Documents Show Vioxx Sales Tactics

May 6, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- What Merck & Co. calls good salesmanship -- emphasizing the positive in selling the painkiller Vioxx -- a Democratic congressman says is disinformation designed to deflect safety concerns. The public got an extraordinary glimpse Thursday into the world of drug marketing, as lawmakers released confidential Merck documents that detail how a sales army of 3,000 aggressively pushed the multibillion-dollar drug before it was pulled from the market last fall because of heart attack risks.

Instructions were as detailed as how long to shake a physician's hand -- three seconds -- and how to eat bread when dining with doctors -- "one small bitesize piece at a time."

Sales representatives were offered $2,000 bonuses for meeting sales goals, and worked in campaigns with such code-names as "Project Offense" to try to boost sales even as regulators were about to increase warnings on the drug's label.

Don't bring up the heart risks, warns a Feb. 9, 2001, memo.