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May 17, 2008 1:41:44 AM CDT

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Firms Hid Bad News on Heart Drugs 2 Years: Doc  

Posted Apr 1, 08 10:49 AM CDT in Science & Health,  Business    Most Covered

(newser) – A scientist hired by two drug companies to conduct trials of cholesterol-lowering drugs accused the firms of deliberately delaying release of the results, the New York Times reports. The results for the Vytorin and Zetia trials—which showed the drugs don't work to reduce plaque in arteries—were not released until almost two years after the medical trials wrapped up. 

The Dutch cardiologist questioned Merck and Schering-Plough's motives in a series of furious emails. "You will be seen as a company that tries to hide something, and I will be perceived as being in bed with you!” he wrote, threatening to resign. Congress is probing why it took the firms two years—during which they made billions in sales of the drugs—to release the findings.

Source New York Times

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Firms Hid Bad News on Heart Drugs 2 Years: Doc
The cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin, the product of a joint venture between pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co., and Schering-Plough Corp., is shown in this undated photo .   (AP Photo)
Firms Hid Bad News on Heart Drugs 2 Years: Doc
Chairman of the board of the German pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck, Karl-Ludwig Kley, speaks during the annual shareholders meeting in Frankfurt, central Germany, Friday, March 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/Bernd Kammerer)
Firms Hid Bad News on Heart Drugs 2 Years: Doc
The Schering-Plough headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., is seen in this Sept.. 6, 2006 file photograph.   (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
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Merck  • drug companies  • cholesterol  • clinical trials  • Vytorin  • Schering Plough  • cholesterol lowering drug  • Zetia


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