Harvard Researchers Subpoenaed Over Alleged Conflicts

The New York Times reports that "Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena seeking information about the work and statements of three prominent Harvard researchers who have been the focus of a Congressional investigation into conflicts of interest in medicine." The researchers, Drs. Joseph Biederman, Thomas Spencer, and Timothy E. Wilens, "have advocated increased use of antipsychotic medicines in children and have accepted lucrative consulting agreements from the drugs' makers." But, according to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who is "investigating conflicts of interest in medicine," the three "researchers had failed to report much of [their] consulting income to Harvard." The subpoena, "issued by the Federal District Court for the Massachusetts District," is "sought by the United States attorney in Massachusetts, Michael J. Sullivan, and by the Health and Human Services Department inspector general, Daniel R. Levinson." Together, Sullivan and Levinson are seeking "all documents produced in litigation relating to the three researchers as well as transcripts of any depositions of them."