Victims of Merck's Fosamax total 3,300...

General Discussion Media & Awareness
#1

Bloomberg Business News reports today that:

“Merck & Co. officials hid the risks that its Fosamax osteoporosis drug could weaken bones and lead to femur fractures, a lawyer told an Atlantic City jury in the first case raising such claims to come to trial.”

The report continues:

“To protect Fosamax sales, Merck officials for 15 years ignored studies and side-effect reports indicating that long- term Fosamax use put women taking it to prevent osteoporosis at risk for ‘atypical femur fractures.’”

Sound familiar?

How on earth Merck manages to stay in business is beyond me. They are a menace to society, far more perilous than a pack of stinking-drunk airline pilots.

The full story here:

nj.com/business/index.ssf/20 … arges.html

#2

On a related note, see this AP story – again involving Merck – headlined “FDA probe of diabetes drugs hurts makers’ stock”…

cnbc.com/id/100554302

What’s interesting is this passage:

“The Food and Drug Administration said it is seeking more information about evidence found by academic researchers that the two groups of drugs can raise the risk of inflammation of the pancreas and cellular changes in the insulin-making organ that occur before cancer.”

Needless to say, it’s promising to see the FDA following up on academic research. Let’s hope they react similarly when research shows that finasteride is indeed the cause of PFS (as if there were ever any doubt).

#3

It’s amazing that they can have so many drugs that have fucked up so many people without any type of government crackdown or extreme safeguards. The propecia label doesn’t even list all the side effects. Were the mental side effects listed I never would have touched it. I had no idea. It’s really frustrating.

#4

Exactly my point. It’s like a Nazi death camp is sitting in Whitehouse Station, NJ, operating at full capacity, and no one is saying a word about it.

What’s worse is that the camp’s overseer…

youtube.com/watch?v=ruXblaG … sults_main

…is allowed to not only roam free, but is rewarded for his efforts with millions of dollars.

I am quickly losing faith in the American system. Where in the Constitution does it say any citizen of this (once) great nation has the inalienable right to pursue profits ahead of public safety?

#5

And more hopeful signs that the FDA is doing its job, this time on sugammadex, an experimental drug to reverse the effects of anesthesia:

cnbc.com/id/100558107

Let’s hope the FDA keeps the heat on Merck – rather than allowing more nightmares like Voixx and Propecia to slip into circulation.

#6

Setback for Merck in the Fosamax case.

The story here:

law360.com/classaction/artic … y-injuries

#7

No drug company will willingly list anhedonia as a potential side effect of their medication - even if they are aware of it. It will become “dizziness”, “low mood”, or something else equivalently palatable.

#8

Another setback for Merck in the Fosamax case:

Reuters today reports that:

“A federal judge overseeing consolidated litigation against Merck & Co over jaw injuries allegedly caused by the osteoporosis drug Fosamax has ordered hundreds of cases be dispersed to courts across the country for trial. The decision by U.S. District Judge John Keenan in Manhattan marks an unusual and potentially costly development for Merck.”

The full story here:

reuters.com/article/2013/08/ … XF20130830

#9

Lainie Keller said the company “is committed to defending its conduct in regard to Fosamax and has confidence in its defense strategy that has had so much success in the courts.”

Ah, so that’s what matters. “Success in the courts,” not health and quality of life of its own patients. Newsflash: It’s not 2005 anymore.

#10

Good point, SA.

I continue to wonder how Merck gets away with its game of Let’s See How Many of Our Customers’ Lives We Can Decimate Then Leave the Scene of the Crime Scott Free, Laughing All the Way to the Bank.

Someone needs to remind them that they are – or should be – a health care institution.

They are not Goldman Sachs.

#11

More interesting coverage of the Fosamax trials:

Robert Kennedy Jr’s Ring of Fire reports:

"U.S. District Court Judge John Keenan of Manhattan made an unorthodox call in the lawsuits against pharmaceutical giant, Merck & Co. In a move that could possibly be a harsh blow to the drug company, Keenan decided to have each of the cases against Merck spread throughout several different courts across America.

"What makes the decision so unusual is that most mass tort litigations are consolidated before a single judge, which makes the litigation process easier for the companies being sued. Of the 5,075 cases filed against Merck regarding Fosamax, one-fifth of them were dispersed to several federal and state courts nationwide.

“‘It’s a big deal as it changes the cost paradigm for Merck exponentially,’ said Timothy O’Brien, a partner and Fosamax litigation attorney at Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, P.A.”

The full story here:

ringoffireradio.com/2013/09/ … -merck-co/