Posted on 11/03/2005 7:38:42 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
Worth repeating, Almondjoy:
"The jury found that the label was sufficent in warning consumers. Meaning that the drug may cause heart attacks but the label is enough warning to permit people to take their own informed risks."
Ya!
Given the number of people in the world, it is highly likely that ANY medication will cause harm to a group of them. That doesn't mean that anyone is at fault. Sometimes stuff happens. If a medication is so toxic that it is harming large percentages of those who take it, then it is a bad drug.
Common sense wins one???
I know. I stand by my statement. Decades of being a pig is probably the overwhelming reason for his heart attack. Not taking this drug for a few years.
Excellent work by the jury.
Corpse? He didn't die from the heart attack.
Oh, BS! You may be working in a money-grabbing, ambulance chasing, John Edwards-clone legal firm...but that gives you ZERO credibility on this.
Look, pal, I worked in the development and launch of this product. The persons who actually created this medication are my friends and former coworkers. All medications have side effects.
Allegations by the Edwards-like legal forces hold no water. There was no cover-up, there was no intent and there is really little difference between any of the cox-2 drugs.
And, yes, I'm biased...because (despite no longer working there) I do still bleed Merck teal.
Outstanding point.
There's more, though. During our clinicals, all conditions that arise during the trial become potential risks for the drug once the filing is approved. Yes, it's possible that the heartburn someone experienced during an acne product clinical would actually show up on the PPI as a risk factor for the product.
Is it possible for you to get a prescription and then purchase the drug from some other country (like Canada or Mexico)? Or have these drugs been taken off the market everywhere?
Some of them have been taken from the market in Canada for sure not entirely positive about Mexico. Drug companies are pulling out of Canada too because of price controls, also they're probably afraid Americans will still get ahold of the drugs and sue them anyway.
toooo many people make "perfect" the enemy of the "good"...
Does this overturn the previous case they lost? or is this a different one?
I saw the labels on VIOXX - the first jury was a bunch of idiots
The FDC should be dismantled- It is impossible for any company to test for EVERYTHING and then submit for the incompetant FDC to test it all over again...
THe law should be that the company create a product, test it as thoroughly as possible, document EVERYTHING and then let it go to market with appropriate information made public (warnings, known side effects, etc..)
The FDC could make sure all the paperwork was filed.. and THATS IT
There are SO MANY wonderful drugs that never make it to market because the FDC wont guarantee that it is perfectly safe under in perpetuity
So they can kill more people?
Many people have heart attacks without being pigs.
But do we ever get that wonderful drug back again? I certainly hope so. It's great, and it is far safer for one's health than are trial lawyers.
How do you weigh quality of life (100% disabled by the pain you said?) - vs heart attack? I know I would take my choice to be pain free for as long as it lasted, and be grateful for it.
Now they'll just have to go shop around to other states to establish precedent. You know how it works: The most liberal ruling stands. Ask the cigarette companies how important this win is. :^(
I feel vindicated now. This should shut my family up once and for all. I took Vioxx for a year, for spinal arthritis. Financial sitution being low, we couldn't afford it anymore. About 8-9 months later I developed a heart problem. When the first suit against them came out my family started riding me to join in the class action group in our area. I refused. They couldn't understand why. I told them my lifestyle and family history gave me the heart problem, not the medicine. They thought I was an idiot giving up FREE money. Free money, what idiot cousins I have.
The Cox-2 inhibitor class is a powerful class of medications, and any powerful pill is going to have adverse events. That said, the cardiovascular and thrombotic AEs for Vioxx were clearly noted in the Vioxx prescribing information with statistics demonstrating an elevated risk for both relative to Naproxen. Taking those 2 facts together, anyone who gives the "who knew" argument is full of weapons-grade bologna.
What happened to the patient in the case you cite is unfortunate, but the number of truly unexpected severe AEs is substantially outweighed by the benefit many more patients received form the medication. Honestly, I would guess that one would have a higher probability of being killed in a car crash than suffering the type of AE you described with Vioxx as the undisputed causative agent. I would hazard that the larger problem is that patients assume that "it'll never happen to me" or are frustrated that they cannot use the channel flicker to tune out their physician when he/she is trying to explain the risks of a medication.
As an aside, I also think that Merck is being penalized for doing the right thing, ie, pulling the drug. It is worth noting that Pfizer declined to pull Celebrex, which has a near-identical mechanism of action and carries similar risks. I guess they weren't as easy a target for the parasites, I mean trial lawyers.
Incidentally - the 2002 label revision clearly including the AE risks I noted is available at http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/label/2002/21042s7lbl.pdf.
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