Merck Caught in Massive Scientific Fraud

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< http://www.naturalnews.com/index.html> NaturalNews.com printable article

 

Originally published April 18 2008

 

 

 

Merck Caught in Massive Scientific Fraud as In-House Authors were

Disguised as Independent Scientists (opinion)

 

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 < http://www.naturalnews.com/Vioxx.html> 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 < http://www.naturalnews.com/Merck.html> 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

< http://www.naturalnews.com/scientific_studies.html> 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:

< http://www.NaturalNews.com/Merck.html> www.NaturalNews.com/Merck.html

 

.... and read our stories about Vioxx here:

< http://www.NaturalNews.com/Vioxx.html> 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 < http://www.naturalnews.com/lawsuits.html> lawsuits

filed by citizens who claim they were harmed by Merck's drugs. And

yet at the same time, Merck and

< http://www.naturalnews.com/the_FDA.html> 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

< http://www.naturalnews.com/scientific_fraud.html> 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

< http://www.naturalnews.com/America.html> 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 < http://www.naturalnews.com/terrorist.html> 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> 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> 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/019728.html

 

 

 

 

 

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