State official was paid consultant for drug company

[Guest guest]

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/19/19mhmrdrugs.html

State official was paid consultant for drug company

Doctor forced to leave state employ says arrangement was approved by the state.

By Corrie MacLaggan, Embry

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

A high-ranking state health official who was ordered to leave his job in October

was a paid consultant for a drug company whose product became part of a standard

treatment plan in state mental health programs.

Dr. Shon, former medical director of behavioral health at the Department

of State Health Services, was forced to leave after Attorney General Greg Abbott

investigated whether drug companies improperly influenced Shon to promote one of

their medicines in a state treatment plan, according to state documents and

officials.

On Friday, Abbott joined a lawsuit against & and several

subsidiaries saying they misrepre- sented the safety and effectiveness of a

schizophrenia drug and unduly influenced Shon.

Shon is not named in the lawsuit, but Goodman, a spokeswoman for the

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, confirmed Monday that it refers to

him. Shon denies the allegations in the lawsuit.

But he acknowledged that he was a paid consultant for Janssen, a subsidiary of

& . He said a health department attorney approved the consulting,

which he did on vacation time.

" I was not told it was any kind of problem, " he said.

He said he earned $1,000 to $1,500 on three occasions for advising Janssen on

topics such as side effects his patients had experienced.

Goodman, whose agency oversees the health department, said the commission was

not aware of the consulting.

" We would not have approved that arrangement, " she said.

The lawsuit, filed in state district court in County by a former

Pennsylvania state investigator, focuses on a Janssen drug called Risperdal that

became part of a standard treatment plan developed in 1997 for Texas' mental

health programs. Sixteen other states use the plan, which for the first time set

a drug protocol in Texas for people in state mental health programs.

The protocol requires doctors to prescribe Risperdal and other anti-psychotic

drugs before trying older, less expensive medications to treat schizophrenia,

major depression and bipolar disorder. If doctors decide not to follow the plan,

they must document why. Shon led development of the protocol.

Despite the allegations against Shon, commission officials said Monday that they

stand by the treatment plan, Goodman said.

" Because those guidelines required broad consensus, it would have been very

difficult to sway them just by trying to influence the opinion of one person or

a narrow group of people, " she said.

Shon traveled across the country promoting the drug, the lawsuit says.

, the former Pennsylvania official who filed the lawsuit, said some of the

drug companies' representatives told him that they paid Shon.

The lawsuit says the drug companies promoted Risperdal outside Texas by

influencing policymakers with trips, perks, travel expenses, speaking fees and

other payments.

But Shon said that the allegations are " absolutely untrue " and that he traveled

from about 1998 through this year at the request of states that wanted to learn

about the Texas program.

" The project was held up as a model by the President's New Freedom Commission on

Mental Health for 'better consumer outcomes, including reduced symptoms, fewer

and less severe side effects, and improved functioning,' " a Health and Human

Services Commission document says.

Shon said that he directed money he received for speeches to the state and that

he did not keep any. He acknowledged that drug companies were sometimes the

source of the money because they fund research.

Health department officials Monday were unable to immediately provide

information on whether Shon had given all of his honorariums to the state.

" Our project was not done for any of us to make personal gain, " Shon said. " It

was made to improve the quality of care in the area of prescription medications

for psychiatric illness. "

The Texas protocol was developed to address concerns that " mental health

patients in the public health system did not have the same access to newer, more

expensive medications that had fewer side effects than older drugs, " Goodman

said.

The lawsuit alleges that & and some subsidiaries misrepresented

side effects and long-term health risks of Risperdal to qualify for

reimbursement under Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for

low-income people. The lawsuit seeks to recover money paid under the state's

Medicaid program.

Shon, however, said his recommendations were " not focused on a particular drug

or medication. "

An Oct. 9 letter to Shon from Dr. Bell, acting commissioner of the

Department of State Health Services, shows that the department intended to fire

Shon.

" It is my determination that your services are no longer required by the

Department, " Bell wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Austin

American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act. " I am, therefore,

terminating you as the Medical Director for Behavioral Health effective

immediately. "

Goodman said that she does not comment on personnel matters but that " the

attorney general's office briefed Bell and other key health and human services

leadership on some of what they were finding. " The briefing was in mid- or late

September, she said.

Shon said he was forced to retire after superiors threatened to fire him. He

said he was told only that he and the department were headed in different

directions.

& and Abbott's office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

cmaclaggan@..., 445-3548

jembry@..., 445-3654

Additional material from staff writers Ball and W. Gardner Selby.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made

available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights,

democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This

constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in

Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is

distributed without profit.

[Guest guest]

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/19/19mhmrdrugs.html

State official was paid consultant for drug company

Doctor forced to leave state employ says arrangement was approved by the state.

By Corrie MacLaggan, Embry

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

A high-ranking state health official who was ordered to leave his job in October

was a paid consultant for a drug company whose product became part of a standard

treatment plan in state mental health programs.

Dr. Shon, former medical director of behavioral health at the Department

of State Health Services, was forced to leave after Attorney General Greg Abbott

investigated whether drug companies improperly influenced Shon to promote one of

their medicines in a state treatment plan, according to state documents and

officials.

On Friday, Abbott joined a lawsuit against & and several

subsidiaries saying they misrepre- sented the safety and effectiveness of a

schizophrenia drug and unduly influenced Shon.

Shon is not named in the lawsuit, but Goodman, a spokeswoman for the

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, confirmed Monday that it refers to

him. Shon denies the allegations in the lawsuit.

But he acknowledged that he was a paid consultant for Janssen, a subsidiary of

& . He said a health department attorney approved the consulting,

which he did on vacation time.

" I was not told it was any kind of problem, " he said.

He said he earned $1,000 to $1,500 on three occasions for advising Janssen on

topics such as side effects his patients had experienced.

Goodman, whose agency oversees the health department, said the commission was

not aware of the consulting.

" We would not have approved that arrangement, " she said.

The lawsuit, filed in state district court in County by a former

Pennsylvania state investigator, focuses on a Janssen drug called Risperdal that

became part of a standard treatment plan developed in 1997 for Texas' mental

health programs. Sixteen other states use the plan, which for the first time set

a drug protocol in Texas for people in state mental health programs.

The protocol requires doctors to prescribe Risperdal and other anti-psychotic

drugs before trying older, less expensive medications to treat schizophrenia,

major depression and bipolar disorder. If doctors decide not to follow the plan,

they must document why. Shon led development of the protocol.

Despite the allegations against Shon, commission officials said Monday that they

stand by the treatment plan, Goodman said.

" Because those guidelines required broad consensus, it would have been very

difficult to sway them just by trying to influence the opinion of one person or

a narrow group of people, " she said.

Shon traveled across the country promoting the drug, the lawsuit says.

, the former Pennsylvania official who filed the lawsuit, said some of the

drug companies' representatives told him that they paid Shon.

The lawsuit says the drug companies promoted Risperdal outside Texas by

influencing policymakers with trips, perks, travel expenses, speaking fees and

other payments.

But Shon said that the allegations are " absolutely untrue " and that he traveled

from about 1998 through this year at the request of states that wanted to learn

about the Texas program.

" The project was held up as a model by the President's New Freedom Commission on

Mental Health for 'better consumer outcomes, including reduced symptoms, fewer

and less severe side effects, and improved functioning,' " a Health and Human

Services Commission document says.

Shon said that he directed money he received for speeches to the state and that

he did not keep any. He acknowledged that drug companies were sometimes the

source of the money because they fund research.

Health department officials Monday were unable to immediately provide

information on whether Shon had given all of his honorariums to the state.

" Our project was not done for any of us to make personal gain, " Shon said. " It

was made to improve the quality of care in the area of prescription medications

for psychiatric illness. "

The Texas protocol was developed to address concerns that " mental health

patients in the public health system did not have the same access to newer, more

expensive medications that had fewer side effects than older drugs, " Goodman

said.

The lawsuit alleges that & and some subsidiaries misrepresented

side effects and long-term health risks of Risperdal to qualify for

reimbursement under Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for

low-income people. The lawsuit seeks to recover money paid under the state's

Medicaid program.

Shon, however, said his recommendations were " not focused on a particular drug

or medication. "

An Oct. 9 letter to Shon from Dr. Bell, acting commissioner of the

Department of State Health Services, shows that the department intended to fire

Shon.

" It is my determination that your services are no longer required by the

Department, " Bell wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Austin

American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act. " I am, therefore,

terminating you as the Medical Director for Behavioral Health effective

immediately. "

Goodman said that she does not comment on personnel matters but that " the

attorney general's office briefed Bell and other key health and human services

leadership on some of what they were finding. " The briefing was in mid- or late

September, she said.

Shon said he was forced to retire after superiors threatened to fire him. He

said he was told only that he and the department were headed in different

directions.

& and Abbott's office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

cmaclaggan@..., 445-3548

jembry@..., 445-3654

Additional material from staff writers Ball and W. Gardner Selby.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made

available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights,

democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This

constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in

Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is

distributed without profit.

[Guest guest]

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/19/19mhmrdrugs.html

State official was paid consultant for drug company

Doctor forced to leave state employ says arrangement was approved by the state.

By Corrie MacLaggan, Embry

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

A high-ranking state health official who was ordered to leave his job in October

was a paid consultant for a drug company whose product became part of a standard

treatment plan in state mental health programs.

Dr. Shon, former medical director of behavioral health at the Department

of State Health Services, was forced to leave after Attorney General Greg Abbott

investigated whether drug companies improperly influenced Shon to promote one of

their medicines in a state treatment plan, according to state documents and

officials.

On Friday, Abbott joined a lawsuit against & and several

subsidiaries saying they misrepre- sented the safety and effectiveness of a

schizophrenia drug and unduly influenced Shon.

Shon is not named in the lawsuit, but Goodman, a spokeswoman for the

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, confirmed Monday that it refers to

him. Shon denies the allegations in the lawsuit.

But he acknowledged that he was a paid consultant for Janssen, a subsidiary of

& . He said a health department attorney approved the consulting,

which he did on vacation time.

" I was not told it was any kind of problem, " he said.

He said he earned $1,000 to $1,500 on three occasions for advising Janssen on

topics such as side effects his patients had experienced.

Goodman, whose agency oversees the health department, said the commission was

not aware of the consulting.

" We would not have approved that arrangement, " she said.

The lawsuit, filed in state district court in County by a former

Pennsylvania state investigator, focuses on a Janssen drug called Risperdal that

became part of a standard treatment plan developed in 1997 for Texas' mental

health programs. Sixteen other states use the plan, which for the first time set

a drug protocol in Texas for people in state mental health programs.

The protocol requires doctors to prescribe Risperdal and other anti-psychotic

drugs before trying older, less expensive medications to treat schizophrenia,

major depression and bipolar disorder. If doctors decide not to follow the plan,

they must document why. Shon led development of the protocol.

Despite the allegations against Shon, commission officials said Monday that they

stand by the treatment plan, Goodman said.

" Because those guidelines required broad consensus, it would have been very

difficult to sway them just by trying to influence the opinion of one person or

a narrow group of people, " she said.

Shon traveled across the country promoting the drug, the lawsuit says.

, the former Pennsylvania official who filed the lawsuit, said some of the

drug companies' representatives told him that they paid Shon.

The lawsuit says the drug companies promoted Risperdal outside Texas by

influencing policymakers with trips, perks, travel expenses, speaking fees and

other payments.

But Shon said that the allegations are " absolutely untrue " and that he traveled

from about 1998 through this year at the request of states that wanted to learn

about the Texas program.

" The project was held up as a model by the President's New Freedom Commission on

Mental Health for 'better consumer outcomes, including reduced symptoms, fewer

and less severe side effects, and improved functioning,' " a Health and Human

Services Commission document says.

Shon said that he directed money he received for speeches to the state and that

he did not keep any. He acknowledged that drug companies were sometimes the

source of the money because they fund research.

Health department officials Monday were unable to immediately provide

information on whether Shon had given all of his honorariums to the state.

" Our project was not done for any of us to make personal gain, " Shon said. " It

was made to improve the quality of care in the area of prescription medications

for psychiatric illness. "

The Texas protocol was developed to address concerns that " mental health

patients in the public health system did not have the same access to newer, more

expensive medications that had fewer side effects than older drugs, " Goodman

said.

The lawsuit alleges that & and some subsidiaries misrepresented

side effects and long-term health risks of Risperdal to qualify for

reimbursement under Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for

low-income people. The lawsuit seeks to recover money paid under the state's

Medicaid program.

Shon, however, said his recommendations were " not focused on a particular drug

or medication. "

An Oct. 9 letter to Shon from Dr. Bell, acting commissioner of the

Department of State Health Services, shows that the department intended to fire

Shon.

" It is my determination that your services are no longer required by the

Department, " Bell wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Austin

American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act. " I am, therefore,

terminating you as the Medical Director for Behavioral Health effective

immediately. "

Goodman said that she does not comment on personnel matters but that " the

attorney general's office briefed Bell and other key health and human services

leadership on some of what they were finding. " The briefing was in mid- or late

September, she said.

Shon said he was forced to retire after superiors threatened to fire him. He

said he was told only that he and the department were headed in different

directions.

& and Abbott's office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

cmaclaggan@..., 445-3548

jembry@..., 445-3654

Additional material from staff writers Ball and W. Gardner Selby.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made

available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights,

democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This

constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in

Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is

distributed without profit.

[Guest guest]

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/19/19mhmrdrugs.html

State official was paid consultant for drug company

Doctor forced to leave state employ says arrangement was approved by the state.

By Corrie MacLaggan, Embry

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

A high-ranking state health official who was ordered to leave his job in October

was a paid consultant for a drug company whose product became part of a standard

treatment plan in state mental health programs.

Dr. Shon, former medical director of behavioral health at the Department

of State Health Services, was forced to leave after Attorney General Greg Abbott

investigated whether drug companies improperly influenced Shon to promote one of

their medicines in a state treatment plan, according to state documents and

officials.

On Friday, Abbott joined a lawsuit against & and several

subsidiaries saying they misrepre- sented the safety and effectiveness of a

schizophrenia drug and unduly influenced Shon.

Shon is not named in the lawsuit, but Goodman, a spokeswoman for the

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, confirmed Monday that it refers to

him. Shon denies the allegations in the lawsuit.

But he acknowledged that he was a paid consultant for Janssen, a subsidiary of

& . He said a health department attorney approved the consulting,

which he did on vacation time.

" I was not told it was any kind of problem, " he said.

He said he earned $1,000 to $1,500 on three occasions for advising Janssen on

topics such as side effects his patients had experienced.

Goodman, whose agency oversees the health department, said the commission was

not aware of the consulting.

" We would not have approved that arrangement, " she said.

The lawsuit, filed in state district court in County by a former

Pennsylvania state investigator, focuses on a Janssen drug called Risperdal that

became part of a standard treatment plan developed in 1997 for Texas' mental

health programs. Sixteen other states use the plan, which for the first time set

a drug protocol in Texas for people in state mental health programs.

The protocol requires doctors to prescribe Risperdal and other anti-psychotic

drugs before trying older, less expensive medications to treat schizophrenia,

major depression and bipolar disorder. If doctors decide not to follow the plan,

they must document why. Shon led development of the protocol.

Despite the allegations against Shon, commission officials said Monday that they

stand by the treatment plan, Goodman said.

" Because those guidelines required broad consensus, it would have been very

difficult to sway them just by trying to influence the opinion of one person or

a narrow group of people, " she said.

Shon traveled across the country promoting the drug, the lawsuit says.

, the former Pennsylvania official who filed the lawsuit, said some of the

drug companies' representatives told him that they paid Shon.

The lawsuit says the drug companies promoted Risperdal outside Texas by

influencing policymakers with trips, perks, travel expenses, speaking fees and

other payments.

But Shon said that the allegations are " absolutely untrue " and that he traveled

from about 1998 through this year at the request of states that wanted to learn

about the Texas program.

" The project was held up as a model by the President's New Freedom Commission on

Mental Health for 'better consumer outcomes, including reduced symptoms, fewer

and less severe side effects, and improved functioning,' " a Health and Human

Services Commission document says.

Shon said that he directed money he received for speeches to the state and that

he did not keep any. He acknowledged that drug companies were sometimes the

source of the money because they fund research.

Health department officials Monday were unable to immediately provide

information on whether Shon had given all of his honorariums to the state.

" Our project was not done for any of us to make personal gain, " Shon said. " It

was made to improve the quality of care in the area of prescription medications

for psychiatric illness. "

The Texas protocol was developed to address concerns that " mental health

patients in the public health system did not have the same access to newer, more

expensive medications that had fewer side effects than older drugs, " Goodman

said.

The lawsuit alleges that & and some subsidiaries misrepresented

side effects and long-term health risks of Risperdal to qualify for

reimbursement under Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for

low-income people. The lawsuit seeks to recover money paid under the state's

Medicaid program.

Shon, however, said his recommendations were " not focused on a particular drug

or medication. "

An Oct. 9 letter to Shon from Dr. Bell, acting commissioner of the

Department of State Health Services, shows that the department intended to fire

Shon.

" It is my determination that your services are no longer required by the

Department, " Bell wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Austin

American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act. " I am, therefore,

terminating you as the Medical Director for Behavioral Health effective

immediately. "

Goodman said that she does not comment on personnel matters but that " the

attorney general's office briefed Bell and other key health and human services

leadership on some of what they were finding. " The briefing was in mid- or late

September, she said.

Shon said he was forced to retire after superiors threatened to fire him. He

said he was told only that he and the department were headed in different

directions.

& and Abbott's office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

cmaclaggan@..., 445-3548

jembry@..., 445-3654

Additional material from staff writers Ball and W. Gardner Selby.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made

available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights,

democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This

constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in

Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is

distributed without profit.