John Lechleiter will soon succeed Sid Taurel at the helm of the big drugmaker. A scientist by training, Lechleiter is wasting little time setting a tone. Although he doesn’t take credit for firing back at The New York Times last week, he clearly revels in the openness he believes was achieved by refuting a story about failing to disclose Prozac clinical trials, which was later corrected.

Today, Lechleiter tells The WSJ Health blog that Lilly and pharma get a bad rap, and so he’s fighting back. “We can talk and talk and talk but we’ve got to walk the talk,” Lechleiter says. “We’ve been forthright. When we’re willing to come back and set the record straight, we’re showing through actions that this is not the stereotype people have of this industry….we’re not hiding secrets in the closet.”

If so, John, then why not release all Zyprexa data that was the subject of so much controversy last year in federal court, where some documents about hidden or undisclosed side effects were leaked but remain under seal? And why wasn’t there a press release issued last week when another 900 Zyprexa personal-injury claims were settled for an undisclosed amount? The deal, by the way, meant Lilly has settled more than 25,000 claims, leaving about 1,100 unsettled.

He also refers to the trumpeted policy of registering all clinical trials for marketed products since December 2004. But Phase IV trials completed before July 1, 2004 aren’t posted. Why that date? That’s when Lilly implemented its policy, after which the drugmaker “discloses publicly all medical research results that are significant to patients, health care providers or payers - whether favorable or unfavorable to a Lilly product.”

But Phase IV trials are conducted to look at side effects and safety; long-term risks and benefits, and how well the drug works when used in a real-world population beyond a clinical setting (and let’s not forget marketing claims). In other words, new info and fresh insights can be learned. For reasons that aren’t clear, Lilly has chosen to use a specific cut-off date and, as a result, patients, health care providers and payers are denied an opportunity to know as much as possible about its meds.

John, if Lilly isn’t hiding anything, perhaps when you officially become ceo, you’ll start releasing more info that your customers want to see.

Hat tip to the WSJ Health blog