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Merck Charged With Hiding Crippling Side Effects of Highly Profitable Cancer Vax

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is facing an uphill confirmation battle in the Senate as Donald Trump's secretary of, has vowed to reign in drug companies, which he’s previously dubbed a “criminal enterprise,” and to demand compensation for people injured by their products.

The US’s number 2 drugmaker is facing a jury trial after being charged with marketing its Gardasil cancer vaccine as safe in spite of evidence to the contrary.

The drug has been heavily prescribed and marketed to people ages 9-45 in the US, the EU and Australia, and deployed in developing countries via grants from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for the prevention of cervical, head, neck and other cancers caused by HPV, netting Merck a cool $8+ bln in profits 2023.

However, critics including RFK Jr. have called Gardasil “dangerous and defective” and said it could actually increase the risk of some cancers, and cause an array of life-altering injuries, from extreme migraines and memory problems to episodic paralysis, heart issues, hyperinsomnia and gastroparesis, leaving some teens, the drug’s main target demographic, essentially crippled.

Lawyers representing a Los Angeles woman accuse the company of misleading consumers by overstating Gardasil’s benefits, and covering up side effects.

Merck’s lawyers promise to “vigorously defen[d] against these claims” and say that there’s no proof her injuries were “actually caused” by the jab.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., returns to the witness table during a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 20, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.11.2024

Americas

RFK Jr. vs. Big Pharma Goliath: What Can Be Done to Rein in Drug Makers, Big Food and the FDA

15 November 2024, 17:58 GMT

Merck has paid out billions of dollars in damages over the years, including a $4.85 billion settlement to victims of Vioxx, an anti-inflammatory drug found to cause heart attacks and strokes among thousands of Americans, in 2007.

It's also been accused of criminal activities abroad, with Russia's Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces releasing thousands of documents seized in Ukraine revealing that Merck and other US and European drug companies actively tested their products on unwitting Ukrainians.