Merck’s Vioxx doctor-discrediting list

Some doctors were openly criticizing Vioxx , Merck’s widely used painkiller. Then, during an Australian class action case, something much darker allegedly surfaced.

Emails presented in court reportedly contained a list of doctors’ names, with words such as “neutralise,” “neutralised,” and “discredit” written beside them.

One message was particularly unsettling , it reportedly suggested that the doctors might need to be “sought out” and dealt with personally.

The list was described in reporting as a kind of “hit list,” although the evidence and statements came from testimony and internal communications presented during the litigation.

What makes the story disturbing isn’t just that the doctors were being criticized internally , it’s the suggestion that some employees were discussing ways to silence people who were publicly questioning one of the company’s drugs.

The allegations were examined in court and reported by the media, but the existence and interpretation of the communications should be understood in the context of that litigation rather than treated as a proven company-wide policy.

Source, testimony and reporting from the Australian Vioxx class action.