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Inside Higher Education

Double Standard at Emory?

July 1, 2009

Emory University has been accused repeatedly over the last year of looking

the other way while one of its prominent physicians built extremely close

ties to the pharmaceutical industry and -- critics charge -- failed to

adequately report those ties as required by university and federal regulations.

But what if you are an Emory professor who happens to differ with the

pharmaceutical industry? Then, it appears, Emory watches you closely -- and if

you are a blogger, the university can tell you that you must remove the

Emory name from your Web site. That's why a recent post on the J.

Bremner's blog Before You Take That Pill is called " I Am Removing the Name of

My University From This Blog. " Bremner is professor of psychiatry and

radiology at Emory and as his blog title suggests (as does his book with the

same

name), he is an avid critic of the pharmaceutical industry.

In the post, he notes that he was recently ordered to remove the Emory

name both by the interim chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and by

the medical school's executive associate dean for faculty affairs. In the

letters, which he provided to Inside Higher Ed, they tell Bremner to remove

Emory's name, logo and letterhead from his blog because none of them can be

used for " non-Emory business. " He was also told to report on when he had

removed Emory from his blog.

The letters cite complaints that the university received about a blog post

Bremner made in January in which he criticized the eviction of a man with

bipolar disorder who was being forced out of his apartment for smoking.

Bremner made his point in the form of a mock letter " To Whom It May Concern "

giving his blessing for the man to continue to smoke. According to Bremner's

Emory superiors, complaints they received suggested that he was making

" clinical recommendations for a patient you do not know and have never

examined, " and these postings made them feel the need to tell him to stop using

the Emory name.

In an interview, Bremner defended his perspective -- not because he

necessarily thinks that smoking is a good thing for the man he wrote about, but

because, for some patients with mental conditions, quitting smoking may be

quite problematic. But Bremner also noted that his blog isn't entirely

serious and in fact uses satire, Photoshop, and combinations thereof with

enough

frequency that a careful reader might not take everything literally. A

recent posting about the American Medical Association's concerns about

health-care reform features a photo of some pigs, with an AMA official's head,

for

example.

Bremner's fans have noted with alarm his need to remove Emory's name from

the blog and they have been e-mailing about the situation, noting, for

example, that Emory isn't bothered by Nemeroff, the professor at the

center of the conflict of interest dispute, appearing with his Emory

identification at events not related to the university (and sponsored by a

pharmaceutical company) -- but clamps down on a blogger who criticizes the

industry.

And other Emory faculty members who blog (but not anything to do with the

pharmaceutical industry) don't appear to distress the university by having

their affiliations noted.

E. Goodwin, director of media relations for Emory Health Sciences,

said that Emory's objection to the use of its name in non-official places

was " across the board " and not related to the content of Bremner's blog. When

told about other blogs or Web sites where Emory professors' university

affiliation was noted on non-Emory business, she said she didn't know why that

was the case but insisted that the ban was " across the board. "

She noted that Bremner has been " blogging for some period of time, " and

that " if you read it over a long period of time, you can see comments he

makes that may be of concern. " She declined to identify those comments.

Asked about the university demanding that its name to be removed from a

blog that is anti-pharmaceutical industry while defending close ties of

professors to that same industry, she said those were " two unrelated matters. "

Throughout the day, Goodwin said she was trying to get more information

about Emory's position, but was unable to do so.

Among those who received e-mail recently about the treatment of Bremner is

Cary , national president of the American Association of University

Professors. said that he has no problem with Emory restricting the

use of its logo, or even of asking professors to add a statement to a blog

stating that opinions don't reflect those of the institution. But he said

that it was wrong and a violation of academic freedom for Emory to tell a

faculty blogger not to use the university's name in his identification or

elsewhere on his blog.

" What they absolutely cannot do is say that he cannot identify himself as

an Emory faculty member, " he said.

As to the contrast between Emory's treatment of its faculty members who

worked closely with pharmaceutical companies and of Bremner, said that

the university " is not supposed to advocate for one commercial interest

over other people's philosophical and personal commitments. It's deplorable

and embarrassing that they would make distinctions like this. "

— Jaschik

In a message dated 7/1/2009 2:11:35 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,

ginloi@... writes:

Thanks for posting this. There is no academic freedom. It is a misnomer.

Education is the last bastion of income. The book companies,the

consultants, the contracts, the maintenance, the buses, the buildings all make

empire

the " income nugget. "

Academics and teachers are only there for the ride along with the

students. They are the product delivery people but beyond that have no real

power

and are stomped on as soon as they offer a divergence of opinion.

When you challenge an institution such as education be ready to unleash

fury of those whose income is threatened by your activism.

That is why teachers have difficulty complaining about bad buildings.

They are challenging the big cash cow!

>

> Looks like the boys from Emory are at it again and trying to remain

status

> quo.

>

>

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