Texas Kids' Mental Health Research Funded By Pharma Companies

The Dallas Morning News continues to unearth new gems in its continuing coverage of how messy the conflicts have gotten between pharma companies and psychiatric researchers. This time out the paper reports that researchers behind the controversial Children's Medication Algorithm Project actively sought and received funding directly from pharma companies after first deciding that seeking the money would be an ethical breach.

"By June 1999, researchers needed more grant money and had changed their minds. CMAP's director, M. Lynn Crismon, head of the University of Texas College of Pharmacy, wrote to at least 10 drug companies, asking for donations.

"'Although we have received grant funding in support of this effort,' he wrote, 'these amounts fall short of the funds required to complete this important outcomes project.'

"By late that year, CMAP budgets included pledges for $10,000 a year from Wyeth and Pfizer, an $80,000 one-time grant from Forest Laboratories, and $70,000 from Eli Lilly. While a few of the line items seem to limit the grant to CMAP's "patient and family education" program, others are listed as unrestricted CMAP "research gifts."

"When, in 2006, questions surfaced about drug company connections to the adult drug plan, however, CMAP researchers were again cautious about drug company money. And as recently as this spring, Dr. Crismon assured top state health officials there was no pharmaceutical link to CMAP, saying that any drug company money was used for a patient and family education study unrelated to CMAP.

"'No pharma funding has ever been received for CMAP to the best of my knowledge,' he wrote. The Eli Lilly and Forest money 'was not for CMAP.'

Eli Lilly officials, however, confirmed that the company donated $70,000 to the state for a CMAP education program."

What amuses me is that CMAP--the kid brother of TMAP--was supposed to be the very best, evidenced-based science that would guide clinicians in how to appropriately and consistently treat mental disorders and now TMAP and Johnson & Johnson are embroiled in a lawsuit brought by the State of Texas, and the guidelines have been so seriously compromised--and produced crappy results--that it's like these researchers threw away 10 years of their lives.

I guess they got paid well for their efforts.