Merck & Co, Inc.
Jump to Merck & Co, Inc.: Alerts;
- Merck & Co, Inc is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Its most common products include Singulair, an asthma medication, and Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine.
- In the past, Merck has allegedly falsified, suppressed, or misrepresented the results of clinical trials to make some of its products seem more safe than they really are.
- Merck has repeatedly violated water pollution regulations and has fought against measures meant to improve water quality near its manufacturing facilities.
- The company has been criticized for charging HIV/AIDS patients in Mexico exorbitant amounts for its antiretroviral treatments. The high prices of the drugs makes them inaccessible to most AIDS patients in the country.
- In addition to drugs and vaccines, Merck also publishes The Merck Manuals, a line of medical reference guides for healthcare professionals, households, chemists, and veterinarians. The manuals include The Merck Manual of Patient Symptoms, The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, and The Merck Manual Home Edition.
-- Profile Updated 04/06/2009
About Merck & Co, Inc.
Merck & Co, Inc is a global pharmaceutical research company. “Merck helps those who are hooked on hamburgers. Drugs treating ailments associated with bad eating habits -- high cholesterol, hypertension, and heart failure -- are among Merck's biggest sellers.” Merck employed 59,800 people worldwide in 2007, and reported $24.2 billion in sales.
Affiliates
There are no known affiliates associated with Merck & Co, Inc..
Contact Merck & Co, Inc.
Merck & Co, Inc.
Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889
United States
Phone: 908-423-1000
Web: www.merck.com
Alerts
Ethics and Governance
Merck is expected to launch a legal battle against generic drug manufacturer Teva to prevent the rival company from producing a co…
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Merck is expected to launch a legal battle against generic drug manufacturer Teva to prevent the rival company from producing a copycat version of Singulair, Merck’s asthma medication that brings in around $4 billion in annual sales. Merck originally filed a copyright infringement suit in April 2007 after Teva announced to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration its intent to release a generic version of Singulair. Merck’s U.S. patent on one of the world’s best-selling asthma medications expires in 2012, and sales would likely plummet with the introduction of a cheaper alternative.
-- Reuters, 02/22/2009
Source URL: uk.reuters.com/article/UK_SMALLCAPSRPT/idUKN2230173120090222?pageNumbe...
During the 2008 election cycle, Merck & Co’s political action committee gave $572,499 to federal candidates.…
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During the 2008 election cycle, Merck & Co’s political action committee gave $572,499 to federal candidates. Fifty-one percent went to Democrats, 49 percent went to Republicans.
-- Open Secrets, 12/31/2008
Source URL: www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00097485&cycle=2008
In October 2008, Merck announced plans to cut 7,200 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce.…
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In October 2008, Merck announced plans to cut 7,200 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce. The layoffs are not in response to the financial crisis, but rather the result of falling drug and vaccine sales. As their patents expire, large pharmaceutical companies are faced with skyrocketing competition from cheap generics. The job cuts are expected to save the company up to $4.2 billion in operating costs over the next four years, though they will need to spend up to $2 billion in reorganization and severance costs.
-- New York Times, 10/28/2008
Source URL: www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/business/23merck.html?scp=2&sq=merck&st=cse
The Access to Medicine Foundation, which seeks to advance access and quality of medical care in developing countries, gave Merck a…
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The Access to Medicine Foundation, which seeks to advance access and quality of medical care in developing countries, gave Merck a score of 3.9 out of 5 in its 2008 Access to Medicine Index. Based on company practices regarding management, pricing, drug donations, philanthropy, patenting, and research and development, Merck ranked 3rd out of 20 of the largest global drug companies.
-- Access to Medicine Foundation, 06/01/2008
Source URL: www.atmindex.org/index/2008
In the fall of 2007, Merck agreed to a $4.85 billion settlement to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits related to the pain relie…
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In the fall of 2007, Merck agreed to a $4.85 billion settlement to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits related to the pain relieving drug Vioxx, which was found to cause cardiovascular problems and at least 30,000 deaths.
-- New York Times, 10/01/2007
Source URL: www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/16vioxx.html?scp=3&sq=merck&st=cse
Merck has been criticized for lobbying to make human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination mandatory for all American girls.…
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Merck has been criticized for lobbying to make human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination mandatory for all American girls. The pharmaceutical giant pressured state governments to make the vaccination, which protects against the two HPV strains that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, mandatory for all students in order for them to be able to attend middle school. Doing so would cost around $800 million annually, and result in billions of dollars in profits for Merck, which manufactures the HPV vaccine Gardasil. An article published in New Scientist claimed that public health measures like making Pap testing more widely available would be much more cost-effective, especially in the developing world.
-- CorpWatch, 03/07/2007
Source URL: www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14401
In February 2007, Merck announced its intention to pay $2.3 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties.…
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In February 2007, Merck announced its intention to pay $2.3 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties. The pharmaceutical research company dodged taxes by setting up a shell company in Bermuda that had no real employees and did no real work. The practice, called profit laundering, is not uncommon for multinational corporations. Essentially, the companies set up subsidiaries in an offshore tax haven, transfer patents and intellectual property to the new company, and deduct the royalties paid to the subsidiary from their taxes once profits start rolling in. Although the practice drains billions of dollars in tax revenue from the United States each year, the penalties for the scams are relatively low and do not provide an incentive for companies to discontinue the practice. Out of the $2.3 billion Merck has to pay, only $100 million is punitive; no company official was charged with a crime.
-- CorpWatch, 02/23/2007
Source URL: www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14392
Human Rights
Merck has donated over 2 billion MECTIZAN tablets, with a market value of $3 billion, to fight the spread of river blindness since…
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Merck has donated over 2 billion MECTIZAN tablets, with a market value of $3 billion, to fight the spread of river blindness since 1988. Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. In 2008, public health officials in Latin America announced that transmission of river blindness had halted in 31 percent of the previously affected population.
-- CSR Newswire, 11/12/2008
Source URL: www.csrwire.com/News/13705.html
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) started an advertising campaign in 2008 criticizing Merck for its pricing of AIDS medications…
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The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) started an advertising campaign in 2008 criticizing Merck for its pricing of AIDS medications in Mexico. According to the AHF, the antiretroviral drug Stocrin was six times more expensive in Mexico than in other Latin American countries. While AIDS treatments can costs as little as $150 in developing countries like Uganda, the same drugs run upwards of $8,000 in Mexico, almost 10 percent higher than the yearly per capita income. The higher pricing makes the drug unaffordable to most Mexicans suffering from AIDS, argued the AHF.
-- PR Newswire, 05/30/2008
Source URL: www.pr-inside.com/shame-on-merck-drug-giant-blasted-r615736.htm
Merck, Pfizer, and other pharmaceutical companies have faced criticism for ‘outsourcing’ their drug testing to India.…
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Merck, Pfizer, and other pharmaceutical companies have faced criticism for ‘outsourcing’ their drug testing to India. In an effort to cut costs, the drug companies have begun recruiting Indian patients, often illiterate and poor, to take part in clinical research. Merck, for example, contracted with JayaJan Pharmaceutical Research of India to test Gardasil, its HPV vaccine. Critics of the practice argue that the testing will not benefit the majority of India’s population because the new drugs, meant to treat cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, will be too expensive for the impoverished masses.
-- CorpWatch, 03/07/2007
Source URL: www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14401
Environment
Over 2,000 residents of Merced, California filed a lawsuit in Federal court against the operators of a local manufacturing plant t…
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Over 2,000 residents of Merced, California filed a lawsuit in Federal court against the operators of a local manufacturing plant that they say contaminated their drinking water with the cancer-causing chemical Chromium 6. The plant was operated by a subsidiary of Merck & Co, Inc and Amsted Industries, and built industrial cooling towers from 1961 to 1994. The lawsuit alleges that the plant’s operators knew of the contamination long before the information became public. One of the residents involved in the suit had a fibroid tumor removed in from her stomach in the 1990s; she also said that twenty other people in the neighborhood either had cancer or died from it. Lawyers for Merck and Amsted say that the companies are spending $38 million to clean up the site, and that there is no evidence that the plant contaminated water and caused residents to become sick.
-- SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle), 12/21/2008
Source URL: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/21/MNQI14RH6V.DTL&hw...
Merck has strongly resisted limits to the amount of wastewater its Elkton, Virginia plant dumps into the Shenandoah River.…
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Merck has strongly resisted limits to the amount of wastewater its Elkton, Virginia plant dumps into the Shenandoah River. The company petitioned the local water control board to allow it to release 30,000 pounds of nitrogen and 3,000 pounds of phosphorus into the river each year. These amounts are three times the amount of nitrogen and twice the amount of phosphorus that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality set for the plant in 2005. Nitrogen and phosphorus can endanger aquatic wildlife by creating algae blooms. While Merck says that it is impossible for the plant to meet the guidelines, environmental groups say that loosening the requirements would deal a serious blow to efforts to clean up the Shenandoah River and the Chesapeake Bay.
-- Rocktown Weekly, 12/08/2008
Source URL: www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=33865&CHID=2
Health and Safety
Vioxx, a Merck medication for treating arthritic pain, was pulled from the market in 2004 after government regulators found that i…
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Vioxx, a Merck medication for treating arthritic pain, was pulled from the market in 2004 after government regulators found that it was responsible for at least 30,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths. Documents presented in a lawsuit brought by a widow whose husband died after taking Vioxx revealed that Merck scientists were aware of the severe cardiovascular side effects of the drug two years before it went on the market in 1999. The jury found Merck liable and awarded the widow $253.5 million in punitive damages.
-- New York Times, 08/21/2005
Source URL: www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/business/21vioxx.html?scp=4&sq=merck&st=cse
Labor
Merck & Co, Inc. received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign 2009 Corporate Equality Index which rates large corporation…
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Merck & Co, Inc. received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign 2009 Corporate Equality Index which rates large corporations on policies that affect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. The HRC Corporate E
-- Human Rights Campaign, 02/17/2009
Source URL: www.hrc.org/documents/HRC_Corporate_Equality_Index_2009.pdf
Environment
In December 2007, Merck agreed to pay $20 million to resolve violations of federal and state water regulations.…
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In December 2007, Merck agreed to pay $20 million to resolve violations of federal and state water regulations. During the summer of 2006, a Merck pharmaceutical plant discharged potassium thyocyanate into the Wissahickon Creek, causing extensive fishkills and the banning of all recreational uses on the creek from June 14 to July 10. The Philadelphia Water Department was also forced to close the Schuykill River drinking water intake in response to the discharge. Later, in August 2006, Merck discharged vaccine production byproducts that reacted with cleaning agents in a wastewater treatment plant, causing vast amounts of foam to be released into the Wissahickon Creek. Merck has committed to restoring water quality on a certain section of the creek, installing monitors to keep track of fish activity, and restoring wetlands on a 10 acre parcel of land adjacent to the creek.
-- Environment News Service, 12/13/2007
Source URL: www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-13-092.asp
