Court Discloses More Proof That Merck Knew Vioxx Was Risky « Medical Detox Programs in a stress-free environment

April 28, 2009

Court Discloses More Proof That Merck Knew Vioxx Was Risky

Filed under: Big Pharma, Vioxx, pharmaceutical giants, pharmaceutical sales — Rod Malcolm @ 8:31 am

In an internal email from 2001, a critical senior Merck researcher says interpretation of Vioxx test data was “wishful thinking . . .interpreted to support a preconceived hypothesis.”

Merck paid a cardiologist to sign his name to a 2001 medical journal article written by Merck staff that claimed no evidence of cardiovascular events arising from its painkiller Vioxx, according to court records in an on-going Australian class-action suit.

The class action alleges Merck covered up a higher risk of cardiovascular conditions.

More than 1000 complainants cite cardiovascular conditions following at least one prescription of the drug.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a 2001 email submitted in court shows that senior Merck researcher Briggs Morrison “expressed concern about the claim that Vioxx was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events.”

“That seems wishful thinking, not a critical interpretation of the data,” Dr. Morrison said in the email to colleagues. “The data appears to have been interpreted to support a pre-conceived hypothesis.”

But the claim of no risk was nonetheless included in the final version of the article, which was sent to consulting U.S. cardiologist Dr. Marvin Konstam for approval and signature, and eventually published in the medical journal Circulation in October 2001, the Herald reports.

Dr. Konstam was named lead author, five of the authors were Merck employees, and the other two, including Dr. Konstam, were paid consultants.

If you’ve been following the Vioxx saga for the past few years, the name Briggs Morrison might ring a bell. Back in 2005 in Atlantic City, NJ, Morrison achieved notoriety of sorts when the judge in the second Vioxx trial ordered his defense testimony on behalf of Merck be stricken from the record, saying he overstepped his role as a fact witness.

Judge Higbee said at the time: “Quite frankly, I felt sick yesterday afternoon. I realized how I have got sucked into this. I feel that I was misled during the testimony.”

Higbee said Morrison, Merck’s lead-off defense witness, testified about a series of animal tests and their implications for the safety of Vioxx, but was not an expert on the subject and completely unqualified to testify.

Will it ever end? Merck’s grasping financial greed and ethical deficiencies are matched only by its stupidity.

Medical Detox Programs in a stress-free environment

April 28, 2009

Court Discloses More Proof That Merck Knew Vioxx Was Risky

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