tagged w/ Merck
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December 6, 2011
There is a surprising reason why the government won’t go after drug companies for serious crimes.
It is because government programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Administration would then be barred from doing business with them!
In 1999 the FDA approved Vioxx, a drug created by Merck and Co. to treat arthritis. Vioxx was pulled off the market in 2004 because evidence showed it greatly increased the risk of heart attack in the 25 million Americans who had taken the drug. Some 50,000 patients sued, and 27,000 of the plaintiffs received $4.85 billion in settlement of their claims.
Last week the Department of Justice announced that Merck has agreed to pay a $321 million criminal fine and plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of illegally introducing a drug into interstate commerce. Merck also is paying $426 million to the federal government and $202 million to state Medicaid agencies. Those payments will settle civil claims that its marketing caused doctors to prescribe and bill the government for Vioxx they otherwise would not have prescribed.
Please note that these settlements are for rather minor infractions—not for deliberately concealing the danger of a killing drug from patients, the medical community, and their investors. Despite the serious consequences of Merck’s actions, the government won’t prosecute them for any serious charges—because, if they did and won, it would mean they would have to stop doing business with Merck in the future! Federal law makes it illegal for Medicare and Medicaid to do business with “an excluded or debarred entity resulting from serious criminal charges.”
This means that when a company becomes too deeply enmeshed in the government’s business, these companies simply become too big to prosecute!
Paying fines without serious criminal charges does not appear to be enough of a deterrent. A new report from the consumer group Public Citizen shows that the pharmaceutical industry now leads all other industries in fraud against the federal government—and that includes the defense industry! Big Pharma led the pack in the total amount of fraud payments for actions against the federal government under the False Claims Act. Four companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Schering-Plough) accounted for more than half (53 percent or $10.5 billion) of all financial penalties imposed over the past two decades.
In 2006, Dr. David Graham, associate director of the FDA’s Office of Drug Safety and a courageous whistleblower, said in an interview, “The FDA is responsible for 140,000 heart attacks and 60,000 dead Americans. That’s as many people as were killed in the Vietnam War. Yet the FDA points the finger at me and says, ‘Well, this guy’s a rat, you can’t trust him,’ but nobody is calling them to account. Congress isn’t calling them to account. For the American people, it’s dropped off the radar screen. They should be screaming because this can happen again.”
If a supplement killed 60,000 Americans, what do you think the reaction would be? It would be pulled from the shelves, the FDA would outlaw it, and the media would be screaming about the dangers of supplements. Vioxx does the same thing, and the FDA gives Merck a slap on the wrist and gets a financial settlement.
As Public Citizen told NPR, “The current system of prosecution and recovery isn’t working, because companies can take even the biggest settlements in stride. What’s needed is more criminal prosecution—and the prospect of jail time for Pharma executives.”
ANH-USA is not trying to put anybody in jail. But if we pass laws, they should apply to everyone, including members of Congress and big companies, whether on Wall Street or in the drug industry. Crony capitalist arrangements between government and special interests should never be allowed to create a special category of “too big to prosecute.”
http://www.anh-usa.org/merck-too-big-to-prosecute/December 6, 2011
There is a surprising reason why the government won’t go... more
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Mega drug manufacturer Merck & Co. is reporting a major increase in third-quarter profits due in part to the skyrocketing sales of death-linked HPV shot Gardasil – up 41 percent to $445 million thanks to government backing and a hugely successful yet deceptive ad campaigns targeted at unsuspecting parents and children. The overall value of Merck shares rose 80 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $35.11. The numbers are up from a year ago, when the company was hit with huge acquisition and legal charges. Of course behind the monetary surge in Gardasil sales is the horribly corrupt marketing and political techniques used to boost Merck out of economic downfall.
When it comes to Gardasil, Merck is more concerned about pushing the shot on children and generating a profit than examining the true effects of the shot.
Merck pushes Gardasil on children through omission of facts, political bribery, and blatant lies
How could Merck sell Gardasil in such high quantities despite documentation linking it to 3,589 harmful reactions and 16 deaths between May 2009 and September 2010 alone? Well, Merck likes to pretend that the death link does not exist. Furthermore, Merck uses monetary incentive, also considered bribery, to ensure that Gardasil legislation is swiftly passed by key legislators. Because when it comes to generating profit, Merck has no concern for the health of the individual — especially the target demographic of boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 12.
In order to push Gardasil as a “safe” vaccine, Merck will go as far as to blatantly lie about the side effects of the HPV shot in magazine ads, website banner ads, and even on the official Gardasil website. In my special report on Gardasil ads, I documented how Merck supplements the real known side effects of Gardasil such as death and Guillain-Barre Syndrome for less threatening ones such as headache and nausea.
As for political bribery, Merck has been caught by Cal Watchdog supplying key California legislators with thousands of dollars. Of course these key legislators were instrumental in the passing of the Gardasil bill that now allows for 12 year old children to decide whether or not they would like to be injected with the Gardasil vaccine without any parental consent. Given deceptive information about the HPV shot Gardasil, it is reasonable to believe that these young children would consider the shot to be relatively harmless. Unfortunately, those who do not follow health news are oftentimes in the dark over Gardasil dangers.
The dangers of Gardasil are so extensive that a timeline has been made documenting just the past several months in developments. As more information continues to come out, Merck may soon see a significant decrease in Gardasil profits.
Explore More:
California Gardasil Law Signed | Children to Receive Deadly Shot Without Parental Consent
Advisory Panel Urges CDC to Push Gardasil on Young Boys
The Gardasil Timeline | A History of Corruption and Negative Reactions
Uncovered FDA Documents Reveal 26 More Gardasil Deaths
Health Alert: Analysis Finds Gardasil Contaminated with Genetically Modified HPV rDNA
Anthony Gucciardi
NaturalSociety
November 1, 2011Mega drug manufacturer Merck & Co. is reporting a major increase in third-quarter... more
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Dr. Blaylock is a board certified neurosurgeon, health practitioner, author, lecturer, and editor of The Blaylock Wellness Report.
He talks about the dangers of Gardasil and the upcoming flu vaccination season and the threat it poses to unsuspecting Americans who are inundated with flu vaccination propaganda on a daily basis.
Gov. and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry is currently enveloped in controversy over his decision in February of 2007 to issue an executive order mandating that Texas girls receive the HPV vaccine.
In 2009, Blaylock told Newsmax that the 14,000 reported incidents of side effects is an underestimation. "Multiply the number of incidents actually reported by ten and you'll get an accurate number," he said.Dr. Blaylock is a board certified neurosurgeon, health practitioner, author, lecturer,... more
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MEXICO CITY — Mexico plans to administer the vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer, to all girls beginning next year, the country's health ministry said Tuesday.
Beginning in 2012, the HPV vaccine will be part of the normal course of shots given to all girls at the age of nine, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.
more at link...
Merck's Gardasil vaccine = soft kill eugenics sterilization weaponMEXICO CITY — Mexico plans to administer the vaccine against human... more
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Well, i seen this story when the U.S Supreme Courts ruled that the vaccination shots caused autism in this case. I am glad they are getting monetary awards to take care of the girl. I think it is funny how the CDC Director now is the President of Merck.Well, i seen this story when the U.S Supreme Courts ruled that the vaccination shots... more
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Peacey
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added this
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1 year ago
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This is truly unnerving to hear and watch. Even though I already had the information, to hear it from this Scientist makes my hair stand up.This is truly unnerving to hear and watch. Even though I already had the information,... more
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Stories like this make me want to scream. Corruption is so much a part of doing business these days we have just about eliminated the American Dream. This former head of the CDC, Dr. Julie Gerberding, from 2002-2009 takes a job as the head of the what? The vaccine division of Merck. Remember the over-hyped swine flu and the push for the vaccine that gained Merck billions of dollars. Remember that the swine flu reportedly was 'accidentally' released from a lab. It seems corruption pays off and crime does pay.Stories like this make me want to scream. Corruption is so much a part of doing... more
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U.S. regulators won't accept drugmaker Merck's application for a new combination cholesterol pill that includes rival Pfizer's Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug.
Merck & Co. disclosed the rare move by the Food and Drug Administration in a regulatory filing on Monday.
The company had said about 2 1/2 years ago that it planned to make and market a cholesterol pill combining Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor with Zetia, a cholesterol pill Merck jointly sells with partner Schering-Plough Corp.
In September, Merck applied to the FDA for approval of its combo pill.
But Merck says the FDA refused to file the application and instead is requiring more data on the manufacturing and stability of the drug.
The FDA hasn't responded to requests for comment.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MERCK_DRUG_REJECTED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-02-13-05-03
Image source: http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/large/WorstPills.com_478fc47b650f6.jpgU.S. regulators won't accept drugmaker Merck's application for a new... more
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xiola
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2 years ago
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"The Scientist has reported that, yes, it's true, Merck cooked up a phony, but real sounding, peer reviewed journal and published favorably looking data for its products in them. Merck paid Elsevier to publish such a tome, which neither appears in MEDLINE or has a website, according to The Scientist.
What's wrong with this is so obvious it doesn't have to be argued for. What's sad is that I'm sure many a primary care physician was given literature from Merck that said, "As published in Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, Fosamax outperforms all other medications...." Said doctor, or even the average researcher wouldn't know that the journal is bogus. In fact, knowing that the journal is published by Elsevier gives it credibility!
These kinds of endeavors are not possible without help. One of The Scientist's most notable finds is a Australian rheumatologist named Peter Brooks who served on the "honorary advisory board" of this "journal". His take: "I don't think it's fair to say it was totally a marketing journal", apparently on the grounds that it had excerpts from peer-reviewed papers. However, in his entire time on the board he never received a single paper for peer-review, but because he apparently knew the journal did not receive original submissions of research. This didn't seem to bother him one bit. Such "throwaways" of non-peer reviewed publications and semi-marketing materials are commonplace in medicine. But wouldn't that seem odd for an academic journal? Apparently not. Moreover, Peter Brooks had a pretty lax sense of academic ethics any way: he admitted to having his name put on a "advertorial" for pharma within the last ten years, says The Scientist. An "advertorial"? Again, language unfamiliar to us in the academic publishing world, but apparently quite familiar to the pharmaceutical publishing scene.""The Scientist has reported that, yes, it's true, Merck cooked up a phony,... more
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Drugmaker Merck & Co. posts a 57 percent drop in first-quarter income due to a fall in both sales of its drugs and income from its partnership on cholesterol medicines.Drugmaker Merck & Co. posts a 57 percent drop in first-quarter income due to a... more
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Drugmakers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., already partners in a joint venture, are planning to merge under the name Merck in a stock-and-cash deal worth about $41.1 billion.Drugmakers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., already partners in a joint... more
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"I Wanna be One Less!"...DEAD Guinea Pig.
want more?
Judicial Watch Investigates Side-Effects of HPV Vaccine
http://www.judicialwatch.org/gardasil"I Wanna be One Less!"...DEAD Guinea Pig.
want more?
Judicial Watch... more
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Immigrants seeking permanent legal residency in the U.S. are now mandated to take an expensive and controversial vaccine that has been linked with thousands of serious complaints and several deaths.
The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine — known as Gardasil — is one of five the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently added to the required list, reports Fox 8 News.
A press release from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Agency confirms that the requirements for the vaccine went into effect on July 1, 2008.
The regulation represents a total dismissal of the recommendation of Dr. Jon Abramson, chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory committee on immunization practices. In February 2007, Abramson said that he and the 15-member panel at the CDC opposed making Gardasil mandatory because the sexually transmitted HPV is not a contagious disease like measles or chicken pox.
At $162 per dose, the three-dose vaccine is set to make millions in profits for Gardasil manufacturer Merck, a company that has a history of both lobbying intensely for state mandates and entering into crony deals to hoodwink Americans into believing HPV vaccinations are compulsory.
Merck were unable to sell the “benefits” of the vaccine to make enough profit out of it, so instead they turned to state legislature and attempted to pay off Governors and other officials to curry favor and force eleven year old girls (and in other states children as young as eight) who aren’t even sexually active to take the shot.
However, the pharmaceutical giant agreed to stop lobbying state legislatures to make it mandatory for schoolgirls to be inoculated with Gardasil after a fierce backlash from concerned parents and religious organizations.
We previously exposed Merck’s role one such crony deal with Texas Governor Rick Perry which saw a resulting media campaign fool parents into thinking that the HPV vaccine had been made compulsory by law for all young girls.
Without consulting and doctors, scientists or medical experts, Perry, who has various close ties to Merck, issued an executive order requiring girls to be vaccinated against HPV. Several Texas lawmakers subsequently petitioned for a reversal of the decision without success.
Almost immediately following Perry’s announcement, newspapers and TV stations began to report that it was “the law” that parents had to have their child vaccinated. This reflects a national and international hoax that is repeatedly being perpetrated shortly before school terms begin each year.
There is no law in America, aside from those applying to medical workers, that says any citizen or their children have to take any vaccine whatsoever, no matter what any executive order, requirement, mandate or policy dictates.
As in the case of all other vaccines, Perry’s executive order merely stated that the vaccine is “recommended,” yet the mass media drumbeat constantly conditions people to believe that if they don’t take their shots they will be kicked out of school, arrested and thrown in jail.
Last November we reported on a case in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where parents of more than 1600 children were told they could be put in jail for failing to get their kids vaccinated. At the time a local Fox News affiliate reported, “A new law was passed last year requiring children from 5th through to 10th grade to have the vaccine,” which was a total lie.
The non-complying parents were not charged not under vaccination laws (because there aren’t any) but under truancy, neglect or child in need of supervision laws, which state that the parent is culpable after 30 days of a child’s unexplained absence from school.
The school itself triggered the truancy violation by unfairly kicking the kids out of school, and failing to inform parents about vaccine waiver forms. A state prosecutor involved in the case then admitted that there is no law that mandates any vaccine.
***CONTINUES....Immigrants seeking permanent legal residency in the U.S. are now mandated to take an... more
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Contaminated children's vaccines and other potentially serious concerns were spotted by federal regulators who combed Merck & Co.'s vaccine plant in the Philadelphia suburbs, according to a published report.
Unwanted fibers on vaccine vial stoppers also were among the areas of concern cited by inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in Thursday's editions.
Based on an unpublished FDA report the newspaper obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the article said inspectors found 49 areas of concern, ranging from failure to follow good management practices to contamination of bulk lots of vaccine.
FDA inspectors visited the plant, in West Point in Montgomery County, on 30 separate days from November through January.
In December, Merck recalled 1.2 million doses of its vaccine against Haemophilus influenza type B, made at the same plant, because of a sterility problem discovered in October. It also quarantined nearly a year's worth of other, possibly suspect doses.
Merck executive John McCubbins, head of Merck's Global Vaccine Manufacturing and West Point operations, told the newspaper no contamination was found in finished vaccines and that the company is addressing the problems. Contaminated children's vaccines and other potentially serious concerns were... more
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In an interesting shift in the practice and research of medicine, the wonderfully profitable Merck has taken to prewriting the research reports of their drugs. What a great idea for a business model, now if we can just let big oil determine the MPG requirements for cars and allow Ford, Chevy etc, to write their own safety reports. Wait a minute....
Here's an excerpt from the Times
"The drug maker Merck drafted dozens of research studies for a best-selling drug, then lined up prestigious doctors to put their names on the reports before publication, according to an article to be published Wednesday in a leading medical journal.
"The article, based on documents unearthed in lawsuits over the pain drug Vioxx, provides a rare, detailed look in the industry practice of ghostwriting medical research studies that are then published in academic journals.
"The article cited one draft of a Vioxx research study that was still in want of a big-name researcher, identifying the lead writer only as 'External author?'"
Now that's efficient business.
In an interesting shift in the practice and research of medicine, the wonderfully... more
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Yeah, I'm going to take a pill that gives me heart attacks later on.... overdose on Bayer® here I come!Yeah, I'm going to take a pill that gives me heart attacks later on.... overdose... more
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Merck announced a $5 Billion, thats BILLION, settlement in the Vioxx painkiller case. Originaley marketed for arthritis relief, Vioxx apparently causes strokes and heart attacks. The settlement will stop approximately 50,000 personal law suits. That's a lot of hurt people.Merck announced a $5 Billion, thats BILLION, settlement in the Vioxx painkiller case.... more
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Ahhhh Merck.
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sloan
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added this
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4 years ago
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