Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Studies allege Merck manipulated Vioxx data; journal calls for ethics overhaul

From the Canadian Press:
Two new studies suggest drugmaker Merck and Co. manipulated data on its withdrawn drug Vioxx, was slow to disclose adverse events associated with the painkiller and used academic researchers to enhance the credibility of scientific studies largely written by Merck employees.

The articles were based on company documents made public as a result of thousands of lawsuits levelled against Merck and Co. after it withdrew the former blockbluster medication from worldwide markets in September 2004 because studies revealed people who used it were at higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.

They were published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which also ran a damning editorial calling on everyone in the business of clinical research to pull up their socks, starting with doctors.

"The profession of medicine in every aspect - clinical, education and research - has been inundated with profound influence from the pharmaceutical and medical device industries," editor Dr. Catherine DeAngelis and deputy editor Dr. Phil Fontanarosa wrote. ...more

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My name is Tony Gomez and i would like to show you my personal experience with Vioxx.

I am 56 years old. Have been on Vioxx for 2 years now. Everybody that works for the fda that oked this drug should be put in jail.

I have experienced some of these side effects -
heart attack hardening of the arteries and nerve damage in my feet

I hope this information will be useful to others,
Tony Gomez