The allegations against Wyeth for using paid ghost writers are under investigation. It was alleged that the medicine company had paid ghostwriters to write favorable articles for its hormone replacement medications. Publisher Elsevier is investigating the allegations.

The Editor's Choice article published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology by Elsevier discussed the Women's Health Initiative, a major study that was abandoned after researchers detected a higher risk for breast cancer among women taking Wyeth's hormone-replacement therapy Prempro.

"Although recent results from the continuous combined therapy arm of the Women's Health Initiative trial showed a small increase in the risk of invasive breast cancer in women on therapy for 5 years or more, a clear consensus regarding the relationship between [hormone replacement therapy] and breast cancer risk cannot yet be drawn from existing data," says the article's abstract.

The article's author was listed as John Eden of the University of New South Wales, but Grassley (R., Iowa) indicates that Wyeth hired a company called DesignWrite to work on the piece behind the scenes.

Elsevier, which also the publisher the well-regarded medical journal Lancet, said that Grassley's charges "are a significant concern" and added, "as with any charge of misconduct or inappropriate publishing acts, The Journal has launched its own investigation into the claims of ghostwriting and undisclosed financial support."