QUOTE from news article:
(The Australian.)
NEWS ARTICLE: Vioxx maker Merck and Co drew up a doctor 'hit list'
AN international drug company made a hit list of doctors who had to be "neutralised" or discredited because they criticised the anti-arthritis drug the pharmaceutical giant produced. Staff at US Company Merck & Co emailed each other about the list of doctors - mainly researchers and academics - who had been negative about the drug Vioxx or Merck and a recommended course of action. The email, which came out in the Federal Court in Melbourne yesterday as part of a class action against the drug company, included the words "neutralise", "neutralised" or "discredit" against some of the doctors' names, The Australian reported. It is also alleged the company used intimidation tactics against critical researchers, including dropping hints it would stop funding to institutions and claims it interfered with academic appointments. Related Coverage
• Vioxx danger claim Herald Sun, 31 Mar 2009
• Drug link to heart woes 'was known' The Australian, 31 Mar 2009
• Class action against drug begins today The Australian, 30 Mar 2009
• Drug companies' lavish seminars for docs NEWS.com.au, 28 Mar 2009
• The Lab: Not such a bird brain The Australian, 21 Mar 2009
"We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live," a Merck employee wrote, according to an email excerpt read to the court by Julian Burnside QC, acting for the plaintiff. Merck & Co and its Australian subsidiary, Merck, Sharpe and Dohme, are being sued for compensation by more than 1000 Australians, who claim they suffered heart attacks or strokes as a result of Vioxx. The drug was launched in 1999 and at its height of popularity was used by 80 million people worldwide because it did not cause stomach problems as did traditional anti-inflammatory drugs. It was voluntarily withdrawn from sale in 2004 after concerns were raised that it caused heart attacks and strokes and a clinical trial testing these potential side affects was aborted for safety reasons. Lead plaintiff Graeme Peterson, 58, claims the drug caused him to have a heart attack in 2003 after he took it for back pain and arthritis every day from May 2001. Merck last year settled thousands of lawsuits in the US over the effects of Vioxx for $US4.85billion ($7.14 billion) but made no admission of guilt. The company is fighting the class action in Australia.
Peter Garling, acting for Merck, accused Mr Peterson of not taking the drug Vioxx in the months leading up to his heart attack in December 2003. Mr Peterson denied this allegation. The trial, before Justice Chris Jessop, continues. Read more in The Australian. End of Quote.
LATEST NEWS - MARCH 6th 2010
From The West Australian Newspaper
Quote: "Thousands of Australians could take legal action against US pharmaceutical giant Merck after a judge found its arthritis drug Vioxx was not fit for sale because it doubled the risk of heart attack". End.And "Judge Jessop found Vioxx was 'not of merchantable quality' and was not fit for the purpose of arthritic relief". The judgment follows five years of litigation and a 48-day trial. Merck has already compensated US users of Vioxx with a $4.85 billion package in 2008. WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT WE'RE GETTING WITH DRUGS ...DO WE?
Return fron news article to the TOXIC DECEPTION page
|
