Wyeth's Use of Alleged Medical Ghostwriting Questioned by U.S. Senator

As a part of the Senate Finance Committee’s ongoing investigation into medical ghostwriting and specifically referring to documents produced in the ongoing hormone replacement litigation, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters today to drug giant Wyeth and DesignWrite, Inc. (a medical communications company) asking for information about medical journal articles that Wyeth purportedly hired DesignWrite to draft and seek out academic authors to sign on before publication in various medical journals including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Primary Care Update for OB/GYNs.  The senator has asked that both companies provide a list of scientific studies that DesignWrite put together for Wyeth from 1995 through December 12, 2008, as well as disclosing the amounts of any payments made to authors named on the study findings.  The Senator also acknowledged that Wyeth may have hired other companies to provide similar ghostwriting services and demanded the company provide a complete list of scientific studies prepared by other marketing companies on behalf of Wyeth for any Wyeth human drug.