<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 31.1
                                                                  ------------

                                CERTIFICATIONS

I, Marc S. Hermelin, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer,
certify that:

1.  I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q/A of K-V Pharmaceutical
    Company;

2.  Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
    of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
    statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
    were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
    report;

3.  Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
    information included in this report, fairly present in all material
    respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
    the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.  The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
    establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
    defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
    control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
    13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

         (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
              disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
              supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
              registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
              known to us by others within those entities, particularly during
              the period in which this report is being prepared;

         (b)  Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
              caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
              designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
              regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
              preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
              accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

         (c)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
              controls and procedures and presented in this report our
              conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
              and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
              report based on such evaluation; and

         (d)  Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
              control over financial reporting that occurred during the
              registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
              fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
              materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
              affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
              reporting; and

5.  The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
    on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
    reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
    registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
    functions):

         (a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
              design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
              which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
              ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
              information; and

         (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
              other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
              internal control over financial reporting.

Date: June 27, 2008

                                           /s/ MARC S. HERMELIN
                               -----------------------------------------------
                                            Marc S. Hermelin
                                  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                      (Principal Executive Officer)