FOX BUSINESS: “Merck knew [Vioxx] posed a threat but lied about the potential risks…”
Nov 23
But we are to trust that their vaccines are safe. Tell that to the Gardasil girls.
FOX BUSINESS: Big Pharma Paying Out Huge Settlements In Marketing Cases HERE
The cost of doing business for big pharma is rising – dramatically. And it’s not because of research and development of new blockbusters to cure cancer, alleviate pain or help people get a good night’s sleep.
Merck (NYSE: MRK) on Tuesday said it will pay $950 million to settle criminal and civil allegations brought by the U.S. Department of Justice related to Merck’s marketing of Vioxx, a widely-used painkiller that was pulled from the shelves in 2004 after a study revealed the drug increased the risk of heart attacks.
To make a very long story short, prosecutors believed Merck knew the drug posed a threat but lied about the potential risks in its marketing and sold it anyway. Why not? The drug raked in $2.5 billion in revenue in 2003.
The astounding thing about the Merck settlement is that it’s not even the largest of its kind this month.
Three weeks ago, British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK: 42.03, -0.43, -1.01%), which, like Merck, has extensive operations in the U.S., reached a $3 billion settlement related to sprawling allegations tied to that company’s marketing of its diabetes drug Avandia.
The GlaxoSmithKline deal broke a record, topping a $2.3 billion settlement reached by Pfizer in September of 2009. And Pfizer’s deal came hard on the heels of a $1.4 billion settlement reached by Eli Lilly in January of 2009.
WALL ST JRNL: Merck to Pay $950 Million in Vioxx Settlement HERE
Merck & Co. agreed to pay $950 million and plead guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge to resolve government allegations that the company illegally promoted its former painkiller Vioxx and deceived the government about the drug’s safety.
The settlement of a seven-year U.S. government investigation brings Merck closer to resolving the mountain of litigation that followed the company’s 2004 withdrawal of the big-selling drug from the market after a study showed it increased the risk for heart attacks and strokes.
Nov 24 at 10:53
Be aware of drugs that potentiate diabetes.
Eli Lilly Zyprexa Olanzapine issues linger.
The use of powerful antipsychotic drugs has increased in children as young as three years old. Weight gain, increases in triglyceride levels and associated risks for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The average weight gain (adults) over the 12 week study period was the highest for Zyprexa—17 pounds. You’d be hard pressed to gain that kind of weight sport-eating your way through the holidays.One in 145 adults died in clinical trials of those taking the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa.
This was Lilly's #1 product $5 billion per year sales,moreover Lilly also make billions more on drugs that treat diabetes.
— Daniel Haszard Zyprexa victim activist and patient.
FMI zyprexa-victims(dot)com