MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'insel'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:23:53 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158872&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fquis-custodiet-ipsos-custodes-redux.html Revised HHS Rules for Conflict of Interest Fall Short This morning NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins announced revisions to the existing 1995 regulations on objectivity in research that is funded by the Public Health Service. The focus is on significant financial interests (SFI) and on financial conflicts of interest (FCOI). The regulations illustrate the 3-way dance involving academic institutions (the grantees), NIH (the grantor) and academic scientists (the investigators). Thanks to Senator Grassley (R-Iowa) and his investigator Paul Thacker, headlined revelations in recent years about unacceptable management of FCOI at places like Stanford (Alan Schatzberg), Emory (Charles Nemeroff) and Harvard (Joseph Biederman) forced these revisions of the NIH regulations. The general initial react... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158872 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 23:10:00 +0100 5158872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960330&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FeV33sONHAAI%2F Now you see recusal, now you don’t. For the past couple of years, National Institute of Mental Health director Tom Insel has found himself at the center of a furious controversy over conflicts of interest involving academic researchers who simultaneously receive NIH funding and do work for drugmakers. At one point, he was ensnared in a probe by the US Senate Finance Committee. What prompted this attention was a long-standing relationship with Charles Nemeroff, a former Emory University psychiatry department chair who accepted sizeable consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKline at the same time he was the primary investigator on an NIH-funded grant for research into a Glaxo drug. The revelation sparked a probe by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Ne... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960330 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:32:59 +0100 4960330 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4220403&cid=t_175861_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2F_12pqmOmKiU%2Fjdrf-type-1-talk.php On World Diabetes Day, November 14, 2010, I headed out to the local JDRF chapter office. They were hosting a Type 1 Talk meeting, and I wanted to check it out.  I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I'm not sure if that is because I'm chronically behind on blog & news reading, or if JDRF didn't know the best way to promote it and get more people involved.We had a group of about 12-15 people there, and it was good to meet some new people living around here that live with type 1.  I also enjoyed meeting some of the local JDRF office staff.There were some technical difficulties during the first 20 minutes of the broadcast, but they got it all figured out in time to catch most of the session.  One thing I did catch in the first couple minutes, which made it all worthwhi... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4220403 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0100 4220403 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3807381&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fethics-turnaround-sort-of-by-nih.html What a difference a month makes. When I went on vacation in June the Director of NIMH, Thomas Insel, was stonewalling about his relationship with Charles Nemeroff. Insel wanted to put distance between himself and the poster boy for conflict of interest in academic medicine. The heat was on Insel because of revelations that he helped Nemeroff get a new position at Miami after his fall from grace at Emory. Insel also gave a green light for Nemeroff to reapply for NIMH grant funding, and he appointed Nemeroff to new research review committees. These actions were widely seen as efforts to help Nemeroff get back into circulation. It didn’t help that people called attention to past favors and lobbying by Nemeroff on behalf of Insel.Things continued to unravel, and on about June 29 Insel placed... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3807381 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:27:00 +0100 3807381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3737293&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FcDZXteAWacE%2F For the past several weeks, National Institute of Mental Health director Tom Insel has found himself at the center of a furious controversy over conflicts of interest involving academic researchers who simultaneously receive NIH funding and do work for drugmakers. An ongoing probe, meanwhile, by the Senate Finance Committee has made a poster boy of Charles Nemeroff, an old Insel colleague who recently landed a job as the psychiatry chair at the University of Miami med school. Insel was caught up in this affair, because he spoke with the med school dean Pascal Goldschmidt, who asked for a reference before hiring Nemeroff, who was working at Emory University when the Senate committee learned of the large consulting fees he received from GlaxoSmithKline. The query from Goldschmidt was made ju... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3737293 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:14:41 +0100 3737293 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3714130&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Finsel-admits-his-statements-may-be.html Dr Bernard Carroll has posted several times, most recently here, about shenanigans by "key opinion leaders" in psychiatry whose apparently academic writing and speeches have conveyed messages in line with the marketing agendas of drug and device companies, while they downplayed or concealed their financial ties to these companies.  Lately, Dr Carroll noted how the current director of the US National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), Dr Thomas Insel, has defended Dr Charles Nemeroff, whose recent move to the University of Miami let him shed sanctions imposed by Emory University for his failure to disclose conflicts of interest while he was there. Dr Carroll wrote, "For the past three months, Insel has been trying to put some distance between himself and Nemeroff, but the pu... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3714130 Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:20:00 +0100 3714130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3665926&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Finsel-and-nemeroff-what-sanctions.html INSEL and NEMEROFF – WHAT SANCTIONS?Thomas Insel, Director of NIMH, has another posting in his own defense on his official blog today. He has been widely criticized lately for the appearance of cronyism in his relationship with Charles Nemeroff. For the past three months, Insel has been trying to put some distance between himself and Nemeroff, but the public isn’t buying it. I have called his statements disingenuous here and here. Dr. Insel’s statements today are equally disingenuous. Negative reactions are already appearing from those familiar with Nemeroff’s history.There is no argument that Nemeroff was instrumental in Insel’s move to Emory in 1994, that Nemeroff was Insel’s department chairman at Emory, that Nemeroff helped Insel again when Insel’s initial term as directo... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3665926 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:30:00 +0100 3665926 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3662925&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FQAzZBxIUqkY%2F Last month, the National Institues of Health proposed new rules that would require academic researchers who receive agency funding to more thoroughly report financial conflicts of interest and also require universities to do a better job of gathering this info and forwarding it to the NIH (background). One of those leading this effort has been Tom Insel, who heads the National Institute of Mental Health. Lately, though, Insel has been caught up in a bit of a conflicts quagmire himself after a report that, at the same time he was sorting out the proposal, he was allegedly helping one academic - Charles Nemeroff, who has been the target of a US Senate Finance Committee probe - land a new job at another university. The disclosure prompted the committee to widen its ongoing probe into Nemeroff... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3662925 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:29:22 +0100 3662925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648800&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fjrz55Ui52oM%2F As the National Institutes of Health grappled last year with an ongoing Senate probe into financial conflicts of interest involving academic researchers who accept federal grants and industry funding, Tom Insel downplayed the need for a “COI shop” devoted to handling the problem. Insel, you may recall, heads the National Institutes of Mental Health, and helped lead the NIH regulatory review process that recently proposed new rules for monitoring conflicts of interest (see this). His view was expressed in a May 6, 2009, e-mail to colleagues who asked about hiring someone to help with COI issues that have been “swamping me,” as one wrote in a different e-mail the same day (you can read them here). Insel wasn’t persuaded. “I think there are more urgent need... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648800 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:56:10 +0100 3648800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3645051&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fq_WzjKK7fpY%2F How close are Tom Insel, the National Institutes of Mental Health director, and Charles Nemeroff, a former Emory University professor who has been the focus of an ongoing Senate probe into financial conflicts of interest among academic researchers? A recent story in The Chronicle of Higher Education noted that Insel (see photo) “quietly” helped Nemeroff get a new job last fall at the University of Miami School of Medicine, which overlooked a two-year ban Emory imposed on Nemeroff for receiving federal grants (back story). This prompted US Senator Chuck Grassley to extend his probe still more (see this). The ties beween the two men, which reportedly go back a few years, appeared to be on display in a series of emails (see them here). One e-mail from Nemeroff to Insel last Octobe... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3645051 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:49:36 +0100 3645051 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648619&cid=t_175861_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fuh-oh-thomas-insel-gets-pulled-into.html One truism of professional life is that some favors, no matter how alluring, should be politely turned down. The trick is predicting which bestowers of favors spell D-A-N-G-E-R, and which do not. Unfortunately, it looks like Dr. Tom Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, made the mistake of accepting multiple favors from Charles Nemeroff, and he is now paying the price.Several media outlets have covered this developing saga, or scandal, or Greek tragedy (following the analogy of the Trojan horse, the most famous examples of bad judgment in gift-accepting). The best and most thorough coverage is in this article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, which broke the story. Also, see today's coverage in the Washington Post, and ongoing coverage in Health Care Renewal.H... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648619 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:42:00 +0100 3648619 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3644725&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fpublic-trust-at-nimh.html The NIMH Director, Thomas Insel, MD, is under siege for his problematic relationship with Charles Nemeroff. In his own defense, Insel placed a remarkable new post today on his official blog. It signals that Insel and NIMH just don’t understand the current controversy. Since the story appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education 2 days ago, it has reverberated on Health Care Renewal, on Pharmalot, on University Diaries, on the Nature blog, on the Science blog, and on Drug Monkey, to name just a few. The authors on these sites have been uniformly critical of Insel and of NIMH, as have almost all the comments.What does Dr. Insel say in his defense today? Mainly, he demonstrates that he doesn’t get it. The very way in which he frames the issue tells us that. First he says it is about fina... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3644725 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:01:00 +0100 3644725 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3636020&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fey5jUPYG6Hs%2F For the past two years, the National Institutes of Health has been pressured by Congress to do a better job of monitoring conflicts of interest in which academic researchers accept funding from the agency and drugmakers. At issue is the concern that key research and subsequent studies will unduly influence treatment, and so the NIH recenty proposed tougher rules (see this). Earlier this year, the US Senate Finance Committee extended its scrutiny to Tom Insel, the director of the National Institutes of Mental Health (see photo), given that many conflicts involved academic psychiatrists and drugmakers that market antidepressants and antipsychotics (see this). Now, The Chronicle of Higher Education peels back an interesting, long-running relationship between Insel and one of the more notoriou... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3636020 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:21:25 +0100 3636020 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3635706&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fhappy-times-at-nimh-part-iii.html Happy Times at NIMH – PART IIIThe unraveling of Thomas Insel, MD, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health continues. His ties with the poster boy for conflict of interest in psychiatry, Charles Nemeroff, MD, are getting new exposure. The story is notable not only for what it says about Insel and Nemeroff, but also for what it says about the ethical culture within NIMH.The latest exposé is from Paul Basken in yesterday’s Chronicle of Higher Education. Mr. Basken laid out the appearance of hypocrisy within NIH, with Insel leading an NIH initiative for strengthening ethics rules for medical researchers while he was “quietly help(ing) one of the most prominent transgressors get hired by the University of Miami after a decade of undisclosed corporate payments…” That, of c... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3635706 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:49:00 +0100 3635706 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3440741&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fquis-custodiet-ipsos-custodes.html HAPPY TIMES AT NIMHTwo weeks ago I discussed a Commentary in JAMA by Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Over on Danny Carlat’s blog, Dr. Insel took exception to my linking him with Charles Nemeroff, and appeared to be putting distance between himself and Dr. Nemeroff. So, I did some checking, and a correction to one of my statements is in order.I had said, “ … that Insel appointed Nemeroff as an advisor soon after he (Insel) moved to NIMH.” That was my recollection. It turns out what I recalled was instead Insel showcasing Nemeroff in the NIMH Director’s 7th Annual Research Roundtable June 10, 2003, a few months after Insel moved from Emory University to NIMH. Let the record stand corrected.At that gala meeting, held at the National Press Club ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3440741 Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:52:00 +0100 3440741 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3404140&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FY7R5qT0ZpKI%2F Two essays published in separate periodicals this week raise troubling questions about the extent to which psychiatrists may be unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry, and how this relationship may effect public trust in psychiatry. The upshot? The concern about corruption, or at least the appearance of corruption is palpable. Sigmund Freud (see photo) would not be pleased. Interestingly, one of the authors if Tom Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (click on read more below). For instance, Lisa Cosgrove and Harold Bursztajn write in Psychiatric Times that they looked at the two philanthropic arms of the American Psychiatric Association - the American Psychiatric Foundation and the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education - and found th... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3404140 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:23:54 +0100 3404140 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3399003&cid=t_175861_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fdr-tom-insel-nimh-chief-scolds.html In the latest issue of JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association), Dr. Thomas Insel, the chief of NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) accuses academic medicine of having become a "culture of influence," in which drug industry marketing goals have pervaded the practice of psychiatry.Insel's commentary is entitled "Psychiatrists' Relationships with Pharmaceutical Companies: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?" While acknowledging (as we all should) that some collaboration between physicians and pharma is a good thing, he concludes that industry influence has radically skewed psychiatric practice in favor of the most expensive drugs, even when evidence shows that cheaper generics work as effectively. He also bemoans the fact that effective psychotherapeutic techniq... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3399003 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:41:00 +0100 3399003 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3398863&cid=t_175861_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fdr-pangloss-as-nih-institute-director.html DR. PANGLOSS AS NIH INSTITUTE DIRECTORJAMA is out today with a Commentary by Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Using indirection, Dr. Insel has risen to the defense of seven academic psychiatrists on whom an ethical searchlight has been trained for the past several years by Senator Grassley and others. With ludicrous optimism and a series of straw man discussions, Dr. Insel makes the case that things are not really as bad as they seemed to be or, if they were, then other specialty physicians were doing much the same things. Dr. Insel needs to recalibrate his ethical compass.Why is an NIH Institute Director issuing this apologia for the corruption of academic psychiatry? Does he not have better things to do, such as ensuring that longstanding NIH regulat... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3398863 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:42:00 +0100 3398863 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3194016&cid=t_175861_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FrMwmpyevORk%2F In his ongoing probe of conflicts of interest involving academic researchers, US Senator Chuck Grassley is now asking the National Institutes of Mental Health director Tom Insel to provide phone records, email and calendar since early 2009, along with correspondence from NIMH staffers in response to Grassley’s investigations. For the past two years, Grassley has pursued conflicts in which academic researchers accept funding from the NIH and industry, and instances where their universities have failed to monitor or report payments. According to current NIH regulations, payments above $10,000 should be reported. In his Jan. 20 letter, Grassley cites several examples… The psychiatry chair at Emory University, Charles Nemeroff, failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in p... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3194016 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:11:26 +0100 3194016 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2033262&cid=t_175861_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fmrd9ldllxJQ%2F The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is meeting today from 9am to 4pm, at the National Institutes of Health Neuroscience Center, Conference Room A (6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20892). You can listen in virtually via a webinar: Use this link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/446892042 Or, you can attend via conference call at these numbers: USA/Canada Phone Number: 888-455-2920 International Phone Number: 212-287-1838 Access code: 3857872 The agenda for today’s meeting is to complete the review of the IACC Strategic Plan for ASD Research Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan addressed six questions: 1) When should I be concerned? • What are the early warnings signs? • Are there typical characteristics that are part of an ASD diagnosis? • How much v... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2033262 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:36:47 +0100 2033262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1625673&cid=t_175861_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F336726237%2F In the July 14th Nature is an article about the NIMH chelation study that was put on hold due to safety concerns. NIMH director, Thomas Insel, M.D., says that, due to children being involved, and because the study “carries more than minimal risk and offers no demonstrable benefit to the participants,” it has been referred to the US Department of Health and Human Services panel for ethics approval. Nature also points out that the very premise of the study rests on an unproven hypothesis about autism being caused by mercury poisoning. While more and more scientific evidence disputes a link between mercury and autism, a tour ’round the Internet suggests that many believe in a link, whatever the science says: Others argue that the study doesn’t make scientific sense because... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1625673 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:06:51 +0100 1625673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1596492&cid=t_175861_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F330222338%2F A study on chelation, a controversial biomedical treatment for autism, has been put on hold, today’s Associated Press reports. Chelation, in which heavy metals are removed from the body, is based on the notion that mercury in vaccines can be linked to autism; an autistic boy, Abubakar Tariq Nadama, died in 2005 after receiving chelation treatment at the office of Dr. Roy Kerry in Pennsylvania. The chelation study was to be funded by the federal government and has been put on hold due to safety concerns, according to Dr. Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. The Associated Press quotes Dr. Insel as saying: “So many moms have said, `It’s saved my kids.’” The Associated Press describes one 8-year-old autistic boy, Charlie, who rec... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1596492 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:33:14 +0100 1596492 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1334470&cid=t_175861_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F03%2F28%2Fgene-mutations-and-schizophrenia%2F Just yesterday we were lambasting the lack of science behind the bipolar genetic test on the market. And now this hits the newswire — genetic mutations and schizophrenia. The new research examined DNA sequences within individuals’ genes, looking for what are called “mutations” — uncommon deletions or duplications that scientists wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find. We’ll let ScienceNOW summarize the findings from the journal article from Science: One team [of researchers] found these rare so-called copy number variants in 15% of 150 schizophrenics they surveyed. Only 5% of 268 healthy controls carried the same variants. The other team [of researchers] examined DNA from 83 people with severe forms of the [schizophrenia] disease diagnosed before th... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1334470 Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:20:12 +0100 1334470