Pharma Corruption: Greed Kills the Golden Goose

March 5, 2009: Globe and Mail columnist claims there is no Big Pharma conspiracy and that medicine is basically good

Nothing to see here, move along...



March 28, 2009:
Harvard shrinks issued subpoenas












Philip Dawdy of http://www.furiousseasons.com sums it up nicely:
"Controversial Harvard child psychiatrist Joseph Biederman and his colleagues Tim Wilens and Thomas Spencer were named in a federal subpoena yesterday. The trio have all pulled in millions from pharma companies while also doing federally-funded research, a potentially illegal conflict of interest which was allegedly improperly reported. They are all being investigated by their university and NIH.
The subpoena, issued by the US Attorney for Eastern Massachusetts, was served on Fletch Trammel, an attorney representing various states attorneys general and other plaintiffs in cases against pharma companies over pushing antipsychotics for use in children and adults. Apparently, the feds want whatever documents and depositions Trammel has gathered on the three."

Nothing to see, yet, but we hear the crash of distant cash registers, and expect fireworks and a feast of roast goose soon.

Harvard doc pushes Ritalin, reaps $1.6M

Harvard Psychiatrist Didn’t Report Pharma Income

A Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of antipsychotics in children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drugmakers from 2000 to 2007 but for years did not report much of the income to university officials, according to information given Congressional investigators, The New York Times reports.
By failing to report income, the psychiatrist, Joseph Biederman, and a colleague in the psychiatry department at Harvard Medical School, Timothy Wilens, may have violated federal and university research rules governing conflicts of interest, US Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican tells the Times, since some of their research is financed by government grants.

Wow!

Follow the money!
Visit Dr. Biederman here

Ironically, pro-force psych profiteer E. Fuller Torrey comments here:
“The price we pay for these kinds of revelations is credibility, and we just can’t afford to lose any more of that in this field,” said Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute, which finances psychiatric studies. “In the area of child psychiatry in particular, we know much less than we should, and we desperately need research that is not influenced by industry money.” (NYT)


Brains... they need brains...
Instances of deliberate breach of policy, including failure to file or knowingly filing an incomplete, erroneous, or misleading disclosure form, violations of the guidelines or failure to comply with prescribed monitoring procedures, will be adjudicated in accordance with applicable disciplinary policies and procedures of the Faculty of Medicine and of the affiliated hospitals. Possible sanctions will include the following:
1. Formal admonition;
2. The inclusion in the Faculty Member's file of a letter from the Office of the Dean indicating that the individual's good standing as a member of the Faculty has been called into question;
3. Ineligibility of the Faculty Member for grant applications, Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, or supervision of graduate students;
4. Non-renewal of appointment;
5. Dismissal from the Faculty of Medicine.
http://www.hms.harvard.edu/integrity/conf.html