Relationships with Government Regulators and Policymakers Essay

No, I did not believe that Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical mien with regard to rofecoxib. Vioxx is a prescription medicine used to relieve signs and symptoms of arthritis, acute pain in adults and painful catamenial cycle and Merck was one of the worlds leading pharmaceutical firms. Corporate social responsibility sum that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for all of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. I didnt believe Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to Vioxx is because Merck had long enjoyed a reputation as one of the most ethical and socially responsible of the major drug companies.Drug festering and testingMerck was renowned for its research labs, which had a decades-long book of account of achievement, turning out one innovation after another, including drugs for cholesterol, hypertension, tuberculosis and other. In pro duct development and testing, scientists bash Vioxx there are serious health jeopardys and the drug may have side make such as cardiovascular complications but scientists think that the lives that could have potentially been and now know that the effects of the medicine can improve and so change and it can minimize the harmful side effects. During the development and testing phase for Vioxx has many issues regarding the safety of the drug were questioned due to the many cases of heart attacks and strokes resulting from the medication but also have people think heart attacks and strokes were common and they had multiple causes, including genetic predisposition, smoking, fleshiness and a sedentary lifestyles.Marketing and advertisingThis was new in the pharmaceutical industry as it was the showtime time the FDA were allowed to advertise to consumers and the advertising technique of Vioxx that was used was thru direct-to-consumer. Merck used an Olympic figure skater as the prim ary character within their commercials and telling viewers that she would not let arthritis stop me. The drug companies defended DTC ads, verbalise they informed consumers of newly available therapies and encouraged people to seek medical treatment so consumers then would request this medication, making doctors feel obliged to prescribe. Drug ac participation focused most of their marketing efforts on prescribing physicians and as a result of this fiasco, implications for big pharmaceutical firms like Merck are clear, they have take much time to conduct more clinical studies and assess the health risks associated with the drugs even if it means a stay in the entry of the drug into the market.Relationships with government regulators and policymakersVioxx were regulated by Food and Drug organization (FDA) and operate of FDA is whether or not to approve a new drug. Some evidence suggested that the morale of FDA ply charged with evaluating the safety of new medicine had been hur t by relentless pressure to bring drugs to market quickly. The government and policymakers received large sums of money from the development company during the advertising phase and market introduction. The assurance has not had an opportunity to review the data from the study that was stopped in the depth that Merck has, but agrees with the company that there appear to be significant safety concerns for patients, particularly those taking the drug chronically and FDA plans to work closely with Merck to coordinate the withdrawal of this product from the US market.Handling of the recallMerck announced a automatic worldwide withdrawal of Vioxx. From the published evidence of Vioxx is crystal clear risk of heart attack, as early as in the late 1990s, the company should be aware of risk awareness and the companys internal documents confirmed the the companys awareness of the risks. Yet Merck continued not alone to sell the drug, but to market it heavily and as a first line choice, not provided for those thought to be at higher risk of stomach bleeding. Merck conclusions and judgments of certain problems with Vioxxs put together can be faulted. They are either ignored or dismissed early signs of an increased risk of heart attack, whether it is in their own research and other post, trying to get to market faster. This proved to be deadly further studies in line with the concerns, and lead ultimately to lead to another wrong decision to recall the drug from the market and Merck would have hoped for, instead they lost the market of customers who would still have interpreted Vioxx in spite of the risks.