There have been some changes recently in the public affairs and policy department at Merck. The Star-Ledger of New Jersey reports:

Steven Kelmar, vice president of public affairs and policy for the past 16 months, announced he would leave after Bruce Kuhlik, who oversees public affairs and policy as Merck's general counsel, said he would be splitting Kelmar's position into two jobs.

The paper's excellent Pharmalot blog continues:

This is the second time in about 18 months that Merck has changed top public relations people. Kelmar's predecessor, Joan Wainwright, left last year after struggling through the Vioxx fallout and now works at Tyco Electronics.

No replacements have been named as of yet.

UPDATE: Doug Simon, CEO of D S Simon Productions (disclosure: I used to work at D S Simon) sent us his video interview with Ed Silverman, editor of the Phamalot blog. You can view it here.