Comments on: Grassley To NIH: Watch Those Academic Conflicts

By: BP Man

BP Man — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:01:09 +0000

They should also look at how much Schering-Plough gave Christie B. I believe it would dwarf what Merck gave him. I think he was paid huge amounts of money to run some KOl effort by them.

By: Matthew Holford

Matthew Holford — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:00:35 +0000

“…The NIH asks the university only to certify that any conflict is being “managed, reduced, or eliminated,” not specific disclosure of industry payments…”

Is it fair to say that most people would be influenced by the receipt of a large sum of money? I think most would be well aware that if they didn’t follow the interests of the one making the payment, then there wouldn’t be any great likelihood of further payments. Because of this, we are sensitized to the concept of conflicts of interest.

Personally, professional people or not, I don’t believe these academics are above suspicion. More to the point, there is significant concern, at least amongst the blogging public, that they’re as corrupt as hell, but conveniently get away with it on the ground that we can’t read their minds to establish definitively that they’re pushing shite drugs, just because they’re getting paid to do so (fraud is notoriously difficult to prove, because of the mens rea element).

If we are unhappy that the academic institutions (in this case), are properly managing conflicts (and this very hands-off approach appears to be the one favoured by the NIH), then there seems little choice but to tighten the rules. Disclosure should be mandatory, and not a matter of discretion.

Matt

By: katherine

katherine — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:56:35 +0000

seems to be a free for all out there.

By: FDAer

FDAer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:39:15 +0000

Lilly lets not forget agency OIGs (Inspector Generals). Why aren’t they watching the watchers.

By: Disgusted

Disgusted — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:02:05 +0000

This is just the tip of the iceberg baby! Many KOLs work for multiple companies and end up raking in several hundred thousand a year for doing so. Did a little deeper and ye shall find many more skeletons in the closet!

By: SP Vet

SP Vet — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:49:42 +0000

Bull! Like many other top KOLs, these guys are in high demand, get paid big bucks, and know exactly what they’re doing!

By: Thom

Thom — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:48:55 +0000

I think the fact that Ballantyne lends his name to company press releases proves that he is all about the science.

By: pharmavet

pharmavet — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:42:57 +0000

Ballantyne is a straight shooter. My company used him as a consultant, and he is data-drivem. No more, no less.

By: Condor

Condor — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:01:22 +0000

So universities think they’re allowed to decide which laws they will follow? Astonishing. Or not so.

In any event, I’ve set Senator Grassley’s letter of inquiry — in easy read full text — right here.

Namaste

By: Lilly

Lilly — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:15:48 +0000

all these rules on the books and no one is following them. excellent. The Fed Govt. does very little enforcement. SEC, HHS, NIH and the list goes on