Journal criticises Vioxx study for omitting three heart attacks

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7530.1423

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Janice Hopkins Tanne

New York

The New England Journal of Medicine has issued an editorial “statement of concern” about the omission of data in a paper it published. It said that three heart attacks were omitted from a study comparing rofecoxib (Vioxx) with naproxen, under-stating the risks of rofecoxib.

The editorial by the journal's three top editors will appear in print in the 29 December issue but was published online on 8 December (www.nejm.org, doi: 10.1056/NEJMe058314).

It said: “Relevant data on cardiovascular outcomes had been deleted from the VIGOR [Vioxx gastrointestinal outcomes research] manuscript prior to its submission to the journal and… the authors had withheld data on other relevant cardiovascular outcomes. …