A U.S. scientist who has spent time researching Alzheimer's was charged with conflict of interest for accepting $285,000 from drug maker Pfizer Inc. He is being criminally charged.
Pearson Sunderland is the chief of the geriatric psychology branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He faces up to a year in prison and a fine of $100,000 if convicted, prosecutor Rod Rosenstein announced.
Prosecutors said Sunderland, 55, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, accepted the $285,000 in consulting fees and travel expenses from Pfizer without getting required approval from NIH or disclosing the fees to the agency.
Is he the only one? Does any rational person think the FDA is truly independent? That companies do not wield much influence within the walls of the FDA buildings?
Source here.
