Review finds flaws in Pfizer Neurontin study
Analysis of a dozen published studies testing possible new uses for a Pfizer Inc. epilepsy drug found that reporting of the results was often fudged, indicating the medicine worked better than internal company documents showed.
According to the report, when a company-funded study’s primary finding wasn’t favorable, that result was usually buried and something else positive was highlighted.
The documents used in the review were obtained by lawyers suing Pfizer for refunds on prescriptions paid for by insurers and consumers. The lawyers, who are seeking class-action status for the cases, claim Pfizer concealed evidence the epilepsy drug Neurontin didn’t work for unapproved uses including nerve pain and bipolar disorder.
One report author is an expert witness for the plaintiffs; another has received fees from the lawyers.
Pfizer disputes the report’s conclusions, saying the company never “attempted to mislead the medical community about the effectiveness’’ of the drug for certain uses.
The report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine comes two months after Pfizer was fined a record $2.3 billion for illegally marketing other drugs.
