Featured Participatory Project: GlaxoSmithKline, the Diabetes Drug Avandia and Dr. John Buse

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The United States Senate Committee on Finance has released a damning staff report titled The Intimidation of Dr. John Buse and the Diabetes Drug Avandia. The report reviews how in 1999 SmithKline Beecham, known after the merger with Glaxo Wellcome as GlaxoSmithKline, reacted when Buse, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina, raised concerns about the potential for increased heart attacks associated with Avandia. Internal company documents, the report states, "reveal what appears to be an orchestrated plan to stifle the opinion" of Buse, in part to reassure stockmarket analysts. The report provides a powerful case study of an attempt by a corporation to stifle scientific dissent. If you would like to help build a SourceWatch article on this, the instructions are here. If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, you can register here, and learn more about adding information to the site here, here and here. Have fun, and thanks for your help!