Case 9.7 : Merck and Vioxx (Part I*)

Merck was founded as a chemical manufacturer in Germany in 1668. Run by the Merck family for generations, the company moved to the U.S. in 1891 under the direction of George Merck. George Mecks Jr. Said, “we try never to forget that medicine is for people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.”

Merck has long been known as a responsible and generous corporation. Many social responsibility have been done like donated billions in AIDS, focused on R&D related to the disease and prevention in undeveloped countries. Merck also named one of Fortune’s “Most Admired Company in America” for 7 years during 1980s. In 2004, Business Ethics named Merck one of its Top 100 Most Ethical Companies in America.

In 1994, Merck’s R&D program discovered Vioxx. Vioxx actually helped with stomach ulcers and curbed intestinal bleeding. The R&D must pass 3 steps of trial. And Vioxx made it through all of the phases.

But, a study that would come to be referred to as “the Cleveland study” concluded that Vioxx users were at 5 times greater risk for a heart attack than those who used just naproxen. After this study became public in 2001, several class action lawsuits were filed on behalf of Vioxx users around the country. The plaintiffs in the cases were surviving relatives of Vioxx patients who had experienced fatal heart attacks or patients who were suffering from heart disease or recovering from heart attacks.

To make this case ethical, in 2002, Merck added to its Vioxx bottle labels that there was a risk of cardiovascular and stroke events. All scientist agreed that there was no elevated risk until patients took Vioxx for at least 18 months.

*Part II will be reviewed by Erma Arita