Avandia and GSK: Trial data

It was available on their own website. In effect, Dr. Nissen used GSK’s own data against them:

As it turns out, the first posting Glaxo made involved the same 65 Avandia studies that Nissen analyzed. “It was a treasure trove,” the Cleveland Clinic cardiologist tells The New York Times.

Not surprisingly, Glaxo is none too happy. Ron Krall, Glaxo’s chief medical officer for Glaxo says the drugmaker recognized that controversy could ensue by creating the database. Others may analyze the data differently than the company.

“We are committed to the principle of transparency,” Krall tells the Times. “But we knew that when starting this, by putting the data in the public, many things could happen, some of which could be trouble.”