AP: Merck Tried to Alter Vioxx in 2000

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050623/ap_on_bi_ge/vioxx_safety_9

The widely publicized study in March 2000 found that patients taking Vioxx were five times more likely to have heart attacks than individuals using the generic medicine naproxen. Merck insisted at the time that this was a result of naproxen's cardioprotective properties and not any defect in Vioxx.

But behind the scenes, company scientists were considering combining Vioxx with another agent to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to a document that was mistakenly provided by Merck to plaintiff lawyers as part of the evidence-gathering process in one of the hundreds of Vioxx lawsuits around the country.

That document, a communication between Merck researchers and the company's patent department, stated that the way Vioxx works to reduce pain might also increase cardiovascular problems. They suggested a patent be sought for a combination drug mixing Vioxx with another agent to lessen the risk.

Merck removed Vioxx from the market last September after a later study showed it doubled patients' risk of heart attacks and strokes. Thousand of wrongful death and injury lawsuits have been filed against Merck based on claims that the company hid Vioxx's risks. Analysts estimate the company's liability could reach as high as $18 billion. The first trial is set to begin next month in Angleton, Texas.

[Up2Late]

1. NPR did better, and far less Merck friendly 2 part story weeks ago

(and with this story, which seems to be a trend, they printed the transcript on-line. The NPR stories were based on Leaked e-mails and follow up interviews and Journalism)

Part 1: Documents Suggest Merck Tried to Censor Vioxx Critics

Listen to On-line at link above...

by Snigdha Prakash

All Things Considered, June 9, 2005 · Because of intense interest in this report, NPR has decided to present a full transcript.

Introduction: At least 38,000 Americans are believed to have died from taking the pain pill Vioxx before it was withdrawn last year. Drug maker Merck is now facing thousands of lawsuits.

Over the past few months, it has emerged that the company was aware for years that Vioxx might be dangerous. Now, new documents obtained by NPR suggest that even as Merck was making Vioxx into a bestseller, the company was putting pressure on independent doctors. The company's apparent aim: to keep them from discussing evidence of Vioxx's potential safety problems. The documents show that Merck exerted pressure not only on individual doctors, but also on several of the nation's top medical schools.

Merck tells NPR it did nothing wrong. NPR's Snigdha Prakash has the first story in a two-part report.

Transcript: When a drug company wants to sell a pill to a doctor, its best salesperson is usually another doctor....

(more at link above, Part 2 below)

Part 2: Did Merck Try to Censor Vioxx Critics?

Listen to On-line Audio at link above

by Snigdha Prakash

All Things Considered, June 9, 2005 · Because of intense interest in this report, NPR has decided to present a full transcript.

Introduction: NPR's story about Merck and its efforts to suppress safety concerns about the painkiller Vioxx continues with a look at how Merck exerted its influence in the world of top medical institutions. NPR's Snighda Prakash presents part two of her report.

Transcript: Dr. Louis Sherwood's campaign to "fix" Vioxx critic Gurkirpal Singh began with a series of phone calls to Singh's bosses at Stanford University.

"I don't usually receive phone calls on a Saturday at home from representatives of drug companies," says James Fries, a professor of medicine at Stanford. "So it was definitely unusual."

The call came on Oct. 28, 2000. " I received a call from a medical director at Merck, stating that someone on my staff had been making wild and irresponsible public statements about the cardiovascular side effects of Vioxx," Fries says. He says Sherwood hinted there would be repercussions for Fries and Stanford if Singh's statements didn't stop. He was left with the sense that Merck's financial support to Stanford was at risk.

(more at link above)

[daleo]

2. That little mistake will cost them plenty

If they were trying to alter the drug back then to reduce the harmful side effect, it demonstrates they knew of the danger.