Mario at Rutgers University.