Ken Suggs Article on the Problems with Vioxx
Ken Suggs, the current President of ATLA has an excellent op-ed article in the The State, the Columbia paper:
…Merck executives produced a document called “Dodgeball” to train their drug reps how to “dodge” questions from doctors about the cardiac dangers of Vioxx. Doctors who weren’t fooled by Merck’s deceptive marketing of Vioxx were targeted by the company. Merck worked to discredit these doctors and even threatened Stanford University scientists who questioned the drug. …
As Marsha Robbins, the forewoman of the jury, said, “We expect accountability, we expect them to be open with us, we expect them to be honest with us.”
“Stop doing the minimum to put a drug on the market,” juror Derrick Chizer said. “Go out there and do your very best.... Merck makes a lot of medicines. They’re staking our lives. Be responsible.”
Whether the verdict really makes drug executives responsible remains to be seen — Texas law reduced the punitive damages by 99 percent, to $1.6 million. Compare that to the more than $10 billion in Vioxx sales Merck made between 1999 and 2003, and the $37.8 million that Merck’s CEO made in 2004 from a salary, bonus, and stock options that he cashed in.
Hmmm…. 1.6 million verdict for making $10 billinon in sales and the CEO made $37.8 million in 2004. I’m not certain that’s enough to slow them down. Thanks for letting the public know what we see on a daily basis, Ken.
