Hallowed Halls to...?

A NYT piece by Gardiner Harris tells the upsetting tale of a federal subpoena and three prominent Harvard researchers.

Drs. Joseph Biederman, Thomas Spencer and Timothy Wilens are under Congressional investigation because of their questionable promotion of antipsychotic drugs for children and their highly profitable dealings with drug companies.

“The three researchers have advocated increased use of antipsychotic medicines in children and have accepted lucrative consulting agreements from the drugs’ makers.”

Senator Grassley, who has been looking into conflicts of interest in medicine, learned that all three researchers scrimped when reporting consulting income to Harvard and that Drs. Biederman and Wilens “might have violated federal and university research rules.”

The subpoena, issued by federal prosecutors, was sent to Fletch Trammel, a lawyer who represents a variety of state attorneys general in lawsuits regarding drug makers, fraud and state Medicaid programs.

“Mr. Trammel said he would ‘comply with the subpoena and facilitate the U.S. attorney’s investigation in any way I can.’”

Lawyers for Drs. Biederman, Wilens and Spencer said they were unaware of the subpoena.

– Hat tip to our friend Vera Sharav of Alliance for Human Research Protection.

Click link below for full story by Gardiner Harris.

3 Researchers at Harvard Are Named in Subpoena - NYTimes.com