Dr. Charles Nemeroff, under investigation for violating federal regulations to guarantee unbiased research while receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health, resigned as chair of department of psychiatry at Emory University. The resignation follows a New York Times story, and conversation in the blogs, about $2.8 million in fees he has received from different pharmaceutical companies. Although Emory had advised him to keep his consulting fees under $10,000, and Nemeroff presumably agreed, he did not. The university was reminded of its negligence, and allegations of Nemeroff's numerous transgressions in a letter from Senator Charles Grassley last week. On Friday, Emory announced Nemeroff was voluntarily stepping down.
In June, outraged after learning how other psychiatrists with similar conflicts, Grassley sponsored Physician Payments Sunshine Act to provide transparency and require disclosure of all gifts greater than $500.
