Outspoken Vioxx critic loses his job after testimony against Merck

[Guest guest]

http://www.newstarget.com/019333.html

Originally published March 29 2006

Silencing public health advocates: Outspoken Vioxx critic loses job

after testimony against Merck in federal trial

There's something fishy going on at the Cleveland Clinic. In a

surprising move in December 2005, the prestigious clinic removed Dr.

Eric Topol, a well-known cardiologist and vocal critic of Merck's

prescription Vioxx arthritis medication, from his position as chief

academic officer at the hospital's medical school. Topol was

apparently told that the position of academic officer, which also

gave him a seat on the clinic's board of governors and conflict of

interest committee, had been eliminated just two days after he

testified at a federal Vioxx trial that Merck was guilty of

scientific misconduct, according to an editorial appearing in The

Houston Chronicle

News of the elimination of Topol's position came less than a week

before an announcement by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer that the

Cleveland Clinic will conduct a $100-million study into the safety of

Celebrex, the last of the COX-2 inhibitors (the class of drugs that

Vioxx belonged to) on the market in the United States.

 

Coincidence? No one knows for certain, but the series of events

leading up to the elimination of Dr. Topol's position at the clinic

has certainly raised some eyebrows.

 

Let's start at the beginning. Dr. Topol started speaking out about

the cardiovascular risks posed by COX-2 inhibitors, especially Vioxx,

in 2001, long before the painkiller was pulled off the market in 2004

because of its link to increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Joining him in his campaign against the dangerous drugs at the time

was his associate at the clinic, Dr. Steven Nissen. The two doctors,

along with Debabrata Mukherjee, wrote a review of Vioxx clinical

trials for the Journal of the American Medical Association in August

2001, which stated that Vioxx was linked to a 200 percent increased

risk for blood clots, heart attack and stroke.

 

Following the decision to pull Vioxx from the market three years

later, Topol continued to publicly criticize Vioxx-maker Merck for

its slow response and for its decision to put the dangerous drug on

the market in the first place. Dr. Nissen, however, was less vocal.

 

Subpoenaed in the first federal Vioxx trial in November 2005, Dr.

Topol gave a three-hour videotaped deposition attacking Vioxx and

accusing Merck of scientific misconduct. Less than a week after that

deposition, Topol lost his position at the Cleveland Clinic.

 

There is one other important point to note here: At the same time Dr.

Topol was being demoted, his past partner in protest, Dr. Nissen, was

being asked to lead the $100 million study into the safety of

Celebrex.

 

 

Was Dr. Topol muscled out?

The Cleveland Clinic has claimed that the timing of the elimination

of Dr. Topol's position is purely coincidental and simply part of

broader administrative reorganization at the clinic, stating that

his " position was no longer needed. "

However, many are not buying this claim. A Dec. 19 editorial on

newsinferno.com challenges the clinic's explanation, saying: " It

seems quite odd to many observers that the doctor with superior

qualifications would have his leadership position done away with as

part of an administrative reorganization making that position 'no

longer necessary' at a time when he would be the ideal person to lead

the independent study of Celebrex. "

 

Odd indeed. Could it be that Topol's demotion is really an attempt by

the joined-at-the-hip medical and pharmaceutical industries to

silence one of their most vocal critics?

 

It would certainly not be the first time conflicts of interest in the

medical community have come into play. In fact, conflicts of interest

have become a standard of sorts in the medical community, and perhaps

one of the biggest reasons behind Dr. Topol's troubles is his desire

to speak out against those problems in the industry.

 

In addition to his vocal criticism of Vioxx, Dr. Topol also

reportedly questioned financial ties between the Cleveland Clinic and

ArtiCure, a company that sells a medical device used in a surgical

procedure the clinic promotes, according to a report in The Wall

Street Journal.

 

Perhaps it is Dr. Topol's consumer concern that has left a bad taste

in the mouths of the powers-that-be in the profit-driven medical

industry, but for the average consumer, there simply aren't enough

professionals like Dr. Topol in the world who are willing to fight

for the health and safety of the public.