David Graham lauds Texas jury after Vioxx verdict

Dr. David Graham, an expert at the FDA, was among the first ones to criticize how the FDA works and was almost fired by his bosses for accusing them of favoring Merck in the Vioxx case. It was his research that showed that as many as 140,000 Americans have been hurt by the drug and almost 60,000 are actually dead.

Nobody at the FDA listens to him much though since the FDA has very close ties to the pharmaceutical industry which not only gives millions of dollars to the agency in fees but also keeps (mostly) the Republican politicians (except Senator Grassley) in Washington happy through campaign dollars.

Graham, while speaking to Forbes says, ""If the judgment is that there's blood on Merck's hands, there's blood on the FDA's hands as well." He was responding to the news that Carol Ernst, the widow of Robert Ernst is to receive over a quarter billion dollar from Merck for being responsible for causing his death.

"Today Merck was on trial, and a judgment was rendered," he tells the magazine. "But when will the public hold the FDA accountable for its role, its complicity, in this catastrophe?"