About 3 years back, Dr. Steven E. Nissen, a renowned cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, carried out a groundbreaking study which hinted that the Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline's best selling diabetes drug, significantly raised the risk of heart attacks. That is when sales of the drug and shares of Glaxo declined.

Also, the findings lead to a full-blown Congressional inquiry, highly stringent safety warnings and a high-profile battle between Glaxo and Dr. Nissen. But a mere 11 days before the study was to be published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Nissen and four of the company's Executives got together in a confidential meeting, details of which have still not been discussed.

Dr. Nissen secretly recorded the meeting, an act which is legal in Ohio as long as one party involved in the conversation is aware of the taping. Now that the recording has been made public, many new controversies have emerged.

The 2007 meeting managed to raise many questions about science and ethics, which have now become keenly relevant in the 3 year old debate of the safety of Avandia. A Congressional probe which was released on Saturday revealed that Glaxo had threatened scientists who tried to point out Avandia's risks, and internal memorandums from the Food and Drug Administration show that some Government health officials want Avandia withdrawn.

The drug, however, is still being taken by millions of patients every year, recording sales of $1.19 Billion last year.