Scientists May Have Put Their Names on Papers Written by Drug Companies

This article describes how academic scientists appear to have put their names on papers that are actually ghostwritten by for-profit companies and then published in medical journals. Some of the scientists accused of doing so deny any wrongdoing, but journal editors are already outlining measures to prevent future breaches of academic integrity. In the April 16 issue of "The Journal of the American Medical Association" (JAMA), four scientists published the results of a search of court documents. The documents are about the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx, which has been withdrawn from the market and has been the subject of hundreds of lawsuits because of concerns about its safety. The search revealed mentions of many articles that were published under academic researchers' names but appear to have been written by others. Those others worked for Merck & Company, which is the developer of Vioxx, or for medical-publishing companies.