More puzzling was the appearance in Austin of J. Keith Green, another old colleague of Koop's. Green was the CEO of Koop's failed Time Life Medical video company. Given the embarrassment the company's bankruptcy caused Koop, it seemed more than a little strange that Green would join Drkoop to advise the company on strategy. Green declined to discuss his work at Drkoop, referring a reporter to Hackett. Hackett also refused to talk about Green's role at the company.
If Koop was attempting to exert more oversight of Drkoop, it was too little, too late.
The company spent the summer of 1999 fighting attempts by former consultant Agrawal's lawyers to take testimony from Koop. But a Texas court ordered Koop to testify, and in October Agrawal's Austin attorney, Donald Taylor, flew to New York to depose the former surgeon general while he was there on business.
The deposition had barely begun when Koop betrayed his ignorance of the company that bears his name. While Zaccaro looked on, Taylor asked Koop if he understood that Superior Consultant Holding, Drkoop's largest outside investor, had acted as a key consultant in the company's early days.
"I don't think I ever was aware of that, who they were," replied Koop. His answer seemed incomprehensible given that he sat on Superior Consultant's board between 1998 and 1999.
Although Agrawal's suit potentially could cost the company millions of dollars, Koop testified that he became aware of the dispute only after receiving a letter from Agrawal's parents, who were investors in Drkoop, asking him to investigate the alleged wrongdoing. Their son was claiming that Hackett and Zaccaro reneged on a promise to hire him as COO and cheated him out of stock options worth millions. Koop turned the letter over to Zaccaro and Hackett and asked them to investigate, even though they were named in Agrawal's suit.
"I realized it was something that I had nothing to do with, knew nothing about," Koop told Taylor. "Inasmuch as [Zaccaro and Hackett] were both involved in it, I asked [Zaccaro] to continue to act for me in this matter with Mr. Hackett, and that is all I have ever done about this thing until I heard that I had to appear to give a deposition." Koop admitted he was relying on legal advice from a company attorney who also was representing Zaccaro and Hackett. (Hackett would later obtain his own attorney. Agrawal later dropped his suit against Zaccaro.)
Koop seemed unfazed by the potential conflict of interest of having one attorney represent the company as well as the executives accused of wrongdoing. He conceded he had not sought independent legal advice for Drkoop.
Did the chairman know that his CEO had given stock options worth, at one time, at least $1 million to a lawyer friend who did legal work for the company at $200 to $250 an hour? Taylor asked.
"No," Koop answered.
"This is the first time you have learned about that; isn't it?" said Taylor.
"That's right."
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Correction: In a previous version of this story, the related articles box mistakenly identified Adventist Health Systems as Adventist Health. The two companies are unrelated. |
