conflicts of interest
For a medical researcher, the failure to report income from drug companies is a serious ethical lapse.
No one knows how Harvard’s pending ethics review will turn out for Drs. Joseph Biederman, Thomas Spencer, and Timothy Wilens. They are the three psychiatrists spotlighted for possible conflicts of interest by Senator Chuck Grassley, of Iowa. According to the Congressional Record, Grassley had asked Harvard and the Massachusetts General Hospital for the doctors’ financial disclosure statements. On paper, it appeared that the researchers had received “a couple hundred thousand dollars” from the pharmaceutical industry. Then Harvard asked the doctors to review their records. After a second look, Grassley reports, “Dr. Biederman suddenly admitted to over $1.6 million dollars from the drug companies. And Dr. Spencer also admitted to over $1 million. Meanwhile, Dr. Wilens also reported over $1.6 million in payments from the drug companies.” …
According to the Boston Globe, the doctors have denied violating conflict of interest rules. It is not hard to imagine differences of interpretation about categories of income, research expenses versus personal consulting fees. But if even a few of the charges were to stand, they would constitute a serious breach of trust between the doctors and their government, their research subjects, their universities, their colleagues, and the public.
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5 months ago