This
paper explains that Merck's culpability lies in the fact that fully six years before the
drug VIOXX was withdrawn from the market, they continued to attempt to dodge and deny rather than holding detailed studies on the
cardiovascular risks of the drugs, which has made Merck so vulnerable to court action today. The author points out that when Pfizer Pharmaceuticals found itself in similar trouble with Celebrex, it should have re-submitted Celebrex for safety trial specific to cardiovascular events to the FDA; instead Pfizer, like Merck, bet that marketing the risk versus benefit profile of the drug would be sufficient. The paper relates that Johnson and Johnson plans to make
direct to
consumer (DTC) advertisements for drugs, such as Levitra and Viagra, more informative; however, the paper stresses that the best
decision about whether or not a drug is right for a
patient should be left to the physician and his or her patient, not a 30 second television advertisement. Table of Contents Merck and VIOXX Pfizer and Celebrex Johnson & Johnson and DTC (Direct to Consumer) Marketing