Drugmakers' Dollars, Doctors' Disclosure Disorders

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Doctors Frederick Goodwin and Joseph Biederman are counterattacking in an effort to defend their reputations following disclosures that they took millions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies while promoting the drug companies' products. Biederman, whose industry-funded research contributed to a 40-fold increase in the use of antipsychotic medicines in children, has written a letter to the Boston Globe insisting that he was "transparent" about his funding and that his sole concern has been "the treatment of children and families experiencing great suffering." Goodwin, who talked up psychiatric drugs on his PBS program, has blasted the New York Times and psychiatrist Daniel Carlat for their reports on his failure to disclose $1.3 million in pharma payments. Carlat in turn has replied that Goodwin should "stop blaming everybody else for this mess. ... This entire fiasco could have been averted if you had chosen to inform NPR listeners of your financial conflicts of interests at the beginning of shows focusing on pharmaceuticals."