Merck Hid Negative Vioxx Results, Editorial Claims
New England Journal: Data Deleted Before Study Submitted
POSTED: Thursday, December 8, 2005
UPDATED: 5:29 pm EST December 8,
2005
TRENTON, N.J. -- The maker of Vioxx is being accused of a cover-up.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, Merck & Co. concealed heart attacks suffered by three patients during a clinical study of the painkiller. The publication says those deaths were left out of a report on the study that was published in the journal five years ago.
In an editorial, Dr. Gregory Curfman, Dr. Stephen Morrissey and Dr. Jeffrey Drazen also alleged that the authors deleted other relevant data before submitting the article for publication.
"Taken together, these inaccuracies and deletions call into question the integrity of the data on adverse cardiovascular events in this article," the doctors wrote. "We have asked the authors to submit a correction to the journal."
Vioxx has since been withdrawn from the market, and three product liability cases have already come to trial over Vioxx. The findings of the study have been a key part of the testimony.
A federal jury in Texas is currently deliberating in one of the trials.
One author of the study was a Merck vice president for clinical research. That author testified in the Houston trial Wednesday that the company never misled doctors and the public about studies linking heart attacks to Vioxx.
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