Merck and Co. Inc.

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Merck & Co., Inc. describes itself as "a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first." [1] "Putting patients first" has so far "led to more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths" [2] through their arthritis treatment Vioxx between its approval in 1999 and its withdrawal from the market in 2004.

The company

Merck & Co., Inc. should not be confused with Merck KGaA. While Merck KGaA is allegedly the World's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company and based in Germany, the U.S. company Merck & Co. became independent after the First World War. [3]

Corporate social responsibility at Merck

From the Merck website: "At Merck, our business is discovering, developing and delivering novel medicines and vaccines that can make a difference in people's lives. But our mission also entails something more. As a Company, we seek to maintain high ethical standards and a culture that values honesty, integrity and transparency in all that we do. Company decisions are driven by what is right for patients. And we are committed to our employees, to the environment in which we live and to the communities we serve worldwide." [4]

This statement has to be seen in contrast with Merck's Vioxx scandal and their range of products, especially the absence of any Malaria treatment. "Malaria kills an estimated 2.5 million people a year, the majority of these African children aged below five years old. While western pharmaceutical companies have invested approximately £ 11bn over the past decade in "lifestyle drugs" for impotence, weight loss, baldness, smoking and ageing, the product development budget for the Tropical Disease Research (TDR) programme, a joint effort from the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), averages £ 6m per year. [..] It would be impossible for the drugs companies to make a profit in African and Asian countries where the average wage can be as little as £ 1 per day and, in Africa, economic growth is slowing by 1.3% per year as a direct result of malaria alone." (The Herald (Glasgow), August 20, 2004)

Products

Merck provides different lists of products for patients and healthcare professionals. That for professionals includes medicines and a vaccine that are partly not approved yet.

Patients get information on:

  • Rotateq, a rotavirus vaccine for children [5]
  • Crixivan, an antiretroviral agent for HIV patients, recommended to be taken in combination with other antiretroviral agents [6]
  • Emend, a medication to suppress nausea and vomiting as side effects of chemotherapy [7]
  • Fosamax, an Osteoporosis medication [8]
  • Fosamax Plus D, with added vitamin D [9]
  • Maxalt, a painkiller for migraine patients [10]
  • Propecia, treatment for male hair loss [11]
  • Proscar, a medication for prostate treatment [12]
  • Singulair, an asthma and allergy treatment [13]
  • Vioxx, a painkiller for arthritis patients. The link [14] provided by Merck only shows Merck's hideous attempt to justify the Vioxx scandal (see below)
  • Zocor, a cholesterol medication [15]

The Vioxx scandal

From the Guardian, March 16, 2006: "Thousands of patients are now suing manufacturers Merck after the company was forced to withdraw the painkiller, widely used by arthritis sufferers, in 2004. Data from its trials had emerged showing that it increased the risks of heart attack. David Graham of the Food and Drug Administration, the US drug regulator, said it could have caused up to 140,000 cases of heart disease in the US since it was licensed in 1999."

Merck keeps claiming they voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the market. [16]

"Insider emails published by the Wall Street Journal reveal that Merck, the maker of Vioxx, was fully aware of the health risks of its COX-2 inhibitor anti-inflammatory drug as early as March, 2000. As is apparent from the published emails, there was a concerted effort to bury the negative evidence and even distort the drug trials by excluding heart patients from the Vioxx studies so that, "...the rate of cardiovascular problems for Vioxx patients would not be evident." " [17]

Management committee

External links

  • http://www.merck.com
  • Beth Pearson, "Malaria: why make a killing?;It kills 2.5 million people every year, yet no one was interested in finding a cure. There just wasn't enough profit in it. Now scientists in Dundee are leading a pharmaceutical revolution", The Herald (Glasgow), August 20, 2004.
  • Sarah Boseley, “G2: From test-tube to medicine cabinet: How a new drug makes it on to the market”, ‘’The Guardian’’, March 16, 2006
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