A 1999 clinical study that Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) said was done to test side effects of its now-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx was done primarily to support a marketing campaign before its launch, according to researchers.
The real aim of the study, called ADVANTAGE, was to promote prescription of the new medicine when it became available -- a so-called "seeding" project -- U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
"Documentary evidence shows that ADVANTAGE is an example of marketing framed as science," they wrote in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Kevin Hill, a psychiatrist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., and colleagues said the findings showed how studies masquerading as clinical science could be used to bolster marketing plans.
Twenty-two million fewer people would have health care coverage by 2026 under the health care overhaul...
Senate GOP leaders on Thursday finally released their secret health-care reform bill, which would repeal Obamacare...
Temple University research shows extra-virgin olive oil protects against memory loss, preserves the ability to learn...
