Merck just got off the hook for the Vioxx deaths.

[jillan]

Corporations rule!

Screw the people. Sorry we killed your family members, but if you read the fine print.....

Why is it everyday since the bush regime took over, something makes my blood boil?

[Mass]

1. Absolutely - see also the Ag Bill vote.

Big business is king and it is getting worse and worse since 2000.

[TayTay]

2. This was one trial.

Merck is fighting this one case by a time. They lost a case with a fatality in Texas earlier this year and had a judgment of $250 mil against them. (Which will be reduced due to a cap on jury amounts.)

This New Jersey case was much harder to prove than the Texas one. And Merck still has over 6,000 US lawsuits against it for Vioxx. It ain't over.

[jillan]

3. This is sad. This is who lost

Plaintiff Frederick Humeston, a 60-year-old Vietnam veteran and postal carrier from Boise, Idaho, suffered a heart attack in 2001. Humeston, who was taking Vioxx for a work injury in his right knee and a wartime shrapnel wound in his left, blamed Vioxx for causing the blood clot that led to his heart attack.

from cnn.com

I know there will be other trials, but I see this as another blow to the
common folk.

[TayTay]

4. True, but this was a different case

this was from the news article:

The company’s lawyers cited Humeston’s elevated blood pressure, weight and stress from an ongoing dispute he was having with his U.S. Postal Service bosses, saying they were to blame for his heart attack, not Vioxx.

The night before the heart attack, Humeston was called by his personal physician in response to an office visit by Postal Service fraud investigators in which they showed him a secretly-recorded videotape of Humeston working on a car at his home.

Merck’s expert cardiologist testified that that call was the “absolute trigger” for the heart attack.

While Humeston made for a sympathetic plaintiff, he also was a relatively healthy one, appearing in court for nearly every day of testimony and taking the stand for one day.

In the Texas case, the victim was a Wal-Mart produce manager who died after taking Vioxx; his widow was the plaintiff.

[jillan]

6. TayTay - this is ridiculous. I'm sorry I have to disagree with you here.

I know people that work for the post office. They are a bunch of assholes - the post office - not the people. It is no wonder why they go postal. To give you an example, a friend, Bruce, a mail carrier was in an accident when delivering mail in one of those small trucks. He was under doctor's care, on pain pills, muscle relaxers, on workman's comp. One day, several weeks later, Bruce was at the golf course. Ok - he shouldn't have been there BUT the following week Bruce was in the big bosses office having to explain why he was at the golf course. Excuse me, how did they know. Another woman who was on workman's comp for a work related injury took a day trip up to the mountains north of Phx. The post office knew. She quit. I could go on and on. If someone is injured, they most likely will gain weight as they won't be as physically active. And I know the stress that the post office puts on it's employees that are on what they call limited duty.

In fact, could you please post that link to the article. I want to email it to some people.

Either way, I see it as a sad loss to the little people. This guy was in a no-win situation, up against the government and a major pharma corp. It was probably a combination of the two that got to him.

[jillan]

5. ...and to add insult here...

their stock just rose 6% since the announcement.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: