In November, the New England Journal of Medicine [3] pulled an opinion column by Dr. Robert Steinbrook that was critical of ties between the National Kidney Foundation [4] and drug companies. The column was to accompany the publication of two [5] studies cautioning [6] that the use of the drug erythropoietin (EPO), as recommended by the foundation, appeared to increase the risk of heart failure and kidney problems. Instead, the journal published a softer editorial by Julie Ingelfinger, a deputy editor at the journal, but without disclosing that she has close ties to the foundation. Steinbrook's article [7] was published in The Lancet. He noted that of the 18 members of the foundation's group that formulated the EPO guidelines, two-thirds had financial ties to the drug's manufacturers or marketers. In 2005 the foundation, David Armstrong writes in the Wall Street Journal, "received $4.1 million from Amgen Inc. and $3.6 million from Johnson & Johnson [8]'s Ortho Biotech, the current marketers of EPO in the U.S."