NPR : Part 1, NPR : Part 2, NPR : Medical Schools and Drug Firm Dollars
Over the past few months, it has emerged that the company was aware for years that Vioxx might be dangerous. Now, new documents obtained by NPR suggest that even as Merck was making Vioxx into a bestseller, the company was putting pressure on independent doctors. The company’s apparent aim: to keep them from discussing evidence of Vioxx’s potential safety problems. The documents show that Merck exerted pressure not only on individual doctors, but also on several of the nation’s top medical schools.
Evidently NPR has dug up a bunch of documents that paint a pretty damning case against Merck in its systematic attempt to shut up doctors, academics, and researchers. Moreover, this series paints an awfully telling picture of how all Pharma Companies inject their dogma into Medical Universities to, in many cases, the detriment of society. As always, NPR sets the bar for journalism.
Aaron Fulkerson 