Big Pharma Likes Daschle as Health Secretary

According to Wall Street, Tom Daschle is a good choice to be the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Shares of the big drugmakers -- Pfizer, Eli LIlly, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca -- are all trading up from their opening this morning.

The former senator from South Dakota and Senate majority leader has health-care experience.

So does his wife, Linda, writes The Post's Ceci Connelly on our 44 blog:

"[Tom] Daschle is not a registered lobbyist but a senior strategist at the law firm Alston & Bird, which has an array of health industry clients. Linda Daschle, a longtime lobbyist, has said she will set up her own niche firm, focused solely on transportation, going forward."

-- Frank Ahrens
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