Complain about a product or service

Researchers Claim Vioxx Safety Study Was Actually Marketing Plan

Merck challenges researchers' assertions regarding painkiller

August 19, 2008

Related Stories • Pfizer Pays Record $2.3 Billion Settlement Over Illegal Marketing Charges • Court Snuffs Vioxx Suit • Pfizer Pays $894 Million to Settle NSAID Claims • Researchers Claim Vioxx Safety Study Was Actually Marketing Plan • First Vioxx Judgment Overturned On Appeal • Merck Agrees to Pay $58 Million to Settle Vioxx Claims • Researchers Claim Merck Cooked Vioxx Data • Common Pain Relievers May Boost Muscle Mass • More Painkillers Can Cause More Pain • Merck Caves, Agrees To $4.85 Billion Vioxx Settlement • New York Sues Vioxx Maker over Drug’s Risks • Merck Wins Vioxx Case In Illinois • Judge Rules Out Vioxx "Super" Class Action • FDA Critic Blasts Merck's Vioxx Replacement • Merck Loses New Orleans Vioxx Case • Merck Wins Latest Vioxx Suit • Vioxx Study Authors Backtrack On Claim • Older Painkillers May Increase Heart Attack Risk • More about Vioxx --- Other NSAIDs • Bextra • Celebrex • Dangers of Other Vioxx-Type Drugs • Vioxx Alternatives • Aleve Ingredient Seen as Health Risk

Researchers studying Merck & Co internal documents conclude the drug giant's 1999 clinical study of possible side effects from its painkiller Vioxx was in actuality a pre-launch marketing campaign for the drug.

Merck was forced to withdraw the prescription drug in 2004 after tests linked it to increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The researchers outline their case against Merck in the latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Documentary evidence shows that Advantage is an example of marketing framed as science," they wrote.

The team gathered documents collected by plaintiffs' lawyers in the personal injury and liability lawsuits filed against the pharmaceutical company. The researchers claim the real purpose of the study, called Advantage, was to promote the drug as an arthritis treatment when it became commercially available.

Vioxx received FDA approval not long afterward and it quickly became one of Merck's most profitable products.

Merck takes strong exception to the researcher's conclusions, and denies Advantage was a "seeding" project. It said the study in question compared Vioxx with another medication in its effect on stomach upset. It also said the article contained "numerous inaccuracies."

Merck faced a flurry of litigation over Vioxx. After insisting it would contest each of the thousands of product liability lawsuits over Vioxx, Merck agreed in November 2007 to settle claims over the withdrawn painkiller for $4.85 billion.

The cases were filed in connection with Vioxx's removal from the market, with plaintiffs charging the company should have acted sooner. More than 27,000 consumers or their family members filed suit against Merck as a result. In the last three years, only a handful of the cases had gone to trial.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.