CASE 6-MERCK
Problems
The first problem is even before the drug was approved, some evidence cast doubt on the safety of Vioxx. The study found—as the company had expected—that Vioxx was easier on the stomach than naproxen. But it also found that the Vioxx group had nearly five times as many heart attacks.
Some analysts criticized DTC advertising, saying that it put pressure on doctors to prescribe drugs that might not be best for the patient.
Solutions
Merck faced serious and terrible situation because its medicine caused patients’ deaths. According to the case, The Merck Inc.’s solution is that recalled all the Vioxx which cause the stock price decrease dramatically. But it is important to repair the company’s image and leave good impression to people. By apologizing to consumers through TV and taking responsible for the mistakes will help Merck Inc. retrieve their consumers.
On the other hand, analyst argued that the methods DTC advertise their products are criticized. The reason is that analysts think that “when a patient comes in and wants something, there is a desire to serve them.” Because of the direct-to-consumer ad makes patients believe that all drugs are safe, it is not correct to leave such impression to consumers. Drugs are not safe at all, and doctor should examine all of them before recommending to patients.
Recommendations
I think the solution is a good symbol to help company’s development. As we all know, if they only cared about profit, not their patient’s health, they would lose their market and customers. The patient’s health and profit could be a relatively benign circulates. If the make sure their products are safe and efficient, the customers get more benefit and the company should have more profit. Thus, in my opinion, more investment put in product research and development, the rate of return on investment could be high. This public