MISPLACED SECRECY

Dr. Nancy Olivieri set out in 1995 to find funding to research a treatment
for a blood disease. She found the funding - and years of trouble. The
research showed unexpected problems and her backer turned against her.

Now her work has been vindicated. An editorial yesterday in the New England
Journal of Medicine said she had raised ``important questions'' about the
treatment in her work at the Sick Children's Hospital.

What was involved, in its essence, was a scientific dispute. But it became
much more - a question of whether patient or corporate interests came first.

Dr. Olivieri's study involved a compound used to reduce the iron that
red-cell transfusions concentrate in the blood, with often fatal results.
Early work, funded by the Medical Research Council, was promising. But
later work, funded by the drug company Apotex, said it might be unsafe.

While her contract with Apotex required secrecy, the ethics board of Sick
Kids required she tell patients of the problems. They were told. The
company threatened to sue her. It didn't but took her off the study and
called her work ``flawed,'' forcing her to defend her professional reputation.

Sadly, everybody should have been on the same side on this issue. Money is
short. Researchers need corporate funding, drug companies credible
research. But searching for scapegoats set everybody at odds.

If they remain so, it will put a damper on researchers and corporations alike.

The sooner everyone agrees that patients come before corporate secrecy, the
sooner everybody can get back to expanding medical research and saving lives.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan