Merck lied to doctors about Vioxx dangers
That is exactly what Mark Lanier was able to prove in his arguments. It is now pretty clear that as has been charged in the past, Merck did hide the risks of Vioxx. In the ongoing Vioxx trial in the lawsuit filed by Carol Ernst, the evidence presented by attorney Mark Lanier shows that Merck did not tell doctors what it told the FDA. This could have serious implications for Merck since the company has absolutely refused to acknowledge that anyone has ever died after taking Vioxx. According to FDA estimates, however, over 50,000 Americans alone have died and approximately 140,000 injuries are attributed to the drug.
While a lot of the evidence about Merck’s aggressive strategy to sell Vioxx and to generally not disclose the risks of Vioxx has been in the public domain for months now, this piece of evidence was disclosed only yesterday.
Drug companies in America often do not often disclose the risks of their drugs. To add to that problem, American doctors do not keep up to date with medical research and often rely on drug sales rep to provide them with information on drugs. This creates a very sad situation in which the doctors essentially tell patients what the drug companies want them to hear. Since drug companies often have complete control over what doctors know about drugs (they also provide financial and other incentives to doctors), Americans never really get to know the risks of a drug. Similarly, drug companies, through direct-to-consumer advertising, can also control what an average American knows about a drug.
Merck has been widely known to drag its feet on label changes for Vioxx to highlight its risks. The company also used aggressive sales reps who trained using games like DodgeBall to avoid questions from doctors. While it received warnings from FDA, the company did nothing to tell Americans about dangers of Vioxx. While Merck exploited its close relationship with FDA, behind their back, Merck called them with offensive names when FDA officials asked for label changes on Vioxx.
In the meantime, Judge Eldon Fallon announced that the first federal Vioxx trial will begin just after Thanksgiving. Merck is expected to face over 100,000 lawsuits over Vioxx recall.
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