Vioxx?

[NeoV]

http://www.theweek.co.uk/us/46535/when-half-million-americans-died-and-nobody-noticed

I didn't know about any of this - head in the sand for me apparently, I had no idea about any of this - interesting stuff

 

[Dulanic]

China = Executes business people who harm their citizens to make a quick buck.
USA = Look the other way, free market.

Nothing new here, move along.

 

[Screech]

Wow, that's crazy. Potentially more american deaths from this drug than from world war 2. Crazy....

I thought the paragraph at the end was some particularly dark humor.....not that it was incorrect....

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Wow, that's crazy. Potentially more american deaths from this drug than from world war 2. Crazy....

I thought the paragraph at the end was some particularly dark humor.....not that it was incorrect....

What's crazy is that there's no evidence that vioxx was responsible for the incredible number of deaths that someone who has no idea about medication or health care speculates while totally unencumbered by data claims. Vioxx definitely had problems, but that this fellow discovered it by no scientific means whatsoever? Pull the other one.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Oh, there were a million anally probed by UFOs as well, but no one noticed that either.

 

[Dulanic]

What's crazy is that there's no evidence that vioxx was responsible for the incredible number of deaths that someone who has no idea about medication or health care speculates while totally unencumbered by data claims. Vioxx definitely had problems, but that this fellow discovered it by no scientific means whatsoever? Pull the other one.

That didn't take long now did it. I'm sure I can find a bottle of Vioxx somewhere... would you like to take it for a few years?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

That didn't take long now did it. I'm sure I can find a bottle of Vioxx somewhere... would you like to take it for a few years?

I'm sure I can faster than you. Do you have any evidence of his half million death claims or would you like to take some Tylenol?

 

[waggy]

That didn't take long now did it. I'm sure I can find a bottle of Vioxx somewhere... would you like to take it for a few years?

he is right. there is no proof.

I do think vioxx was shit and killed more then the few that are claimed. but the article has no proof at all.

 

[Dulanic]

I have no problem with drug companies being up front about risks and rewards. But Merck hid problems and side effects with this drug which did kill people. Is it 500,000? Probably not. That's the problem with drugs... you can't usually tell what caused the death, the drug or something else.

I personally take a dug that has a 1 in 250 chance of fucking up my life horribly... but I am aware of it and I choose that risk. People who took this drug took it without that knowledge because Merck hid facts about it. BIG difference.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I have no problem with drug companies being up front about risks and rewards. But Merck hid problems and side effects with this drug which did kill people. Is it 500,000? Probably not. That's the problem with drugs... you can't usually tell what caused the death, the drug or something else.

I personally take a dug that has a 1 in 250 chance of fucking up my life horribly... but I am aware of it and I choose that risk. People who took this drug took it without that knowledge because Merck hid facts about it. BIG difference.

Of course Merck hid things, but there was an analysis of what happened and you can believe that the lawyers would not miss an opportunity to exploit any legitimate (and perhaps not so legit) data which would support such a high claim, or anything substantially higher than what has been determined. Does that let Merck off? Hell no. I never said that. I accept Merck as having done a despicable act for which they should be held accountable. It's not that people died of side effects per se because everything has the potential for harm. In medicine it's the concept of risk vs. benefit, but when there is deliberate obfuscation to prevent a rational analysis, then that's criminal.

A good part of what I do requires an intimate knowledge of the potential downsides of medication. With that background I see the claim is somewhat akin to saying that Obama doesn't like Arizona, that people have died there while he is in office and therefor he's responsible for x thousands of deaths. People would laugh at me and should if I made that claim, but because the topic is something not generally understood in depth (most certainly by Unz and the writer of the article) it's harder to see.

 

[Dulanic]

Of course Merck hid things, but there was an analysis of what happened and you can believe that the lawyers would not miss an opportunity to exploit any legitimate (and perhaps not so legit) data which would support such a high claim, or anything substantially higher than what has been determined. Does that let Merck off? Hell no. I never said that. I accept Merck as having done a despicable act for which they should be held accountable. It's not that people died of side effects per se because everything has the potential for harm. In medicine it's the concept of risk vs. benefit, but when there is deliberate obfuscation to prevent a rational analysis, then that's criminal.

A good part of what I do requires an intimate knowledge of the potential downsides of medication. With that background I see the claim is somewhat akin to saying that Obama doesn't like Arizona, that people have died there while he is in office and therefor he's responsible for x thousands of deaths. People would laugh at me and should if I made that claim, but because the topic is something not generally understood in depth (most certainly by Unz and the writer of the article) it's harder to see.

Point taken. I still find it insane that not a single person ends up in jail for this kind of behavior. It is why this type of behavior continues... why not? The CEO still made millions and millions.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Point taken. I still find it insane that not a single person ends up in jail for this kind of behavior. It is why this type of behavior continues... why not? The CEO still made millions and millions.

I agree. Whoever sanctioned this coverup ought to be doing time.

 

[cubby1223]

Maybe the death rate was so high in 2004 from people who could not bear to live through a second Bush term. Hence a great dropoff in the death rate the next year.

The article provides no evidence, no proof of his claim.

Maybe there is more to it that the article is not stating, I don't know.

 

[Moonbeam]

Oh, there were a million anally probed by UFOs as well, but no one noticed that either.

I did. I had a great time. What also went unnoticed was that they were all conservatives. We grays call it putting folk on probation.

 

[SirStev0]

Of all the Cox-2 selective inhibitors, Vioxx was supposedly actually the best.
They just fucked up by trying to cover up data and then trying to cover up the cover up. Like morons.

Celebrex has the same risk of heart related death. Still on the market.

 

[ichy]

That 500,000 figure is sensationalistic trash.

Merck certainly engaged in some bad behavior but a lot of the Vioxx death claims were BS. I remember one of the early Vioxx lawsuits was about a 300 lb diabetic who died of a heart attack but his wife claimed it was because of Vioxx