Pharmaceuticals
Vioxx Scandal: Merck's COX-2 Painkiller That Caused Tens of Thousands of Heart Attacks
Merck's blockbuster {{COX-2 inhibitor}} {{rofecoxib}} (Vioxx), approved in 1999 and withdrawn in 2004, was estimated by FDA safety officer {{David Graham}} to have caused 88,000–139,000 heart attacks in the US alone before withdrawal, with 30–40% fatal.
Pharmaceutical Science-Laundering: Seeding Trials, Ghostwriting, and Data Omission
Three documented tactics that drug companies have used to launder marketing through the scientific literature: {{seeding trials}} disguised as research, {{ghostwriting}} of academic papers, and selective {{data omission}} from published clinical trials.
COMP360 Psilocybin: The Phase 3 Results and Regulatory Path
Compass Pathways' synthetic psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, with FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation since 2018. COMP005 met its primary endpoint with a −3.6 MADRS difference versus placebo; COMP006 showed −3.8, though comparing 25 mg against a 1 mg dose rather than placebo. Statistically strong, clinically modest: 39% of the 25 mg arm showed a clinically meaningful reduction. Regulatory timelines as of mid-2026 and subject to change.
Carbon Monoxide as Experimental Medicine: Inhaled CO and CORMs
Because low-dose CO is anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective via the heme oxygenase → CO → sGC pathway, it is being developed as a drug. A Phase I trial in sepsis-induced ARDS used 100–200 ppm for 90 minutes daily, kept carboxyhaemoglobin under 10%, and reduced mitochondrial DNA damage markers; a follow-up personalises dosing via the Coburn-Forster-Kane equation to a 6–8% COHb target. CORMs deliver CO via metal carbonyls, with carrier toxicity as the open problem.
Naproxen Hypothesis: How a Plausible Counter-Explanation Delayed Vioxx Withdrawal for Four Years
Merck's {{naproxen hypothesis}} — the claim that {{naproxen}} was unusually cardioprotective rather than {{Vioxx}} being harmful — kept a flawed explanation alive for four years until the placebo-controlled {{APPROVe trial}} ruled it out.