Harvard officials to probe psychiatrists’ drug payments

Officials at Mass General and Harvard Medical School have opened an investigation into the financial relationship between three prominent psychiatrists and the drug companies they did key research work for after Senator Charles Grassley accused them of hiding potential conflicts of interest. According to a report in the New York Times, the three had revealed that drug companies had paid them several hundred thousand dollars over a period of seven years. But when pressed, the figure grew to $1 million to $1.6 million for each. The three men involved are Joseph Biederman, Timothy E. Wilens, and Thomas Spencer, and the report notes that the full amount they were paid may be even higher than what the three are now admitting.

The Times' article highlights the prominent role that the three psychiatrists played in promoting an explosion of prescriptions for ADHD drugs. An NIH official says any violation of policy will not be tolerated.

- read the story in the Boston Globe
- check out the report in the New York Times

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