by Mike Adams
(NaturalNews) Drug giant Merck has been caught red-handed in a scheme to deceive
the FDA and the public over the integrity of its scientific studies, say top
medical authorities. According to reports that were (amazingly!) published in
the Journal of the American Medical Association and detailed in the
Washington Post, Merck waged a "campaign of deception" to disguise its in-house
study authors as independent scientists working for universities. This scheme
made the studies appear independent and unbiased, allowing them to carry more
apparent credibility to FDA officials, doctors and other scientists.
This fraud was conducted to boost the apparent scientific credibility of the
studies backing Vioxx, a
drug that has caused well over 100,000 heart attacks and likely killed well over
50,000 Americans, according to Senate testimony by the FDA's own senior drug
safety researcher Dr. David Graham. Vioxx earned
Merck $2.3 billion in 2003
alone, and was one of the most lucrative drugs ever sold by any company. But
since 2004, when some of the real dangers of the drug became known, a tremendous
amount of evidence leading to fraud has surfaced.
It now appears quite clear that Merck deliberately lied about the dangers of the
drug, misrepresented the results of
scientific studies,
deceived the FDA to win drug approval, knowingly covered up evidence of the
drug's dangers, and now it seems Merck even conducted a deliberate campaign of
deceptive ghostwriting designed to attach independent-sounding names to in-house
studies that were essentially pro-Vioxx promotional pieces disguised as
scientific reports.
NaturalNews has reported on many of the fraudulent actions conducted by Merck
over the years. See our reporting on Merck here:
www.NaturalNews.com/Merck.html
... and read our stories about Vioxx here:
www.NaturalNews.com/Vioxx.html
Why Merck wants to keep the truth hidden from
the public
What's interesting about this latest revelation
of Merck fraud is that the documents revealing the depth of this fraud were
only made public due to
lawsuits filed by citizens who claim they were harmed by Merck's drugs.
And yet at the same time, Merck and
the FDA are arguing that
such lawsuits should not be allowed at all -- that they should be "preempted" by
FDA approval for drugs, thereby keeping Merck's dirty secrets buried forever,
even as consumers harmed by Merck's drugs are denied any right to sue for
damages caused by such drugs!
It is now rather obvious why drug companies like Merck so desperately want
immunity from lawsuits -- because the "discovery" phase of these lawsuits is
causing Merck's dirty science to be publicly aired! It's allowing the public to
have a peek at the skeletons in Merck's closet. Merck no doubt wants its secrets
to remain secret so that nobody is really aware of the
scientific fraud
we're now learning so much about. I often wonder: What else is Merck hiding that
it doesn't want to become public knowledge?
Shouldn't Merck be brought to justice?
Now, I have an important question to ask you.
Given the magnitude of the scientific fraud being discovered about Merck, and
the number of people who have reportedly been killed by Merck's products, why
does Merck still manage to escape any real scrutiny from the Dept. of Justice
and the FDA? Why does Merck seem to have an unlimited "get out of jail free"
pass from the U.S. government? Even while it's arguing for immunity from public
lawsuits, it seems Merck has already achieved a silent, practical immunity from
U.S. government regulators and law enforcers.
Can you think of any other corporation that, if caught engaging in widespread
fraud that resulted in the death of over 50,000 Americans, wouldn't be hung out
to dry by Congressional investigations and Justice Dept. arrests? It is flatly
unbelievable to me that a corporation engaged in such massive campaigns of
deception and death could be allowed to continue conducting business as usual in
the United States. It's far worse than what Enron engaged in. We're not talking
about simple white-collar crimes here; we're talking about an ever-expanding
collection of body bags, corruption, bribery, secret payoffs, science fraud and,
in my opinion, crimes against humanity. And yet the mainstream media keeps on
running Merck's deceptive ads, holding their noses while they pocket Merck's
illegitimately-earned cash.
When individuals commit fraud and engage in deceptive practices that result in
the deaths of other people, we charge them with crimes: Involuntary
manslaughter, negligent homicide or even murder. So why, then, does a powerful
corporation get to go free for committing essentially the same crimes?
In other words, shouldn't corporations be held to the same laws as the
People? Why, in our nation, are individuals charged with murder or
manslaughter when they kill people, but corporations are allowed to kill any
number of people with absolutely no consequence? They are not arrested, not
charged with crimes and not prosecuted. And on top of that, they have the
audacity to argue that they should be granted legal immunity from ALL lawsuits
that might be filed by the people their products harm or kill! It's truly
astounding...
Do not allow Merck to conduct further business
in this country
I believe that law enforcement authorities in
America have both the
right and the responsibility to arrest top Merck executives, seize Merck's
inventory, and deny Merck the right to conduct any further business in this
nation by cancelling its corporate charter. I believe Merck is engaged in
serious crimes against the People and that its business practices are clearly
being conducted in violation of federal law (not to mention in violation of
basic business ethics and human compassion). If this was any other corporation
we were talking about here -- and not Merck -- this company would be subjected
to a massive campaign of media scrutiny and Congressional scrutiny. But not
Merck. It's too powerful, too influential.
Merck should be renamed "The Teflon Company" because even though it's pushing
dangerous chemicals, nothing seems to stick.
Let me break it down for you and tell you what's really happening here. It's the
same old story, after all: Rich, powerful white-collar criminals get away
with murder, while the poor, the disadvantaged and the sick get shafted.
I pray for the day that Merck is put out of business, shut down by law
enforcement authorities who finally decide to apply existing federal law and
prosecute this dangerous, destructive corporation for its organized-crime-like
operations. Americans would be far safer if Merck were shut down. In fact, the
threat to Americans' health from Merck far outweighs any threat to national
security by terrorists. Think about it: The current war in Iraq has killed 4,000
Americans. Just one drug from Merck has killed over 50,000 (and that's a
conservative estimate). That's more than ten times the number of Americans
killed in our current war!
Is Merck a terrorist
organization? No, it's a dishonest, corrupt corporation that pretends to be
engaged in good deeds and genuine science. But if you peek behind the curtain,
you find nothing but fraud, deception, and the complete disregard for human
life. Merck isn't a terrorist organization, but it's killed far more Americans
than any terrorist organization could. Even a dirty bomb set off at the
Superbowl (which was one of the FBI's recent terrorist concerns) wouldn't kill
as many Americans as Merck's drugs have in the last five years. That's no
exaggeration.
In my opinion, Merck is an evil, out-of-control corporation that's destroying
lives and obliterating any remaining credibility of the pharmaceutical industry.
One day, when the truth finally emerges about the totality of Merck's crimes
against the People and the depth of its willful deception, the public will be
stunned, frozen in a state of disbelief that they could have tolerated such
heinous crimes right under their noses. They will think the same thoughts of
Nazi supporters seeing Hitler's concentration camps for the first time... How
could we have allowed this to happen right here, on our own soil? To our own
children? To our own families?
It's time to apply federal laws to Merck and start making arrests. Too many
lives have been lost already, and the extreme fraud being routinely exhibited by
Merck should not go unpunished. It's time to finally protect Americans from Big
Pharma.
Also worth reading: Merck Engaged in Blatant Scientific Fraud with Vytorin
Cholesterol Study?
http://www.naturalnews.com/022485.html
Merck denied blood pressure screening services to doctors that did not
prescribe its brand-name drugs
http://www.naturalnews.com/020604.html
FDA, Merck may have conspired to discredit whistleblower, says U.S. Senator
http://www.naturalnews.com/019728.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/z023052.html