This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Related letters  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Journalology/ Peer Review/ Authorship  • Medical Ethics  • Neurology  • Alzheimer Disease  • Cognitive Disorders  • Statistics and Research Methods  • Drug Therapy, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: I read with interest the article by Dr Ross and colleagues¹ on ghost authorship and guest authorship of original articles and reviews relating to rofecoxib that were presumably supported by Merck. I deplore the practice of ghost or guest authorship. I was dismayed, however, to note inclusion of a review² that I coauthored in a table of articles that were implicitly tainted in this respect. A footnote indicates that the reason for inclusion was mention of one (or both) of the academic authors in Merck internal correspondence. The implication that the content of this article was in any way sponsored, influenced, previewed, or written by Merck is entirely incorrect.

My work with colleagues was the first to predict^3-4 and then explain mechanistically⁵ a cardiovascular hazard from drugs such as rofecoxib and celecoxib. Given that a repeated defense strategy in the rofecoxib trials was to attempt to discount . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Garret A. FitzGerald, MD
garret@spirit.gcrc.upenn.edu
Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia

RELATED ARTICLE

Guest Authorship and Ghostwriting in Publications Related to Rofecoxib: A Case Study of Industry Documents From Rofecoxib Litigation
Joseph S. Ross, Kevin P. Hill, David S. Egilman, and Harlan M. Krumholz
JAMA. 2008;299(15):1800-1812.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED LETTERS

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Kent R. Johnson and Marissa N. D. Lassere
JAMA. 2008;300(8):900.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Carlo Patrono
JAMA. 2008;300(8):901.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Christopher J. Hawkey
JAMA. 2008;300(8):901.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Steven Ferris, Douglas Galasko, and Louis Kirby
JAMA. 2008;300(8):901-902.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Richard Balon
JAMA. 2008;300(8):902.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Serban-Dan Costa
JAMA. 2008;300(8):902-903.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Hervé Maisonneuve
JAMA. 2008;300(8):903.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Hean T. Ong and Jin S. Cheah
JAMA. 2008;300(8):903-904.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies
Peter A. Lachenbruch and Ronald Wasserstein
JAMA. 2008;300(8):904.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies—Reply
Bruce M. Psaty and Richard A. Kronmal
JAMA. 2008;300(8):904.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies—Reply
Joseph S. Ross, David S. Egilman, and Harlan M. Krumholz
JAMA. 2008;300(8):904-905.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Guest Authorship, Mortality Reporting, and Integrity in Rofecoxib Studies—Reply
Catherine D. DeAngelis and Phil B. Fontanarosa
JAMA. 2008;300(8):905-906.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT