"Worst fraud case in medical history" Drugs studies completely fabricated

[Prometheus]

Fraud Case Rocks Anesthesiology Community

Also available from WSJ and others if you want to google it.

Summary, 12 years of faking studies and trials from Celbrex to Bextra... in 2005 Dr Scott Reuben did a massive study (heralded as ground breaking for his "meticulous" work) for Celbrex... The problem? Not only did he fabricate all the results but Not a single patient ever existed!

I find it hard to believe ONE MAN could pull this off without help... what does it say for the dozens of Docs who do the peer review?

Tens and hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars were made based largely on this one mans studies and finding...

 

[rmcrob]

Never heard of Celbrex. What is it? Is it an anesthetic?

Not sure you have all your facts straight here. These are mighty powerful charges you are making.

 

[antsi]

what does it say for the dozens of Docs who do the peer review?

Peer review of studies is VERY GOOD for catching things like:
methodology problems
invalid arguments
overlooked/unaccounted-for confounds
logical errors in interpretation of data
limitations of the sample or measures

Peer review does not, however, do a very good job of detecting outright fraud. Reviewers do not go out and interview patients or collect data. If someone is flat-out making up the data, and they're doing a good job of making the data set look plausible, the peer review panel can be fooled.

Evan Ekman, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in Columbia, S.C., said his name appeared as a co-author on at least two of the retracted papers, despite his having had no hand in the manuscripts.

This may be a key. One of the barriers to outright fraud of this kind is that generally a clinical trial will involve several co-authors and a large number of research assistants. It isn't easy to get so many people to go along with a fraud, especially when there usually aren't huge rewards at stake for the co-authors or assistants.

I wonder if Dr Ekman quickly noticed he'd been included as a co-author and protested to the journals in question, or if he let it slide until the SHTF.

 

[Prometheus]

Never heard of Celbrex. What is it? Is it an anesthetic?

Are you being facetious because I left out the 'e' or have you really never heard of Celebrex?
-It's an anti-inflammatory drug (among other uses), not an NSAID (like advil)... if you aren't familiar with these meds, telling you it's a COX-2 inhibitor will mean jack.

Not sure you have all your facts straight here. These are mighty powerful charges you are making.

? Did you read the article?

Exactly what is "not strait"? BTW I'm not making any charges, they've already been made by the FEDs and he has ADMITTED to them.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Allegations of fraud are running rampant in the field of Psychology right now, too. Google Dr. Charles Nemeroff. He was a spokesman for a couple of pharma companies and it has been found that he committed fraud with some of his backing of certain anti-depressant meds.

There is also a large problem with "ghost writers" and "ghost authors" that pay doctors for the use of their names to lend credence to different studies being conducted or papers being submitted to journals, even if the doctor never even read the first page of what was written.

One pharma company even started a publishing house in a different country, starte four or 5 different "journals" that were supposed to be peer-reviewed so that they could publish fraudulent data about the med they were trying to sell.

Dirty, dirty, dirty.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Oh the tangled webs we weave when we first practice to deceive...

 

[CombatVet]

Maybe the VA will stop trying to push Celebrex off on me now. **** never worked.

 

[rmcrob]

I know what Celebrex is. I use it every day. But writing "Celbrex" instead doesn't give you a whole lot of credibility, personally. Or "strait".

My problem with your post is that you jumped from an isolated case of fraud (which I agree is bad) to a more generalized indictment of a group of people. I've worked in the pharma industry for many years. I know of several cases of fraud, big and small. I also know that the fraudulent activity is roundly condemned by the research community. Any company that built its business on fraud won't last long.

Billions of dollars of income are not based on any single man's research. Even the massive fraud of climate change research takes many more people than Al Gore to pull off.

I'm not denying that problems exist. I am denying that your implication of some kind of massive conspiracy by pharma exists. Here's my deal for you: if you don't like the pharmaceutical companies, then just boycott their products and die young.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Eli Lilly Co. is still settling lawsuits, IIRC. It hurts that they are homegrown here in Indiana.

 

[Prometheus]

I know what Celebrex is. I use it every day. But writing "Celbrex" instead doesn't give you a whole lot of credibility, personally.

What does my credibility have to do with anything? I'm citing (and providing) sources completely independent from myself?

Putting on your spelling nazi hat because you can't attack the truth is generally a tactic reserved for liberals. I've been in debates with many of these mental midgets and the best can do is point to several instances where I spell the 'teh'. You don't like the way I type? You should see my penmanship

My problem with your post is that you jumped from an isolated case of fraud (which I agree is bad) to a more generalized indictment of a group of people. I've worked in the pharma industry for many years.

And there it is. I was curious as to why you seemed to take my post personally. You're questioning MY credibility?

I'm not denying that problems exist. I am denying that your implication of some kind of massive conspiracy by pharma exists.

Really? A few months ago I posted (in relation to China not giving a damn about us) Baxters Heparin debacle (something I administer to my patients every single day) in which tainted components were used to trick tests into the potency of the medication. The Chinese CEO of that company was summarily shot in the head BTW.

Baxter fiend all knowledge and claimed it was "out of their hands". Baxter never received any fines or punishment... aside from Abott having a virtual monopoly on heparin production for a few months.

There are NUMEROUS examples every year of wide spread fraud and incompetence of the pharmaceutical industry every year.

Here's my deal for you: if you don't like the pharmaceutical companies, then just boycott their products and die young.

Honestly, this is on par with the "stand 100 yards down range and let me shoot you" line. I hate to see such one-liner sound byte mentality from 'right'.

It's pathetic.

 

[redneckmedic]

I don't have a dog in this fight, however, we love to scream at the mainstream media for only publishing one side of the facts for a "shock value" when its something we endorse or like. But when its a headline we find repulsive, their words are gospel.

Just Say's

(My personal opinion.....Even O.J. thinks this guy is guilty)

 

[rmcrob]

Honestly, this is on par with the "stand 100 yards down range and let me shoot you" line. I hate to see such one-liner sound byte mentality from 'right'.

It's pathetic.

You have misrepresented me. I'll bow out now. You are a crank. Keep cranking, if it makes you feel better. I don't know what twisted your shorts into a wedgie, but I feel sorry for you.

 

[JBusch8899]

.

 

[jsgolfman]

Eli Lilly Co. is still settling lawsuits, IIRC. It hurts that they are homegrown here in Indiana.

What's that got to do with this?

 

[airmotive]

The Mrs. has been in the pharma industry for 9 years (and was an RN before that). Pfizer has a rather long and sordid history when it comes to their marketing practices.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good meds out there and the VAST majority of drug companies go to great lengths to provide safe and effective meds. (you would be astounded to learn what it takes to bring a new med to market). However, Pfizer has always operated in the grey area of what is legal and ethical when it comes to marketing.

Also note, that article is almost a year old.

 

[Srtsi4wd]

INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR DRUG AWARENESS

SSRI Stories

Health Freedom Threats: Codex, FDA, Vaccinations, GMOs :: HealthFreedomUSA.org

http://rense.gsradio.net:8080/rense/special/rense_J_Virapen_020910.mp3

Everyone here should do a little research.
Make up your own mind. I don't believe everything I read or hear. That also doesn't mean I will refuse to read or hear it just because I have a preconceived notion of what the truth is.

 

[rmcrob]

Credibility of the source that somehow got translated as a personal attack upon the OP seems a little bit more than way over the edge. I've noticed that a few on this board need to grow thicker skin, and some others need to learn to stop being so coarse. THAT is what is truly pathetic.

You might be right; I may have overinterpreted the OP. I'm probably more thin-skinned about this stuff than most stuff. Typically, I don't care about the preference of others. So I'll take the blame this time. Thanks for calling me on it.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

What's that got to do with this?

Throwing it in as an aside to fraud. Lilly has misrepresented the side effects of a couple of meds and had to settle with several states, with fines/payments to states nearing a billion dollars because of sales reps that lied to states about what their product is capable of.