Merck, already under fire for its Vioxx scandal and now undergoing criminal investigation by the Justice Department, is now also being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). The SEC is wondering whether Merck misled investors by failing to disclose facts concerning the harmful nature of its drug Vioxx, which was taken by 20 million Americans, and may now be partly responsible for the heart attacks or deaths of tens of thousands of people.
The estimated liability from lawsuits that are now forming against Merck is anywhere from $10 billion to $20 billion, and yet Merck has only $630 million in insurance coverage for product liability. This means if the Vioxx lawsuits proceed, Merck is likely to come up at least $9.4 billion short, and that of course is going to harm Merck investors.
It leads to the rather startling conclusion that Merck may be facing lawsuits not only from its customers, but also from its shareholders who have not only been financially harmed by an almost 40% drop in the stock price of the company, but also who were no doubt shocked to read in the Wall St. Journal that key Merck executives were aware of the heart attack dangers of Vioxx four years ago.
Merck has also been under fire by the Lancet, a prestigious medical journal in the UK, which recently published a clinical study analysis on past data revealing that Merck should have been fully aware of the dangers of its Vioxx drug several years ago, and should have pulled the drug from the market at that time.
What we're seeing here, folks, is the unwinding of Merck. This is a company that quite clearly covered up the negative information about its drug, that distorted its clinical trials, that worked in concert with the FDA to make sure that the public never learned the negative information about its drug so that it could keep on marketing and selling the drug to produce tremendous profits for its investors. Now all of that deception is falling like a house of cards and it's going to cost Merck and its investors potentially tens of billions of dollars in financial losses.
Some are now questioning whether Merck can even survive this scandal. Certainly the reputation of the company has been permanently damaged, but the reputation of the FDA is also similarly scarred. The public is increasingly distrusting all pharmaceutical companies, because of the lies, distortions and criminal actions that are now being publicly revealed.
As bad as this news is for Merck investors, it's fantastic news for public health, because the sooner companies like Merck are punished for their actions and put out of business, the sooner the population can get back to actually preventing disease, rather than being dosed with dangerous pharmaceuticals that only attempt to mask symptoms of disease. In a very real sense, the decline of Merck and other pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer may unleash a rise in public health and increases in quality of life for people everywhere. Perhaps this is the milestone event that will remind people that health can only come from within; no doctor can heal a patient, patients only heals themselves with the assistance of the doctor.
The doctor should be providing information about nutrition and lifestyle changes, such as avoiding foods that promote obesity and disease, and taking up habits of physical exercise that create a wealth of health benefits, including mental health benefits. We should be talking about the healing nature of natural sunlight, and how virtually the entire population suffers from chronic vitamin D deficiencies that promote breast cancer, prostate cancer, schizophrenia, clinical depression and osteoporosis, especially amongst those with darker skin color who don't absorb as much ultraviolet radiation as those with fair skin.
We should be talking about the importance of consuming superfoods for getting high density nutrients into your body. We should promote the consumption of anti-cancer foods like broccoli, spirulina, garlic, onions and spirulina. We should be talking about the healing power of healthy oils like flax oil, olive oil, fish oils and even nut oils. We should be talking about the importance of water and how most people walk around in a chronic state of dehydration that ends up being diagnosed as asthma, and how most of these people would see their asthmatic symptoms disappear in a matter of days or weeks if they would stop drinking dairy products and start consuming water.
We should teach prevention, and we should start with expectant mothers -- because it is the nutritional health of the unborn child that determines that child's health outlook for the rest of their life. If you feed the mother the right foods, and make sure she avoids dietary toxins such as hydrogenated oils, artificial colors and chemical sweeteners such as aspartame, she is going to give birth to a much healthier child. And that child, if given the correct education on foods and not dosed up on an endless supply of sugary breakfast cereals and candy treats, will grow up with much healthier mental function and physical health. That child won't be hyperactive, they won't be diagnosed with ADHD, and the school won't need to dose them on Ritalin. The child will have stable emotions, healthy brain function and an ability to learn and absorb new information that far surpasses the capacities of most children alive today.
We have within us right now the genetic blueprint to raise a generation of peak performance human beings, who have been given on optimum nutrition, who have not been exposed to the typical dietary toxins that most people choose to consume, and who have been given opportunities for learning and creativity. And yet, the best solution that the free market can provide is more chemicals, more pills from pharmaceutical companies, and more invention of fictitious diseases such as "social anxiety disorder," a disease for which there is absolutely no consistent definition or measurable physiological marker... a disease that has been entirely invented by an industry that just wants to sell you more drugs.
If we don't hold these industries accountable for the destruction they have unleashed upon our population, they’re going to keep inventing new diseases until they have attached a disease name to every human behavior imaginable. Do you go to sleep at night? That's a brain disorder. Are you a woman and have monthly menstrual cycles? It's a terrible disease and you need drugs to cover that up. Do you ever get nervous when speaking in public? That's a disease as well and you obviously need your brain chemistry modified. And in the most extreme cases, they will define disease as not accepting their drugs. Do you believe that pharmaceuticals are dangerous? You obviously suffer from "non-believer's disease" and we have a drug for that too!
Thankfully, the unethical nature and dishonest marketing of this industry is now coming to light. With any luck, the Justice Dept. and the SEC will hit pay dirt and will start throwing these company executives in prison for their crimes against humanity, and the untold suffering and death they have caused among the people of the United States and around the world. And that will send a clear message: that if you're going to sell a drug in this country, you'd better make sure it doesn't kill people. And if it does kill people, you're going to pay the price in terms of having your company's valuation utterly destroyed.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Email this article to a friend
 for possibly misleading investors){kind=link}