Ex-Bristol execs plead not guilty

Two former Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. executives entered not-guilty pleas to a new indictment charging them with misleading investors about drug inventory practices that inflated sales by $1.95 billion.

Frederick Schiff, a former finance chief, and Richard J. Lane, who oversaw worldwide medicines, were indicted for a third time April 12. They are accused of arranging tens of millions of dollars in incentives to spur wholesalers to buy more drugs than they needed. New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb paid $300 million to avoid prosecution for the practice.