AMS Health Services Hits Turbulance

Red Orbit:

The recently hired president of AMS Health Sciences Inc. is no longer with the company and a director resigned Wednesday, the third board member to step down in a month, the Oklahoma City company announced Thursday.

The changes — the latest in a series of tumultuous shifts at the multilevel marketing company — were announced in a regulatory filing. The filing didn’t disclose whether President Steven G. Kochen left voluntarily.

John Hail, AMS founder, chief executive officer and chairman, was unavailable for comment. Hail, 74, will serve as interim president while the company searches for Kochen’s successor, the filing stated.

AMS, which sells about 60 diet aids, nutritional supplements and skin care products, has seen its stock price spiral from $6 to 83 cents in the past year. The company has been unable to turn a profit since the Food and Drug Administration in 2003 banned ephedra, the main ingredient in what was then the most popular AMS product.

AMS Director Brent Haggard resigned from the board Wednesday, the company said. Haggard, who served on the audit and compensation committees, joined the board in October 2004.