• The New York Times, Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:07 AM

An article published in The Journal of the American Medical Association today raises broad questions about the validity of much of the drug industry's published research. The article--based on documents unearthed in lawsuits over the pain drug Vioxx--charges that Merck drafted dozens of research studies and then lined up prestigious doctors to put their names on the reports before publication. The lead author of the JAMA article, Dr. Joseph S. Ross, says the ghostwriting practice appears to be widespread.

Merck admits that it sometimes hired outside medical writers to draft research reports before handing them over to the doctors whose names eventually appear on the publication. But the company disputes the article's conclusion that the authors do little of the actual research or analysis.

Although the role of pharmaceutical companies in influencing medical journal articles has been questioned before, the Merck documents provided the most comprehensive look at the practice yet. In an editorial, JAMA says the analysis shows that Merck had apparently manipulated dozens of publications to promote Vioxx. It called upon editors to require each author to report his or her specific contributions to articles.

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