Some time between 07/09/2010 and 07/20/2010, the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami updated their COI web database:
| Dr. Charles Nemeroff: COI Disclosures, University of Miami website Reporting Period: UM FY2010 (6/1/09 – 5/31/10) |
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| Entity | Activity | Compensation | GPPA |
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| Aclimed | Other | $1,000 or less | |
| American Institute of Biological Sciences | Grant Review | $1,000 or less | |
| American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education | Teaching | $1,000 or less | |
| American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. | Royalties | $10,001 – $25,000 | |
| Authors Registry | Royalties | $1,000 or less | |
| BioStrategies | Other | $1,000 or less | |
| CeNeRx BioPharma | Advisory Board | $5,001 – $10,000 | × |
| Commerce Analyst | Other | $1,000 or less | |
| Ellsevier | Royalties | $1,000 or less | |
| Florida Psychiatric Society | Lecture | $1,000 or less | |
| Harvard University | Lecture | $1,001 – $5,000 | |
| John Wiley & Sons | Royalties | $1,000 or less | |
| MedSurvey | Other | $1,000 or less | |
| Mount Cook Pharma | Board of Directors | $0 | × |
| NovaDel Pharma, Inc. | Board of Directors | $10,001 – $25,000 | × |
| Ohio State University | Lecture | $1,001 – $5,000 | |
| Orlando Health/Third International Brain Conference | Lecture | $1,000 or less | |
| PharmaNeuroBoost | Advisory Board | $1,001 – $5,000 | × |
| ReVaax Pharmaceuticals | Other | $0 | × |
| Schochor, Federico and Staton, P.A. | Expert Witness | $1,001 – $5,000 | |
| Springer | Royalties | $1,000 or less | |
| Tufts University | Lecture | $1,001 – $5,000 | |
| University of British Columbia, Vancouver | Lecture | $1,001 – $5,000 | |
| University of Illinois | Lecture | $1,001 – $5,000 | |
And today [08/03/2010], the GPPA finally published the syllabus for their Summer CME Meeting [which starts day after tomorrow – 08/05/2010]:
[Note that they are for slightly different periods – Miami (06/01/2009 – 05/31/2010) and GPPA (‘last 12 months’)]. The differences between the two lists are highlighted in red. Corcept [a cortisol blocker], BioStrategies [a marketing consultant company], and Commerce Analyst [marketing research and analysis] are probably not relevant to conflicts of interest for the GPPA CME Presentations. On the other hand, AstraZeneca [Seroquel] is a potential conflict of interest. One of Dr. Nemeroff’s topics is treatment of bipolar depression:
The use of atypical antipsychotics in resistant depression is a controversial, but highly lucrative business. Will he mention Seroquel prominantly in his discussion? [see below: Nemeroff, Seroquel, and ACCME].
That’s for the attendees to keep in mind. This is Nemeroff’s signature C.M.E. M.O. Likewise, there is no mention of Corporate sponsership of the GPPA Meeting itself. So why is AstrZenica not mentioned on the Miami COI site? Will he "push" a medication at the C.M.E. presentation made by a company that pays him? Is Dr. Nemeroff up to his old tricks? I’m not personally going to be there, but I hope someone takes a look…
Roy Poses has discussed the atypical antipsychotic drug Seroquel (quetiapine) several times on this site, pointing out manipulation of clinical research results to enhance the appearance of efficacy, and suppression of studies with unfavorable results. I call this augmenting the marketed profile of the drug. Daniel Carlat has commented on published Seroquel data here and ClinPsych here.
The key opinion leader engaged by CME Outfitters to discuss Seroquel and other atypical antipsychotic drugs was Charles Nemeroff of Emory University. He was joined by 2 KOLs-in-training, whom I will not name. The corporate sponsor that paid CME Outfitters and, indirectly, these presenters was AstraZeneca. I do not need to rehearse here the ethical issues that have surrounded Dr. Nemeroff for the past several years. Suffice it to say that, as a result of those issues, Dr. Nemeroff is no longer chair of the department of psychiatry at Emory University, he is no longer editor-in-chief of the ACNP journal Neuropsychopharmacology, he was removed from involvement with ongoing federally funded research grants at Emory University, and he was put on a short leash by the Emory administration.
Following these findings by ACCME, the provider was notified of the violations in early September 2009, and the program was removed from the provider’s website. The sanitized statement of violations determined by ACCME does not capture the nuances of deceit, ineptitude, and deficient educational content in Dr. Nemeroff’s program. One remarkable example was Dr. Nemeroff’s citation of data, from one of his own publications, that were previously retracted. Did he think no one would notice?
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The good news is that ACCME seems to have got the message that things need to change. As one of their officers wrote to me recently, “We sincerely appreciate the time and effort you have put into participating in our complaints and inquiries process. You have raised important issues that the ACCME will review and address.” I await their next communications on the remaining questions.
As for Dr. Nemeroff, he is yesterday’s news. The adverse findings by ACCME about his program serve as a reminder to corporate sponsors and CME companies that Dr. Nemeroff is so compromised by now that he has lost effectiveness as a front man for Pharma. Indeed, he is so toxic that he now glows in the dark.
“So why is AstrZenica not mentioned on the Miami COI site?”
After all that has been published on Nemeroff ‘s activities, liaisons etc, the evident answer to your question is that Charles Nemeroff is telling the world that he has the balls to decide what to report and what not to report on financial interests and that the University of Miami is OK with it. Defiance is his signature as well as the signature of the powerful Dean who hired him.
Mickey — let’s print up some flyers of these posts and go pass them out at the GPPA meeting where Charlie is speaking.