Drug Company Paid For Publication; Did Not Disclose Sponsorship Clearly

The Scientist reports that the drug company Merck paid the publisher Elsevier to put out the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, a product that it says turned out not to be a real scientific journal but that seems to have been an advertisement for Merck’s own drugs. Says The Scientist, “Merck paid an undisclosed sum to Elsevier to produce several volumes of a publication that had the look of a peer-reviewed medical journal, but contained only reprinted or summarized articles–most of which presented data favorable to Merck products–that appeared to act solely as marketing tools with no disclosure of company sponsorship.” The Scientist also says that the publication did not have a website. The Scientist provides links to two of the publication’s issues. Information about the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine came out during the course of a civil trial last week.