As an independent company, that is. Numerous employees at Bristol-Myers Squibb are tingling with anxiety right now because tomorrow the drugmaker may be told its two-year probation for a hugely embarassing accounting scandal will have ended.

You may recall that the US Attorney in New Jersey deferred prosecution after the drugmaker was caught manipulating inventory in order to inflate sales. Punishment also included returning $300 million to stockholders; creating an endowed chair of business ethics at Seton Hall University Law School; removing former CEO Petey Dolan as chairman; and allowing a retired federal judge to babysit operations. The former cfo and global marketing chief go on trial later this year for the mess.

But what about the future? Before this week, there was on-again, off-again speculation that a merger was likely, namely with Sanofi-Aventis once the Plavix litigation is resolved. Now, the Acomplia debacle is providing still more impetus for people to chatter about such a combination. Sanofi stock plunged today, wiping out roughly $9 billion in value.

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