A dispenser of health-related advice has been uncovered as yet another shameless shill for the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Frederick K. Goodwin, a psychiatrist and radio host, made at least $1.3-million while in the pay of Big Drugs at the same time he was hosting an influential radio show that often touched on subjects important to the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical companies that paid him this undisclosed salary. A good example of his subservience to the drug companies occurred during a program that aired a few years ago.

Discussing bi-polar disorder he warned that children who were not hooked up to psychotropic drugs risked brain damage, a view that is considered extreme and unproven. That same day GlaxoSmithKline paid Dr. Goodwin $2,500 for a lecture touting the company’s mood stabilizing drug, Lamictal at the Ritz Carlton resort in Florida. In all Glaxo forked out $329,000 in one year for promoting Lamictal.

Goodwin is only the latest stooge exposed by the excellent work of Senator Charles Grassley who is making life hot for pharmaceutical executives who generally are immune from flaccid members of Congress who, counting the cash they receive from Big Pharma, know what side their bread is buttered on. In addition to Goodwin, Senator Grassley has uncovered

Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff of Emory University, an influential psychiatric researcher, earned more than $2.8 million in consulting arrangements with drug makers from 2000 to 2007, failed to report at least $1.2 million of that income to his university and violated federal research rules.

Dr. Joseph Biederman of Harvard, whose work has fueled an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children, had earned at least $1.6 million from drugmakers from 2000 to 2007, and failed to report most of this income to Harvard.

As a method to halt the brazen conflict of interest demonstrated by so-called experts who are growing rich toiling clandestinely for Big Drugs, Senator Grassley is proposing legislation that will require the pharmaceutical companies to disclose all payments of $500 or more to doctors and researchers. Care to guess the outcome of this pending legislation in an era when pharmaceutical buys not only "experts" but politicians and even entire countries? Still, Grassley’s efforts are a good start at clearing out the cesspool of drug-company influence buying.

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