I thought drug companies were supposed to make you feel not sickened

I guess you can't put anything past a company that has no qualms about marketing a product that they know causes heart attacks.

The judge in the second Vioxx product liability trial delivered a stunning blow to Merck & Co. Friday when she struck the testimony of its first defense witness from the record.

With the jury outside, Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee said she felt misled and sickened upon rereading the transcript of Thursday's testimony by a Merck researcher who said studies by the company in the late 1990s showed the pain reliever would not cause heart damage.

Higbee struck the testimony of Merck researcher Dr. Briggs Morrison from the record because she said he was not an expert on the studies he had told the jury about Thursday, nor did Merck give the court sufficient notice about what he would discuss.

You would think that an industry that is supposed to help the sick and infirmed would attract more principled people. Well, I suppose the scientists who develop the medicines still keep the company's mission statement in their minds, but executives control the cash -- run afoul of those swine and the only research you'll be doing is figuring out where you're getting your next meal.

Has anything ever been improved by adding executives to the mix? Executives should be hunted for sport.