Incomplete Financial Disclosure in a Study of Escitalopram and Problem-Solving Therapy for Prevention of Poststroke Depression

To the Editor: We would like to report an incomplete financial disclosure in our study of escitalopram and problem-solving therapy for prevention of poststroke depression,¹ resulting from erroneous recollection of the appropriate dates for speaking presentations sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and ownership of pharmaceutical stock.

In September 2003, Dr Robinson received financial support for expenses from Lubeck to present his research data at a meeting of the Consultation Psychiatrists of the European Union in Spain; no honorarium was paid. In October 2004, he received honoraria and expenses for 2 presentations in Tucson, Arizona, which were sponsored by Forest Laboratories and paid through the intermediary, Sudler and Hennessey, New York, New York. He was a member of the speakers' bureau for Forest Laboratories in 2004 and perhaps 2005, but this was the only presentation during the 5-year reporting window from 2003 to 2008. In November 2004, he was paid an honorarium and expenses for participation in and speaking at a meeting in Houston, Texas, as part of the Pfizer speakers' bureau training program. In January 2005, he presented a lecture in Davenport, Iowa, for which he received an honorarium and expenses paid by Pfizer. Dr Robinson tried to obtain from both Forest Laboratories and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals the period of time they considered him to be a member of their speakers' bureaus, but the companies did not respond.

Dr Arndt inherited Pfizer stock from the estate of his father, which he owned from January 6, 2005, to December 23, 2006.

We would like to apologize to the editors and readers of JAMA for our failure to report these financial disclosures in our article. Although Forest Laboratories provided honoraria and expenses through their speakers' bureau for Dr Robinson, neither the design, analysis, or any of the expenses (including the cost of medications) of our study were supported by monies, materials, or any intellectual input from Forest Laboratories. We sincerely regret this lack of transparency in our initial disclosures that resulted from these errors of memory.