Journal withdraws article after complaints from Pharma

[medeak]

BMJ 2011; 3422335 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d2335 (Published 11 April 2011)
Cite this as: BMJ 2011; 3422335
News
Journal withdraws article after complaints from drug manufacturers
Nigel Hawkes
+Author Affiliations

1London
A paper suggesting that two new antidiabetes drugs could greatly increase the risk of pancreatitis and several cancers has been withdrawn from the website of the journal Gastroenterology after complaints from Novo Nordisk and Merck, the drugs’ manufacturers.

The companies wrote letters to Anil Rustgi, the journal’s editor in chief, after the paper appeared online. They expressed concern that the analysis, which used data derived from the US Food and Drug Administration’s adverse event reporting system, reached conclusions that could not be justified. Merck warned that the paper could have a negative effect on the care of patients, while Novo Nordisk claimed that it could spark an unnecessary health scare.

One of the authors of the paper, Peter Butler, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), said that the drug companies wanted the paper deleted. Gastroenterology’s website initially recorded the paper as “retracted,” which might imply that the authors themselves had chosen to remove it. This was not the case, Dr Butler said: the decision …

[Teaser]

1. I'll have to read the article

Journals retracting articles is relatively rare, so I suspect the drug companies may, in this case, be right that the study is defective. Will have to read to see.

[medeak]

2. sent by medical researcher friend

who finds it impossible to petition fda against pharma. Big pharma is the new mafia imo

[Teaser]

3. I can check it through Pubmed.

Pharma research isn't my strong suit, more of a physicist. but if it has obvious flaws, they should be visible.

If it's truly a case of industry pressure, that would stain the Journal forever.

[Celebration]

4. I bet their theory is

that the adverse reporting system isn't randomized, or something like that (claiming it is just anecdotes?). Just guessing................

There have been questions about Januvia, etc. for quite awhile.