merck & Co. pharmaceuticals

GARDASIL Vaccine

Rockefellers AIDS Part 3 Merck
"Any method which appears to offer advantages to a nation at war will be vigorously employed by that nation. There is but one logical course to pursue, namely, to study the possibilities of such warfare from every angle ... " -George W. Merck, Merck Pharmaceutical Company President, report on biological warfare to U.S. Secretary of War, 1942 (161)


Merck's ties to Rockefeller are numerous, involving money from the Rockefeller (162) and Sloan foundations (163) - not to mention officials from I.G. Farben. Henry Kissinger - long-time member of Rockefeller's Council on Foreign Relations - remains on Merck's board of advisors. (164)


Merck's ties to American biological warfare research goes back to its very beginnings. In 1941, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson - a member of Rockefeller's Council on Foreign Relations - requested the Rockefeller-controlled (165) National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to appoint a committee to survey the feasibility of biological war weapons. The 1942 NAS committee concluded that biological war might be feasible and recommended that steps be taken to reduce U.S. vulnerability to a bio-weapon attack. A civilian agency, the War Reserve Service was formed under the direction of George W. Merck, of the Merck Company. (166)


George Merck made it clear that "All possible living agents, or their toxic products, which were pathological for man, animal and plants were considered." (167) Merck mentions significant advances in "human immunity" biological warfare weapons as early as 1946. (168)


Records show the Merck pharmaceutical company received a major share of the Nazi "flight capital" - the working capital of the IG Farben Rockefeller chemical cartel - at the close of World War II. These facts were revealed by Norman Covert, Army public relations director at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD (169) - the same "Camp Detrick" given to George Merck to use for his wartime research. Camp Detrick Army Chemical Corps worked with Germany's bio-warfare specialist Major General Kurt Blome - just two months after he was acquitted at Nuremberg. (170) Bayer worked at Ft. Detrick after WW2, developing "new weapons." (171)


No doubt Merck put all that Nazi know-how to work making war viruses. A "Special Virus Cancer Program" contract from 1971 revealed Merck developed "methods of propagation, purification, concentration, and specific quantitation of candidate viruses suspected or shown to cause cancer in man." One of the viruses mentioned in the contract was called the "KT strain of feline leukemia" - what leading experts have identified as a man-made virus, possibly a "cat/human mutant." At the onset of the AIDS epidemic, the Center for Disease Control hepatitis B Chief Dr. Don Francis said;


Combine these two diseases - feline leukemia and hepatitis - and you have the immune deficiency. (172)


Merck also created a Hepatitis B vaccine that they tested on New York homosexuals - their "Phase I and II studies" occurring between 1976 and 1977 (173) - which could account for the first recorded New York AIDS cases in Manhattan in 1978. (174)


One last interesting connection. George Merck lived on Jupiter Island, Florida - home to Paul Mellon (Andrew's son) and Prescott Bush. (175)

Drug maker Merck & Co. continued to supply infant vaccine containing a mercury-based preservative for two years after declaring that it had eliminated the chemical.

In September 1999, amid rising concern about the risks of mercury in childhood vaccines, Merck announced that the Food and Drug Administration had approved a preservative-free version of its hepatitis B vaccine.

"Now, Merck's infant vaccine line," the company's press release said, "is free of all preservatives."

But Merck continued to distribute vaccine containing the chemical known as thimerosal, along with the new product, until October 2001, according to an FDA letter sent in response to a congressional inquiry.

The thimerosal-containing supplies had expiration dates in 2002.

Merck executives confirmed the details in the FDA letter but defended the accuracy of Merck's announcement in 1999, saying the company had indeed begun to produce preservative-free vaccine.

Merck continued to supply the preservative-containing version "during the transition period to ensure an adequate supply of vaccine to help protect the nation's children," said spokeswoman Mary Elizabeth Blake. She said package labels disclosed which lots of vaccine were preservative-free.

Parent groups and a congressional critic of U.S. vaccine policy are crying foul.

"As far as the world knew, the product coming out of Merck had no thimerosal in it," said Sallie Bernard, executive director of Safe Minds, a group concerned about childhood exposure to mercury, a neurotoxin. Parents and doctors who wanted a thimerosal-free product "would be totally confused," she said.

Rep. Dave Weldon, a Florida Republican and a physician, said what Merck did was "misleading."

"You had people literally into 2002 getting shots with mercury, having been told it was all taken out in 1999," he said. "There should have been a much more cautious announcement that we're going to eliminate the mercury over time." The FDA letter was sent to Weldon in June 2003 in response to his questions about progress in removing mercury from vaccines.

Thimerosal, which is nearly 50% ethyl mercury, has largely been eliminated from most routine childhood vaccines, though it still is present in most flu shots. It had been widely used as a sterilizing agent to prevent bacterial contamination from repeated insertion of needles into multi-dose vials of vaccine.

More than 4,200 claims have been filed in the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by parents alleging that their children suffered autism or other neurological disorders from mercury in their shots.

Last year California banned thimerosal in childhood vaccines as of 2006.

Vaccine makers and many health officials say there is no credible evidence of harm from the small doses of mercury once widely present in kids' shots. They cite a report last May by the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, which concluded that available evidence "favors rejection of a causal relationship" between vaccines and autism.

Parents have cited contrary findings and say the studies cited by the institute's panel were flawed.

Though they said there was no proof of harm, the U.S. Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics in July 1999 acknowledged that mercury exposures from a multitude of shots exceeded federal health guidelines, and they called on manufacturers to voluntarily eliminate thimerosal from kids' vaccines.

Last month The Times disclosed a leaked Merck memo from 1991 showing that the company was aware at that time of concerns about thimerosal. In the memo, a former Merck scientist calculated that 6-month-old children who received their shots on schedule could receive a mercury dose up to 87 times higher than the guideline for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish.

"When viewed in this way, the mercury load appears rather large," said the memo by Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman, an internationally renowned vaccinologist and a former senior vice president of Merck. "The key issue is whether thimerosal, in the amount given with the vaccine, does or does not constitute a safety hazard."

Hilleman and Merck executives have declined to discuss the memo.

Merck's announcement of the new thimerosal-free vaccine figured strongly in a shift in federal immunization policy.

In issuing their 1999 appeal, federal authorities also recommended that the first hepatitis B shot, typically given to newborns in their first 12 hours of life, be postponed except for at-risk infants — those whose mothers had tested positive or whose hepatitis B status was unknown.

But that caveat was lost in confusion over the new policy, and some hospitals delayed the birth dose even for at-risk children. Fearing that these babies could contract the serious disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reinstated the birth dose for all newborn babies, citing the availability of the new Merck vaccine.

The Merck release was issued Sept. 9, 1999, and the CDC announced the revised policy the next day.

The CDC notice cited the introduction of the Merck vaccine and the expectation that a preservative-free version from a second manufacturer would be available soon. It called on hospitals and doctors to assure that they had enough of the new product for newborns before giving it to older babies.

"There was a belief there was enough thimerosal-free hepatitis vaccine, so they went back to the birth dose," said Glen Nowak, a spokesman for the CDC.

Dr. Eric Mast, chief of the prevention branch in the CDC's division of viral hepatitis, said the agency had not conducted surveys to determine the percentage of newborns who got mercury-free shots. But he said the CDC had not received reports "from state health departments or providers that there was a problem with access" to preservative-free vaccine.

Weldon, however, said that with the old product continuing to flow into the market, he was "fairly confident that newborns continued to get mercury-containing vaccines."

"It would have to be a very well-informed and diligent pediatrician to make sure all of the stock he supplied contained no mercury," he said.

Merck (MRK) Showing Support At 34.71
Posted: Friday, July 23, 2010 9:15 AM EDT

Merck (NYSE: MRK) closed yesterday at $35.18. So far the stock has hit a 52-week low of $28.69 and 52-week high of $41.56. Merck stock has been showing support around 34.71 and resistance in the 35.75 range. Technical indicators for the stock are Neutral and S&P gives MRK a positive 4 STAR (out of 5) buy rating. MRK appears on the Investors Observer Volume Leaders list. For a hedged play on this stock, look at a Sep '10 35 covered call for a net debit in the $33.74 area. That is also the break even stock price for this trade. This covered call has a 57 day duration, provides 4.09% downside protection and a 3.73% assigned return rate for a 23.91% annualized return rate (comparison purposes only). A lower cost hedged play for this stock would use a longer term call option in place of the covered call stock purchase. To use this strategy look at going long the MRK Jan '12 20 Call and selling the Sep '10 35 call for a $13.86 debit. The trade has a 57 day life and would provide 3.75% downside protection and an 8.23% assigned return rate for a 53.00% annualized return rate (for comparison purposes only). Merck has a current annual dividend yield of 4.26%. [FBB-Seven Summits Research]


Makes ya sick doesnt it.....people are dying our healthy kids are being poisoned, becoming sick and all the rich pricks are making money off of it

Merck and Partners Begin Vaccination Program in Bhutan
The tiny Asian country of Bhutan has become the first developing nation in the world to implement a national cervical cancer vaccination program. Merck is partnering with the government of Bhutan and the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation (ACCF) to initiate a six-year program aimed at reducing incidences of the disease.

Bhutan is a country of approximately 650,000 people located at the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains, bordering India and Tibet. Cervical cancer affects more women in Bhutan than any other cancer. Based on current estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 200 Bhutanese women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and about one-half of those women die.

The program, led by Her Majesty the Royal Grandmother Ashi Kesang Choeden Wangchuck and the Bhutan Ministry of Health, will provide an opportunity for appropriate girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 18 to be vaccinated with GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] as part of this initiative.

"It has long been a priority of ours to make health programs like this available to women of our country," says Dr. Ugen Dophu, director, Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Bhutan. "We're pleased to have the support of Merck and the ACCF on such an important initiative."

"Cervical cancer is a significant burden in Bhutan, said Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, medical affairs and policy, Merck Vaccines. "Working in partnership with committed governments and third-party partners is critical to the success of any program focused on enabling women in developing countries to benefit from the potential benefits of cervical cancer vaccination."

Read the press release on the program in Bhutan.

Merck is pursuing a systematic approach to improve access to GARDASIL in the developing world. Included in that is a 2007 pledge to donate at least three million doses of GARDASIL through the charitable GARDASIL Access Program, which enables organizations and institutions in eligible lowest income countries to gain operational experience in the design and implementation of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination projects.

Since inception of the program, organizations and institutions in Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Georgia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Moldova, Nepal, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Uganda, and Uzbekistan have been approved to receive more than 496,000 doses of GARDASIL.


a very unique way of depopulation

Prescription products from merck

AFLURIA®
ANTIVENIN™
ASMANEX® TWISTHALER®
ATTENUVAX®
CLARINEX®
COMVAX®
COZAAR®
DULERA®
EMEND®
FOLLISTIM®
FORADIL® AEROLIZER®
FOSAMAX®
FOSAMAX PLUS D®
GANIRELIX Acetate Injection
GARDASIL®
HYZAAR®
IMPLANON®
INDOCIN®
INTEGRILIN®
INTRON® INVANZ®
ISENTRESS®
JANUMET®
JANUVIA®
MAXALT®
MAXALT-MLT®
MERUVAX® II
M-M-R® II
NASONEX®
NOROXIN®
NOXAFIL®
NUVARING®
PEDVAX HIB®
PEPCID®
PNEUMOVAX® 23
PRIMAXIN® I.V.
PRINIVIL®
PRINZIDE®
PROPECIA®
PROQUAD®
PROSCAR®
PROVENTIL® HFA
REBETOL®
RECOMBIVAX HB®
ROTATEQ®
SAPHRIS®
SINGULAIR®
STROMECTOL®
TEMODAR® Capsules
TEMODAR® Injection
TIMOPTIC® e
TIMOPTIC® in OCUDOSE® e
TRUSOPT®
VARIVAX®
VYTORIN® f
ZEMURON®
ZETIA® f
ZOCOR®
ZOSTAVAX®

these are the vaccines


AFLURIA® a
[influenza virus vaccine]

ATTENUVAX®
[measles virus vaccine live]

COMVAX®
[Haemophilus b conjugate (meningococcal protein conjugate) and hepatitis B (recombinant) vaccine]

GARDASIL®
[human papillomavirus quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant]

MERUVAX® II
[rubella virus vaccine live]

M-M-R® II
[measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine live]

PEDVAX HIB®
[Haemophilus b conjugate vaccine (meningococcal protein conjugate)]

PNEUMOVAX® 23
[pneumococcal vaccine polyvalent]

PROQUAD®
[measles, mumps, rubella and varicella virus vaccine live]

RECOMBIVAX HB®
hepatitis B vaccine (recombinant)]

ROTATEQ® Oral Solution
[rotavirus vaccine, live, oral, pentavalent]


VAQTA®
[hepatitis A vaccine, inactivated]

VARIVAX®
[varicella virus vaccine live]

ZOSTAVAX®
[zoster vaccine live]

Consumer products

A+D® Original Ointment
A+D® Zinc Oxide Cream

AFRIN®

BAIN DE SOLEIL®

CHLOR-TRIMETON®

CLARITIN®

COPPERTONE®

CORICIDIN® HBP

CORRECTOL®

CUSHION GRIP®

DR. SCHOLL'S®

DR. SCHOLL'S®
Custom Fit ™ Orthotics

DR. SCHOLL'S®
Freeze Away®

DRIXORAL®

GYNE-LOTRIMIN®

LOTRIMIN®

MIRALAX®

TINACTIN®

Zegerid OTC™

Drugmaker Merck discloses Justice, SEC probes of possible foreign anti-bribery law violations

Two federal agencies are probing drugmaker Merck & Co. for possibly violating anti-bribery laws in multiple foreign countries.

Merck, the world's second-biggest drugmaker by revenue, has received inquiry letters from both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said in a regulatory filing. The letters "seek information about activities in a number of countries and reference the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," according to Merck.

The FCPA act bars U.S. companies from bribing government officials in other countries to win business, among other things.


"Merck has in place an FCPA compliance program, and our policy is to conduct our business in accordance with all applicable laws, including FCPA," Merck spokesman Ron Rogers said Monday.

Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., disclosed the investigation in a regulatory filing with the SEC on Friday. Merck said in the filing that it is cooperating with the agencies and believes that the probe is part of a broader review of pharmaceutical industry practices overseas.

Merck and most other large drugmakers for the past couple years have been hotly pursuing sales in emerging markets including China, Russia, India and Brazil. Government health programs in such countries often control the prices allowed for prescription drugs and decide which brands they will buy for millions of hospital and other patients.

That's why the Justice Department Criminal Division is focusing on overseas sales practices in the pharmaceutical industry, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer said last November at a conference on the anti-bribery law.

According to a transcript of his speech, Brewer said that in some countries "nearly every aspect of the approval, manufacture, import, export, pricing, sale and marketing of a drug" may involve a foreign official.

"Combined with fierce industry competition and the closed nature of many public formularies," that creates a big risk that "corrupt payments will infect the process," he said.

The industry sees high-volume sales in emerging markets as its best hope for growth. Companies have been adding thousands of salespeople and building factories staffed by lower-paid workers in those countries.

Revenue growth is waning in the U.S. and Europe. Reasons include the global recession, bigger U.S. government discounts under the health care overhaul and dozens of blockbuster medicines getting cheap generic competition in Western countries — with few big new products coming on the market to replace those billions in annual sales.

Meanwhile, Merck has a history of trouble regarding promotion of its products.

It's paid out $4.85 billion to settle roughly 50,000 lawsuits brought by patients or survivors of people who took its former blockbuster painkiller Vioxx and claimed Merck downplayed the pill's dangers. Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes, including fatal ones.

Currently, Merck is operating under a federal Corporate Integrity Agreement covering its promotional practices and price reporting. The agreement runs through February 2013 and is similar to two earlier, five-year corporate integrity agreements with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

Merck entered into one of the agreements in February 2008 and Schering-Plough Corp. entered into the other in 2004 and later extended it for a couple years. Merck bought Schering-Plough for $41 billion last November.

The agreements in general require Merck and its Schering-Plough unit to maintain an ethics training program, as well as "policies and procedures governing promotional practices" and reporting of prices for its drugs to the Medicaid health program.

Medicaid is entitled to the lowest discount any drugmaker gives to other customers, such as hospitals or prescription benefit managers. Major drugmakers have repeatedly been investigated for allegedly overcharging Medicaid by reporting inflated drug prices to the government. That's resulted in numerous multimillion-dollar settlements paid by the pharmaceutical companies.

Merck shares rose 38 cents, or 1.1 percent, to close at $35.36 Monday.