Launched in 1999, Vioxx was extremely popular (with more than 80 million users worldwide), as its makers heralded the drug as being the answer to inflammation, minus the nausea that often follows with anti-inflammatory medication.

It was later discovered that the New Jersey-based Merck & Co. was knowingly selling a drug that frequently caused heart attacks and strokes in its unsuspecting victims. A study revealed that Vioxx actually doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes, prompting the company to voluntary withdraw the drug from the market in 2004.

Prior to the drug being pulled from the market, several Merck & Co. staff exchanged emails in which they discussed a "hit list" they drafted of doctors whom they believed needed to be "neutralised" or "discredited" due to their criticism of Vioxx.