Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley is leading the fight to end the cozy relationship medical researchers have with giant pharmaceutical companies. Sen. Grassley reported to the inspector general at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services that University of Texas pharmacology researcher Karen Wagner may not have properly disclosed her financial relationship with GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Paxil.
Although she only reported $600 in income from Glaxo, Wagner was actually paid more than $160,000 for work on a major study of Paxil. That study has been widely criticized for over-promoting positive findings while down-playing increased suicidal thoughts and behavior in adolescents.
The National Institutes of Health requires researchers who receive federal grants to keep financial disclosures on file with their universities. Not only did Wagner, who was the director of child and adolescent psychiatry at UT in Galveston, not report her actual income from Glaxo , she also filled out several research proposals during the time she said she had no financial interest in the drug companies involved.
Sen. Grassley has led the investigation into doctor-drug company connections and exposed for national debate the undue influence big drug companies have over medical research. He has filed a bill to force drug companies to report gifts, travel and speaking payments to doctors. We should urge our senators to support this legislation. Medical research should be independent and trustworthy, not paid for by the very company who will financially benefit from it.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
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