Let the lawsuits begin!
Even though Vytorin hasn’t been linked to any injures, Rheingold thinks Schering and Merck should reimburse people for the cost of the drug. “These drugs were of no benefit, therefore everyone who ingested [the drug] and paid for them, or their health insurance company or Medicare should be reimbursed dollar for dollar,” he told the WSJ’s Sarah Rubenstein. “Especially in light of the Merck having evidence that there was no benefit.”
Perhaps John Edwards shouldn’t be railing so hard against the pharmaceutical companies. They are clearly giving his fellow lawyers plenty of business.
Related posts:
- Vytorin, one of the worst blunders of the year?
- John Edwards
- Should you stop taking Vytorin if you’re already on the drug?
- Cap trial lawyer pay
- John Edwards and forced visits to the doctor
- John Edwards and current medical care
- Will any physician vote for John Edwards?
KevinMD.com on Facebook
{ 9 comments }
I’d say it is big pharma that has had plenty of business — making billions on products that are ineffective.
If you were to go down to Sears and buy a washing machine and then find out that it doesn’t work, you would expect a full refund. And you’d get it.
Boy I hope this goes through. My -ahem- friend needs to get some serious money back for those male enhancement pills!
12:31: Absolutely. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned so far, it’s that washing machines and drugs are exactly the same.
Is law school tuition actually used for the purpose of teaching you poor arguments by analogy?
If a person gets plastic surgery but still can’t get a date, then they should get their money back too!
Why wouldn’t someone sue all of the cosmetics companies that promise that they get rid of lines on your face, yet do nothing. How about vitamin sellers? Has anybody sued all the companies that produce vitamins after studies that showed they don’t work came out?
Mixed feelings about drug manufacturers. On the one hand, I truly hate their advertising that is often target healthy slim people who maybe don’t need the drugs. On the other hand, I have some idea about how much work is involved in making new drugs and how often something that looks promising initially turns out to be ineffective. One benefit of working in research is that sometimes you get researchers from other fields came and give lectures. A few years ago we had Merck’s director of research give a talk about what is involved in new drug research.
Leaving aside this study’s limitations – it’s not like it was Vytorin vs placebo in reducing heart attacks…. – I cannot help but sympathize with researchers who spent many years developing drugs only to find out they don’t work as expected.
I think some of you are missing the point. Nobody’s saying that developing meds isn’t an expensive proposition. The point is that you should stop selling them as soon as you find out they don’t work. All the more so since Zetia and Vytorin have potential side effects that make vitamins and cosmetics insignificant.
“And if there’s one thing we’ve learned so far, it’s that washing machines and drugs are exactly the same.”
Actually, I believe the point was that fraud and fraud are exactly the same.
Let me guess. “Big Pharma” themselves prescribed Vytorin and Zocor to the patient population… or is there an important step that is missing here. Perhaps a group of gatekeepers that don’t know what they are doing when it comes to being informed on the actual efficacy of that which they are prescribing.
Fraud?
The study was just released. It also stated that the drug was not MORE effective rather than not effective.
What an idiot.
1. They’ve been sitting on the results for almost two years.
2. The study shows that there’s no reason to buy very-expensive Vytorin (Zetia + Zocor) when the generic for Zocor will do just as well. Additional billions in Big Pharma’s pockets for no more efficacy than adding some homeopathic snake oil to the generic.
Comments on this entry are closed.