BF: Following The Money

After learning that the HCRA receives considerable funds from industry, Brown promptly wrote a letter to Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Barry R. Bloom.

The letter acknowledged the necessity of many universities to take money from corporations and bemoaned the propensity of the media to assume conflicts of interest even when none were apparent.

Brown wrote "I naively assumed the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, part of the hallowed Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard University, to be such a disinterested voice."

In the stinging conclusion, he wrote "I am told your school needs money. Nevertheless, Harvard University has a budget larger than that of some countries. I am surprised it is willing to trade its most valuable thing, its reputation, for a handful of silver."

In an interview last week, Bloom agreed that the perception of a conflict of interest is a problem but stressed that the HSPH has a strict conflict of interest policy and is dedicated to full disclosure of funding sources.

"On the issue of disclosure, the only hedge or protection one has is to disclose and then let people decide for themselves," Bloom said.