More Psychs Tied to Drug Companies

By Miriam Hill
Apr. 4, 2009

Philadelphia Inquirer

AstraZeneca paid Florida child psychiatrist Jorge Armenteros to talk to other doctors about prescribing Seroquel, the company's powerful antipsychotic.

And until yesterday, Armenteros also was listed as the chair and a voting member of a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee with a lot of power over Seroquel, which generated $4.45 billion in sales last year for AstraZeneca, whose U.S. headquarters are in Wilmington.

On Wednesday, the advisory committee is expected to decide whether to expand dramatically the use of Seroquel XR, an extended-release version of the drug, which is used to treat depression and anxiety. But five members - including Armenteros, who did not return a call to his Coral Gables, Fla., office seeking comment - will not be voting.

Why not?

Paul Pennock and Steve Sheller, lawyers who are suing AstraZeneca and other makers of antipsychotics on behalf of patients who say the drugs triggered their diabetes, say it's because they uncovered company documents revealing potential conflicts of interest ...

In documents Pennock obtained as part of the lawsuits, the most serious of the possible conflicts detailed involves Armenteros. In addition to being a paid speaker for AstraZeneca, he proposed research comparing Seroquel to Risperidone, a competing psychotic used to treat aggression in children ...

Armenteros often studied antipsychotics in children, according to a database funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"How can someone sit as chair of an FDA advisory committee crucial to AstraZeneca and Seroquel for five years even though he was an extensively trained speaker for AstraZeneca on Seroquel?" asked Pennock, a lawyer for the New York firm Weitz & Luxenberg.

The revelations come amid intense scrutiny of the FDA and of relationships between researchers and drug companies.

"The industry is infected with greed," said Sheller, who runs the Philadelphia law firm that bears his name. "You can't trust the approvals, you can't trust the studies, and now you can't trust the FDA."

Continued here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090404_Conflicts_for_FDA_committee_set_to_weigh_risks_of_Seroquel.html

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Boston Globe
Firms tied to some MDs who set policy


By Miriam Hill
Apr. 4, 2009

AstraZeneca paid Florida child psychiatrist Jorge Armenteros to talk to other doctors about prescribing Seroquel, the company's powerful antipsychotic.

And until yesterday, Armenteros also was listed as the chair and a voting member of a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee with a lot of power over Seroquel, which generated $4.45 billion in sales last year for AstraZeneca, whose U.S. headquarters are in Wilmington.

On Wednesday, the advisory committee is expected to decide whether to expand dramatically the use of Seroquel XR, an extended-release version of the drug, which is used to treat depression and anxiety. But five members - including Armenteros, who did not return a call to his Coral Gables, Fla., office seeking comment - will not be voting.

Why not?

Paul Pennock and Steve Sheller, lawyers who are suing AstraZeneca and other makers of antipsychotics on behalf of patients who say the drugs triggered their diabetes, say it's because they uncovered company documents revealing potential conflicts of interest ...

In documents Pennock obtained as part of the lawsuits, the most serious of the possible conflicts detailed involves Armenteros. In addition to being a paid speaker for AstraZeneca, he proposed research comparing Seroquel to Risperidone, a competing psychotic used to treat aggression in children ...

Armenteros often studied antipsychotics in children, according to a database funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"How can someone sit as chair of an FDA advisory committee crucial to AstraZeneca and Seroquel for five years even though he was an extensively trained speaker for AstraZeneca on Seroquel?" asked Pennock, a lawyer for the New York firm Weitz & Luxenberg.

The revelations come amid intense scrutiny of the FDA and of relationships between researchers and drug companies.

"The industry is infected with greed," said Sheller, who runs the Philadelphia law firm that bears his name. "You can't trust the approvals, you can't trust the studies, and now you can't trust the FDA."

Continued here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04/02/firms_tied_to_some_mds_who_set_policy/?page=2

Thank you Psych_News@psychsearch.net for this information.

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