Big Pharma hubris finally goes a step too far

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Bloomberg reported last week that Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require girls receive the Gardasil vaccine:

Merck made the decision after groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics said there wasn’t enough state funding to pay for the $360 vaccine or public acceptance … Texas this month became the first state, among about 20 considering legislation, to require school-aged girls to get the shot. Merck began its campaign for the vaccine among state lawmakers even before it was approved in June 2006.

Merck’s management, along with Wall Street, are banking on Gardasil to be the savior of the company’s depleted pipelines. The drug recorded $155 million in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2006, and is projected to bring up to $3 billion annually into Merck’s coffers.

Unfortunately for Merck, the public finally may be getting tired of Big Pharma’s arrogant power plays.

 
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Cary Byrd

Thanks for your comment. One reason the Gardasil controvery struck such a nerve is that most Americans already believe that large drug companies have too much influence over our politicians -- so Merck's overreach seemed to be an extreme example of this. Bottom line: We have a government that protects Big Pharma at the expense of consumers -- and people are fed up.

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Old Working Class

I really don't understand the bashing of drug companies. On one hand people claim that the drugs don't work and then argue that these companies charge too much for their products. If you don't believe the science that drugs and vaccines improve human health - I got an idea, stop buying drugs and don't get the vaccines. Medical research has produced vaccines and treatments (penicillin) that have been so successful that most Americans don't even know what these devastating diseases are anymore. (i.e. smallpox, polio, yellow fever, measles, mumps, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis A and B, and the bubonic plague) I, for one, believe that Merck has played a significant role in those advancements and is an excellent company working to improve the human condition.

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  1. eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » Gardasil mandate’s days are numbered in Texas says:
    March 16, 2007 at 1:42 pm

    [...] For those who believe in democracy and oppose political corruption, the real issue shouldn’t be that the mandate runs counter to conservative views on abstinence. The real issue is that Perry issued an executive order that would provide significant financial benefits to a specific company, Merck – and he did this despite the fact that it would run counter to the views of his political supporters. [...]