Healthy Skepticism Library item: 14496

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Publication type: news

White G, Schneider C.
Depression expert at Emory pulls out of research projects
ajc.com 2008 Oct 14
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2008/10/14/nemeroff_emory_funds.html

Abstract:

NIH freezes grant money; Emory to begin monitoring potential conflicts of interest

Full text:

Emory psychiatry professor Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff is stepping down from university research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, as the federal agency cracks down on the school’s handling of potential conflicts of interest, university officials said.

The NIH has frozen funds for a $9.3 million project on depression led by Nemeroff, acknowledged Ron Sauder, a university vice president. The project had been under way for two of its proposed five years.

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The NIH also has instituted tighter rules on approving grants for Emory. The new rules demand more thorough checks and documentation on researchers’ outside activities and potential conflicts of interest.

Nemeroff’s critics say he has collected millions of dollars in speaking and consulting fees from drug companies whose products he’s reviewed and promoted. They even say his science has been compromised, though defenders dispute that.

Overall, the NIH has awarded Emory more than $251 million in funding this year – 61 percent of its total research funds from outside sponsors.

The $9.3 million project led by Nemeroff enabled Emory’s Centers for Intervention Development and Applied Research to study factors that lead to success in some common treatments for depression.

Nemeroff, an internationally known expert on depression, has been a prime target of a U.S. Senate Finance Committee investigation into whether drug company money paid to doctors and academics compromises medical research and scholarship.

Sauder said on Tuesday he didn’t know how many grant projects Nemeroff was leading. Nemeroff, who is still teaching and seeing patients, has declined requests for interviews.

All Emory researchers this week began preparing records on their outside financial interests in response to the new NIH conditions, which were outlined in a memo dated Oct. 10. The memo was furnished by the university to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

On Tuesday, Emory officials announced the creation of an office to oversee and enforce conflict-of-interest policies across the university.

“We understand the need for integrity in research,” said a joint statement from Earl Lewis, executive vice president for academic affairs, and Dr. Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, recently released documents indicating that Nemeroff earned millions of dollars in fees from drug companies, but reported little of that money to Emory. That may constitute a violation of federal and university reporting requirements.

As Emory conducts its own probe of Nemeroff’s outside activities, he has temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the university’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He has said that he believes he followed Emory rules for such disclosures.

Under Nemeroff’s leadership, Emory’s psychiatry department pulled in more than $22 million in NIH grants just last year.

NIH officials declined to comment Tuesday beyond their statement earlier this month, which said: “Failure to follow NIH standards on conflict of interest is very serious and NIH will take all appropriate action to ensure compliance.”

Emory has not been informed that it must return any NIH money, Emory’s Sauder said.

The NIH began withholding funding on the $9.3 million grant in mid-August “pending resolution of outstanding issues relating to conflict of interest procedures,” Sauder said.

No new funds will be forthcoming on that grant until the NIH is satisfied that all proper procedures have been followed, he said. In the future, the NIH will not approve grants to Emory until the school provides full disclosure regarding potential conflicts of interest of all researchers on the project.