Last November, Bayer suspended marketing of its troubled med, which is used to control bleeding during heart surgery, after a Canadian study suggested an increased risk for death. Then, we learned the FDA received 235 reports noting death in patients who received Trasylol, although a conclusive link wasn’t established. None of this, however, deterred Bayer from sponsoring a continuing med ed program in December. (Look here).

The point of the CME was to dissect a meeting last September of an FDA advisory committee, which voted to allow Trasylol to remain on the market after pondering data that linked the drug to a higher risk of death, kidney failure, congestive heart failure and stroke. This followed accusations Bayer hid adverse safety data, which were denied. Not surprisingly, the four docs who appear in the 28-minute CME offer reassurances that Trayslol serves a useful purpose while criticizing an earlier study that questioned the drug’s safety.

How would this work to Bayer’s advantage if marketing was suspended? Although Trayslol was no longer being shipped last December, remaining inventories in hospitals can still be used by doctors. By talking up the drug’s usefulness, however, Bayer may create cries for demand, which may eventually help convince regulators to allow the product to become available again, perhaps sooner than later. Clever, yes?

An added note: the four-member CME panel was headed by Bruce Spiess, a professor of anesthesiology at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, who reported that he had no relevant financial relationships to disclose (look here). Yet a few months earlier, he disclosed in a study in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery that he accepted lecture and/or consulting fees, and research grant support from Bayer. Take a look.

Reached by phone, Spiess told us this: “Every place I go, I disclose I’ve been a consultant for Bayer. I’m right up front and say I’ve done research and speaking and consulting. I filled out their paperwork and disclosed that to (Medscape). I will send them and e-mail to say please correct this. Why it didn’t show up on their thing, I don’t know.”

This is the second instance - that we know about - in recent months where a Medscape CME was supported by Bayer and was hosted by a researcher whose ties to the drugmaker were not disclosed. In the other episode, a Duke University professor claimed there was ‘confusion,’ and asked Medscape to fix its site so his ties to Bayer are listed.