If Forest does not switch enough patients to Lexapro, the damage done to it will be far worse than the massive hit Eli Lilly (nyse: LLY - news - people ) stock took when Prozac lost patent protection.
"It will be some time before this fire is out, but our challenge now is to make sure we do everything to contain the damage, " said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who oversees the Forest Service.