Merck Concealed Vioxx Data

Scott Kappes

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A report published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) makes accusations that Merck, one of the world’s most powerful and influential pharmaceutical companies, participated in various forms of scientific fraud in order to mask the effects of the now recalled pain medication Vioxx. The information comes after a long and tedious examination of thousands of documents made public through the thousands of lawsuits filed over Vioxx. Researchers claim that Merck pursued a deceptive marketing campaign, and deliberately moved slowly to warn consumers of the possibly fatal side effects associated with Vioxx.

One study alleges that Merck gave the Food and Drug Administration an incomplete accounting of deaths in a clinical trial of Vioxx in people with mild dementia. Federal regulators eventually received the data, which added to growing evidence that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Merck has also been accused of using what JAMA authors described as “ghostwriters,” to pass off research done by Merck employee as the work of scientists, giving the research much more clout when posted in medical journals and other peer review sources.

While this new evidence of fraud likely comes to late to impact the $4.85 billion settlement from last fall, it should provide a little more insight to the public on the inner workings of big pharma. It is unrealistic to assume that other large pharmaceutical companies do not employ similar deceptive tactics to those allegedly used by Merck.

A spokesman for Merck's legal team dismissed the JAMA authors as "people in the pay of trial lawyers."