Merck used ghostwriters and selective data in Vioxx publications, JAMA says

doi:10.1136/bmj.39553.344965.DB

BMJ 2008;336:849 (19 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39553.344965.DB (published 16 April 2008)

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Merck used ghostwriters and selective data in Vioxx publications, JAMA says

Janice Hopkins Tanne

¹ New York

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Researchers and editors claim in two papers and an editorialthis week that Merck, the makers of the arthritis drug rofecoxib(Vioxx), misrepresented study results and used ghostwritersto prepare manuscripts for journal publication.

The authors of the articles have drawn their evidence from thousandsof documents released during lawsuits against Merck over adverseevents related to the drug (JAMA 2008;299:1800-12, 1813-7, and1833-5).

Rofecoxib was withdrawn worldwide in September 2004 after astudy showed that it doubled the risk of heart attack or strokeif it was taken for more than 18 months (BMJ 2004;329:816; doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7470.816-a).

Merck said in a statement that it "believes that many of thecomments in a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)news release and in the 16 April 2008 issue of JAMA relatedto Vioxx are false, misleading, or lack context."

The statement said, "The articles, . . . [Full text of this article]

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