Chuck Grassley is nothing if not media savvy. The senator from Iowa, who is the ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and has launched numerous investigations into pharmaceutical marketing and ties between industry and science, is keeping close tabs on press coverage of his efforts.
His staff recently circulated a nine-page list of some of the 70 stories about his various investigations – notably, a string of probes into conflicts of interest involving high-profile academics who simultaneously receive funding from drug makers and the National Institutes of Health. The recitation doesn’t include numerous editorials or mention in the “Boston Legal” television show (see this blog about the episode).
Along with the list is a string of actions taken in response:
- An Emory University professor stripped of chairmanship:
- The head of extramural research at NIH removed;
- A Stanford University professor pulled off an NIH grant;
- An ongoing internal investigation of professors at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital;
- Cancellation of a show that ran on an NPR satellite station;
- New policies on disclosure and physician relationships with industry being enacted at the University of Minnesota; Harvard University; Emory University; the University of Texas; Brown University; the Cleveland Clinic; the University of Wisconsin; the University of Iowa; the North American Spine Society and the American Psychiatric Association.
Not surprisingly, Grassley promises more will follow.
