Joseph Biederman and Timothy E. Wilens, both Harvard professors of psychiatry, are under investigation for failing to report millions of dollars in "consultant fees" received from pharmaceutical companies over the past decade. Both professors received government research grants requiring disclosure of any additional research monies received. In addition, Harvard limits the amount of corporate funding for conducting clinical trials to $10K, so the researchers appear to be in violation of multiple regulations designed to limit potential conflicts of interest between publicly funded basic research and corporation-backed translational research.

In addition to emphasizing the need to improve the execution of existing regulations, and possibly expand them further such as through the creation of a national research funding registry, news of the investigation also casts a cloud of doubt on the scientist's research. Dr. Biederman's research, for example, promotes the treatment of antipsychotic drugs in young children to treat bi-polar disorder. Both the disease, and its treatment, are controversial topics fraught with questions about the subject nature of diagnosis, concerns over the long-term effects of medication as well as possible developmental consequences.