Big Pharma Problems

Gardiner Harris of the New York Times has reported a couple of important stories over the last few days. Last Friday, it was revealed that one of America’s “most influential psychiatrists” has, over the last seven years, failed to report at least $1.2 million in income earned through consulting arrangements with major drug manufactures. This remarkable ethical breach has come as part of a continued crusade by Senate whistleblower champion Charles Grassley to expose wrongful connections between doctors and pharmaceutical companies:

The Congressional inquiry, led by Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, is systematically asking some of the nation’s leading researchers to provide their conflict-of-interest disclosures, and Mr. Grassley is comparing those documents with records of actual payments from drug companies. The records often conflict, sometimes starkly.

“After questioning about 20 doctors and research institutions, it looks like problems with transparency are everywhere,” Mr. Grassley said. “The current system for tracking financial relationships isn’t working.”

Then today, Harris covered that a new study from a medical journal shows that free drug samples actually result in increased health risks for children.

Important stuff. Good stuff.

-- Dylan Blaylock