Leonard Minsky’s article entitled “Fraud Is A Symptom Of A Deeper Raw” (The Scientist, December 12, 1988, page 9), is replete with inaccurate and misleading statements pertaining to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and one of its faculty members. As dean of the School of Medicine, I find it necessary to set the record straight.
First, Mr. Minsky states that the principal investigator on an NIH-funded clinical study of the efficacy of amoxicillin for treating otitis media in infants and children “received an annual retainer of $50,000 from the company [that marketed the drug], as well as corporate donations for a study that was already fully financed by NIH.” Neither the principal investigator of the amoxicillin study nor any of his coauthors were on any retainer from any pharmaceutical company, then or now. Likewise, contrary to Mr. Minsky’s assertion, the principal investigator did not receive corporate donations for ...
