Pain Doctor Admits Fraud
Dr. Scott S. Reuben, an anesthesiologist in Springfield, Mass., who practiced at Baystate Medical Center, has admitted that he never conducted the clinical trials that he wrote about in 21 journal articles dating from at least 1996. The reliability of dozens more articles he wrote is uncertain, and the common practice -- supported by his studies -- of giving patients aspirin-like drugs and neuropathic pain medicines after surgery instead of narcotics is now being questioned.
The drug giant Pfizer underwrote much of Dr. Reuben's research from 2002 to 2007. Many of his trials found that Celebrex and Lyrica, Pfizer drugs, were effective against postoperative pain. A Pfizer spokesman issued a statement expressing " disappointment" over Dr. Reuben's "alleged" actions.
Drug companies routinely hire community physicians to conduct studies of already-approved medicines. In some cases, prosecutors have charged companies with underwriting studies of little scientific merit in hopes of persuading doctors to prescribe the medicines more often.
Dr. Reuben's activities were spotted by Baystate Medical Center after questions were raised about two study abstracts that he filed last spring. It was then determined that he had not received approval to conduct human research. Baystate investigators concluded that Dr. Reuben had concocted data for 21 studies, and the health system asked the journals in which those studies were published to withdraw them.
Dr. Steve Shafer, the editor in chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia, which published many of the papers, said he was considering withdrawing any study in which Dr. Reuben served a pivotal role. Dr. Reuben has been described as " one of the most prolific investigators in the area of postoperative pain management." How was your pain management after your last surgery?