VNS in the Wall Street Journal

Last Tuesday's edition of the Wall Street Journal had an article by David Armstrong about the failure of medical journals to publish authors' conflicts of interests. It featured the case of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology which had failed to warn readers that eight of the nine authors of an enthusiastic review of VNS (vagal nerve stimulation) were consultants for Cyberonics, the company that manufactures the equipment. The ninth author was a paid employee of Cyberonics, a fact which was revealed in the article. The lead author, Charles Nemeroff, is also editor of Neuropsychopharmacology.

"Charles Nemeroff, one of the nation's most prominent psychiatrists, edits the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, which this month favorably reviewed a controversial new treatment for depression.

But Tuesday, the journal said it plans to publish a correction because it failed to cite the ties of the article's eight academic authors to the company that makes the treatment, including the article's lead author: Dr. Nemeroff.

The journal's nondisclosure of the financial ties of its own editor as well as those of the other authors highlights the failure of many respected medical journals to identify relationships between academic researchers and medical companies that may benefit from positive research reports. A spate of recent lapses is prompting calls for more journals to ban offending authors from publication. In addition, medical schools are being urged to regulate relationships between their researchers and industry more closely...." More