Merck
It's Not A Duel, It's A Three-way
The Permanent Candidate
'Crony Capitalism' Switches Parties
The Republican catchphrase of the moment is "crony capitalism." This is odd, because Republicans don't usually like to disparage capitalism in any form. Nonetheless, House Speaker John Boehner, in his jobs speech today, complained that "entrepreneurs and job creators" have been "undercut by a government that favors crony capitalism." READ MORE >>
Whatever Rick Perry’s Record Is, It’s Not Conservative
Study Break
It’s not news that the pharmaceutical industry routinely suppresses negative data, with the effect of exaggerating the benefits of its drugs and glossing over their risks. Take, for example, the painkiller Vioxx. According to court testimony, the drug’s manufacturer, Merck, withheld data showing that the drug caused five times as many heart attacks as a similar painkiller, naproxyn. The result? Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety expert David Graham calculated that Vioxx caused an estimated 39,000 to 60,000 heart-attack deaths before it was pulled from the market in 2004. READ MORE >>
