If Bernard Madoff were a Doctor

[grassfed]

Dr. Kate Scannell: If Bernard Madoff were a doctor

snip:

A few days ago, it was widely reported that Reuben, an anesthesiologist in Massachusetts and a faculty member of Tufts' medical school, had falsified at least 21 of his 72 published research studies. He simply made them up.

Many of those fictional studies promoted the use of painkillers — like Pfizer's Celebrex or Merck's Vioxx — during orthopedic surgeries, highlighting yet another layer of his disgrace. Those drugs, known collectively as "COX-2" drugs, have been suspected of causing severe side effects like heart attacks and strokes, and Vioxx was finally withdrawn from the market in 2004.
As was reported in Scientific American, Reuben's work tried to encourage surgeons to abandon use of older and less expensive anti-inflammatory painkillers in favor of newer and more expensive ones called "COX-2" drugs.

In addition to faking research, downplaying COX-2 side effects, and jacking up the cost of medical care, Reuben also profited from financial arrangements with Merck and Pfizer. Those relationships are hard to confirm in his publications, but you find evidence of them in odd places. For example, in a conference brochure (Reuben lectured widely to disseminate his "research") you discover that he not only received "grants" from Merck and Pfizer, but that he was also on their for-hire speaker's bureau.

Reuben went so far as to concoct a study in order to dispel surgeons' concerns, based on animal studies, that COX-2 drugs might inhibit bone growth. That is why many orthopedic physicians request that patients refrain from taking COX-2 drugs during bone and joint surgeries. You need your bone to grow around the metal joint replacement and secure its placement, to grow and secure bone grafts to fuse your spine, etc. But what a surprise! Reuben waved his magic wand and generated a study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery to dismiss that serious concern. As one orthopedist wrote in gratitude: "This article has made a profound difference in my clinical practice and I have already taken steps to have ... added to my preprinted order sheets for spinal fusion surgery." Subsequently, many orthopedists began using COX-2 drugs more often in their surgical patients.

In a stunning display of hubris, Reuben also cofounded the Orthopedic Anesthesia, Pain and Rehabilitation Society (OAPRS) in an attempt to make his field of orthopedic pain management a recognized subspecialty of anesthesiology. This was a lucrative prospect, with lots of potential demand generated by baby boomers' increasing needs for joint replacements. Intriguingly, the major corporate co-sponsors of OAPRS included Merck and Pfizer, as well as artificial joint makers Zimmer and Stryker.

source
http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_11914365