http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081808dnmetfosterparttwo.43a81b8.html

Conflict of interest fears halt children's mental health project

06:30 AM CDT on Monday, August 18, 2008

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
eramshaw@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – A state mental health plan naming the preferred psychiatric drugs for children has been quietly put on hold over fears drug companies may have given researchers consulting contracts, speakers fees or other perks to help get their products on the list.
The Children's Medication Algorithm Project, or CMAP, was supposed to determine which psychiatric drugs were most effective for children and in what order they should be tried at state-funded mental health centers. In April, high-ranking state health officials gave researchers the go-ahead to roll out the guidelines.

A month later, the officials delayed the protocol, after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office objected to it.
At most, the suspension indicates that state investigators fear fraud has occurred. At the least, it reflects nationwide unease with potential conflicts of interest between leading medical researchers and the pharmaceutical firms that fund much of their work.
Publicly, officials say it's because the state is suing a pharmaceutical company alleged to have used false advertising and improper influence to get its drugs on Texas' now-mandatory adult protocol, the Texas Medication Algorithm Project.
Privately, individuals with knowledge of the case – who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the pending litigation – say the attorney general's investigation of possible fraud in the adult protocol has spread to the children's version.