Good examples. I'll add Vioxx (rofecoxib), a Merck COX-2-specific NSAID that was released in 1999 and pulled in 2004 [1]. Merck hid evidence that the drug cause

Good examples. I'll add Vioxx (rofecoxib), a Merck COX-2-specific NSAID that was released in 1999 and pulled in 2004 [1]. Merck hid evidence that the drug caused cardiovascular events and death. Eventually, the evidence became impossible to suppress [2]. Meta-analyses demonstrated that, given the ongoing trials at the time, Merck could have (and almost certainly did) observe internally that there was an excess of cardiovascular mortality in the Vioxx arm of their (combined) trials [3]. Eventually, the drug was removed from the market, but not before what has been estimated as nearly 100 thousand attributable heart attacks [4]. [1] = http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm106274.htm http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInfo... [2] = http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2011/11/sandusky_cover_up_why_is_kenneth_frazier_leading_the_investigation_at_penn_state_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa... [3] = http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(04)17514-4/fulltext http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-67... [4] = http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_health_care/001651.html http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_health_care/001651.ht...