Merck? Elsevier? Dishonest? Say it ain't so!!

[reverett123]

Once again, Big Pharma caught in the cookie jar. :D
From http://www.furiousseasons.com/archives/2009/05/merck_creates_fake_academic_medical_journal.html


"May 04, 2009
Merck Creates Fake Academic Medical Journal

There is very little about Big Pharma's manipulative, lies-as-marketing behavior that shocks me anymore, but this time out I am astounded: Merck has gone and created a fake academic journal, Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, according to The Scientist. Merck products such as Fosamax were featured in "studies" in the journal, which is reportedly published by Elsevier, a well-known academic journal publishing house. Both it and Merck have got a lot of explaining to do."

[Fiona]

I have a suspicion that the true depths of corruption are probably so extreme that even our most talented horror story writers could not imagine scripts so whacky and...disgusting. Who do those people at Merck think they are?

[olsen]

which pharma executive made the comment "we have more money than God"?
I think they believe they are above all laws and everything is fair in reference to selling their products.

[LindaH]

RE: Fake Medical Journals published by by Elsevier...

unfortunately the first announcement was just the tip of the iceberg. The Scientist now reports that they published 6 fake journals between 2000-2005, and failed to disclose that these journals were sponsored by " unnamed pharmaceutical companies."

"An Elsevier spokesperson told The Scientist in an email that a total of six titles in a "series of sponsored article publications" were put out by their Australia office and bore the Excerpta Medica imprint from 2000 to 2005. These titles were: the Australasian Journal of General Practice, the Australasian Journal of Neurology, the Australasian Journal of Cardiology, the Australasian Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, the Australasian Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, and the Australasian Journal of Bone & Joint [Medicine]. Elsevier declined to provide the names of the sponsors of these titles, according to the company spokesperson.

The full article is available on The Scientist.com News:

"Elsevier published 6 fake journals"
Posted by Bob Grant
[Entry posted at 7th May 2009 04:27 PM GMT]

http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55679/

[GregW1]

"The bad news is they still don't have a cure for Parkinson's," said your Neurologist.
"So what's the good news," said the patient.
"I'm attending an all-expenses-paid conference on DBS for a week, in Hawaii. Speaking of DBS. I think you might be a perfect candidate."


Think the implications are far-fetched? Actually, you should be so lucky. Check below for Medtronic's record for its defective heart defibrillator leads, the spinal implant device called Infuse, defective pacemaker leads, and the company's plans for using DBS to correct "mental pathologies". It's a rollicking good tale of corruption, bribes, prostitutes and strippers in Memphis - those wacky neuro's out on the town - expensed by the company as a trip to the ballet (somebody has a wicked sense of humor), and in one case brought by the Justice Department, a $40 million settlement. And then ... well read on. When you are done, or have had enough, ask yourself this: In an atmosphere so poisoned, can I still trust that my docs are giving me unbiased and objective advice about how to treat my PD?

Note: This is just one example - Pfizer and Merck have paid out over a BILLION to settle similar civil and criminal charges over the last several years.

http://tinyurl.com/qyhoq2
http://tinyurl.com/rbft95
http://tinyurl.com/orrl3q
http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/47/106
http://tinyurl.com/r8tdb8
http://tinyurl.com/r4s96m
http://tinyurl.com/qa4nv2
http://tinyurl.com/pvyqzr
http://tinyurl.com/o2g5a7
http://tinyurl.com/pwe9a6


Greg Wasson

[GregW1]

"The bad news is they still don't have a cure for Parkinson's," said your Neurologist.
"So what's the good news," said the patient.
"I'm attending an all-expenses-paid conference on DBS for a week, in Hawaii. Speaking of DBS. I think you might be a perfect candidate."


Think the implications are far-fetched? Actually, you should be so lucky. Check below for Medtronic's record for its defective heart defibrillator leads, the spinal implant device called Infuse, defective pacemaker leads, and the company's plans for using DBS to correct "mental pathologies". It's a rollicking good tale of corruption, bribes, prostitutes and strippers in Memphis - those wacky neuro's out on the town - expensed by the company as a trip to the ballet (somebody has a wicked sense of humor), and in one case brought by the Justice Department, a $40 million settlement. And then ... well read on. When you are done, or have had enough, ask yourself this: In an atmosphere so poisoned, can I still trust that my docs are giving me unbiased and objective advice about how to treat my PD?

Note: This is just one example - Pfizer and Merck have paid out over a BILLION to settle similar civil and criminal charges over the last several years.

http://tinyurl.com/qyhoq2
http://tinyurl.com/rbft95
http://tinyurl.com/orrl3q
http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/47/106
http://tinyurl.com/r8tdb8
http://tinyurl.com/r4s96m
http://tinyurl.com/qa4nv2
http://tinyurl.com/pvyqzr
http://tinyurl.com/o2g5a7
http://tinyurl.com/pwe9a6


Greg Wasson

An excellent review the Heart Defibrillator leads fiasco and recall. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Before you act, get all the facts.

http://www.heart-lead-recall.com/

Greg

[olsen]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/09/bad-science-medical-journals-companies

*Vioxx. This medication turned out to increase the risk of heart attacks in people taking it, although that finding was arguably buried in their research, and Merck has paid out more than £2bn to 44,000 people in America – however, they deny any fault.

...in the Australian case is email documentation showing staff at Merck made a "hit list" of doctors who were critical of the company, or of the drug. This list contained words such as "neutralise", "neutralised" and "discredit" next to the names of various doctors...

..."We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live," said one email, from a Merck employee. Staff are also alleged to have used other tactics, such as trying to interfere with academic appointments, and dropping hints about how funding to institutions might dry up. Institutions might think about whether they wish to receive money from a company like that in future...

[pharmaceutical industry is an]industry with global revenues of $600bn

...In a sensible world, countries would band together and pay for comparative research themselves, and the free, open distribution of the results, to prevent all this nonsense.

We do not live in a sensible world.

[LindaH]

Since i have recently started thinking about dBS as my next (and only) option, this discussion has personal, as well as academic interest for me. Today, I received Medscape's latest list of contents. One of the articles was actually a "Video editorial" about a well publilcized dBS study.

Editorial : "Deep Brain Stimulation Better Than Optimal Medical Management, Study Shows ." In his video blog, Dr. Kapil D. Sethi weighs in on a JAMA article that compared the benefits and risks of deep brain stimulation with those of best medical therapy for patients with PD.
Medscape Neurology & Neurosurgery 2009

see video at : http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702302

Dr. Sethi gives a concise and informative summary of the study comparing DBS with best medical management that was "sponsored by the VA" and was published in JAMA in Jan 2009. Both the benefits and risks of DBS are mentioned.

This is the Citation for the study he summarized : Weaver FM, Follett K, Stern M, et al; CSP 468 Study Group. Bilateral deep brain stimulation vs best medical therapy for patients with advanced Parkinson disease: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2009;301:63-73.

Abstract at:
http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/19126811

Dr. Sethi's required fiinancial disclosure shows he does not receive any money from Medtronic, however he received consulting or speaking fees from a number of other companies, "Kapil D. Sethi, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:Owns stock in Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Served as an advisor or consultant to Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Terra.
Other: Allergan, Inc. (speaker's bureau), Biogen Idec Inc. (speaker's bureau), and Schering-Plough Corporation (speaker's bureau)."

I decided to follow the money.

So I looked up the DBS study in JAMA. It is only in the full text of the article (for which you need a subscription, or library access) that we learn more about Medtronic's role in this study.

It was a multi center study, with about 20 co-authors listed. Among them, only a few disclosed financial connections with Medtronic. They are well known and respected scientists. There is no way of knowing the extent of their involvement with Medtronic or how much money they received. or what if any effect this had on the study. But we learn that:

" Financial Disclosures: Dr Marks Jr reported serving as a faculty member for educational programs sponsored by Medtronic and also as a consultant to Medtronic, the manufacturer of the deep brain stimulation device. Dr Pahwa reported being a consultant and speaker for Medtronic and a consultant for Advanced Neuromodulation Systems. Dr Duda reported serving as a board member for Boehringer/ Ingelheim. Dr Holloway reported serving as a teaching consultant for Medtronic, the manufacturer of the deep brain stimulation device, instructing other neurosurgeons on the technique of deep brain stimulation implantation. No other authors reported financial disclosures."

We also learn more about the Funding/Support of the study: "The Cooperative Studies Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and Medtronic Neuromodulation provided financial support for this study."

AND the Role of the Sponsors: "The Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke contributed to the study design. The sponsors were not involved in the conduct, collection, management, analysis, and/or interpretation of the study results and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Medtronic provided financial support for monitoring and collecting data at 3 years of patient follow-up."

In the same JAMA issue there is an editorial on the dBS study "Neurostimulation for Parkinson Disease" -- mostly a positivie review, written by a German neurologist, Günther Deuschl. And his financial disclosure states,

" Financial Disclosures: Dr Deuschl reports that he is codirecting a clinical study (EARLYSTIM) sponsored by the German Research Council, French Research Funds, and Medtronic, the producer of the deep brain stimulation hardware. He also reports receiving honoraria for lectures from Medtronic, TEVA, Lundbeck, and Boehringer Ingelheim."

And maybe this is all fine and proper, but given the track record of pharmaceutical /medical devise industry and the revelations that seem to be coming weekly about sponsor's influence on clinical trials and their outcomes, I want to know more about how much influence Medtronic actually has, before submitting to brain surgery. The educational material given to me by my neuro was written and published by Medtronic and encourages PWP to be drilled and stimulated. My doc says to just start thinkinig about it, as the meds are starting to fail me. Maybe they are all right. Maybe they are all honorable. Its just hard to know who to believe and trust, when money is involved.....

Just wondering if there are any neurologists out there who do not accept money from the drug companies? Maybe only in a perfect world.

[reverett123]

If one company can get away with faking data, that trashes the whole system and no one knows what to believe. The penalty needs to be so draconian that the next guy won't even consider it. Prison for the whole corporate chain of command right up to the CEO?