The Withdrawal of Vioxx
"In September 2004, Merck announced a voluntary withdrawal of its blockbuster drug Vioxx (a cox2 inhibitor used to treat pain and inflammation) from the market due to concerns of an increased user risk of cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and stroke. As a result, over 6,000 lawsuits were filed in the US and elsewhere by people claiming that they or their family members had suffered heart attacks as a result of taking Vioxx. Subsequently, it was revealed that Merck had known about the risks associated with Vioxx as early as 2000.
Furthermore, the company was accused of manipulating a study in The New England Journal of Medicines, whereby researchers who were sponsored by Merck deliberately erased a table with information about cardiovascular effects before sending it for publication. During the lawsuits two medical professionals testified that they were pressured by Merck not to publish test results that showed increased rates of cardiovascular disease. In early 2005 a study calculated that Vioxx caused between 88.000 and 140.000 cases of heart disease in the US.
In the first US lawsuit, which Merck lost, the jury demanded US$ 229 million in punitive damages. The amount was based on an internal document of Merck that estimated that the company could make US$ 229 million in profits if the publication of warnings on the product could be delayed for four months. Merck did spend about US$ 160 million on marketing for Vioxx annually." p. 11
Source: "Branding the Cure A consumer perspective on Corporate Social Responsibility, Drug Promotion and the Pharmaceutical Industry in Europe"
Published by Consumers International in June 2006.
© Consumers International, June 2006.
This study is available on the site and shows how pharmaceutic industry works. The companies studied included: Abbott, AstraZeneca, Admirall Prodesfarma, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson) (J&J), Lilly (Eli), Lundbeck, Menarini, Merck Sharp Dohme, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Nycomed, Orion Pharma,
Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventi, Schering AG, Schering-Plough and Wyeth.
11 hours ago
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2 comments:
WHERE I STAND...
OK, the rubber meets the road – this is where I stand – you do realize that this was not easy? I mean I just would not be STUPID enough to do this unless 100% HONEST and knowing of the TRUTH and having the conviction… NOW, do we all get it? Are all BONE ATTACKS over with yet?
WILL I BE PUSHED OVER AND FALL?
Probably. I mean without your help to prop me up... with that, I think NOT!
PREAMBLE TO VPEG
The 5 stages of grief – we should all ask ourselves where are we here – seems to me in acceptance. SO, do we continue to accept and let MURK continue to (allegedly) callously MURDER for ill gotten gains? or do we do the right thing? Sure, if it is too much, simply accept. But if proper pushback is an emotional option, seems like the right way to go to me… Anger way past that, acceptance? way past that too.. PUSHBACK, now that is where I'm at…
OH, I wasn't kidding your honor – remember that number 5? maybe it should be 6?
……
……
SENT (among more) to the MDL JUDGE FALLON - APRIL 28, 2008
NOTE: I suggest that the door is open for claiming civil rights violations and BUILDING YOUR COERCISON CASES...
Merck's strategy, exploitation of the MDL process, riding the public's very much misunderstood thoughts on legal reform, and lobbying for Mass Tort reform turned into privatization, continues to work! … occurred with a major reason for an attorney to gain their clients participation (a very large $ payback versus the work done and virtually eliminating attorney risk), as well as much work done by the negotiating parties to ensure that most attorneys would simply recommend that their clients accept the terms of the settlement. At the same time, it seemed to be a goal of the settlement terms to make it as hard as possible to "opt-out" of the agreement. VPEG is strewn with "opt-ins" who assuredly did so only under undue stress. The artificial process of medical assessment (the GATE process) also provided a convenient method for attorneys to claim that they were being ethical.
Witnessing so many individuals, in spite of vehement objection and good reason not to accept the settlement, finally doing so, Mr. Harrison is reminded of the 5 stages of grief model
- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance - are also transferable to personal change and emotional upset resulting from factors other than death and dying: Dr Elisabeth Kübler- www.businessballs.com/elisabeth_kubler_ross_five_stages_of_grief.htm
There is no doubt that too many "opt-ins", regardless of what they signed, in reality felt that they were boxed in from several directions. Much more often than not, they are convinced that this is by design, not via chance. "Coerced", "brow-beaten", "fear mongered" and "abandoned" became normal VPEG lexicon. In spite of the disgust and rage of the litigants, accompanied by vehement denial that they would ever accept this "pittance" most litigants go on to the last of the 5 stages of grief - ACCEPTANCE. However, this "acceptance' came with vows to somehow find a way(s) to make it known that "accepting" was basically the equivalent of being "pummeled". One is very hard pressed to find even just a few members that accepted based upon appropriate representation, let alone "happy" with the settlement. Acceptance is almost exclusively the domain of just giving up, feeling that something is better than nothing, having too many financial and other hardships (from their MI/stroked problems) to continue otherwise, and the realization that unfairly they were being effectively denied reasonable efforts to gain legal representation elsewhere.
WHERE I STAND...
OK, the rubber meets the road – this is where I stand – you do realize that this was not easy? I mean I just would not be STUPID enough to do this unless 100% HONEST and knowing of the TRUTH and having the conviction… NOW, do we all get it? Are all BONE ATTACKS over with yet?
WILL I BE PUSHED OVER AND FALL?
Probably. I mean without your help to prop me up... with that, I think NOT!
PREAMBLE TO VPEG
The 5 stages of grief – we should all ask ourselves where are we here – seems to me in acceptance. SO, do we continue to accept and let MURK continue to (allegedly) callously MURDER for ill gotten gains? or do we do the right thing? Sure, if it is too much, simply accept. But if proper pushback is an emotional option, seems like the right way to go to me… Anger way past that, acceptance? way past that too.. PUSHBACK, now that is where I'm at…
OH, I wasn't kidding your honor – remember that number 5? maybe it should be 6?
……
……
SENT (among more) to the MDL JUDGE FALLON - APRIL 28, 2008
NOTE: I suggest that the door is open for claiming civil rights violations and BUILDING YOUR COERCISON CASES...
Merck's strategy, exploitation of the MDL process, riding the public's very much misunderstood thoughts on legal reform, and lobbying for Mass Tort reform turned into privatization, continues to work! … occurred with a major reason for an attorney to gain their clients participation (a very large $ payback versus the work done and virtually eliminating attorney risk), as well as much work done by the negotiating parties to ensure that most attorneys would simply recommend that their clients accept the terms of the settlement. At the same time, it seemed to be a goal of the settlement terms to make it as hard as possible to "opt-out" of the agreement. VPEG is strewn with "opt-ins" who assuredly did so only under undue stress. The artificial process of medical assessment (the GATE process) also provided a convenient method for attorneys to claim that they were being ethical.
Witnessing so many individuals, in spite of vehement objection and good reason not to accept the settlement, finally doing so, Mr. Harrison is reminded of the 5 stages of grief model
- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance - are also transferable to personal change and emotional upset resulting from factors other than death and dying: Dr Elisabeth Kübler- www.businessballs.com/elisabeth_kubler_ross_five_stages_of_grief.htm
There is no doubt that too many "opt-ins", regardless of what they signed, in reality felt that they were boxed in from several directions. Much more often than not, they are convinced that this is by design, not via chance. "Coerced", "brow-beaten", "fear mongered" and "abandoned" became normal VPEG lexicon. In spite of the disgust and rage of the litigants, accompanied by vehement denial that they would ever accept this "pittance" most litigants go on to the last of the 5 stages of grief - ACCEPTANCE. However, this "acceptance' came with vows to somehow find a way(s) to make it known that "accepting" was basically the equivalent of being "pummeled". One is very hard pressed to find even just a few members that accepted based upon appropriate representation, let alone "happy" with the settlement. Acceptance is almost exclusively the domain of just giving up, feeling that something is better than nothing, having too many financial and other hardships (from their MI/stroked problems) to continue otherwise, and the realization that unfairly they were being effectively denied reasonable efforts to gain legal representation elsewhere.
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