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Medical Forum / General / Alternative / April 2008MERCK HIRED WRITERS ... NOT SCIENTISTS ... FOR VIOXX COVER UP
Note from Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal. http://ilenarose.blogspot.com I feel thrilled to see this exposed. Merck's propaganda is everywhere. It's very present on Usenet and these groups particularly. The Merck Gardasil Pushers here on Usenet try to cover-up all the problems, and repeat industry claims that have no scientific backing whatsoever. They rely on small, recent 'studies' to make claims as to Gardasil's effectiveness and safety. It's identical to the silicone industry using tiny, manufacturer designed and purchased 'studies' to claim breast implants are 'safe.' I believe that Barrett and his Snake-oil Vigilantes push vaccinations and attack and sue those of who concerned over vaccination safety. www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/Snake-oil.htm/ www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/Snake-oil.htm/Stephen-Barrett www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/Snake-oil.htm/Mark-Probert Quackwatch and the related Health Frauds groups and blogs claim to be 'consumer protectors' ... yet where are their warnings and expose's on Vioxx? Barrett, a medical writer, goes ballistic over homeopathy ... suing homeopaths and activists in the name of 'safety' ... but has no trouble with the thousands of Vioxx related deaths. These Healthfrauds go on massive media wars to discredit homeopaths, chiropractors, scientists working to unravel the complicated MCS, and fluoride and breast implant awareness activists ... suing us and unleashing Snake-oil Vigilantes to smear our reputations ... yet are blind deaf & dumb about the harm of Big Pharma. It is exactly as if they were hired to run around various medium like flak in Iraq ... taking attention from the dangerous drugs ... while attacking activists and scientists they oppose. www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/QuackWatchWatch.htm http://medheadlines.com/2008/04/16/hired-writers-not-scientists-behind-mercks-vi oxx-studies/ In a new twist to the ethical issues Merck Inc, faces over Vioxx (rofecoxib), the companys one-time best seller that was pulled from the market in 2004, because it became closely associated with patient heart attacks, some argue that the company hired writers to fashion the medical publications that their scientists are believed to have written. Many of these publications claim to be based upon the same scientific evidence which supposedly documented the safety of the drug in order to obtain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ghostwriters and Vioxx researchIn what seems to be deceptive maneuvers to many people in both the medical and the publishing fields, Merck acknowledged that it has been known to hire outside professional writers to develop research-related documents that eventually get published under the name of reputable leaders in the medical community. Critics are expressing doubt about the validity of the research and about the actual involvement of the scientists listed as authors of the papers. One especially galling example is that of the paper being developed as solid academic research but the lead writer is listed as External author? Dr. Joseph S. Ross, of New Yorks Mount Sinai School of Medicine, came across the apparently ghostwritten research studies while reviewing documents related to lawsuits filed against Merck. Because Ross has served as plaintiffs consultant in some of the legal cases, he had access to the millions of documents Merck supplied plaintiffs legal teams. Merck has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle claims in tens of thousands of lawsuits filed by people who once took Vioxx or their surviving families. Merck officials claim the practice is not uncommon throughout the pharmaceutical industry and that Rosss conclusion that the authors named in these publications dont actually participate adequately is false. Mercks claim is seconded by Dr. Steven H. Ferris, a psychiatry professor at New York University, who is himself listed as author on a Merck publication suspected of being ghostwritten. Ferris describes Rosss accusations as egregious and false. An editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) puts forth the question of whether Merck might have deliberately manipulated dozens of seemingly academic published documents in order to promote Vioxx under false pretenses. Dr. Catherine D. DeAngels, editor of JAMA, says that journal published a Vioxx study in 2002 that is now in question. This particular article did list a Merck staff scientist as lead author but ghostwriters were involved, too. DeAngelis considers it a dishonest move that the work of the ghostwriters were not fully disclosed when the document was submitted for publication. Saying she feels the journal has been scammed, DeAngelis suggests than an even less desirable practice is when a for-profit company hires a for-profit writing firm to produce scientific research studies and then finds a doctor willing to endorse it before publication. In about 96 journal publications, Ross and his colleagues discovered internal Merck documents and e-mail messages pertaining to clinical study reports and review articles, some of which were developed by the companys marketing department, not its scientific department. In others, there is little evidence that the authors recruited for the report made substantial contribution to the research itself. Some of the authors listed in the Merck study reports of concern deny their lack of involvement or question the true nature of ghostwriting. One neurologist, originally listed as External author? and then listed as Dr. Leon J. Thal, of the Unviversity of California, San Diego, in the final draft died a year ago in an airplane crash. The journal Neuropsychopharmacology published the Thal paper on Alzheimers disease in 2005. Citing prohibitions against the practice of substituting a well-known doctors name to research conducted by others, the journals current editor, Dr. James H. Meador-Woodruff, plans to investigation the allegations. Merck officials said on Tuesday that even when outside authors are listed for publication, they are in fact involved in the research process as well as the drafting and final review of any paper which bears their names. They also admitted that professional writers have sometimes been hired to develop drafts early on but the final work belongs to the doctor named as author. Merck lawyer James C. Fitzpatrick says this practice doesnt necessarily mean the final product doesnt reflect the listed authors opinion of the work. The Ross article includes a review of companies in the business of medical writing, including Scientific Therapeutics of New York. Rosss research uncovered one of their memos to Merck dated 1999 in which the status of eight separate reports was mentioned. One of those eight reports was targeted for publication in JAMA. When it was completed, it was indeed published in JAMA in January 2002. At publication, the paper listed two outside academic physicians acting as co-principal investigators and the lead author was identified as a Merck employee. There was no mention of the role Scientific Therapeutics played in writing the paper. The JAMA editorial notes that editors of these journals bear some responsibility by allowing companies, such as Merck, to manipulate their publications. Putting Merck in even more hot water is a second article in Wednesdays JAMA that is based on some of the same documents Ross reviewed. Written by Drs. Bruce Psaty and Richard A. Kronmal, both of the University of Washington, the paper claims Merck was not fully candid when submitting data for review by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the time before Vioxx was recalled. Calling the Psaty/Kronmal analysis misleading, Merck says the FDA knew of cardiovascular risks linked to Vioxx and was involved with on-going discussion of the matter with Merck. Thnx Ilena. Let's also remember David Graham, who blew the whistle on Vioxx at FDA and was punished for it. Merck Caught in Massive Scientific Fraud More on this topic from Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal: www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/ <http://www.naturalnews.com/index.html>NaturalNews.com printable article Originally published April 18 2008 Merck Caught in Massive Scientific Fraud as In-House Authors were Disguised as Independent Scientists (opinion) by Mike Adams (NaturalNews) Drug giant Merck has been caught red-handed in a scheme to deceive the FDA and the public over the integrity of its scientific studies, say top medical authorities. According to reports that were (amazingly!) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and detailed in the Washington Post, Merck waged a "campaign of deception" to disguise its in-house study authors as independent scientists working for universities. This scheme made the studies appear independent and unbiased, allowing them to carry more apparent credibility to FDA officials, doctors and other scientists. This fraud was conducted to boost the apparent scientific credibility of the studies backing <http://www.naturalnews.com/Vioxx.html>Vioxx, a drug that has caused well over 100,000 heart attacks and likely killed well over 50,000 Americans, according to Senate testimony by the FDA's own senior drug safety researcher Dr. David Graham. Vioxx earned <http://www.naturalnews.com/Merck.html>Merck $2.3 billion in 2003 alone, and was one of the most lucrative drugs ever sold by any company. But since 2004, when some of the real dangers of the drug became known, a tremendous amount of evidence leading to fraud has surfaced. It now appears quite clear that Merck deliberately lied about the dangers of the drug, misrepresented the results of <http://www.naturalnews.com/scientific_studies.html>scientific studies, deceived the FDA to win drug approval, knowingly covered up evidence of the drug's dangers, and now it seems Merck even conducted a deliberate campaign of deceptive ghostwriting designed to attach independent-sounding names to in-house studies that were essentially pro-Vioxx promotional pieces disguised as scientific reports. NaturalNews has reported on many of the fraudulent actions conducted by Merck over the years. See our reporting on Merck here: <http://www.NaturalNews.com/Merck.html>www.NaturalNews.com/Merck.html ... and read our stories about Vioxx here: <http://www.NaturalNews.com/Vioxx.html>www.NaturalNews.com/Vioxx.html Why Merck wants to keep the truth hidden from the public What's interesting about this latest revelation of Merck fraud is that the documents revealing the depth of this fraud were only made public due to <http://www.naturalnews.com/lawsuits.html>lawsuits filed by citizens who claim they were harmed by Merck's drugs. And yet at the same time, Merck and <http://www.naturalnews.com/the_FDA.html>the FDA are arguing that such lawsuits should not be allowed at all -- that they should be "preempted" by FDA approval for drugs, thereby keeping Merck's dirty secrets buried forever, even as consumers harmed by Merck's drugs are denied any right to sue for damages caused by such drugs! It is now rather obvious why drug companies like Merck so desperately want immunity from lawsuits -- because the "discovery" phase of these lawsuits is causing Merck's dirty science to be publicly aired! It's allowing the public to have a peek at the skeletons in Merck's closet. Merck no doubt wants its secrets to remain secret so that nobody is really aware of the <http://www.naturalnews.com/scientific_fraud.html>scientific fraud we're now learning so much about. I often wonder: What else is Merck hiding that it doesn't want to become public knowledge? Shouldn't Merck be brought to justice? Now, I have an important question to ask you. Given the magnitude of the scientific fraud being discovered about Merck, and the number of people who have reportedly been killed by Merck's products, why does Merck still manage to escape any real scrutiny from the Dept. of Justice and the FDA? Why does Merck seem to have an unlimited "get out of jail free" pass from the U.S. government? Even while it's arguing for immunity from public lawsuits, it seems Merck has already achieved a silent, practical immunity from U.S. government regulators and law enforcers. Can you think of any other corporation that, if caught engaging in widespread fraud that resulted in the death of over 50,000 Americans, wouldn't be hung out to dry by Congressional investigations and Justice Dept. arrests? It is flatly unbelievable to me that a corporation engaged in such massive campaigns of deception and death could be allowed to continue conducting business as usual in the United States. It's far worse than what Enron engaged in. We're not talking about simple white-collar crimes here; we're talking about an ever-expanding collection of body bags, corruption, bribery, secret payoffs, science fraud and, in my opinion, crimes against humanity. And yet the mainstream media keeps on running Merck's deceptive ads, holding their noses while they pocket Merck's illegitimately-earned cash. When individuals commit fraud and engage in deceptive practices that result in the deaths of other people, we charge them with crimes: Involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide or even murder. So why, then, does a powerful corporation get to go free for committing essentially the same crimes? In other words, shouldn't corporations be held to the same laws as the People? Why, in our nation, are individuals charged with murder or manslaughter when they kill people, but corporations are allowed to kill any number of people with absolutely no consequence? They are not arrested, not charged with crimes and not prosecuted. And on top of that, they have the audacity to argue that they should be granted legal immunity from ALL lawsuits that might be filed by the people their products harm or kill! It's truly astounding... Do not allow Merck to conduct further business in this country I believe that law enforcement authorities in <http://www.naturalnews.com/America.html>America have both the right and the responsibility to arrest top Merck executives, seize Merck's inventory, and deny Merck the right to conduct any further business in this nation by cancelling its corporate charter. I believe Merck is engaged in serious crimes against the People and that its business practices are clearly being conducted in violation of federal law (not to mention in violation of basic business ethics and human compassion). If this was any other corporation we were talking about here -- and not Merck -- this company would be subjected to a massive campaign of media scrutiny and Congressional scrutiny. But not Merck. It's too powerful, too influential. Merck should be renamed "The Teflon Company" because even though it's pushing dangerous chemicals, nothing seems to stick. Let me break it down for you and tell you what's really happening here. It's the same old story, after all: Rich, powerful white-collar criminals get away with murder, while the poor, the disadvantaged and the sick get shafted. I pray for the day that Merck is put out of business, shut down by law enforcement authorities who finally decide to apply existing federal law and prosecute this dangerous, destructive corporation for its organized-crime-like operations. Americans would be far safer if Merck were shut down. In fact, the threat to Americans' health from Merck far outweighs any threat to national security by terrorists. Think about it: The current war in Iraq has killed 4,000 Americans. Just one drug from Merck has killed over 50,000 (and that's a conservative estimate). That's more than ten times the number of Americans killed in our current war! Is Merck a <http://www.naturalnews.com/terrorist.html>terrorist organization? No, it's a dishonest, corrupt corporation that pretends to be engaged in good deeds and genuine science. But if you peek behind the curtain, you find nothing but fraud, deception, and the complete disregard for human life. Merck isn't a terrorist organization, but it's killed far more Americans than any terrorist organization could. Even a dirty bomb set off at the Superbowl (which was one of the FBI's recent terrorist concerns) wouldn't kill as many Americans as Merck's drugs have in the last five years. That's no exaggeration. In my opinion, Merck is an evil, out-of-control corporation that's destroying lives and obliterating any remaining credibility of the pharmaceutical industry. One day, when the truth finally emerges about the totality of Merck's crimes against the People and the depth of its willful deception, the public will be stunned, frozen in a state of disbelief that they could have tolerated such heinous crimes right under their noses. They will think the same thoughts of Nazi supporters seeing Hitler's concentration camps for the first time... How could we have allowed this to happen right here, on our own soil? To our own children? To our own families? It's time to apply federal laws to Merck and start making arrests. Too many lives have been lost already, and the extreme fraud being routinely exhibited by Merck should not go unpunished. It's time to finally protect Americans from Big Pharma. Also worth reading: Merck Engaged in Blatant Scientific Fraud with Vytorin Cholesterol Study? <http://www.naturalnews.com/022485.html>http://www.naturalnews.com/022485.html Merck denied blood pressure screening services to doctors that did not prescribe its brand-name drugs <http://www.naturalnews.com/020604.html>http://www.naturalnews.com/020604.html FDA, Merck may have conspired to discredit whistleblower, says U.S. Senator <http://www.naturalnews.com/019728.html>http://www.naturalnews.com/019728.html They should take who ever is responsible for the deaths of all that were harmed from this criminal act and dump them at the North Pole! Who gives these people the right to act in a criminal behavior and get away with it? Its criminal when people die because of your negligence. > Merck Caught in Massive Scientific Fraud > [quoted text clipped - 185 lines] > Senator > <http://www.naturalnews.com/019728.html>http://www.naturalnews.com/019728.html > Its criminal when people die because of your negligence. So what are you doing about homeopathy? | sh.t happens. Sometimes it happens to you. | +--- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> ---+ > In message <975fc500-2e3e-415f-9ce9-764355c7f...@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>, Kevysmom wrote: > > > Its criminal when people die because of your negligence. > > So what are you doing about homeopathy? Dougie, if someone forced you to take either a whole bottle of homeopathic formula or a whole bottle of chemo at one time, what would you do? Be honest now. >> In message <975fc500-2e3e-415f-9ce9-764355c7f...@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>, Kevysmom wrote: >> > Its criminal when people die because of your negligence. >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > homeopathic formula or a whole bottle of chemo at one time, what would > you do? Be honest now. Presumably not meaning PO, which would be just silly. That depends on whether I needed the chemotherapy. PS: The made-up names are pretty childish. | sh.t happens. Sometimes it happens to you. | +--- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> ---+ > In message <5bc30c6c-0acf-4bcc-8dc4-990a6db3b...@w1g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, PeterB wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > That depends on whether I needed the chemotherapy. Then you would rather be dead with cancer than alive with cancer. Thanks for playing. >> In message <5bc30c6c-0acf-4bcc-8dc4-990a6db3b...@w1g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, PeterB wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Then you would rather be dead with cancer than alive with cancer. > Thanks for playing. Tell that to Paul Allen. | sh.t happens. Sometimes it happens to you. | +--- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> ---+ > In message <102e24c3-c963-4d48-bd4d-d12096e4a...@m1g2000pre.googlegroups.com>, PeterB wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Tell that to Paul Allen. Not to mention Lance Armstrong: http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.jvKZLbMRIsG/b.736583/k.C7AA/Lance.htm Facts about Lance's Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Lance was diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer, containing 60% choriocarcinoma, 40% embryonal and less than 1% teratoma. Lance's treatment lasted from October to December 1996. Lance underwent two surgeries, one to remove his cancerous testicle and another to remove two cancerous lesions on his brain. Lance received one round of BEP (Bleomycin, Etoposide and Platinol) chemotherapy, followed by three rounds of VIP chemotherapy (Ifosfamide, Etoposide and Platinol.) Lance's cancer in the lungs and brain was a result of spreading from the original testicular cancer. As a result, his treatment protocols were to combat that specific strain of cancer. Different cancers originating from different sources in the body will likely require other treatments than the one described above for Lance. Lance was treated at Indiana University Medical Center by Drs. Larry Einhorn and Craig Nichols. > -- > | sh.t happens. Sometimes it happens to you. | > +--- D. C. Sessions <d...@lumbercartel.com> ---+- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - Kevysmom > Its criminal when people die because of your negligence. DC Sessions > So what are you doing about homeopathy? Most of the medications Big Pharma makes were once Homeopathy. The Native Americans ate the bark of Aspen trees which lead to aspirin. Yes, there are obsessive homeopathy hypochondriacs. I know of a psych patient who kept using homeopathics as an excuse to skip taking his bonafide psych meds. On the other hand, doctors and established medicine get things wrong a lot. Lots of important medical and scientific discoveries were strongly resisted by dogma and economic vested interests. The stories of "Lorenzo's oil" and "H. pylori heartburn" come to mind. But as a comeback to documented proof that Merck blatantly perpetrated drug approval FRAUD, pointing to alternatives just doesn't seem like a strong strategy. If anything, catching on to Merck's FRAUD shows a criminal intent on their part and makes even the kookiest homeopathic obsessors look less obsessive by comparison. When Big Pharma cheerleaders deny this Merck FRAUD or try to point fingers elsewhere, doesn't it just show how shallow or in denial they really are??? > Kevysmom > Its criminal when people die because of your negligence. > > DC Sessions > So what are you doing about homeopathy? > > Most of the medications Big Pharma makes were once Homeopathy. You seem to be using a rather different definition of "homeopathy" than Hahnemann and his followers. > The Native Americans ate the bark of Aspen trees which lead to > aspirin. Herbal pharmaceuticals aren't homeopathic. In any case, herbal salicylates are certainly useful and have been used in all parts of the world. > Yes, there are obsessive homeopathy hypochondriacs. > I know of a psych patient who kept using homeopathics > as an excuse to skip taking his bonafide psych meds. Pretty much my point -- there was a story in the news recently about a little boy in Australia whose parents basically let him die of an easily treated condition. Instead, they gave him homeopathic stuff which (corpse in evidence here) didn't work. > On the other hand, doctors and established > medicine get things wrong a lot. That happens when you are trying to do the best you can with imperfect knowledge in an imperfect world. > Lots of important medical and scientific > discoveries were strongly resisted by > dogma and economic vested interests. > > The stories of "Lorenzo's oil" and "H. pylori heartburn" > come to mind. You might want to check the history on those instead of the mythology. The oil I don't know well, but the H. pylori story is well documented and there was no "resistance" at all. What there was, was exactly the way science is supposed to work: skepticism until the work could be reproduced. Plenty of people all over the world immediately said, "Hmm! Sounds interesting!" and set out to duplicate the work of Marshall and Warren. Work like that isn't instantaneous, and Marshall and Warren have commented that they were surprised by how quickly the world accepted their theory. > But as a comeback to documented proof that Merck > blatantly perpetrated drug approval FRAUD, pointing > to alternatives just doesn't seem like a strong strategy. Yup -- the medical business isn't the exclusive domain of saints. On the other hand, neither is the construction industry, and that doesn't discredit the science of civil engineering. > When Big Pharma cheerleaders deny this Merck FRAUD > or try to point fingers elsewhere, doesn't it just show > how shallow or in denial they really are??? Wake up, look around. None of the accused "cheerleaders" here are making any excuses for the pharmaceutical companies. If you want to see them *really* raked over the coals, you should have a look at sites like sciencebasedmedicine.org -- they tear up some of those selective studies by the book. | sh.t happens. Sometimes it happens to you. | +--- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> ---+ |
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