Posted by Nadezda on October 5, 2008, at 0:40:07
In reply to Re: Nemeroff Failed to Report PharmCos' Compensat » Larry Hoover, posted by azalea on October 4, 2008, at 22:57:25
I fail to see how the NY Times sensationalized the story.
In July 2004, for example, Dr. Nemeroff wrote a letter assuring Emory University (where he teaches) that he had earned --and would earn for the year--less than $10.000 at GSK (the amount that causes action to be taken for potential conflicts of interest). By that time, he had earned $98,000 and he was making $3,000 more that weekend, at a marketing meeting. By the end of the year, he made $170,000 while supervising research for GSK.
I don't see how the NY Times is guilty of sensationalizing anything, as opposed to publicizing a rather disturbing fact: quite a number of leading psychiatrists, whose judgments are responsible for the public's reliance on various drugs, have taken large sums from drug companies, while assuring their universities (who are supposed to monitor this) that they are earning less than the $10,000 cap.
First of all, how you can trust people who are paid substantial amounts by the companies? And second, how can you trust people who go so far as to violate conflict of interest rules and then lie directly in disclosure forms, and lie again, when further questioned?
Plus, Nemeroff was involved in another case of questionable ethics in 2006, when he wrote a favorable review of a product in whose company he had a considerable stake, without revealing his involvement.
I'm sorry-- but the problem is with Nemeroff's behavior, not the NY Times.
Maybe his research is excellent-- but he's certainly completely undermined its believability--.
Nadezda
poster:Nadezda
thread:855794
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080926/msgs/855811.html