The first three instances I’ve seen of spam promoting Vioxx litigation crossed my desk Dec. 28. The three emails used different names as the supposed sender, different “word salad” strings (“celandine bolshoi mandamus buckley tetragonal malleable”) aimed at baffling spam filters, and different subject lines (“Been hurt by Vii0xx? – Claim #565014”, “Make your claim against Vii0xx and Merck – Claim #206614”, and “Get what you deserve from Vii0xx and Merck – Claim #4978”). However, all three were evidently from the same sender, since they all contained the same core message: “Merck & Co., Inc. announced a voluntary withdrawal of Vii0xx from the U.S. and worldwide market due to safety concerns of an increased risk of cardiovascular events (including heart attack and stroke) in patients on Vii0xx. If you or a family member has experienced an adverse cardiovascular event after taking Vii0xx, please file your claim at:…” followed by links to one of two (apparently identical) websites at http://www.worldwideteamwork.com/notice and http://www.whereitallhappens.com/notice .
And what of this website to which spam-responders are steered? It contains no ads; it does contain some standard-looking information about the drug recall; but its main purpose appears to be to get persons interested in pursuing Vioxx claims to submit their names and contact information. A subpage (http://www.worldwideteamwork.com/notice/how_to_file.htm) announces, “Simply fill out the form below and a lawyer will immediately contact you to determine whether your claim will meet the necessary requirements.” Perhaps the creators of the site believe they can find lawyers willing to pay for leads generated that way, or are already in touch with such lawyers. According to Forbes (David Whelan, “Ambulance Chasing, Web-Style”, Dec. 27, at KeepMedia), lawyers are paying up to $15.03 for each clicked-on ad with a Vioxx keyword at Yahoo’s search engine, and $30.17 for a “Vioxx heart attack” click.
For the recent controversy over the “Get your million dollars” Vioxx website, which was much more lurid in content but whose proprietor was not alleged to have dabbled in spam, see Nov. 15, Nov. 18 and Dec. 22.
P.S. Reader Keith Williams writes to say that according to a WHOIS search, the web sites www.worldwideteamwork.com and www.whereitallhappens.com, mentioned above, are owned by the same registrant, Riverside News of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Comments are closed.