Madelyn,
Thanks for posting this. I am a member of AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), but I was not aware of, or had forgotten about the story about this clinical scientist who underwent professional and personal persecution and defamation when she stood up against a Canadian drug company which was conducting a clinical trial at the U. of Toronto where she was a faculty member.

Because of its somewhat esoteric nature, and because it occurred in Canada, this case stayed somewhat under the radar of the media in the U.S., unlike the Vioxx-Merck case here.

What makes it so compelling to me is that it was directly focused on an individual who put the welfare of the patients under her care in a drug trial ahead of warnings by the drug company of personal professional repercussions when she published results unfavorable to the drug in the trial. The drug company subsequently secretly launched a campaign of professional assasination against Dr Olivieri which included anonomous accusations of personal misconduct to university officials by her own colleagues. Subsequently the university, which was at the time anticipating a huge gift from the same drug company, censured Dr. Olivieri.

Investigations of the case by national professional and academic organizations eventually revealed the scheme instigated by the drug company. Although Dr. Olivieri was eventually completely exonerated by the university and awarded damages for professional defamation by the Canadian courts, the drug company continues to use legal maneuvering to avoid paying the adjudicated fine.

I am proud of the AAAS for recognizing this courageous scientist and again calling attention to the dangers of corporate subversion of scientific inquiry when their financial interests are placed ahead of the search for the truth.

Robert