Today, Merck & Co. announced that a Texas appeals court has ruled in their favor, overturning what had been a $32 million lawsuit. The suit had been brought by the widow of a 71-year-old man who died of a heart attack after taking Merck’s since recalled drug, VIOXX.

As Merck represents it, today’s appeal is a sign of success. They site 12 juries that have ruled in favor of the company, and five juries that have ruled in favor of the plaintiff. But in reality, these twelve so-called victories are vastly overshadowed by the thousands of families involved in class action VIOXX lawsuits, which Merck is expected to settle for $4.85 billion. (more…)

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Earlier this month, the Journal of the American Medical Association exposed pharma giant Merck for obscuring the source and results of studies published about their drug Vioxx. It turns out that dozens of articles favorable of Vioxx were written primarily by Merck employees.

The company conducted and interpreted the research, hired ghostwriters to write it up, and then paid academic medical experts to put their names on the papers before they were published, said the journal. JAMA’s investigation shows that in at least one case, a study’s draft text was even affixed with “External author?” where the byline eventually listed medical experts. Merck also failed to report connections between Vioxx and death in patients with Alzheimer’s, according to the journal. (more…)

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