Psychiatric medications, science, marketing, psychiatry in general, and occasionally clinical psychology. Questioning the role of key opinion leaders and the use of "science" to promote commercial ends rather than the needs of people with mental health concerns.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
More From the V-Squad
The Superhero team of Merck sales reps continued to work hard to push Vioxx. The ending of this clip is definitely a cliffhanger, so be sure to tune in for the finale tomorrow! See clip 1 in my most recent post.
Merck's top selling statin Zocor unexpectedly lost tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization in 1997 due to the rapid uptake of Lipitor.
Furthermore, Celebrex was the first Cox II inhibitor marketed, and this occured 6 months before Merck launched Vioxx. Typically, the first in class made available achieves the lion's share of that particular market.
So Merck had amplified urgency and desperation to assure Vioxx was prescribed by any means necessary.
Pissed me off. Merck use to be perceived by me as the one drug company with microscopic ethics the culture strived for consistently. I left in 1999.
Where are the Merck Reps? Probably hiding under a rock.
ReplyDeleteIn 1999, I launched Vioxx with Merck.
ReplyDeleteHere's the deal:
Merck's top selling statin Zocor unexpectedly lost tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization in 1997 due to the rapid uptake of Lipitor.
Furthermore, Celebrex was the first Cox II inhibitor marketed, and this occured 6 months before Merck launched Vioxx. Typically, the first in class made available achieves the lion's share of that particular market.
So Merck had amplified urgency and desperation to assure Vioxx was prescribed by any means necessary.
Pissed me off. Merck use to be perceived by me as the one drug company with microscopic ethics the culture strived for consistently. I left in 1999.