Dodd's wife serving on health care company boards

The wife of Sen. Chris Dodd, a leading player in this year's attempt at health care reform, serves on the board of three health care companies, The Associated Press reports.

"Jackie Clegg Dodd, wife of Sen. Chris Dodd, serves on the boards of Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cardiome Pharma Corp., and Brookdale Senior Living, their Securities and Exchange Commission filings and Web sites show.

Sen. Dodd, D-Conn., is filling in for ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will soon start work on a health care bill."

"Other publicly available documents show Mrs. Dodd last year was one of the most highly compensated non-employee members of the Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc. board, on which she has served since 2004. She earned $32,000 in fees and $109,587 in stock option awards last year, according to the company's SEC filings.

"Mrs. Dodd earned $79,063 in fees from Cardiome in its last fiscal year, while Brookdale Senior Living gave her $122,231 in stock awards in 2008, their SEC filings show."

The AP reports that both Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., both also have ties to health care interests. Rockefeller is honorary chairman of the Alliance for Health Reform and Coburn is a practicing physician, though Senate rules bar him from accepting money from patients.

Dodd has also sought a 90-day extension to file his financial disclosure report. Other reports were filed mostly in May and the Senate was releasing them Friday (Margask and Theimer, 6/12).