Richard Eastell is professor of bone metabolism at the University of Sheffield. He earned his degree in medicine from the University of Edinburgh in 1977.[1] In 1998 he was awarded the Corrigan Medal of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland,[2] and in 2004 he received the Society for Endocrinology Medal and the Kohn Foundation Award.[3]
Eastell was the subject of a 2005 report in the Times Higher Education concerning allegations that he had incorrectly claimed to have had full access to data for a trial of the Proctor and Gamble drug Actonel (used to treat osteoporosis). The report established that the analysis for the trial had been carried out by Proctor and Gamble and that Eastell did not in fact have complete access to the data. Eastell wrote a letter to the editors of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, where the paper in question was published in 2003, accepting that he had not disclosed limitations on data access as required by the journal and acknowledging certain errors in the paper. Eastell is now facing a General Medical Council "fitness to practice" hearing.[4]
The THE's report on Eastell was in part the result of whistleblowing by another Sheffield academic, Aubrey Blumensohn, who was initially suspended by the university and subsequently left the university with a "six-figure" payout.[5][6] Other bone medicine academics, speaking on BBC Radio 4's programme "You and Yours", took the view that the paper in question had overstated the effectiveness of the drug.[7] The paper itself was "ghost-written" by a writer contracted by Proctor and Gamble.[8]
Eastell resigned as director of research at Sheffield National Health Service Trust in 2006 after allegations of "financial irregularities" related to charging the NHS for laboratory tests in connection with his university research. His resignation followed suspension by the NHS when the allegations were made in May 2005.[9][10]
References
- ^ Staff profile at University of Sheffield
- ^ [http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/0008/ea0008s3biog.htm Endocrine Society
- ^ "Sheffield University pioneers osteoporosis research", News-Medical.net, 31 March 2004
- ^ Phil Baty, "Bone professor faces GMC probe", Times Higher Education, 22 September 2009
- ^ Phil Baty, "Payout in P&G drug data row", Times Higher Education, 7 April 2006
- ^ Jennifer Washburn, "Rent-a-Researcher: Did a British university sell out to Procter & Gamble?", Slate, 22 December 2005
- ^ "Experts cast doubt over scientists' claims for Actonel", Times Higher Education, 24 February 2006
- ^ Jo Revill, "How the drugs giant and a lone academic went to war"], The Guardian, 4 December 2005
- ^ Phil Baty, "Drugs trial row scientist resigns", Times Higher Education, 6 January 2006
- ^ Jo Revill, "Doctor in drug research row quits NHS post", The Guardian, 15 January 2006