Wednesday, September 24, 2008

In the news recently about kids and medical research on psych meds

As the concerned father of a 'bipolar child' who is now 17- and not doing too well- some recent news disturbs me...
Harvard-
A world-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007 but for years did not report much of this income to university officials, according to information given Congressional investigators [what would happen to ME or you if we didn't report even 2 thousand bucks in income or consulting fees ?!? Something just doesn't seem right here. Spiro Agnew resigned the VP slot under Nixon for much less of an IRS affront- as I recall.]
By failing to report income, the psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman, and a colleague in the psychiatry department at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens, may have violated federal and university research rules designed to police potential conflicts of interest, according to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. Some of their research is financed by government grants.
NY Times

Ohio
The University of Cincinnati will increase scrutiny on a psychiatry professor for not reporting all of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate research money she received from a pharmaceutical giant during the last decade.
Melissa DelBello now has to review all of of her interactions with companies with her department chairman, UC vice president of research Sandra Degen said Friday.
DelBello's teaching and research haven't been restricted, but the fact that she didn't tell the university about some of her outside income has been detailed in her personnel file.
link to news source

Brown University in Rhode Island- [Professor] Keller has gained notoriety for authoring a controversial clinical study of the antidepressant drug paroxetine - marketed as Paxil in the United States - which concluded that the drug was safe and effective in adolescents. Keller and some of the study's co-authors have been accused by doctors, lawyers and journalists of having the 2001 study ghostwritten, earning large sums of money from Paxil's maker, GlaxoSmithKline. In addition, some say the researchers manipulated and suppressed data - including those showing increased suicidal tendencies in children taking the drug.Island
link to news source

Texas
According to [Senator] Grassley's research, Dr. Wagner, who is on the faculty at UTMB in Galveston, was paid more than $160,000 from GlaxoSmithKline between 2000 and 2005, though she reported just $600 to the university. In 2000 and 2001, she worked on a major study on the company's drug Paxil research that has been widely criticized for over-promoting positive findings while downplaying heightened suicidal thoughts and behavior in adolescents.
link to news source

I'm trying to decide how to vote in November

I'm trying to decide how to vote. I'm a lifelong Democrat and working man. Tonight I went to http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/ It seems to me that Barack has toned down his message about reforming the FDA and big Pharma since the primaries. Am I missing something ? Why is my biggest current hero in the fight to get unbiased medical research done on medicating children with psych meds a Republican senator from Iowa ? Because he is really doing something.

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