Emory’s Nervous Nemeroff Reacts To A Probe
11 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // October 3rd, 2008 // 11:55 am
Why was Charles Nemeroff, the well-known psychiatry department chair at Emory University, anxious about an e-mail from The New York Times in August? Could it be that word had leaked Emory was concerned about an ongoing probe by the Senate Finance Committee into disclosures of NIH and pharma funding to academic researchers? Was Nemeroff next?
By then, the committee was investigating Stanford University’s Alan Schatzberg, Harvard University’s Joe Biederman, Brown University’s Martin Keller, University of Texas’ Karen Wagner and John Rush, and Melissa DelBello at the University of Cincinnati. Yesterday, we noted Nemeroff wrote an angry memo to the associate dean at Emory’s School of Medicine, who questioned pharma ties to an annual event he runs for psychiatry residents (back story).
On August 20, as the string of e-mails below indicates, he quickly dashes off a note to Emory’s psychiatry faculty that urges them to direct all media inquiries to Jeff Molter, the university vp for communications. And Claudia Adkison, the executive associate dean at the School of Medicine, sends a similar note just moments later.
Why were they so anxious? The Senate committee is, in fact, investigating Nemeroff, congressional sources tell us, over his alleged failure to tell Emory about $500,000 in payments from Glaxo while he was also the primary investigator for an NIH study of the Paxil antidepressant. We asked Emory’s Molter whether the university has been contacted by the committee about Nemeroff, but he has yet to return our call. Meanwhile, here are the e-mails…
From: Gardiner Harris [mailto:XXXXX@nytimes.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:00 PM
To: XXXXX.XXXX@emory.edu
Subject: Report on Dr. Charles Nemeroff’s consulting
Dr. Nemeroff,
I have heard that the school of medicine undertook an investigation of Dr. Nemeroff’s outside consulting activities, and I was wondering if you had a copy of that and wouldn’t mind sharing it with me.
Thanks,
Gardiner Harris
Science Correspondent
The New York Times
1627 I Street NW
Washington DC 20006
desk: 202-XXXXXXX
cell: 917-XXXXXX
fax: 202-XXXXXXX
———————————————————————————————
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:08:38 -0400
From: “Nemeroff, Charles B”
Reply-To: “Nemeroff, Charles B”
Subject: [PSYCHIATRY-ALLFACULTY]
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX@LISTSERV.CC.EMORY.EDU
August 20, 2008
Dear Departmen t of Psychiatry Faculty and Staff:
From time to time the news media contacts members of our Department
seeking information on various issues.
If you are contacted by the media on the phone or by e-mail, please
first contact the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Media Relations
Office and work with them on all media contacts and/or interactions.
They are here to help us communicate important health information and
provide appropriate responses to the media on behalf of our Department,
the School of Medicine, Emory Healthcare and the Woodruff Health
Sciences Center.
The main number for this office is: 404-XXXXXXX.
You may also contact their associate vice president for communications,
Jeff Molter (XXXXXX@emory.edu! ! ; 404-XXX-XXXX mailto:XXXXX@emory.edu;
404-XXXXXX cell), if you have questions.
Thanks for your attention to this important matter.
Charles B. Nemeroff
Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
————————————————————————————————–
From: “Adkison, Claudia R” < XXXXXX@EMORY.EDU>
Date: August 20, 2008 2:50:30 PM EDT
To: Medicine-Faculty@EMORY.EDU
Subject: Contacts with the media
Reply-To: “Adkison, Claudia R” < XXXXX@EMORY.EDU>
Dear Faculty,
At this week’s meeting of the department chairs, Mr. Jeff Molter spoke with them and the dean’s office about our University and WHSC policy on contacts with the media. From time to time, television reporters, newspaper reporters, and other media representatives ask individual faculty members for information about Emory matters. If this happens to you, we ask that you please not respond until you have contacted Mr. Molter at 404- XXX-XXXX . Mr. Molter is Assoc. VP for Health Sciences Communications. He is a skilled advisor and he also knows whom to contact when other advice and authorization are needed.
Thank you very much for your attention to this. Just FYI, the University policy is copied below. It is also available in the Faculty Handbook at http://www.emory.edu/PROVOST/documents/academicaffairs/facultyhandbbook.pdf , which is a link from the Provost’s web site.
Sincerely,
Claudia Adkison
Ima Misfit
One by one, these doctors that for years have been promoted by the pharmaceutical industry as “leaders in their field” and “key opinion leaders” are being exposed as nothing more than industry pawns; kept in line by the deep pockets of Big Pharma.
Peter JP
Shame, shame, shame!
Mike
What are the true criminal implications and possible punishments? A slap on the wrist? Will this disgraced doctor still be able to practice? Is Glaxo on the hook for any impropriety, as they certainly knew what was going on?
Corporate greed, and the fleecing of America. Our legacy. Sad.
Anon
Nemeroff is known as a very arrogant man at Emory. Flatout lying is something completely different. This will probably end his career.
Sammy Sucra
Why all the negativity?? One of his latest papers has an extensive listing of all sorts of conflicts - all declared for all, including Emory, to see. I would suspect that his “potentially in-conflict income” is far greater than quoted in this story.
He lists the following in a 2008 paper:
“Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD – Research support Investigator Initiated Study for Janssen Pharmaceutica.
In the past three years, Dr. Nemeroff consulted to, served on the Speakers’ Bureau and/or Board of Directors, has been a grant recipient, and/or owned equity in one or more of the following: Abbott Laboratories, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Educations (APIRE). AstraZeneca, BMC-JR LLC, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, CeNeRx, Corcept, Cypress Biosciences, Cyberonics, Eli Lilly, Entrepreneur’s Fund, Forest Laboratories, George West Mental Health Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, i3 DLN, Janssen Pharaceutica, Lundbeck, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), Neuroentics, NIMH, NFMH, NovaDel Pharma, Otsuka, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Quintiles, Reevax, UCB Pharma, Wyeth-Ayerst.
Currently, Dr. Nemeroff serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pharma Neuroboost, Forest Laboratories, Quintiles and NARSAD.
He is a grant recipient from NIH, NARSAD and AFSP. He serves on the Board of Directors of AFSP, APIRE, NovaDel Pharmaceuticals and the George West Mental Health Foundation. He owns equity in CeNeRx and Reevax. He owns stock or stock options in Corcept, Cypress Biosciences and NovaDel.
If Emory play their cards correctly, I see a major donation from Nemeroff and the creation of the Nemeroff Chair of Research Ethics!!!
SS
Anon
The Times article is out as of this afternoon.
The only thing that will probably even put this scumbag behind bars is IRS violations (and with his millions in consulting fees, you can count on some of them being there!).
His crimes against scientific integrity, however, have done far more harm. He claims authorship of some 850 papers - an unambiguous impossibility under any reasonable standards of authorship. His punishment? Chairmanship of a major academic department, unparalleled power in his field - in determining who gets into and stays in the “good-old-boy” federal funding network, who gets hired or not at other institutions, the success or failure of psychiatric medications and devices (yes - pharm companies do fear him). And, oh yeah, millions of personal money from pharm companies.
What are the consequences - if he and those of like ilk are examined in detail, profound distrust of medical research will grow. The value of a scientist’s word will have all of the standing of a mortgage broker or tort attorney. On the other hand, a close look might well lead to a thorough overhaul university and federal policies in terms of clarity and enforcement of both academic/intellectual and fiscal standards.
MJ
He is a disgrace to medicine and academia.
wordvarc
Sales of psychiatric medicines seem to contain half of drug company profits. Yet many do not even exceed a placebo effect. Still, US Psychiatry seems to have attached itself to drug companies.
I recall seminars sponsored by drug companies promoting ‘novel antipsychotics’ where the subjective message seemed to be that everyone gets a little loose in their thinking from time to time and might benefit from their particular brand.
Jay McMahon
I know this guy.
Worst narcissist.
He figures he is above the law and will NEVER get caught.
One for the Good Guys today.
Cosmic Shrink
Greed, narcissistic, lying, unethical. All yes.
Helping us to understand the impact of early childhood trauma on brain development and depression, also yes.
Terryeo
This has gone on for years. Nemeroff, has received significant money, far more than his position as a research consultant allows, for years. We are seeing but the sparkle from the tip of the iceburg. His actions destroy reputations, put question to Pharam’s marketing, and ultimately, stuff bad drugs down the public throat.