There is a big difference between premeditated adulteration of a product people already use, like milk; and sweeping studies under the rug[1] about a new product.
If nothing else, a huge amount more people needed to know about the malamine scandal. How are we shipping so much milk with so few cows? Why am I dumping this unmarked 50lb bag of powder into the milk?
[1]: After looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vioxx, I don't see any allegation that Merck actually withheld raw data from the FDA, or provided it with false raw data. That's the great thing about a vague analogy like "sweeping under the rug": you can imply that something happened that didn't, without actually lying.
If nothing else, a huge amount more people needed to know about the malamine scandal. How are we shipping so much milk with so few cows? Why am I dumping this unmarked 50lb bag of powder into the milk?
[1]: After looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vioxx, I don't see any allegation that Merck actually withheld raw data from the FDA, or provided it with false raw data. That's the great thing about a vague analogy like "sweeping under the rug": you can imply that something happened that didn't, without actually lying.