Massachusetts doctor accused of fabricating pain studies

[Guest guest]

What I find interesting about this is that many drugs currently used to " treat "

autism and even ADD and ADHD are increasingly shown to be ineffective in

additional clinical trials.

Administrator

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Massachusetts doctor accused of fabricating pain studies

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

11/03/2009 12:39:00 PM

BOSTON - A Massachusetts anesthesiologist has been accused of fabricating

results in nearly two dozen published studies that claimed to show after-surgery

benefits from painkillers including Vioxx and Celebrex.

Dr. Reuben, who is on leave from Springfield's Baystate Medical Center,

studied the use of more than one type of drug to relieve pain and speed recover

after surgery.

Baystate said a routine review in May found that some of Reuben's research was

not approved by an internal hospital review board. Further investigation found

21 papers published in anesthesiology journals between 1996 and 2008 in which

Reuben made up some or all data.

" Dr. Reuben deeply regrets that this happened, " his attorney, Ingrid ,

said. " Dr. Reuben co-operated fully with the peer review committee. There were

extenuating circumstances that the committee fairly and justly considered. "

The hospital has asked the journals to retract the studies, some of which

reported favourable results from painkillers including Pfizer Inc.'s Bextra,

Celebrex and Lyrica and Merck & Co. Inc.'s Vioxx. His studies also claimed

Wyeth's antidepressant Effexor could be used as a painkiller.

Pfizer gave Reuben five research grants between 2002 and 2007. He also was a

member of the company's speakers bureau, giving talks about Pfizer drugs to

colleagues.

Pfizer said in a statement it was " not involved in the conduct of any of these

independent studies or in the interpretation or publication of the study

results. "

The journal Anesthesia & Analgesia retracted 10 of Reuben's studies last month.

The journal Anesthesiology said it retracted three.

" Doctors have been using (his) findings very widely, " said Dr. Shafer,

editor of Anesthesia and Analgesia. " His findings had a huge impact on the

field. "

Shafer said researchers would re-examine the literature and may be forced to

repeat clinical trials.

[Guest guest]

>

" Dr. Reuben deeply regrets that this happened, " his attorney, Ingrid ,

said. " really? " mimi says: He just didn't expect to get caught that is what he

is really sorry for

The hospital has asked the journals to retract the studies, some of which

reported favourable results from painkillers including Pfizer Inc.'s Bextra,

Celebrex and Lyrica and Merck & Co. Inc.'s Vioxx. His studies also claimed

Wyeth's antidepressant Effexor could be used as a painkiller.

mimi-->Now that they are in use (can they retract iit from the brains that

processed the information- or didn't read the detractions)

Pfizer gave Reuben five research grants between 2002 and 2007. He also was a

member of the company's speakers bureau, giving talks about Pfizer drugs to

colleagues.

Mimi-->huh I guess he wasn't paid anything (laughter)

Pfizer said in a statement it was " not involved in the conduct of any of these

independent studies or in the interpretation or publication of the study

results. "

mimi--.This is the shielding of blame from a drug company (I for one feel

convinced that the company didn't push this guy or benefit from his results,

hmmm No harm done)

wow what a neat wrap-up for such a sticky situation, no questions or outrage or

additional thoughts about what other great things drug companies are doing.

(all their bad deeds seem to put their good ones in question)