Consulting or Advertising?

Johnson & Johnson’s company appeared all over the news with its latest scandal of
Johnson & Johnson consulted its director of the Johnson & Johnson Center for Pediatric Psychopathology Research of Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Joseph Biederman
According to Republican Senator of Iowa, Charles Grassley, Dr. Biederman reported only a small portion of the $1.6 million earned through consulting for drug companies to officials (NYT)
It is suggested that Johnson & Johnson’s had used its relationship with Dr. Biederman, a Harvard child psychiatrist who has established a well-known position in trials treating bipolar disease with risperidone, as a way of advertising its products. While on the other hand, Dr Biederman was accused with conflicts of interest while deciding to use preschool children in trials testing Johnson & Johnson’s antipsychotic drug. As a director, he believed such “studies of its medicines in children would yield results benefiting the company” (NYT). However, Josephine Johnston, a research scholar from a bioethics research institute was skeptical about whether or not the trials proposed by Dr. Biederman would indeed benefit Johnson & Johnson’s.

This case involving Dr. Biederman and Johnson & Johnson’s depicts the ethical issues revolving around conflict of interest as well as conducting trials with drugs on children. Since this type of marketing strategy, using individuals with credible status, is ubiquitous today, it is even more important that accurate consulting free from conflict of interest is ensured for the public’s welfare.

Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/us/20psych.html?_r=1&ref=health