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April 15, 2008 - Ghostwriters Used in Vioxx Research Studies

An article in the Journal of American Medicine (JAMA) claims that Vioxx research studies were actually ghostwritten by Merck scientists. Prestigious doctors were later recruited to guest author the studies just before publication.

Merck's top-selling drug, Vioxx, was pulled from the market after use of the drug was linked with increased risk of heart attack. Merck agreed to a $4.85 billion settlement in the thousands of Vioxx-related lawsuits.

The lead author of the JAMA article is Dr. Joseph S. Ross of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. The article claims that ghostwriting is a relatively widespread practice in the pharmaceutical industry, which casts a pall over all pharmaceutical research conducted  with the same academic physician, whether the research is legitimate or not. 

Merck admitted to drafting  research reports before submitting them to doctors whose names would eventually be released as guest authors of the documents. The company disagrees with the article's conclusion that little of the actual research or analysis is conducted by the doctors. At least one of the doctors whose name appeared on the research studies disclaims the article's findings as false.

The extent of pharmaceutical companies' influence on research studies released in medical journals has been called into question before, but this study provides the most convincing proof yet as to just how widespread the practice of ghostwriting pharmaceutical research studies has actually become. 

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