Harvard Medical School students want their world-famous institution to disclose and limit the influence of drug companies, according to the New York Times.

The publicity given to the student agitation is not the first time this issue has surfaced. Several medical professors are being investigated by the US Senate and the American Medical Student Association recently gave Harvard an F-grade for how well it monitors and controls drug company money.

The previous dean of the Medical School actually promoted industry ties. Dr Joseph B. Martin sat on the board of the medical products company Baxter International for 5 of the 10 years he led the medical school, supplementing his university salary with up to US$197,000 a year from Baxter. The new dean, Dr Jeffrey S. Flier, is less sympathetic and is trying to lessen the influence of industry ties.

This could be difficult to sustain. The university’s endowment has lost 22% of its value since last July and philanthropic donors are less generous in the recession. Furthermore, a ban could cause faculty to leave. About 1,600 of 8,900 professors and lecturers have reported that they or a family member had a financial interest in a business related to their teaching, research or clinical care. The reports show 149 with financial ties to Pfizer and 130 with Merck.

Not all students at Harvard have joined the anti-industry bandwagon. A smaller group of about 100 has signed a petition calling for “continued interaction between medicine and industry at Harvard Medical School.” Vijay Yanamadala, 22, said, “To say that because these industry sources are inherently biased, physicians should never listen to them, is wrong.” ~ New York Times, Mar 3