More fallout from the COURAGE trial controversy. MedPage Today finds that some of the leaks may have been intentional:

MedPage Today found that once Dr. Leon reviewed the unpublished COURAGE study manuscript and realized it was unfavorable, he pursued a pattern of dropping hints of the results that he accompanied with criticism of the study design.

William Boden, M.D., lead author of the COURAGE trial said the leaks that occurred during the weeks leading up to the study’s planned release amounted to a “premeditated campaign to discredit the COURAGE findings.”

Dr. Boden characterized Dr. Leon’s actions as “academic misconduct of the highest order. By his actions he deprived me and my co-investigators of the opportunity to be the first to present our data to our colleagues.” Usurping that right, Dr. Boden said, was especially vexing because he and his co-investigators “worked for 11 years on the design and conduct of this trial.”