DRKOOP.COM: Officials’ Share Sale Spur Record Drop
Shares of internet health company drkoop.com fell to a record low yesterday after it became public that some company officials, including co-founder and former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, planned to sell some of their shares, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to filings released by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Koop planned to sell 300,000 of his shares on Feb. 22. Company officials would not confirm if the transaction took place. In addition, drkoop .com Vice Chair John Zaccaro and board member Nancy Snyderman registered to sell 200,000 and 300,000 shares, respectively. Pacific Growth Equities analyst Mark Mulcahy said that the drop could be the result of week-old, unconfirmed rumors of a management shake-up. However, drkoop.com CEO Donald Hackett dismissed the rumors, saying, "There's no problem." Instead Hackett charged that officials of online competitor Healtheon/WebMD Corp. were the source of the rumors. "These Healtheon/WebMD rumors are not very nice," Hackett said. When pressed about why he thought Healtheon was the culprit, Hackett said, "I know it is," but did not elaborate. Responding to Hackett's allegations, Healtheon/WebMD CEO Jeff Arnold said, "Why would he say that? That's too ridiculous to comment on" (Carrns, 3/1).
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