The New York Times has a story with a rare insider’s look at a skirmish between an Ohio cardiologist and GlaxoSmithKline over the best-selling diabetes drug Avandia.
Dr. Steven E. Nissen conducted a landmark study suggesting Avandia, made by GlaxoSmithKline, raised the risk of heart attacks. The study, published three years ago, prompted a Congressional inquiry, safety warnings and drops in the drug’s sales and the pharmaceutical company’s stock prices.
“The battle between Dr. Nissen and GlaxoSmithKline was waged from afar in news releases and published papers,” The Times reports. “But on May 10, 2007, 11 days before Dr. Nissen’s study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, he and four company executives met face to face in a private meeting whose details have not been disclosed until now.”
Dr. Nissen secretly recorded the meeting and recently shared the contents of the recording with The Times. The disclosure of what was said at the meeting is raising questions about the science and ethics of a drug and company already under fire: A Congressional investigation recently found the pharmaceutical company threatened scientists who tried to point out Avandia’s risks, and internal memos from the Food and Drug Administration show some government health officials want the drug withdrawn.
