RETIN-A RESEARCHER FUNDING FROM ORTHO QUESTIONED BY REP. WEISS (D-NY)
Executive Summary
RETIN-A RESEARCHER FUNDING FROM ORTHO QUESTIONED BY REP. WEISS (D-NY) in a report on scientific conduct and conflicts of interest issued by the House Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee. Weiss alleges a potential conflict-of-interest by one of the authors of the report on Retin-A use against photoaging in the Jan. 1988 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The author, John Voorhees received $253,120 in research grants from Ortho in the year before publication of the results and $689,750 the following year. Voorhees is also alleged to have received 13 honoraria payments in 1988 including a press conference to announce the results of the Retin-A study. Weiss tallied the financial data from information provided to the subcommittee by Johnson & Johnson. The Weiss review attempts to keep alive the subject of research objectivity, research funding and the subsequent publicity of research findings by doctors receiving grants, honoraria and consulting fees.