The drug giant AstraZeneca was reprimanded by the federal government after federal health officials and an independent oversight board say data presented by the company for its vaccine had “misleading information.” The New York Times calls it an an extraordinary blow to the credibility of a company whose product has been seen as critical to the global fight against the pandemic. The Times also writes:
In a two-page letter to AstraZeneca and federal authorities on Monday, an independent panel of medical experts that was helping oversee the vaccine’s clinical trial in the United States said the company had essentially cherry-picked data that was “most favorable for the study as opposed to the most recent and most complete.”
Hours earlier, the company had issued a press released noting the vaccine’s effectiveness. The oversight panel had harsh words for AstraZeneca.
“Decisions like this are what erode public trust in the scientific process.”
Independent review board
Astra Zeneca said its analysis showed the vaccine was 79% effective. But was the data used to reach that conclusion current?
But members of the independent monitoring board were surprised by the company’s announcement. “They got concerned and wrote a rather harsh note to them and with a copy to me, saying that in fact they felt that the data that was in the press release were somewhat outdated and might in fact be misleading a bit and wanted them to straighten it out,” said Dr. Fauci, who runs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”