The companies that market the popular cholesterol drug Vytorin may have deliberately delayed the release of research showing that the drug had no benefit in preventing the build-up of plaque in arteries, according to e-mails obtained Monday from the office of a U.S. senator who has been investigating the matter.
James Stein, a University of Wisconsin-Madison cardiologist who had been hired by Merck/Schering-Plough to provide expert advice for the trial, said he was troubled by the e-mails.
“The e-mails have very serious allegations,” Stein said. “I am very bothered to hear this.”