Was Vioxx just what Merck needed?

Some think so:

But Vioxx was exactly what Merck needed. It led to the ouster of its ineffectual chief executive, Raymond Gilmartin. His surprise successor, a little-known Merck lifer named Richard Clark, was given carte blanche to turn the company around. Under Clark this prideful colossus of bureaucratic silos has become more open to criticism, nimbler and hungrier.

Here's another quote:

"Merck is busy with a revival," says John J.P. Kastelein, a cardiologist at the University of Amsterdam who has consulted for Merck. "I found Merck a nasty, arrogant company that was hard to work with, cheap on the clinical trial side, with a mediocre track record. That is definitely changing."

Finally:

Merck's former research head, Edward Scolnick, had such a sharp tongue--he called FDA officials "bastards" during Vioxx label talks--that new ideas weren't easily voiced. "If you don't have an environment where people can speak up, you're not going to be a well-run organization,"

Insider's view: let's see if this "Brand New Merck" can now come to terms with the 27,000 Vioxx lawsuits it's still facing!