Emory researcher under Grassley's eye has grant frozen

An Emory University researcher has had some of his federal funding frozen after a Senate inquiry found he understated how much money he had received from pharmaceutical companies, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (via the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog).

Psychiatrist Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff was singled out by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa for failing to report to Emory all the money he earned from drug companies, possibly violating university and federal rules, the story said. The National Institutes of Health has frozen a multi-million dollar grant Nemeroff headed while the school’s record-keeping is examined, a university spokesman told the Journal-Constitution.

Boston researchers have also drawn Grassley's attention.

In June Grassley said Dr. Joseph Biederman, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens, and Dr. Thomas Spencer of Harvard Medical School failed to report to the university payments of more than a million dollars in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007.

Grassley has also accused Tufts University heart specialist Dr. Marvin Konstam of crossing an ethical line by working simultaneously for NIH, Tufts Medical Center, and a private heart-device company, the Globe reported last month.