charges, counter charges,innuendos and more re: Vioxx,NEJM,Merck,Cleveland Clinic

Almost everyone involved in the Vioxx matter is either accusing someone of something and/or is being accused of something.The editors of NEJM are accusing Merck of not being forthcoming with the VIGOR study heart attack data.Merck counters with the statement that they did not supply NEJM with the "extra" heart attacks because they occurred after the cutoff date for data accumulation and that they did report the deaths to the FDA. Eric Topol is outspoken in his criticism of both Merck and the FDA. Topol has been accused of conflict of interest because he was advisor to a hedge fund which is said to have sold Merck short. Topol has been relieved of his position at the Cleveland Clinic Lerman school of Medicine where he had been provost and chief academic officer. Topol has charged that this action resulted from his role in criticism of Merck both in and out the court proceedings. The clinic counters that the job loss was the result of administrative reorganization and was not related to Topol's role in the Vioxx matter.The CEO of the clinic, Dr. Toby Cosgrove, who demoted Topol had been accused of conflict of interest in several other matters as outlined in interesting detail by hcrenewal .Some medical bloggers question the motives and the significance of the NEJM editors publishing their e-editorial describing the missing 3 heart attacks while the third Vioxx trial was still underway in federal court in Houston.
And if all of that is not enough, McDonalds has accused both Topol and Cosgrove of opportunism and demogogery in working to remove McDonalds from the Cleveland Clinic.This,of course is note related to the Vioxx and the Topol demotion issue, but makes me think how easy it is to make accusations and how hard and often expensive it is to prove them. What is even harder is to try and sort it all out from newpaper stories and boggers comments and revelations. My bias and my sympathy lies with Dr.Topol and not with Merck . As to Topol v.Cleveland Clinic administration, I do not know how to begin to sort all of that out. It could be as simple as a power struggle between two very accomplished physicians or one act in a morality play in which big interests and big conflicts of interests are on the stage.