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ADVANTAGE: Science First, Marketing Second
- Kevin P. Hill, MD, MHS;
- David S. Egilman, MD, MPH; and
- Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
- From McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478; Brown University, Providence, RI 02912; and Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
IN RESPONSE:
The evidence that Merck pursued a seeding trial to support sales of Vioxx is clear and is derived from their own internal documents.
Dr. Edelman states that ADVANTAGE was developed by a group that was separate from Merck's marketing department. David Anstice, the former president of Merck's USHH organization, which had overarching responsibility for the study, affirmed in court, under oath, that ADVANTAGE was initiated and conducted by physicians in marketing (1).
ADVANTAGE is not a case, as suggested by Dr. Edelman, in which marketing is leveraging a study that originates within a company's research division. It is …
This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.
