The Johnson & Johnson Center for the Study of Pediatric Psychopathology was run by a child psychiatrist from the Harvard University, Joseph Biederman. The researches conducted by Dr. Biederman so far have been responsible for a massive increase in bipolar disorder diagnoses in children. The diagnoses also called for a treatment with antipsychotics, which is where the problems started for Biederman. Given the obvious connections between Biederman, the Center and the company Johnson & Johnson, the doctor was criticized by a Republican Iowa Senator, Charles Grassley. The Senator accused Biederman of failing to mention over $1.6 million, revenues resulted from the industry between the years 2000 and 2007.

The child psychiatrist denied the allegations according to which he had received more money than he declared to Harvard University, and stated in turn that his interest was “solely in the advancement of medical treatment through rigorous and objective study.”

However, Biederman’s own e-mails with J&J, which were made public in court, proved that the doctor egged the company to fund a research center at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the purpose stated by him in the e-mail was to “move forwards the commercial goals of J&J.” The e-mails also contained a draft of a study that the doctor had supposedly written.

Also, it seems that Biederman’s career and fame are important factors when it comes to unwillingly influencing other doctors. In one e-mail dating back in 2002, a J&J clinical development executive, Gahan Pandina, commented that the psychiatrist was highly popular among doctors, 1,000 of them even paying $700 each for the privilege of being taught by Biederman for three days about the right medications for pediatric bipolar disorders. The outcome of the trial is highly anticipated by the medical world.