The story behind the WSJ "pharma exec cleavage story"?

It is unusual for a pharma exec to speak about her cleavage. Even less usual to have her admit that her CEO was ogling her breasts.

But that's just what Amgen exec Michele Royalty, PharmD, MBA, MPH, did say about Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer, when she was quoted in the WSJ saying, "I saw the CEO's eyes drop to my cleavage."

Of course, the WSJ forgot to mention where she worked and who the CEO was . . . but PharmaGossip helped us with that.

"Once a CEO is startled by seeing your cleavage, an image is set in his mind that is not going to disappear," says Ms. Royalty, who recently retired as an executive at the company. "I never wore that type of dress again."

So it made us wonder, how come Ms. Royalty gave those quotes, and then we found this in an industry e-mail today from Christiane Truelove (pharmablogs@pharmalive.com):

"At the reception before the luncheon, I had an interesting conversation with one
of the PR agents I’ve always liked and respected; she’s always come through for
my staff when they needed to talk with one of her clients. The conversation
turned to her perturbation at the Wall Street Journal for allegedly ambushing
one of her clients in an interview. The client had decided to talk with the
reporter without the reporter being vetted by the PR agent. She now tells her
clients not to get on the phone with the Wall Street Journal without talking
with her first, so she can find out what the interview is about."

"I reviewed the quote in the Wall Street Journal my PR friend was
upset about, and I have to say, my impression was that the interviewee was being
refreshingly candid. Journalists treasure candid quotes."

We agree with Ms. Truelove . . . if she refers to Ms. Royalty's quote, it was indeed refreshing. Especially considering the kind of work Dr. Royalty usually does.