Reader Bill Warhol passed this article on to me: according to The Globe and Mail, an independent panel is recommending the return of Vioxx to the market. As readers of this blog (or my book) know, Vioxx is a high-paying keyword that appeared almost out of nowhere when its manufacturer announced a voluntary recall of the drug due to serious long-time side effects. All of a sudden, a new breed of Vioxx attorney appeared paying high prices to display advertisements looking for people willing to sue the manufacturer, Merck, for damages.
The first lawsuit against Merck starts this month in Texas, and Merck is expected to vigorously defend itself against all claims of injury or death due to Vioxx. Having this panel recommend the return of Vioxx because it has “risks similar to dangers posed by other anti-inflammatory agents, such as ibuprofen” will strengthen their case. (The same panel also recommended the continued sale of Celebrex, by the way, a COX-2 inhibitor similar to Vioxx.)
If Merck can successfully battle the first few lawsuits and if more studies and panels suggest that Vioxx should be returned to the market, you can expect the pay-per-click value of the Vioxx keyword to drop. It's already dropped since its peak immediately after the Vioxx recall was announced, of course, but it's held a certain value as lawyers searched for potential victims and health companies sought to promote Vioxx alternatives. I'll continue to track this one, it's an interesting case study.