MSD ex chief: Company hid nothing

The former chief executive officer (CEO) of MSD, Raymond Gilmartin, has said that the company never knowingly hid any information about the safety of Vioxx.

Mr Gilmartin testified to a jury in the US following the decision to grant one former Vioxx user $4.5 million in compensatory damages.

But the former CEO, who was in charge for 11 years, said that the company “tried to do the right thing” and that it “tried very hard” to reveal all the information to the public when asked if he would do things differently.

Mr Gilmartin also said that tests the company carried out led them to believe that the drug posed no risks to the heart.

“We were pretty certain that we didn’t have an increased risk,” Mr Gilmartin said, according to the Associated Press.

The testimony wasa part of a further decision over whether MSD should now pay punitive damages on top of the $4.5 million already awarded to former Vioxx user John McDarby.

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