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Post by redwolf on Apr 16, 2008 6:43:22 GMT -6
Merck Wrote Drug Studies for DoctorsBy STEPHANIE SAUL "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."www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/16vioxx.html?th&emc=th
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Apr 17, 2008 4:51:24 GMT -6
The story of Merck's Vioxx is truly disgusting.
As a physician, I've never prescribed Vioxx, because the risk of heart attacks was obvious from the start. The increased risk was completely predictable, based on Vioxx's known mechanism of action. It wasn't necessary to even wait for the results of a clinical "trial" to determine its cardiac side effects, since those side effects were already predictable.
It isn't necessary to do a "study" to determine whether someone will die from jumping out of a plane at 35,000 feet without a parachute. The results of jumping are obvious and predictable. The same was true for Vioxx. Cardiac, and other clotting-related side-effects weren't just "possibilities." They were 100% guaranteed.
By selectively blocking Cox-2, and not Cox-1, Vioxx blocks the synthesis of an anti-clotting factor, while not affecting synthesis of a pro-clotting factor.
Typical combined Cox-1 and Cox-2 inhibitors, like ibuprofen or naproxen, block synthesis of both pro- and anti-clotting factors, causing the 2 to cancel each other out.
Vioxx's mechanism of action, which caused the selective inhibition of just the anti-clotting factor, was not only known from the very beginning — it was widely advertised as a major benefit by Merck itself. In fact, it was their major selling point.
Since Vioxx did NOT inhibit clotting, it would not cause GI bleeding either. Reduced GI bleeding was its main purported benefit, compared to NSAIDS that were non-selective Cox inhibitors. But it is this very property that increased heart attacks. It increased clotting, which increased the incidence of vascular occlusion in the coronary circulation.
Merck knew full well what the risks were, because they were predictable from the drug's primary mechanism of action. They conducted studies, however, to disprove an already established reality.
Merck should be shut down completely. There is no excuse whatsoever for their action. Like the Bush administration, Merck tried to "create" an alternate reality, rather than discover actual reality.
People have died as a result of Merck's efforts to create its own reality.
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Post by Cactus Jack on Jun 2, 2008 8:56:53 GMT -6
How about a translation? ;D
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Jun 10, 2008 1:35:07 GMT -6
How about a translation? ;D These Chinese letter posts have been going on for years. I delete them as soon as I find them, and I block their IP address. There are several hundred IP addresses I've blocked to prevent the spam. But they just come up with new ones. It's interesting to see that the ads at the top of the page are in Chinese, when a lot of Chinese-symbol posts appear on the forum.
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Post by agito on Jun 10, 2008 3:11:58 GMT -6
that's the way google ads work, it scans the page it's advertising on, and then posts what it considers to be relevant ads.
Coincidentally, proboards is probably making a nice amount off of these boards you've started UnLC.
PS- now that you've removed them, the ad at the top is "professional funding consultants" "Specializing in loans for veterinarians, dentists, and physicians"
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