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From the NewsMax.com Staff
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For the story behind the story...
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Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 12:51 a.m. EST
Trial Attorneys Killing Miracle Drugs
It was hailed as a miracle painkiller, an answer to the prayers of millions worldwide who suffered the agony of arthritis or acute pain, and who sought a drug that would not have such side effects as serious stomach irritation associated with other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
But thanks to the trial lawyers, sufferers can longer get Vioxx.
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So writes Devon Herrick, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
In his article "Merck's Vioxx Withdrawal Illustrates Power of Regulation by Trial Lawyers" (Heartland Institute, December 1, 2004) Herrick insists that the evidence that Vioxx was dangerous was pretty slim:
Over the course of a multi-year study that followed nearly 2,600 people, 45 of the patients taking Vioxx experienced heart attacks or strokes, compared to 25 people taking a placebo.
The number of people in each group who actually died was five. In other words, those who took the drug and those who didn't had an identical death rate.
Despite those miniscule negative statistics and the death rates among both groups being the same, Vioxx maker, Merck & Co., took the extreme step of removing Vioxx from the market.
The most likely reason for the withdrawal, Herrick writes, was to reduce the risk of medical liability.
Merck, he reveals, has already started setting up a reserve fund from which to pay future medical claims. Hundreds of people already have lined up to sue for damages.
Prior to its recall, about 2 million people worldwide were taking Vioxx.
It is estimated that about 100 million people have taken it since it was approved about five years ago.
Future patients will be denied its benefits because Merck rationally chose not to risk losing billions of dollars in damage suits.
Says Herrick, "The ones who suffer the consequences are the patients, and they should be allowed to decide whether a drug like Vioxx is worth the risk, rather than having the decision made for them by other people's lawyers.
"What is truly unfortunate is that the only people to benefit from the development of lifesaving drugs removed from the market due to these lawsuits are the trial lawyers."
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