Merck Vioxx

Answer the following questions using the sources below:

1. How much fault would you place on the scientists conducting the study vs the company itself and do you think they should bare any of the repercussions?
2. Do you think including a placebo in this study either as a replacement to naproxen or in addition to it would have prevented this from happening?
3. Weinblatt the safety chair, agreed to wait for all results to be compiled before reviewing the cardiovascular study specifically. A few months later filled out a financial disclosure statement stating he and his wife had purchase $72,985 of Merck stock. Do you think this is indicative of anything fishy?

 

Sources:

Merck Manipulated the Science about the Drug Vioxx. 2017 Oct 12. Union of Concerned Scientists. 

Prakash S, Valentine V. 2007 Nov 10. Timeline: The Rise and Fall of Vioxx. NPRorg. 

National Institute on Aging. 2020. Placebos in Clinical Trials. National Institute on Aging. 

 

Using the following sources:  number 1: 

number 2:  

 Answering the following questions regarding Fipronil eggs 

1. Whom do you think is responsible for the spread of this scandal?
2. What measures could have been taken by the government to prevent this from happening?
3. Do you think both companies are responsible for compensating the poultry farmers who suffered due to the scandal?

Contamination of COVID-19 test kits by the CDC.

Can read the following sources:

William, D. (June 20, 2020). CDC coronavirus test kits were likely contaminated, federal review confirms. 2020 Jun 20. Washington Post. Retrieved on March 18th, 2023 from 

Anthes E. (December 15, 2021). C.D.C. Virus Tests Were Contaminated and Poorly Designed, Agency Says. The New York Times. Retrieved on March 18th 2023 from 

Answer the following 3 questions:

1. What do you believe was the root cause of the contaminated testing kits?

2. Do you believe even with the time pressures the CDC could have avoided this mistake? What could they have implemented to stop this from happening?

3. Why do you think the CDC didn’t hold off on the shipment of kits knowing they produce false positive results?

Using the following sources answer the 3 questions

Sources:

1 Tun ZT. (2022). Theranos: a fallen unicorn. Investopedia. Retrieved on Mar 5th 2023 from

2 EQS Editorial Team. (2022). Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos case: history of a fraud scandal. Integrityline. Retrieved on Mar 4th 2023 from:

3 U.S Department of Justice. (2022).  U.S. v. Elizabeth Holmes, et al. United States Attorney’s Office. Retrieved on Mar 1st 2023 from:

4 Mazer B. (2022). Theranos exploited black box medicine. BMJ. 379. Retrieved on Mar 5th 2023 from https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o3003

Questions:

1. It took more than 10 years to catch Theranos’ fraud, why do you think authorities in the field didn’t notice the fraudulent actions of the company?

2. Do you think there are any ways that could have prevented the scam from going on so long and stopped it sooner?

3. Do you think that Walgreens, who helped distribute and sell Theranos’ faulty products, should be held accountable for anything? Why?