May 2, 2006
"Whenever Merck was up there, it was like wah, wah, wah," one juror told the Wall Street Journal. "We didn't know what the heck they were talking about."
Vioxx is suspected as a cause of heart attacks in patients who have been taking the drug for 18 months. As much as I dislike pharmaceutical companies, the culture of litigation that has reared its ugly head again, is almost as contemptible. Everyone who ever came near a Vioxx pill has got his lawyers gunning for millions. Unfortunately, juries, moved more by compelling testimony about hardships and pain than facts, love to slap the pharmaceutical companies down... in a way that doesn't really solve any of the long-term issues.
What is needed is for the government to regulate drug prices. Americans, however, still believe that there can be competition between a product and a product that does not exist. If you don't feel like paying $30,000 a month for a cancer treatment that cost about $30 to manufacture, you can shop elsewhere. Or die.