The Truth about drug companies
...ng the drug through the FDA is the next step, which should, in theory be fairly easy if the drug is reasonably safe. Claritin took 77 months to successfully pass through the FDA (Hall 353). A series of patents and lawsuits follow during and after the process of passing through the FDA and once a drug company successfully defeats these obstacles they move on to the final step, marketing. Drug companies attempt to promote their drug through lobbying and donating money to campaigns. If an industry donates enough to a campaign then the restrictions on their drug will be minimal while the sales will be profitable. Recently Merck announced that it had to stop the sales of their arthritis drug, Vioxx because it supposedly doubles the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients. Vioxx has been on the market for approximately five years in the United States but is sold world wide and brings in an estimated 2.5 billion dollars in revenue. The drug originally came out against competitors such as celebrex and bextra which both show no signs of causing vascular risks. Merck stated in an interview that they preformed randomized, controlled clinical trials in order to evaluate the safety of medicines (Kalata 1). These testing methods have been used since the creation of Vioxx and help the company in determining whether or not the drug is safe. One specific test that was started promptly after the release of the drug in the states proved that the drug was in fact a cause of heart attacks, blood clots, and stokes. Although the risk was small it was big enough to make the FDA question the drugs safety. Within a week of releasing the test results, the drug was pulled off the market and noted as one of the largest drug recalls in history (Kalata 2). It is astounding to some that the drug test was issued after the FDA approved it. Vioxx was very popular with the public and was considered a blockbuster drug by the experts. In other words, it sold billions and was shown to be over 11% of Merck’s total revenue (Kalata 2). But why is the drug so popular when Merck has supposedly been faced with lawsuits about heart problems before. In fact lawyers claim that they knew the effects of Vioxx as early as the year 2000, only one year after the drug was released. Two specific cases were filed in Canada by Mary Jane McNicholl of Toronto and James Venables of Calgary. Both cases claim that Merck knew about the potential risks of Vioxx but still distributed it over the market regardless of the health problems it might cause (Ozols). The testing for Vioxx was not nearly as long as at should have been. The FDA reviewed Vioxx and approved the drug in May of 1999. The FDA went through a series of tests for the drug to make sure that the dosage given and the drug itself was safe for patients. The clinical trials that were designed for the drug were tested against placebos and Ibuprofen. Vioxx ended up being more effective then both the placebo and the Ibuprofen. Strangely enough though, serious gastrointestinal bleeding and obstruction occurred among patients taking Vioxx in clinical studies. Although these problems would seem serious enough to conduct more studies, the FDA approved the drug with the only consequence of having to put a warning label on the bottle. Perhaps our FDA standards are not as high as they should be. Merck’s main marketing strategy with Vioxx was the 24 hour catch. Vioxx was advertised as relief for arthritis that only had to be taken once a day. Campaign adds made slogans that stated only one pill a day was necessary for all night relief. This marketing strategy was highly successfully and contributed to the enormous amount of sales that Merck made. One could even go as far to argue that marketing strategies are more important then the drug itself. A drug is only taken ser...