Update on the Vioxx trial
“In other testimony, both sides played portions of a videotaped deposition of Dr. Brent Wallace, Mr. Ernst’s doctor. Under defense questioning, Dr. Wallace said that many Americans die every year from arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, caused by coronary artery disease.
Mr. Ernst’s death certificate lists an arrhythmia as his cause of death. Lawyers for Merck say that Vioxx has never been shown to cause arrhythmias, and so Vioxx cannot have caused Mr. Ernst’s death.
But W. Mark Lanier , a lawyer for Mr. Ernst’s family, has told the jury that a blood clot caused by Vioxx led to the arrhythmia that killed Mr. Ernst. Even though the autopsy showed no evidence of a blood clot, several witnesses for plaintiffs, including Dr. Maria M. Araneta, the coroner who conducted the autopsy, have backed Mr. Lanier’s theory and said that it was more likely than not that Vioxx caused Mr. Ernst’s death.”
Couple of points. I wasn’t aware that Vioxx had a marked associated with blood clots. If anything, it should lead to more bleeding.
As for Vioxx causing the arrhythmia – it’s possible, but I don’t know how a physician can say it was “more likely than not”. If one looks at the causes for sudden cardiac death, you can see there are a myriad of causes: 65 to 70 percent, coronary artery disease; 10 percent, other structural heart disease; 5 to 10 percent, in the abscence of structural heart disease; 15 to 35 percent, non-cardiac in origin.
Again, although Vioxx certainly may have played a role, it is impossible to be certain.
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- My take: Tim Russert
- Telling a patient to lose weight = "Fat hatred"
- Cardiac scans are being overused
- Why doctors should reconsider ordering a CRP to screen patients for heart disease
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“As for Vioxx causing the arrhythmia – it’s possible, but I don’t know how a physician can say it was “more likely than not”.”
If you give me $1000 for an hour of my time, a hotel room ,and good grub, i’ll say anything you want. It’s like putting a shareholder of Microsoft on the stand in front of potential investors and asking him what he thinks of the software company. It sure beats working as a doc.
I bet those plaintiff experts get paid at least 4 times as much money per hour to testify to whatever the lawyer wants, rather than treating patients like a real doctor.
AFter I get my MD, why should I waste away in the hospital treating sick people for $50 per hour when I can testify in court cases for up to $500 per hour?
AFter I get my MD, why should I waste away in the hospital treating sick people for $50 per hour when I can testify in court cases for up to $500 per hour?
Because the only 2 species considered greater scum in the medical community are plaintiff’s attoneys and child rapists.
I would bet that the last post there will be looked back upon one day as ironic.
Soemone should really be apologizing to the child molestor community for such a comparison.
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