Kennedy could encourage high-powered women such as Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, to spread a U.S. brand of self-made powerful women who have prospered in places such as Silicon Valley.

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Lewent, now retired as the chief financial officer of Merck, attended a charity dinner in my home for the Women's Campaign Fund a decade ago, but I have never met Krawcheck.

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However, the potential risks may be acceptable to women who have no other options, said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

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