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Death
of a Drug: The Aftermath of Merck's Recall
Wharton
management professor Michael Useem, director of the school's Center for
Leadership and
Change Management, notes that one of the key mantras in
corporate crisis management is: "Hide nothing, tell all."
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Less than a week after Merck & Co.'s voluntary withdrawal of its blockbuster
arthritis pain medication Vioxx, following an extended clinical trial that
linked the drug to heart attacks and strokes, the jury is still out on
whether the pharmaceutical giant followed this cardinal rule.
As headlines move past the company's initial announcement on Sept. 30 and
begin to speculate on possible litigation, corporate liability and the
financial implications of taking a drug used by more than 20 million people
off the market, the spotlight has turned instead to previous suspicions
about Vioxx, earlier FDA warnings about the drug's possible cardiovascular
complications, and the drug company's own efforts to inform the public about
possible risks since Vioxx was introduced in 1999.
What did Merck executives "know and when did they know it?" asks Wharton
finance professor Andrew Metrick. "Have they been aware and knowledgeable
about this? Were they doing their best to prevent bad news from coming out?
That's the crux of it. And this will get fought out in a lot of trials."
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