It appears that some of the medical reviews of Merck's (NYSE: MRK) controversial drug Vioxx were not written by doctors at all. The company found "ghost writers" to put together evaluations for medical publications. Some physicians appear to have signed those reviews.
According to The New York Times "In an editorial, JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) said the analysis showed that Merck had apparently manipulated dozens of publications to promote Vioxx."
The news marks another hideous chapter in the history of Vioxx, a drug which was found to cause heart attacks. A number of suits were initiated by patients who had suffered this side-effect.
While it is not clear whether Merck will be punished for participating in shaping reports about its own drug, the doctors involved should be charged with fraud, at the very least.
Vioxx turned out to be a dangerous drug. More detailed research may have discovered that. Even if more careful work would not have uncovered the problems with the drug, no one will ever know. The well was poisoned long before the patients taking Vioxx began to get ill.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-16-2008 @ 10:25AM
moonie said...
Folks the big drug makers are at the top in fraud deceipt and lying and many many doctors take their advice remember the docs are only trained in drugs and surgery nothing else think about that! If you were a large drug manufacturer wouldn't you side and pansy ansy with the docs OF COURSE YOU WOULD. The sad thing is the drug makers are getting away with all kinds of crooked promotions they keep it secret they actually experiment on med patients and most docs know it and cover it up> true statements
4-16-2008 @ 12:02PM
barneyrin said...
liar, liar pants on fire mcintyre
4-16-2008 @ 12:47PM
Claire Flynn said...
I have become increasingly suspicious of the sniping at Merck from some of these sources. Do we have a vendetta here??? A disgruntled former employee??? A reporter misrepresenting facts???
Come on Merck. Let's get to the bottom of this!
4-16-2008 @ 2:46PM
FRANK YOUNGWERTH said...
HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE A STORY THAT COMES BY WAY OF THE NEW YORK TIMES? WE'RE NOT TALKING GHOST WRITERS, THE WRITERS IN QUESTION HELPED TO FORMULATE THE REPORTS AFTER THE DOCTORS, WHO DID THE RESEARCH, MADE THEIR COMMENTS. THIS GOES ON IN ALL OF BUSINESS, BE IT MEDICAL OR ANY OTHER. THE DOCTORS APPROVED THE FINAL REPORTS. THE LEFT IS AFTER THE DRUG COMPANIES, THE SAME COMPANIES THAT HAVE MADE THE UNITED STATES THE LEADERS OF MEDICAL CARE AND RESEARCH IN THE WORLD. THIS IS ELECTION YEAR LIBERAL SMOKE. DON'T BUY IT.
6-09-2008 @ 1:06PM
Kelly said...
Thanks for the information on ethics.
We recently wrote an article(http://brainblogger.com/2008/06/06/ethics-101-the-doctor-is-out-to-dinner/) on doctor ethics on Brain Blogger(http://brainblogger.com/). Doctors face so many different ethical questions that sometimes have no clear-cut answer. What if a doctor was out at dinner and got a call that a patient that wasn't in a life-threating situation needed his help? Should he go or should he stay?
We would like to read your comments on our article. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kelly