I am a professor of psychiatry at Emory. Yes, Charlie Nemeroff can be intense; but I have seen worse. Most of the bloggers writing about him have never read his papers or have any real idea of what he has done. Admit it guys...
Mind you, I am not here to justify Dr. Nemeroff's bad behavior. To not disclose the payment of more than $10,000 a year from a drug company that makes a drug you are also studying with an NIH funded grant is clearly a violation of NIH policy (although not a violation of the law).
However, if the children want to throw rocks, they should be informed about the subject.
I have some questions for Senator Grassley.
First off, why are you only investigating psychiatrists? [Answer: psychiatrists have an approval rating in medicine that is only above chiropractors. Many people blame paxil for their problems. It is low hanging fruit]
Second, why don't you look at other specialties? Take a look at cafepharma.com, where the drug reps are gossiping in relation to the Nemeroff dispute that "key opinion leaders" for advair are at the front of the gravy train. [Answer: cardiologists make life saving drugs, while psychiatrists are pseudoscientists who are trying to invent a myth about serotonin imbalance so they can help sell drugs for their cronies, the drug companies.] [Answer to answer: Not true. You have to treat 100 heart disease patients with Lipitor to prevent one heart attack, while you treat only 8-17 depressed patients with an antidepressant to prevent a recurrence. And if you don't believe that depression is as bad as a heart attack, ask someone who has been there.]
Ask anyone who works in a university hospital. If their docs have any talent, they are never there. It is because they are always away giving talks for pharma. And pretty much all of it is undisclosed. Not to try and justify it, but lets get real.
Finally, I came under full frontal attack for my opinions about accutane and depression that went against pharma and for which they tried to ruin my career, and the ONLY person at Emory to stick up for me was Nemeroff. You can read about it on my web site.
Senator Grassley, if you really want to get to the bottom of the corruption that has permeated academic medicine, do a nation wide audit. Of ALL specialties. If you don't, you are a hypocrite.
http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com/blog.html
My response, which has been emailed to Doug:
Doug,
Firstly, thank you for leaving your comment. I would be grateful if you would allow this comment through on your blog as I have allowed yours through.
Quite why you would think Sen. Grassley would read this blog though is a mystery to me?
You are asking 'bloggers' to read Nemeroff's papers, do you think his papers are honest opinions or opinions based on money he has received and not declared from Pharma?
You know the guy personally and I see he stood by your side when you were getting a rough deal from Pharma regarding your work on accutane and depression. It's a pity he didn't give the same support to David Healy don't you think?
Way I see it is Grassley is merely making a start. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Finally, to label people who speak out against Nemeroff as 'children throwing rocks' is rather churlish. We are merely advocates fighting back because many of us were harmed by the very same drugs that Nemeroff has been paid to support. That would be our 'conflict of interest', if you will.
Could you do me a favour and pass on this message to your friend, Nemeroff:
Dear Blingboy,
How does it feel to have your world turned upside down?
You have received huge amounts of money from drug companies and given opinions on their drugs whilst being paid to give those opinions.
You have intimidated people who have dared to speak out against SSRi's [in particular Paxil]
You now have what you crave [media attention] albeit for the wrong reasons.
You may wish to try a course of antidepressants should this heat get too much for you. Only you will know when you are ready to taper off them. You can ask GlaxoSmithKline for a tapering program if you wish? I wouldn't bother though seeing as they don't have one!
Maybe the hordes of cash you have accumulated over the years will help you through this 'sticky period'. Some of us are less fortunate than you. You see because you bigged up the drugs we have struggled with, it is very hard for doctors to believe what we [the patients] are telling them.
You have no morals and you have caused misery to thousands, if not millions of people, worldwide.
In a wonderful play on words Blingboy, What does it feel like to have a taste of your own medicine?
I sincerely hope you go down for this. Hey, you and Keller can share a cell. How quaint.
Regards
Bob Fiddaman
[A Victim of your bullshit]
Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal
By Bob Fiddaman
ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE
PAPERBACK COMING SOON
6 comments: