MinorityView
02-02-09, 12:13 PM
Poison Pills: The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal by Tom Nesi. New York, Thomas Dunne Books, 2008.
Great analysis of the Vioxx debacle. One of the best things about the book is that it is a primer on how to screw around with scientific studies to hide problems and get away with murder.
These same techniques have been applied to vaccines, over and over again.
For example, in the VIGOR study, Vioxx was compared to Naproxen. They wanted to show that Vioxx caused fewer stomach problems, so they used a drug which causes a lot of stomach problems.
However, the Vioxx arm of the study showed a lot of heart problems, including deaths. So the clever scientists at Merck suddenly worked out that Naproxen is protective against heart problems. Naproxen had been out for umpteen years and no one had every spotted this great effect, but there it is all of a sudden.
Compare to vaccines, which are compared to other vaccines, not to a placebo. If the vaccine used for the comparison is reactive enough it is guaranteed to make the new vaccine look mild. And if it doesn't? I wouldn't be surprised to find that drug companies pull the Naproxen caper, discovering that the older vaccine is reduces seizures...
Well worth reading, IMO.
Oh, and the part where the FDA suddenly falls into the hands of one ex-Merck staffer and one drug company lawyer who was conveniently hired for a crucial position was pretty exciting, too. All of a sudden, Vioxx, which had been criticized (rightly) is walking on water. Thanks George W.
Great analysis of the Vioxx debacle. One of the best things about the book is that it is a primer on how to screw around with scientific studies to hide problems and get away with murder.
These same techniques have been applied to vaccines, over and over again.
For example, in the VIGOR study, Vioxx was compared to Naproxen. They wanted to show that Vioxx caused fewer stomach problems, so they used a drug which causes a lot of stomach problems.
However, the Vioxx arm of the study showed a lot of heart problems, including deaths. So the clever scientists at Merck suddenly worked out that Naproxen is protective against heart problems. Naproxen had been out for umpteen years and no one had every spotted this great effect, but there it is all of a sudden.
Compare to vaccines, which are compared to other vaccines, not to a placebo. If the vaccine used for the comparison is reactive enough it is guaranteed to make the new vaccine look mild. And if it doesn't? I wouldn't be surprised to find that drug companies pull the Naproxen caper, discovering that the older vaccine is reduces seizures...
Well worth reading, IMO.
Oh, and the part where the FDA suddenly falls into the hands of one ex-Merck staffer and one drug company lawyer who was conveniently hired for a crucial position was pretty exciting, too. All of a sudden, Vioxx, which had been criticized (rightly) is walking on water. Thanks George W.