Merck and Vioxx

Some dialogue between Jag and I regarding an opinion I read yesterday in the Wall Street Journal:

Me: What's your take on this Vioxx/Merck controversy? I was reading an article in the WSJ (albeit a conservative newspaper) that said that Vioxx should have stayed on the market with an expanded warning label. It said that Vioxx was a "Godsend" to arthritis suferers with high risk of stomach bleeding. Do you think it should have been pulled off of the market? I just wanted to get an opinion from a physician.

Jag: I believe it should have been taken off the market in 2002. That's when the initial associations of Vioxx being linked to increase in strokes & heart attacks came out. The drug company kept denying the claims & proceeded to market the drug even after these initial warnings. Merck is one of the tightest companies with the Food & Drug Administration & they get away with murder.

Merck has been doing this with other drugs as well. Actually Pfizer is anotehr dangerous company, like Schering Plough.
There was a huge article about VioxxMerck in last Friday's USA Today.

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