BMJ 2008;336:575 (15 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39518.526389.DB
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Pfizer asks journal for comments made by peer reviewers
Clare Dyer
1 BMJ
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The multinational drug company Pfizer is trying to force leading medical journals to divulge the identities and comments of anonymous peer reviewers who judged articles submitted about two of the company’s painkillers.
Pfizer, which is facing a claim for damages by users of the cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors celecoxib (Celebrex) and valdecoxib (Bextra), has issued subpoenas against journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, the BMJ, and the Lancet.
Editors and researchers fear the move could threaten the confidentiality of the peer review system. As the BMJ went to press the US district court in Boston was due to rule on whether Pfizer can force the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), which is resisting the subpoena, to hand over the information.
The demand includes all documents relating to manuscripts submitted for publication, whether accepted or rejected. The journal has given Pfizer a small amount
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bmj.com, 14 Mar 2008 [Full text]
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