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.
Full Article by Alexis black
# posted by madthumbs @ 7:54 AM
