Thursday, April 2, 2009

MERCK'S HIT LIST

Seek Them Out, Do Them In

A very large hat tip to our Inspired Leader's Twitter, which carried this news from Australia's current Vioxx trial. Excerpt provided...It ain't pretty.

Vioxx maker Merck and Co drew up doctor hit list

Milanda Rout April 01, 2009
Article from: The Australian

AN international drug company made a hit list of doctors who had to be "neutralised" or discredited because they criticised the anti-arthritis drug the pharmaceutical giant produced.
Staff at US company Merck &Co emailed each other about the list of doctors - mainly researchers and academics - who had been negative about the drug Vioxx or Merck and a recommended course of action.

The email, which came out in the Federal Court in Melbourne yesterday as part of a class action against the drug company, included the words "neutralise", "neutralised" or "discredit" against some of the doctors' names.

It is also alleged the company used intimidation tactics against critical researchers, including dropping hints it would stop funding to institutions and claims it interfered with academic appointments.

"We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live," a Merck employee wrote, according to an email excerpt read to the court by Julian Burnside QC, acting for the plaintiff.
Merck & Co and its Australian subsidiary, Merck, Sharpe and Dohme, are being sued for compensation by more than 1000 Australians, who claim they suffered heart attacks or strokes as a result of Vioxx. ......

6 comments:

  1. "We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live…" This is not a quote from Hitler.

    These folks are dangerous. They have too much power, too much money; they are affecting our democracy with their lobbyists and want to use tactics to destroy anyone who doesn’t like them.

    They scare the Hell out me.

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  2. I can relate Dianne, but I think I'd go to Haldeman/Ehrlichman/Nixon rather than Hitler. It's not so much about killing people as intimidating or bribing them--whatever serves to neutralize. Killing, after all, is messy and can be more expensive. As long as they are no longer making trouble, there is no need to soil a sheet or a dump truck.

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  3. I'll compromise and just call them "the mob." That's who they act like.

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  4. Perhaps we need a thread here simply called Pharmaporn. A few excerpts from here, from the AZ/Seroquel folks, et. al.....there is no shortage.

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  5. Yeah, sex, lies and video tapes.
    This could get real ugly…

    ReplyDelete
  6. give 'em enough rope....

    ReplyDelete

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