Allegation Against Merck Is a Teaching Tool

Teachers and business leaders should make use of the allegation by the New England Journal of Medicine that Merck & Co. unethically withheld adverse data about the painkiller Vioxx.

Teachers should use this case to remind students that there can be a conflict between justice and profit. Business leaders should use this case as a reminder that profit is not an end in itself. Imagine a world in which future teachers use history for examples of corporate greed instead of current events.

Kenneth Michael White

Upland