DOCTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO RESEARCH FRAUD
HOW DISGUSTING!!!! A lead researcher and pioneer in multimodal analgesia , Dr. Scott S. Reuben, has plead guilty to research fraud. He has been caught FALSIFYING over 20 studies, published over the past 12 years. Most of these studies have to do with pain killing medications including, Vioxx, Celebrex, and Pregabalin or otherwise known as LYRICA. In addition to FRAUD, this Doctor (I use that term loosely) has also committed forgery. At least one other physician has come forward to attest to his name being used on studies that he had nothing to do with.
Yourspine.com has an interesting article on this case, and states that it was “Reuben’s idea of adding Lyrica and Neurontin to the mix.” when it comes to pain, and being a better alternative to opioids. (Does this sound familiar to any of you?)
Anethesiology News Online has an article that states this about Dr. Reuben - “His research has provided support for several mainstays of current anesthetic practice, such as the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and neuropathic agents instead of opioids and preemptive analgesia. Dr. Reuben has also published and presented data suggesting that multimodal analgesia can significantly improve long-term outcomes for patients”
THESE STUDIES WERE FALSIFIED!!!
WHO WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!?!?
What an EVIL thing to do, and what a horrible breach of trust. WE as pain patients TRUST in what our Doctor’s and Specialists think is best for our treatment.. THAT information filters down to them after going through MANY channels. This man lied to every Doctor, scientist, researcher, pharmacist, and PATIENT out there for over a DOZEN YEARS!!
I am absolutely infuriated and disgusted. I am in shock really… think of the magnitude of damage this man has caused. This is a giant leap BACKWARD in health care as well….
Dr. Reuben faces up to 10 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine….. I don’t know if that is enough to tell you the truth…. this man was playing Russian roulette with THOUSANDS of lives…. Sentencing is scheduled for May 24, and it will be interesting what comes of this case.
If you are on any of the medications listed in these articles, and it causes you concern or worry PLEASE speak with your Doctor. Some of these studies has altered how chronic pain is treated as a whole – scary, isn’t it?
Please feel free to pass the link to my post along to your readers if you have a Chronic Pain blog. And I will be following this story as it progresses…. Incomprehensible!!!
Again, what a horrendous breach of TRUST…It makes you ponder what is happening in YOUR health care treatment!
I have been following this case. This is why I am starting become wary of the medical arena. This doctor got caught, but I don’t think he is the first, nor will he be the last.
In the end, most new medications are about the bottom dollar.
I think something you said really hit me because I have been doing extensive research for a while on vaccines. We trust these people we do not know to be looking out for our best interest. We have no way to verify the information – and the methods we do have take a lot of work and time to bring to the light.
I had this analogy pop up in my head the other day. Taking a vaccine is like playing Russian roulette except I have a better change with Russian roulette of not getting hurt. I know there are so many bullets and I have so many chances of not getting the bullet. But in vaccines (and even with many medications) we have not idea what goes into them, thus what is going into us. Nor do we know the possible damage that can result.
And did you know this. There is a Federal Law that protects the pharmaceutical companies from being sued when the products (in vaccines only) injury you or I! Yup.
That does not make me feel very good about pharmaceutical companies, vaccines and sometimes even medications.
You are right. This is enough to make me spittin’ mad!
Absolutely! Health is about the almighty dollar, and NOT about what it should be… saving lives and improving health. It makes me so infuriated. I know my Doctor gets frustrated as well… We make Doctors out to be the ones that have all the power, but that isn’t the case at all… they have their hands tied by the system as well. There can only do what they are allowed to do… they aren’t the top of the totem pole by any stretch of the imagination… I think the bottom rung on the totem pole is the patient, Doctors and practitioners are next, and then we work up to the top where we will find these HUGE pharma companies.. It is a tad bit different in Canada, but not by much.
Remember the Vioxx scandal? How about Phen-Fen? The pharmaceutical companies are only out for the dollars, and the FDA is so corrupt that they refuse to do anything until the death toll can’t be hidden any more.
I no longer trust BigPharma, or any doctor who has a financial interest in any pharmaceutical company, and this really doesn’t surprise me at all.
I’m extremely disappointed to have my cynicism validated once again, but I’m getting used to it. The worst thing, to me, is that the punishment is so light. Vioxx KILLED people, and his falsified studies were partly to blame. I would stake my life that he made a hell of a lot more than $250,000 off of his lies, but that’s all they’re going to fine him.
I personally believe that the falsified Vioxx studies should qualify as a deadly weapon, and anyone connected to them should be charged with a count of Second Degree murder for every person that died from taking Vioxx, but it won’t happen. The pharmaceutical companies are never held responsible for the deaths they cause, and even when they’re caught breaking the law, they only get a slap on the wrist.
As long as dishonest doctors and pharmaceutical companies are allowed to profit from their lies, they will continue to put us all at risk.
Hey doll!
It is disgusting isn’t it? And I ABSOLUTELY agree with you – they should be charged accordingly… 10 years in jail is not enough in my opinion… These falsified studies have had a profound effect in how patients are treated…. at least 21 studies that they know of!! How does this impact all of us in the pain community? It doesn’t just effect those that might be on these drugs, it has a trickle down effect, and touches all of us!
You have a bit of a different perspective in the US than we do here. Our FDA is MUCH more strict, and there are many drugs that don’t cross the border. We have more staunch criteria, and run our own studies AFTER a drug has already been studied and put on the market in the US. We cannot get Vicodin, Savella, Vioxx for example, and never could. It is a double-edged sword because there are effective drugs that would be beneficial here, but won’t pass regulation. But the positive thing is that we are a bit more protected from things like the Vioxx scandal…. But I am sure it is a matter of time before Canadians are dealing with a situation like this as well…
We do have Lyrica on the market here, and this has really made me wonder…. I don’t know if I am willing to try it now. My Doctors want me to, but it really makes you wonder what you can trust in the ‘system’.
They are playing with people’s lives….
I tried Lyrica when it was first approved in the US, and for me, it wasn’t worth dealing with the side effects. If I took a “therapeutic” dose, I was so drugged up I couldn’t drive, so working was out of the question, and if I took a low enough dose to not be groggy all the time it wasn’t enough to do any good. (The first dose I took was at a therapeutic level, and I slept for two days.)
It obviously doesn’t affect most people that way, or there wouldn’t be so many taking it, but it’s definitely on my list of “I’ll never take it again” drugs. (I’m thinking “drunk” and operating a slicer is NOT a good combination.)
Yikes doll, that sounds horrible! I know we all experience different effects from meds, but you aren’t the only one I have heard that from… It scares me to think of what I would be like on this one.. keep in mind I would still be on 5 other meds besides this one!!
I think my mind is made up for now… it sounds too risky to me.
And NO… drunk and operating a slicer is NOT a good thing!!
I hope you are hanging in… thinking about ya!!
While I agree that 10 years hardly seems enough to justify the havoc this so-called doctor has reeked. (What about the Hippocratic oath to harm no one — its more the hypocritic oath!), Lyrica has made an emmense change in my life. I needed high dosages of opiates to bring the pain down to a manageable level, and fentyl had absolutely NO effect (apparently about 10% of the population have the same non-reaction). I was “out of it” far more on morphine than on Lyrica! I actually fell asleep walking down the street on a morphine-based drug!.
I still have my aching teeth, but at least (now along with a naturopathic treatment Neuragen that allows me to take less Lyrica).
Now, in the US, Lyrica has become a DEA drug which means restrictions. Supposedly, people get “high” on it! Perhaps there will be more restrictions as a result of this case. For me, I hope not.
People get high on Lyrica?!? I had absolutely No idea!
I am really happy that you find relief from this drug! It is great to hear of positive experiences! The main reason I am scared to take it is because I am on SO many drugs already, I am hesitant to add another one, and I have all the side-effects I can handle from the other ones…
How long did it take before you saw a difference? Did you experience adverse effects while building a tolerance for this drug?