Internal restructuring: Merck & Co. said it will cut 7,200 jobs in the face of generic competition, regulatory delays and falling sales of its cholesterol pills and cancer vaccine.: United States of America

Bloomberg

2008

-1200

Internal restructuring: Merck is eliminating 1,200 U.S. sales jobs, a week after Food and Drug Administration's surprise rejection of an experimental cholesterol drug called Cordaptive.: United States of America

2005

-7000

Closure/Bankruptcy: Merck will close 5 manufacturing plants, one research site and two preclinical development sites to trim costs by as much as $4 billion through 2010. About half of the job cuts will be in the U.S., Merck said.: United States of America

Bloomberg

2004

-4400

Webfin

2004

-700

AGEFI

2003

62000

2002

78100

2001

69300

1999

62300

1998

57300

» More restructuring at Merck & Co., Inc.
» Layoff plans and labour conditions in 2007

year

employees

social impact : country

source

11 informations, access to subscribers

» More restructuring at Merck & Co., Inc.
» Layoff plans and labour conditions in 2007

year

country : consequences

source

2006

United States of America brand: Vioxx : Merck must pay $51 million to a retiree who claimed its Vioxx painkiller caused his heart attack and a judge ordered a new trial for a man who lost his case over the drug last year.

Bloomberg

2005

United States of America brand: Vioxx : A jury decided that Merck provided adequate warning to doctors about health risks associated with its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx and did not commit consumer fraud in marketing the drug. Merck is facing more than 6,500 lawsuits from former Vioxx users who claim to have been harmed by the drug. The drug could have caused between 88000 and 140000 heart attacks in the USA.

Reuters

» More environmental impacts by Merck & Co., Inc.
» Pollutions in 2007

year

country : consequences

source

2 informations, access to subscribers

» More environmental impacts by Merck & Co., Inc.
» Pollutions in 2007

Financials (13)

Lobbying & corruption (11)

Subsidy

Advertising & marketing (8)

year

financial misdemeanor

sales

income

buyback

source

2008

23,9

7,81

billion US$

2007

3,28

billion US$

2006

4,43

billion US$

2006

Merck pays 2,3 billion dollars of taxes, interests and tax penalties to settle an investigation of the tax authorities of the United States on the recording of its patents since 1993 in countries with low taxation in order to pay less tax.

Les Echos

2005

4,63

billion US$

2005

Sued by the State of California for defrauding the state's $34 billion Medi-Cal program by inflating prices. "We're going to drag these drug companies into courts of law because they've been gouging the public," California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said at a news conference. For example, Medi-Cal paid $804.70 US for a bottle of the hypertension drug Atenolol. Providers such as doctors, clinics and pharmacists paid $33.85 US. As a result, providers reimbursed by Medi-Cal for Atenolol pocketed $770.85 US. The windfalls gave doctors, pharmacies and other providers an incentive to prescribe such drugs, which resulted in even more sales by drug makers, Lockyer said.

Canadian Press

2004

5,8

billion US$

Les Echos

2003

22,49

6,83

billion US$

2002

51,79

7,15

billion US$

2001

47,72

7,28

billion US$

2000

40,36

6,82

billion US$

SmartMoney

1999

32,71

5,89

billion US$

1998

26,9

5,25

billion US$

» More financial data for Merck & Co., Inc.
» Financial delinquency in 2007

year

financial misdemeanor

sales

income

assets

buyback

source

13 informations, access to subscribers

» More financial data for Merck & Co., Inc.
» Financial delinquency in 2007

year

purpose : intermediary/lobby : institution

source

2008

translate

2007

As in the United States, Merck's local subsidiary, Merck Frosst Canada, has lobbied aggressively for a government policy mandating blanket vaccination of young girls. Gardasil was approved in Canada in July 2006, and the first doses were given the following month. More recently, its National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended blanket vaccination for girls between the ages of nine and thirteen, with older girls and women also receiving "catch up" shots. :

translate

PR Watch

2001

Access to foreign market (through MAI, WTO, GATS), prevent binding environmental regulations : USCIB (US Council For International Business) : : US Government

translate

USCIB

2000

Limit the legal liability, no price control, no list of preferred drugs, hampers the approval and marketing of generic drugs, no drug imports, no limit to drug advertising… : Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America : : US government, congress, senate

translate

Washington Post

2000

Investment protection and market access (to Mexico and Canada through NAFTA), to Latin America (through FTAA). : Business Roundtable : : US government, senate, congress

translate

Center for Responsive Politics

2000

Prevent binding regulation, co- or self-regulation instead. : American Chamber of Commerce's EU Committee : : European Commission

translate

Corporate Europe Observatory

2000

Lift the ban on bovine growth hormons, the moratorium on GMOs : EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations) : : European Commission

translate

EFPIA

1999

Market access and investment protection (through WTO, GATS), avoid social and environmental rules : ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) : : WTO, GATS

translate

Corporate Europe Observatory

1998

Regulation favorable to company's interests : Contribution to Candidate's Political Action Committee : amount: 262 thousand US$ : US President, Congress, Senate

translate

Center for Responsive Politics

1997

Legislation favorable to company's interests : Direct donation : amount: 5140 thousand US$ : US President, Congress, Senate

translate

Center for Responsive Politics

1997

Legislation favorable to company's interests : Direct donation : amount: 235 thousand US$ : US President, Congress, Senate

translate

Center for Responsive Politics

» More influence from Merck & Co., Inc.
» Influence in 2007

year

purpose : intermediary/lobby : institution

source

11 informations, access to subscribers

» More influence from Merck & Co., Inc.
» Influence in 2007

year

dubious practice : image

source

2007

Deceptive advertising: Merck will pay 58 million dollars to settle a suit from thirty American States which accused it of haviung made deceptive advertising to praise the merits of its Vioxx anti-inflammatory drug, withdrawn from the market since because of its dangerous side-effects.:

Les Echos

2007

Disinformation: A comparison of the internal data of Merck in 2001 with the results of two clinical trials made public in 2004 and 2005 reveals "that the presentation of Merck as for the risk of death related to Vioxx among patients suffering from Alzheimer could be minimized intentionally", according to an article of the "Newspaper of the American Medical Association". Merck had voluntarily withdrawn Vioxx of the market September 2004 following a study showing that the drug doubled the risk of cardiovascular accidents after eighteen months of daily use. The internal document was obtained within the frameworks of the lawsuits with which Merck is confronted about Vioxx.:

Les Echos

2007

Disinformation: In June 2005, U.S. National Public Radio's Snigdha Prakash reported, "New documents obtained by NPR suggest that even as Merck was making Vioxx into a bestseller, the company was putting pressure on independent doctors. The company's apparent aim: to keep them from discussing evidence of Vioxx's potential safety problems. The documents show that Merck exerted pressure not only on individual doctors, but also on several of the nation's top medical schools." NPR described Merck's campaign to recruit the physician Gurkirpal Singh of Stanford University as a Vioxx spokesperson. "Merck wanted Singh on board because he was a senior researcher on a seminal study of arthritis patients," reported Prakash. Starting in 1998, Merck cultivated Singh; the physician soon became a Vioxx booster, being paid $2,500 per speaking engagement by Merck. But in 2000, a study suggesting heart problems among Vioxx users worried Dr. Singh. He asked Merck for the data. "I wanted to know how many heart attacks, how many strokes, how many deaths were occurring in each one of the groups, and what were these actual number of patients at risk, and how many ended up having an event," he told NPR. Merck originally promised to share the information with Singh, but never did. Singh began including his concerns in his public presentations on Vioxx. Merck began closely tracking Dr. Singh's activities. According to NPR: Almost a dozen Merck executives were involved [in tracking Dr. Singh]. A senior regional executive who had supervised Singh's scientific handlers sent this Oct. 4, 2000, e-mail: "I have in excess of 80 e-mails pertaining to interactions with Dr. Singh from March 1999 to present. The following is my best recollection of what has happened. Because of the sensitive nature of the following, I strongly encourage you not to share with anyone unless they clearly have a need to know." As Singh's public criticisms of Vioxx continued ("He was now promoting Vioxx's rival, Celebrex," and "being paid by Pfizer," reported NPR. Merck decided to start calling his superiors at Stanford. Stanford medical professor James Fries told NPR, "I received a call from a medical director at Merck, stating that someone on my staff had been making wild and irresponsible public statements about the cardiovascular side effects of Vioxx." Fries said the Merck representative "hinted there would be repercussions for Fries and Stanford if Singh's statements didn't stop. He was left with the sense that Merck's financial support to Stanford was at risk.":

Sourcewatch

2005

Disinformation: In June 2005, the ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide launched the first promotional campaign ever for Merck - a $20 million, 6-month campaign with the slogan "Merck. Where patients come first." The campaign was planned before the company was forced to withdraw its popular painkiller Vioxx, and before evidence came to light that Merck not only ignored evidence that Vioxx caused heart complications, but also heavily marketed the drug. The major goal of the Merck promotional campaign was "to build emotional ties between Merck and consumers": One television commercial shows cute children reacting in charming confusion to requests to define "measles," "mumps" and "chicken pox." "Most kids today don't have a clue about diseases adults remember, thanks to Merck's scientists," a female announcer says, adding: "We've invested billions to research heart disease and asthma. Now we're trying to make Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer history too." … Also, more than 40 percent of the ads in the campaign are being devoted to information about what Merck calls its access programs, which are efforts to provide some consumers with prescription drugs either free or at reduced prices.: value: Merck. Where patients come first.;

Sourcewatch

2005

Disinformation: Merck allegedly tried to censor vioxx critics. Merck hired Stanford University's Dr. Gurkirpal Singh in 1998 and paid him up to $2,500 for each talk he gave to other physicians about Vioxx. But when Singh became concerned about a 2000 study suggesting Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks, Merck tracked Singh's public comments on Vioxx, eventually contacting his bosses at Stanford and hinting "there would be repercussions ... if Singh's statements didn't stop." Merck provides significant research funding to Stanford, a common arrangement between drug companies and universities.:

NPR

2005

slogan: Merck. Where patients come first.;

2004

"APCO Worldwide is supporting Merck's PR efforts for the controversial" -- and deadly -- "arthritis drug Vioxx, which was found to increase heart attack risk in patients," reports O'Dwyer's.:

Sourcewatch

» More ads and public relations campaign from Merck & Co., Inc.
» Dubious practices in 2007