Pharma Research Results

Pharma Researcher Fakes Positive Results of Drug Trials
Vol. 14 Issue 34

The pharmaceutical industry must have been rocked back on its heels with the news that a prominent medical researcher has admitted to fabricating the results of his studies on pain relievers.

In an incredible black eye for several large pharmaceutical companies, medical journal Anesthesia & Analgesia retracted 21 studies they had published from Dr. Scott Reuben, formerly the chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts. The statement by the journal stated that the data in the retracted articles had been “fabricated.”

Fabricated doesn’t mean altered. It means it was invented in order to trick people.

In these articles, Dr. Reuben offered his support for Toradol® from the big pharma Hoffman-LaRoche®, Bextra® and Celebrex® from Pfizer, and Vioxx® from Merck, among others.

Vioxx is a drug that was pulled from the market in 2004 due to dangerous side effects. And Bextra is a drug from Pfizer that was also pulled from the market due to dangerous side effects in 2005. How much of a role did Dr. Reuben’s fake studies have in allowing these dangerous drugs to stay on the market?

It’s interesting to note that in 2004, the Food and Drug Administration asked Pfizer to “voluntarily suspend (direct-to-consumer) advertising on Celebrex during the time the Agency is obtaining and evaluating the new and conflicting scientific data on adverse events associated with the drug.” Were they reading reports from Dr. Reuben and noting that his results didn’t match those from other studies?

In federal court, Dr. Reuben was charged with healthcare fraud. The charges allege that, “Reuben solicited and obtained research grants from pharmaceutical companies to perform research studies on pain management, often associated with various surgical procedures, but that he did not actually perform the research studies. Instead, he made up patient data, submitted it to medical journals and caused false articles to appear in a number of medical journals.”

Let’s hope Dr. Reuben is looking for a new career path!

Source: Anesthesia & Analgesia, Letter of Retraction, February 20, 2009, http://www.aaeditor.org/HWP/Retraction.Notice.pdf

Source: U.S. States Attorney’s Office, Springfield Anesthesiologist Charged with Falsifying Medical Research, January 14, 2010, http://www.justice.gov/usao/ma/Press%20Office%20-%20Press%20Release%20Files/Jan2010/ReubenScottPR.html

Source: Food and Drug Administration, FDA Statement on Celebrex DTC Promotion, December 20, 2004, http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2004/ucm108386.htm

Source: FDA Statement, Food and Drug Administration, FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Vioxx as its Manufacturer Voluntarily Withdraws the Product, September 30, 2004, http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2004/ucm108361.htm

Source: FDA Statement, Food and Drug Administration, Public Health Advisory - FDA Announces Important Changes and Additional Warnings for COX-2 Selective and Non-Selective Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, January 26, 2010, http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm150314.htm