[e-drug] Healy sues UoT for almost $10 million

[Lisa Hayes <lisa@hai.antenna.nl>]

E-drug: Healy sues UoT for almost $10 million
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[Cross posted from the HAI membership listserve. Thanks to HAI
and Frank van Meerendonk for spotting it. Copied as fair use. HH]

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/200109
25/704776.html&qs=Healy

National Post, 1 September 2001

Psychiatrist denied job sues University of Toronto: Linked Prozac to
suicide.

Julie Smyth

A prominent British psychiatrist has filed a $9.4-million lawsuit
against the University of Toronto and an affiliated teaching hospital
alleging he was denied academic freedom when his employment
contract was revoked one week after he delivered a lecture linking
the drug Prozac to suicide.

The lawsuit, which will be the first in Canada to test the issue of
academic freedom, asks the court to establish a new tort, or civil
law, recognizing a professor's right to speak out without fear of
being fired or reprimanded.

The suit alleges the university and the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health (CAMH) breached their contract when they rescinded
Dr. David Healy's $250,000-a-year job offer. It also claims they
libeled him in memos and articles about his controversial remarks
about the anti-depressant drug.

The statement of claim, filed in the Superior Court of Justice, states
that on Nov. 30 last year, Dr. Healy, who had accepted an offer as
clinical director at the centre and professor of psychiatry at the
university, told a conference at CAMH that he believed Prozac
could cause some patients to commit suicide. His lawyer said
yesterday the statement was based on Dr. Healy's research, as well
as studies by other doctors.

After Dr. Healy's lecture, Dr. David Goldbloom, physician-in-chief at
CAMH and professor of psychiatry at the university with authority
over hiring, "was very critical of the content [of the lecture] and
appeared to have been personally angered by it," the suit alleges. It
states that Eli Lilly, which manufactures Prozac, had been a major
donor to the teaching hospital, contributing at least $1.5-million. It
also says that on the day of the conference, representatives of
CAMH met with the company.

The statement of claim alleges that on or around Nov. 30, Dr.
Charles Nemeroff, a psychiatrist who has been a major shareholder
in Eli Lilly and other pharmaceutical companies, and who was at the
conference, spoke to Dr. Goldbloom about Dr. Healy's comments
about the drug.

Dr. Healy received a letter on Dec. 7 from Dr. Goldbloom stating the
offer was withdrawn, the lawsuit states. It cites the letter as
saying: "Essentially, we believe that it is not a good fit between you
and the role as leader of an academic program ... This view was
solidified by your recent appearance at the centre in the context of
an academic lecture." Dr. Healy, who works at the University of
Wales, acknowledged there might be criticism about the amount of
damages sought, but said if the claim is successful, punitive
damages will be used to establish a Canadian trust fund for
academic freedom.

The suit asks that Dr. Healy be reinstated or, alternatively, that the
university and the teaching hospital pay damages. It also names Dr.
Paul Garfinkel, president and chief executive of CAMH, and Dr.
David Naylor, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the university, as
defendants.

CAMH issued a statement yesterday saying the centre stands by its
decision to rescind Dr. Healy's job offer, which it says was based
"solely on the needs of our patients and staff." The statement says
hiring decisions have never been influenced by an outside donor.
Vivek Goel, vice-provost for faculty at the University of Toronto,
said he was surprised the university was named in the suit, saying
that, while the two institutions are affiliated, CAMH made and
rescinded the job offer.

He said the university's investigations suggest the drug company
did not play a role in the decision to revoke the position and he
added that the university would be prepared to appoint Dr. Healy to
its faculty if he is given a clinical appointment at the teaching
hospital. Neither institution has filed a statement of defence in
court.


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