Merck continues to deceive Americans, employees

When someone of the credibility of Dr. Benedict Lucchesi says that Merck put profits ahead of human life, you have enough reason to trust him than the company. But Merck is not giving up. In fact, the company is desperately trying to change public opinion through aggressive advertising - the same tactic it used to sell Vioxx to unsuspecting victims who did not need it and never benefited from it.

While prescription drug advertising edged downward by 0.4 percent to $2.25 billion during the first half of this year, according to TNS Media Intelligence, as pharmaceutical companies cut back on consumer marketing in the face of increased public and governmental scrutiny, Merck did the opposite. During this period, Merck spent $8.9 million on image ads, up from $4.6 million during all of last year. And if you thought Merck was advertising its drugs through one of those "talk to your doctor about XYZ," you are wrong. Merck actually embarked on a "Putting Patients First" campaign trying to project an image of a company that actually cares about patients. Hard to believe when it keeps attacking the patients in the ongoing Vioxx litigation.

So why would Merck become so aggressive now with advertising? A review of Merck's board of directors will tell you that since last year Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide (advertising and marketing communications) has joined the firm as a director.

You can, however, get some consolation from the fact that you are not alone in Merck's well-organized campaign to deceive and mislead. It is doing the same to its employees. After the company lost the Carol Ernst's lawsuit, the company CEO Richard Clark said, "We have great strengths as a company, a business that is fundamentally sound, and a critically important life-saving mission...Nothing in last week's verdict changes that."

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