Merck Novartis Merck and Novartis Financial Statements 2012 Balance Sheet • What components of stockholders' equity do each of the companies disclose? Merck & Co. provides a consolidated statement of stockholders equity on their balance sheet. They disclose the number of shares, share types, retained earnings, and some historical data (Merck & Co., 2013). Novartis provides a much more thorough and detailed report of their shareholders equity in their annual report. Not only do they

Corporations have many stakeholders, of which the shareholders are just one group. There are also, for example, creditors, employees, suppliers and customers. In the case of pharmaceutical giants, society at large is also a stakeholder of a sort. The products a company like Merck develops improve the health and well-being of the population at large. Government can be said to be the stakeholder that represents this interest. In the case of

Merck's Medco The acquisition of Medco (by Merck) is a sign of shifts that are taking place in the health care industry. What is happening is there has been an emphasis on providing total health care solutions to consumers. As they are demanding that they have access to: the best services and want to have their different needs combined into one plan. This has lead to changes in the way health

It is different than a criminal action, which involves a breach of duty owed to society at large. It is possible that actions are both tors and crimes; but only the state may prosecute a crime, but any injured party may bring a lawsuit against another as a tort ruling. There are a number of different torts; ranging from assault to negligence, all with foundations in the common law

More than anything else, this case exemplifies a keen sense of legal risk management. The company made enormous profits from the drug while it was selling it; it was highly effective for its on-label purpose and had no known dangerous side effects. After finding that they could be responsible for causing heart problems in patients taking the drug, the company pulled it for ethical reasons and as a means of

Merck and Vioxx -- Research Data How did Merck misuse research data to support their decision for marketing the COX-2 Drug Vioxx? In November of 1998 the pharmaceutical company Merck submitted Vioxx's application to the Food and Drug Administration seeking approval for the COX-2 inhibitor drug, as a treatment for osteoarthritis, on the basis of clinical trials involving 5,400 patients. Merck said the rates of cardiovascular risk were "similar" among patients taking