August 22, 2005

Blame Bush for Merck's Vioxx

By Noel Sheppard
First it was nonexistent weapons of mass destruction.  Then he was AWOL.  After that came Plamegate.  So, what pray tell will be the next left—wing attack on our president?  Potentially, the manner in which the Vioxx story was covered this weekend by the New York Times gives us some clues.  To begin with, a front—page article Saturday by Alex Berenson reported the surprise verdict that gave the widow of a man who died after taking Merck's painkiller an astounding $253.5 million award including $229 million in punitive damages. Just in case people missed it, the Times ran another article by Mr. Berenson on Sunday —— again on the front—page —— that appears to move this story in a suspiciously political direction: The real explanation may lie in the "bad facts" that [plaintiff's attorney] Mr. Lanier presented to the jury. Bad facts?  Sounds a little like the left's accusations concerning WMDs, doesn't it? ...(Read Full Article)