Twenty-six medical journals articles that supported the use of hormone replacement therapy in women were ghostwritten, reports the New York Times. The articles were initiated and paid for by Wyeth and did not disclose that connection. Sales of Premarin and Prempro totaled almost $2 billion in 2001, Times says, before a 2002 federal-backed study of hormone treatment was halted after finding that women taking hormones had higher risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke. The articles, mainly review papers, were published between 1998 and 2005 and appeared in 18 different journals. "It's almost like steroids and baseball," Mount Sinai School of Medicine's Joseph Ross says. "You don't know who was using and who wasn't; you don't know which articles are tainted and which aren't."
The WSJ Health Blog points out that Merck dropped its ghostwriting activities after the Vioxx settlement.