It seems that Merck has been caught with its hand in the cookie jar. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), that bastion of medical journalism and former bully pulpit of Marcia Angell -- author of "The Truth About the Drug Companies", which tore a new one for the industry -- has issued a highly unusual "Expression of Concern," according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal.

It has to do with missing Vigor study data from an article published in the jourmal. Very interesting and there's an evidence trail that says it all!

As for the deleted data, Merck has put forward a lame defense that I predict will fail in court, should Merck's lawyers be stupid enough to use it.

I also report on some lessons US pharma companies can learn from Japan and note that I am quoted in a BusinessWeek Online article about big pharma's image problem.

For more on this topic, read today's post to Wall Street Journal's favorite pharmaceutical industry blog.