Doctor DelBello studies helped fuel widespread paediatric use of

[scotty]

Doctor DelBello studies helped fuel widespread paediatric use of
antipsychotics...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/04/us/04drug.html

Lawmaker Calls for Registry of Drug Firms Paying Doctors

By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: August 4, 2007
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 — An influential Republican senator says he will
propose legislation requiring drug makers to disclose the payments
they make to doctors for services like consulting, lectures and
attendance at seminars.

The lawmaker, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on
the Senate Finance Committee, cited as an example the case of a
prominent child psychiatrist, who he said made $180,000 over just two
years from the maker of an antipsychotic drug now widely prescribed
for children.

Mr. Grassley is one of several lawmakers to propose a federal
registry of such payments. Minnesota, Vermont and Maine already have
similar registries, and other states are considering them.

The proposals are a response to growing concerns that payments from
drug makers can affect doctors' prescribing habits, increase the cost
of health care and, in some cases, endanger patients' health.

The drug industry opposes such registries, saying they would
discourage doctors from receiving needed education. John Bentivoglio,
a lawyer in Washington who represents drug makers, said the
registries would be a burden for the companies and might be
misinterpreted.

"One of the concerns is that these payments are seen as bribes," Mr.
Bentivoglio said. "That's not the case. The vast majority are lawful
payments for services."

In a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Mr. Grassley said he had
started an investigation into these practices. Noting that most
universities require academic researchers to disclose such payments,
he said, "I have sent letters to a handful of universities to
understand how well such a reporting system actually works."

These letters have uncovered several problems, Mr. Grassley said.
First, universities do not verify the information filed by their
professors, so "the only person who knows if the reported income is
accurate and complete is the doctor who is receiving the money."

Also, the universities generally keep this information secret from
patients, who have no way of knowing whether their doctor is on a
drug maker's payroll, he said.

"So if there is a doctor getting thousands of dollars from a drug
company — payments that might be affecting his or her objectivity —
the only people outside the pharmaceutical industry who will probably
ever know about this are the people at that very university," he said.

Mr. Grassley said that he had asked how much the child psychiatrist,
Dr. Melissa DelBello at the University of Cincinnati, made from
AstraZeneca, the London-based drug giant that manufactures the
antipsychotic Seroquel.

Dr. DelBello's studies of Seroquel in children have helped to fuel
the widespread pediatric use of antipsychotic medicines. Those
studies were inconclusive, but she has described them as
demonstrating that Seroquel is effective in some children.

Asked in a past newspaper interview how much she was paid by
AstraZeneca to help market Seroquel, she had said, "Trust me, I don't
make very much." Mr. Grassley said this week that her disclosure
forms at the University of Cincinnati show she received $100,000 from
AstraZeneca in 2003 and $80,000 in 2004. Dr. DelBello consults for
seven other drug makers as well. She did not respond to requests for
comment this week.

Richard Puff, a university spokesman, said he did not know how much
Dr. DelBello made in combined payments from all eight drug makers.
Asked if the institution did anything to verify its professors'
financial disclosures, he replied, "We do trust our faculty when
they're making these disclosures."

Mr. Grassley said he would propose that drug makers make public any
payments made to doctors who bill the federal Medicare and Medicaid
programs, which would include nearly all doctors.

Noting that voters can easily look up the contributions made to
elected officials, he asked, "Shouldn't we hold doctors to similar
standards?"