Drug Firms Make More Study Results Public

Drug companies are making public more information about medical studies they are conducting, but some still withhold key details, a new analysis of a federal registry finds. Merck & Co., stung by allegations that it hid information on Vioxx's dangers, gets somewhat better marks in the new analysis than it did in an earlier one. However, Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Novartis are lagging, according to the report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. In May, the journal's editor-in-chief accused Merck, Pfizer and Glaxo of making a mockery of efforts to increase the transparency of such experiments, called clinical trials. The new report shows some progress, said its chief author, Dr. Deborah Zarin of the National Library of Medicine, which runs the registry.