An interesting new detail to the Merck whistleblower case about its measles, mumps and rubella vaccine: The scientists that accused Merck for falsifying its measles vaccine data were threatened with jail time, Natural News reports.
It’s convenient timing for this to come up, given that anti-vaccer drama is reaching a fever pitch with the recent measles outbreaks. The lawsuit dates to 2010 – why is this being pointed out now? Still, the claims were quite unsettling…
In 2010, two virologists – Stephen Krahling and Joan Wlochowski – accused the pharma giant in 2010 of faking the efficacy of its measles vaccine. Merck infused a blood sample with animal antibodies to make it look like the vaccine had elicited increased antibody production, the scientists claimed.
This is because, according to the lawsuit, Merck would lose its exclusive license to manufacture the vaccine if it didn’t show 95 percent efficacy. So the whistleblowers claimed that Merck juiced the numbers to keep vaccine sales up.
As BioSpace points out, a number of Merck execs knew that data was being falsified – particularly Krahling’s HR representative, Bob Suter, along with several other scientists. The full lawsuit, found here, says:
Krahling told Suter that he was going to report the activity to the FDA. Suter told him he would go to jail if he contacted the FDA and offered to set up a private meeting with Emini [then company VP of the Vaccine Research Division] where Krahling could discuss his concerns.
This is particularly interesting as Merck has an exclusive license with the U.S. government to produce this measles vaccine. The company brings in $1 billion in revenues yearly on childhood vaccine sales. The lawsuit points out that the FDA requires such a high efficacy rate to promote herd immunity.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
As the single larger purchaser of childhood vaccines (accounting for more than 50 percent of all vaccine purchases), the United States is by far the largest financial victim of Merck’s fraud. But the ultimate victims here are the millions of children who every year are being injected with a mumps vaccine that is not providing them with an adequate level of protection. And while this is a disease that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, was supposed to be eradicated by now, the failure in Merck’s vaccine has allowed this disease to linger with significant outbreaks continuing to occur.
This could prove unfortunate ammo for the anti-vaccer movement. Playing devil’s advocate here, I’m thinking – what if it’s not just flagging immunization rates leading to the increase of once-quashed disease? What if our vaccinations aren’t as effective as they claim to be? It’s an important point to consider. Forbes wrote in 2012:
If the accusations are true — thus far Merck has denied wrongdoing — the case would lend credence to the perception held by many that pharmaceutical companies are more interested in pursuing profits and preserving their market share than in protecting consumers’ health.
