Vytorin: Two Sources of Fraud?

Merck/Schering-Plough’s Vytorin is a combination of Merck’s Zocor and Schering’s Zetia. Zocor’s patent has expired and Zetia has never been proven effective in improving clinical outcomes. The pharmaceutical joint venture company has been under fire for repeatedly refusing to release the results of clinical trials which examined the effectiveness of Vytorin over Zocor alone. The trials ended in early 2006 . After announced delays in November 2006 and April 2007, the company issued a press release in November 2007 (here) in which it attempted to change the endpoints of the study. After a storm of protest, the company released the results Monday (here): Vytorin is no more effective than Zocor alone.  A Bloomberg story here has further details, including calls by two Congressmen for further investigation of the ad campaign for Vytorin. Sandy Szwarc at Junkfood Science has analyzed the developing story here and previously here.

Now it has been reported (Brandweek NRx via Junkfood Science) that Schering President Carrie Smith Cox sold 900,000 shares of company stock worth $28 million last spring, after the clinical trials ended but long before the results were released. 

Whatever comes next, we can only hope for the demise of the obnoxious and misleading Vytorin commercials.