Scientist faked research for drug companies. Murder?

[jinx]

My first clone thread.... kinda...

link

So this guy actually did fake his research.

A prominent Massachusetts anesthesiologist allegedly fabricated 21 medical studies that claimed to show benefits from painkillers like Vioxx and Celebrex, according to the hospital where he worked.


Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Mass., said that its former chief of acute pain, Scott S. Reuben, had faked data used in the studies, which were published in several anesthesiology journals between 1996 and 2008.


"Dr. Reuben deeply regrets that this happened," said the doctor's attorney, Ingrid Martin.

And people (more than 20,000) actually did die because of it.

Merck pulled Vioxx, a popular pain reliever widely used by arthritis patients, off the market in September, saying it was "putting patient safety first" but the Wall Street Journal reported earlier that company officials had fought for years to protect the highly profitable drug and to keep news of the health risks quiet.



Vioxx was a big moneymaker for Merck, generating about $2.5 billion in yearly sales.