July 10,2008

Senator Grassley’s letter to the American Psychiatric Association

July 10, 2008

Via Electronic Transmission
James Henry Scully, Jr., M.D.
Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer
American Psychiatric Association
1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825
Arlington, VA 22209

Dear Dr. Scully:

The United States Senate Committee on Finance (Committee) has jurisdictionover the Medicare and Medicaid programs and, accordingly, a responsibility to the morethan 80 million Americans who receive health care coverage under these programs. AsRanking Member of the Committee, I have a duty to protect the health of Medicare andMedicaid beneficiaries and safeguard taxpayer dollars authorized by Congress for theseprograms.

For the last three years, the Committee has been investigating various aspects ofthe pharmaceutical industry, including consulting arrangements and industry funding forContinuing Medical Education (CME). Further, my staff members have examinedseveral issues related to non-profit organizations, and I have read newspaper accountsdocumenting the strong ties between the pharmaceutical industry and non-profitcharities. I am hoping that you can provide me with some additional insight into theserelationships.

Based upon reporting in the New York Times, I have come to understand thatmoney from the pharmaceutical industry can shape the practices of non-profitorganizations which purport to be independent in their viewpoints and actions.[1]Specifically, it is alleged that pharmaceutical companies give money to non-profits in anattempt to garner favor in ways that increase sales of their products.

Accordingly, I would appreciate an accounting of industry funding thatpharmaceutical companies and/or the foundations established by these companies haveprovided to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) (The term “industry funding”means any transfer of value from a pharmaceutical company, including but not limited togrants, donations, and sponsorship for meetings or programs, etc.) This request coversthe period of January 2003 to the present.

[1] The New York Times “Charities Tied to Doctors Get Drug Industry Gifts,” June 28, 2006.

Because reporting practices vary widely from one charitable organization toanother, I would appreciate you also placing this income into a chart, detailing annualamounts of industry funding from pharmaceutical companies. For each year, pleaseprovide the following information for the APA:

1. Year;
2. Name of company;
3. Amount of funding; and
4. Reason(s) that the funding was provided.

In addition, please explain the APA’s policies for accepting industry funding byanswering the following questions. For each question, please respond by first repeatingthe enumerated question followed by the appropriate answer.

1. Please describe the policies for accepting industry funding and whether or notthe APA allows companies to place restrictions or provide guidance on howfunding will be spent.

2. If the APA allows companies to place restrictions on industry funding, thenplease explain all restrictions and/or guidance for each transfer of value from apharmaceutical company since January 2003. For every transfer of value witha restriction, please provide the following information: year of transfer, nameof company, and restriction placed on funding.

In cooperating with the Committee’s review, no documents, records, data orinformation related to these matters shall be destroyed, modified, removed or otherwisemade inaccessible to the Committee.

I look forward to hearing from you by no later than July 24, 2008. All documentsresponsive to this request should be sent electronically in PDF format toBrian_Downey@finance-rep.senate.gov. If you have any questions, please do nothesitate to contact Paul Thacker at (202) 224-4515.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member

Attachment

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
1. The term “American Psychiatric Association” means its corporation, or one or more of itsdivisions, subsidiaries or affiliates, or related entities, including any other companies orcorporations with which “American Psychiatric Association” entered into a partnership,joint venture or any other business agreement or arrangement.

2. In complying with this document request, produce all responsive documents that are inyour possession, custody, or control, whether held by you or your past or present agents,employees, and representatives acting on your behalf. In addition, produce documentsthat you have a legal right to obtain, documents that you have a right to copy or haveaccess to, and documents that you have placed in the temporary possession, custody, orcontrol of any third party.

3. No documents, records, data or information requested by the Committee shall bedestroyed, modified, removed or otherwise made inaccessible to the Committee.4. If the document request cannot be complied with in full, it shall be complied with to theextent possible, which shall include an explanation of why full compliance is notpossible.

5. In complying with this document request, respond to each enumerated request byrepeating the enumerated request and identifying the responsive document(s).6. In the event that a document is withheld on the basis of privilege, provide the followinginformation concerning any such document: (a) the privilege asserted; (b) the type ofdocument; (c) the general subject matter; (d) the date, author and addressee; and (e) therelationship of the author and addressee to each other.

7. Each document produced shall be produced in a form that renders the documentsusceptible of copying.

8. It shall not be a basis for refusal to produce documents that any other person or entityalso possesses non-identical or identical copies of the same document.

9. If any document responsive to this request was, but no longer is, in your possession,custody, or control, identify the document (stating its date, author, subject and recipients)and explain the circumstances by which the document ceased to be in your possession, orcontrol.

10. This request is continuing in nature. Any document, record, compilation of data orinformation, not produced because it has not been located or discovered by the returndate, shall be produced immediately upon location or discovery subsequent thereto.11. All documents shall be Bates stamped sequentially and produced sequentially.

GENERAL DEFINITIONS
1. The term “document” means any written, recorded, or graphic matter of anynature whatsoever, regardless of how recorded, and whether original or copy,including, but not limited to the following: memoranda, reports, statistical oranalytical reports, books, manuals, instructions, financial reports, working papers,records notes, letters, notices, confirmations, telegrams, receipts, appraisals,pamphlets, magazines, newspapers, prospectuses, interoffice and intra officecommunications, electronic mail (E-mail), contracts, cables, notations of any typeof conversation, telephone call, meeting or other communication, bulletins,printed matter, computer printouts, teletypes, invoices, transcripts, diaries,analyses, returns, summaries, minutes, bills, accounts, estimates, projections,comparisons, messages, correspondence, press releases, circulars, financialstatements, reviews, opinions, offers, studies and investigations, questionnairesand surveys, and work sheets (and all drafts, preliminary versions, alterations,modifications, revisions, changes, and amendments of any of the foregoing, aswell as any attachments or appendices thereto), and graphic or oral records orrepresentations of any kind (including without limitation, photographs, charts,graphs, microfiche, microfilm, videotape, recordings and motion pictures), andelectronic, mechanical, and electric records or representations of any kind(including, without limitation, tapes, cassettes, discs, and recordings) and otherwritten, printed, typed, or other graphic or recorded matter of any kind or nature,however produced or reproduced, and whether preserved in writing, film, tape,disc, or videotape. A document bearing any notation not a part of the original textis to be considered a separate document. A draft or non-identical copy is aseparate document within the meaning of this term.

2. The term “records” is to be construed in the broadest sense and shall mean anywritten or graphic material, however produced or reproduced, of any kind ordescription, consisting of the original and any non-identical copy (whetherdifferent from the original because of notes made on or attached to such copy orotherwise) and drafts and both sides thereof, whether printed or recordedelectronically or magnetically or stored in any type of data bank, including, butnot limited to, the following: correspondence, memoranda, records, summaries ofpersonal conversations or interviews, minutes or records of meetings orconferences, opinions or reports of consultants, projections, statistical statements,drafts, contracts, agreements, purchase orders, invoices, confirmations,telegraphs, telexes, agendas, books, notes, pamphlets, periodicals, reports, studies,evaluations, opinions, logs, diaries, desk calendars, appointment books, taperecordings, video recordings, e-mails, voice mails, computer tapes, or othercomputer stored matter, magnetic tapes, microfilm, microfiche, punch cards, allother records kept by electronic, photographic, or mechanical means, charts,photographs, notebooks, drawings, plans, inter-office communications, intraofficeand intra-departmental communications, transcripts, checks and canceledchecks, bank statements, ledgers, books, records or statements of accounts, andpapers and things similar to any of the foregoing, however denominated.

3. The terms “relate,” “related,” “relating,” or “regarding” as to any given subjectmeans anything that discusses, concerns, reflects, constitutes, contains, embodies,identifies, deals with, or is any manner whatsoever pertinent to that subject,including but not limited to documents concerning the preparation of otherdocuments.

4. The terms “and” and “or” shall be construed broadly and either conjunctively ordisjunctively to bring within the scope of this document request any informationwhich might otherwise be construed to be outside its scope. The singular includesplural number, and vice versa to bring within the scope of this document requestany information which might otherwise be construed to be outside its scope. Themasculine includes the feminine and neuter genders to bring within the scope ofthis document request any information that might otherwise be construed to beoutside its scope.

5. The term “communication” means each manner or means of disclosure orexchange of information, regardless of means utilized, whether oral, written,electronic, by document or otherwise, and whether face to face, in a meeting, bytelephone, mail, telexes, discussions, releases, personal delivery, or otherwise.Documents that typically reflect a “communication” include handwritten notes,telephone memoranda slips, daily appointment books and diaries, bills, checks,correspondence and memoranda, and includes all drafts of such documents.