Lilly slaps Times over trials data charge

Medical Marketing and Media, Mar 2008 by Arnold, Matthew

LILLY TOOK A sharp tone in responding to a New York Times article that the company said "likely created a strong false impression with readers that Lilly suppresses data."

The Times article, following on a New England Journal of Medicine piece, claimed that Lilly suppressed Prozac clinical trials data.

"Not only was the Times' story inaccurate when it comes to Prozac-the NEJM article didn't identify a single Prozac study as unpublished-but it also likely created a strong false impression with readers that Lilly suppresses data," the company said in a news release, concluding: "We clearly have been transparent. The data is publicly available online; we've presented it to healthcare professionals at major medical meetings; and we published it-more than once-in peer-reviewed medical journals. And we remain committed to transparency. All of which we would have told The New York Times...if only they had called and asked."-MA