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                                                                   EXHIBIT 31.1
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                                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 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: August 11, 2008

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