Vytorin everywhere…
Everyone by now knows the Vytorin story: Merck and Schering-Plough have pulled their advertising following the release of a study with disappointing results. With each passing day the story gets a little bigger, and today it seems to be blowing up into a full-blown crisis (if it wasn’t already). The American Heart Association came out for the drug, prompting critics to point out that the organization gets money from Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals. Oh, there’s more. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are jumping into the game. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sen. Chuck Grassley sent letters to just about everyone he could think of, including the SEC.
Grassley asks the SEC about the timing of drug company executives’ stock sales with respect to the trial. He asks the AHA about their sources of industry funding and, citing the AHA’s statement in response to the Enhance trial, asks specific questions about AHA Web offerings entitled “The Two Sources of Cholesterol” (a phrase similar to one used in Vytorin’s ad campaign) and “What is cholesterol?.”
A Florida-based firm filed a federal lawsuit today over the marketing of Vytorin. There’s also reports that there’s been a significant decline in new prescriptions written for the drug. Anyone surprised?
[...] more on Vytorin, with the New York Attorney General getting into the act, and Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan [...]