Vioxx Docs Lobbied by Merck Now Its Foes

Doctors who had been heavily courted by Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, are now some of the drug’s most outspoken foes.  In the ongoing Vioxx trial, doctors have come forward and testified that if they had been told of the potential risks the drug posed, they would never have prescribed the drug to their patients.  One of the doctors, John Braun, took Vioxx for two years to treat neck pain, suffered a heart attack.  Dr. Braun is now suing Merck.  This is a classic man bites dog story and even more so considering it ran in the pro-pharmaceutical industry newspaper, the Wall St. Journal!