When I read this in last Sunday's New York Times, steam began escaping from my ears. This behavior is SO wrong! Merck hid the number of deaths due to heart attack, so that statistical significance was never reached. Dumb Dr. Lisse violated all scientific ethics with his editing practices:
Dr. Lisse said that while he was listed as the paper's first author, Merck actually wrote the report, an unusual practice.
"Merck designed the trial, ran the trial," Dr. Lisse said. "Merck came to me after the study was completed and said, 'We want your help to work on the paper.' The initial paper was written at Merck, and then it was sent to me for editing."
Dr. Lisse said he had never heard of the case of the woman who died, until told of it by a reporter. "Basically, I went with the cardiovascular data that was presented to me," he said.
The 73-year-old woman who became the subject of the debate inside Merck died on Oct. 21, 1999, a few minutes after calling her son to tell him she felt short of breath. By the time her son reached her house, she was dead. Records show she had been taking 25 milligrams of Vioxx a day as part of the clinical trial.
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