Do Drug Companies Help or Hurt Patients?

Over the past 20 years, the use of prescribed medication has skyrocketed. In addition, drugs are increasingly marketed directly to the general public. In this new age, can we trust that drug companies have our best interests at heart?

Dr. Gilbert Chu will discuss the drug development/marketing process using the case study of Merck & Vioxx. The FDA estimates 30,000-40,000 deaths associated to Vioxx. At Merck, changes have included aggressive marketing, biased design of clinical trials, and manipulation of data. We will discuss the biology of Vioxx and heart attacks and the analysis of clinical trials for Vioxx.

Clearly, there is enormous potential for helping humanity with good drugs. Understanding what went wrong can lead to policy changes by industry, academia, and government that protect the welfare of patients.