1 Boring Old Man

How An Ethically Challenged Researcher Found A Home at the University of Miami
Forbes
by Paul Thacker
09/13/2011

^{According to new emails and other materials shown to me, UM officials had serious concerns about Nemeroff’s history of ethical blunders. However, these emails suggest that Nemeroff’s perceived ability to raise money trumped those concerns. At one point while negotiating with UM for a job, Nemeroff even dangled the possibility of a new funder for the school if he was hired. These emails imply that, despite new federal rules, the public must remain vigilant to ensure that medicine is practiced with the highest regard for ethics and patient safety…}

^{According to previously undisclosed records, Nemeroff visited Pascal Goldschmidt at UM in the summer of 2009 to negotiate a potential job.  They also apparently discussed creating a new center to promote ethics in academia and industry. “I talked about the center to Ken Goodman, co-director of the UM Ethics Programs, the center would sit under the general umbrella of the Ethics Program,” Goldschmidt wrote to Nemeroff.  “Ken is intrigued by the idea and would like to meet with you during your next visit.”}

^{On June 27, 2009, Richard Bookman, UM Vice Provost for Research, emailed Goldschmidt a link to the documents on Nemeroff that the Senate Finance Committee made public. Goldschmidt wrote back, “I have spent a while on it and bunch of newspaper articles. The key question is why did he think it was OK to simply ignore and almost challenge the NIH rules?” But Nemeroff sweetened the deal by letting Goldschmidt know that a potential donor had stepped forward to support the Psychiatry Department if he relocated to UM. In an email to Nemeroff, Dr. Goldschmidt seemed barely able to control himself.  “Superexciting the news about the donor!  Thanks for getting us the info, I am, and I know you are, looking forward to getting beyond these issues….”}

^{In early September, a reporter at the science journal Nature began working on a story about conflicts of interest in medicine and sent Nemeroff several questions about his ethical past.  Dr. Nemeroff forwarded a draft of his response to Goldschmidt. “Please let me know what you think,” Nemeroff wrote. “I leaned heavily on your thoughts, for which I am very grateful.” “The answer is perfect.  I found a typo now corrected.  Cheers, Pascal.”}

^{In the article, which came out on September 16, 2009, Nemeroff was quoted, “I made mistakes in the area of conflict of interest for which I am sorry and remorseful. However the mistakes I made were honest mistakes.” He explained that “my actions were, in my view at the time, in keeping with my understanding of the current Emory policies. I also plan to use my recent experience to help others avoid problems with conflict of interest from the lessons I have so painfully learned.”}

^{Three days after the article was published, Nemeroff emailed Miami with a list of his current and future external obligations.  Under the constraints placed on him by Emory, he was only allowed to ally himself with four companies, and each could only pay him $10,000 annually.  But what was once four, now apparently was five. Novadel Pharma wanted him on their board and was paying $50,000 a year.  “I would estimate time out of the office as 2-4 days per year,” Dr. Nemeroff wrote.}

^{Cenerx was paying $20,000 for Dr. Nemeroff to sit on their Scientific Advisory Board, and AstraZeneca wanted him on their advisory board as well for another $50,000 for two in person meetings. In his email, Dr. Nemeroff wrote, “This was reduced by my request to $10,000 this past year but I would, naturally, like to go back to the original contract.”}

^{Safely ensconced at his new home, in mid-December, Nemeroff emailed his contacts at PharmaNeuroboost, thanking them for meeting with him in Florida.}

^{You will recall that thus far as chair of the SAB, I have received only $10,000 of the promised $40,000 due to the limitations I had during my affiliation with Emory University. You can, however, now go ahead and remunerate me for the remaining $30,000…”}

And so why in the world is Pharma willing to pay Dr. Nemeroff, the most tarnished psychiatrist in America, that kind of money? It sure isn’t to bask in the glow of his celebrity for a couple of days a year. It’s because he knows the ropes and can [and will] get the job done. In 1991, Nemeroff testified to the FDA that Prozac was not associated with suicidal ideas. He masterminded the Paxil launch in 1993, making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. When David Healy started talking about the suicidality from SSRIs, Charlie essentially got him fired from a new position in Canada, keeping Healy off of the North American Continent [we could’ve used David Healy on the North American Continent]. When Paxil [et al] decided to hit the primary care market, Nemeroff and pal Schatzberg signed off on a ghostwritten recipe book for GPs to practice psychiatry [with Paxil]. When they wanted to enter the depression in pregnancy market, his boy at Emory, Zach Stowe, preached Paxil’s safety in pregnancy, with Charlie signing off on the ride. When Cyberonics needed a prophet for their Vagus Nerve Stimulator [VNS], Charlie used his editorship of a major academic journal to publish the grand news with no conflict of interest disclosures [getting a device approved by the FDA for the treatment of depression that is no more effective turned on than it is turned off is a remarkable achievement].

Everybody keeps wondering how Nemeroff gets away with staying in the game. Why, with so much bad press, does he continue to occupy positions of authority and have pharmaceutical companies throwing money at him? still? It’s the same reason that people keep hiring Karl Rove or kept hiring Lee Atwater in the political arena. Nemeroff will get the task accomplished no matter what it takes. It’s neither his celebrity nor his infamy, it’s his success rate.