Brown's Keller under Grassley's microscope

US Senator Charles E. Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has set his sights on Dr. Martin Keller, head of psychiatry at Brown University, according to Ed Silverman at the blog, Pharmalot.

In the latest round of his investigation into conflicts of interest between physicians who research new drugs and pharmaceutical companies that also pay them consultant fees, Grassley is looking into Keller’s research on the antidepressant Paxil.

Alison Bass, a former Globe reporter who literally wrote the book on Keller’s study, the ensuing legal trial, and the fallout, tells the Globe it was a long time coming. "Basically, the chickens are coming home to roost now," she said. Keller has never been publicly disciplined or sanctioned for his role in the study, yet "he is still chief of psychiatry there and pulling in millions of dollars in research funding from the drug companies and federal research agencies."

The study promoted positive outcomes for the drug and suppressed negative ones, including an increase in suicidal thoughts and behaviors of a number of patients in the trials, she said.

A spokesman for Grassley’s office said the senator is looking into 30 physicians from up to 20 universities, but wouldn't comment on any specific doctors.