Bloomberg:Wyeth Ordered to Unseal Prempro Ghostwriting Files

Wyeth Ordered to Unseal Prempro Ghostwriting Files (Update2):

THE ARTICLE

By Jef Feeley and Sonny Rhodes

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Wyeth, the drugmaker being acquired by Pfizer Inc., was ordered by a federal judge to unseal files about its use of ghostwritten medical-journal articles to market menopause medicines.

U.S. District Judge William Wilson in Little Rock, Arkansas, today granted a request by PLoS Medicine, a medical journal, and the New York Times newspaper to have Wyeth make public documents about its ghostwriting practices in connection with the drugs Prempro and Premarin. Madison, New Jersey-based Wyeth faces claims from more than 10,000 women who contend the hormone-replacement medicines caused their breast cancers.

Drugmakers sometimes pay medical-communications companies to ghostwrite favorable studies of their products and then hire doctors to put their names on the journal articles. Many times, the drug company’s participation isn’t disclosed, lawyers for former Prempro users contend.

via http://twitter.com/TomLamb/status/2873171528 Tom Lamb

Addendum:
Unsealed Docs In Prempro, Premarin Lawsuits Highlight Wyeth Ghostwriting Efforts-news inferno 8-5-09

"According to the New York Times, Wyeth managed to publish 26 such ghostwritten articles supporting hormone replacement therapy. In many cases, the articles purported to analyze existing research and offer treatment recommendations, the Times said. The true authors of the articles were not disclosed. They emphasized the benefits of hormone therapy and de-emphasized the risks.

The 26 articles were published in 18 medical journals including The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and The International Journal of Cardiology between 1998 and 2005, the Times said."