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Top 'ADHD Experts' all take drug company money

Updated: Jan 1, 2022

All of the world's ten most influential 'ADHD experts' have taken funds from multiple ADHD drug manufacturers. Topping the list is American psychologist Prof Stephen V. Faraone who has commercial ties to 21 ADHD drug companies. Faraone has authored or co-authored 325 articles in the last decade at an astonishing rate 0f one every eleven days.


We can't know how much Faraone and his fellow ADHD Industry luminaries get paid but thanks to recent improvements in academic journal conflict of interest disclosure requirements, we do know some of their financial ties. We also know that ADHD is very Big Business with global sales in 2021 expected to total US$22.5 billion.


Some (not all) of the most relevant connections for the world's ten most prominent 'ADHD experts' are listed below. A more comprehensive list (including more 'experts') is available at ADHD "Experts" Conflicts of Interest.


1. Stephen V. Faraone from the USA has authored or co-authored 325 articles on ADHD published between 2011 to 2021. Faraone has received funding support from at least 21 companies who have manufactured or intended to profit from the manufacture of ADHD drugs.


Faraone was elected President of the World Federation of ADHD in 2019. The WF ADHD openly seeks sponsorship but does not publish its funding sources. He is the lead signatory of the the WF ADHD International Consensus Statement published in 2021.


The vast majority of signatories declared financial ties to ADHD drug manufacturers. (Note: In coming months ADHDisBS.com will expose what passes for science in the WF ADHD Consensus Statement.)







7. Edmund Sonuga-Barke (Denmark 148 articles) - MRC, Shire/Takeda and Janssen Cilag, Medice.



9. L Eugene Arnold (USA 106 articles) - Eli Lilly, Neuropharm, Novartis, Noven, Shire, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche and Tris. Arnold is the only member of the top 10 who was not a signatory to the WF ADHD International Consensus Statement.


10. Henrik Larsson (Sweden 133 articles) - Shire/Takeda and Evolan Pharma.


Similar ADHD drug company ties are evident for the majority of the next 56 people (listed below) who are designated as leading global 'ADHD Experts' listed by Expertscape.

This invites some obvious questions: Can we really trust their work? Are they salespeople or scientists?

11. Stephen P. Becker No direct financial ties to ADHD drug manufacturers found. He has received grant funding from various U.S. institutions including the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education; National Institute of Mental Health and Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation.


12. Joseph Biederman # USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 12) - Pfizer, Sunovion, Takeda/Shire, Tris, Shire, Sunovion, Theravance; Lundbeck and Johnson and Johnson, Eli Lilly and Co., Janssen, McNeil, Otsuka, Shire, Janssen, McNeil, Novartis, Shire, UCB Pharma, Inc. GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer X. and Alcobra, Genentech, Ironshore, Magceutics, Merck, Neurocentria, Roche, Aevi Genomics, Akili, Alcobra, Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Jazz Pharma, Medgenics, Piper Jaffray, the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders, he has a financial interest in Avekshan, a company that develops treatments for ADHD and has received royalties from a copyrighted rating scale used for ADHD diagnoses X. Note: Biederman was previously sanctioned by Harvard for not properly disclosing payments received from multiple drug companies. (Read More)



14. Joel T. Nigg # USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 14) - None Declared in the WFADHD Consensus Statement. He has previously declared receiving payment for consulting to the OVA Company and to an organisation funded by Shire.


15. Francisco Xavier Castellanos USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 15) No direct drug company ties found.


16. Phillip Shaw USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 16) No direct drug company ties found.



18. Anita Thapar # UK (ADHD Expert World Ranking 18) - None Declared in the WFADHD Consensus Statement. Note: For a critique of an appalling overhyped claim by Thapar as having proved “that ADHD is a genetic disease” read ADHD: How a Lie ‘Medicated’ Often Enough Became the Truth.




21. Catharina A. Hartman # Netherlands (ADHD Expert World Ranking 21) - None Declared in the WFADHD Consensus Statement.


22. Joshua Landberg USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 22) - No direct drug company ties found.


23. Daniel Brandeis Austria (ADHD Expert World Ranking 23) - No direct ADHD drug company ties found however he along with many researchers with extensive ADHD drug company connections participated in research into non-pharmaceutical treatments on ADHD that was supported by Janssen-Cilag, Lilly, Medice, Shire, and Vifor.



25. Jaap Oosterlaan Netherlands (ADHD Expert World Ranking 25) - No direct drug company ties found.


26. Susan Sher-Fen Gau Tiawan (ADHD Expert World Ranking 26) - No direct drug company ties found.



28. Jeffrey Halperin USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 28) - No direct drug company ties found.



30. William Pelham USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 30) - Abbott Laboratories and Alza, Shire, Noven, Eli Lilly, Cephalon, McNeil, Richwood, Noven, Novartis, Celgene, and Abbott. Note: Prof Pelham deserves credit for his honesty in regards to his assessment of the long term outcomes associated with the use of ADHD medications demonstrated in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (commonly referred to as the MTA Study). For details read https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/nov/12/uknews.health



32. Martjin Arns Germany (ADHD Expert World Ranking 32) - Has done extensive research into neuro-biofeedback and ADHD and has declared commercial ties in regard to the commercialisation of nuero-biofeedback.


33. Emma Sciberras Australia (ADHD Expert World Ranking 33) - No direct drug company ties found.



36. Nanda Rommelse Netherlands (ADHD Expert World Ranking 36) - No direct drug company ties found.





40. Stephen P. Hinshaw # USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 40) - None Declared in the WFADHD Consensus Statement however Hinshaw has prior commercial ties to Noven, Sigma Tau and McNeil.



43. Brooke S.G. Molina # USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 43) - None Declared in the WFADHD Consensus Statement.



45. Timothy Wilens USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 45) - Abbott, Cephalon, Ortho-McNeil, Eli Lilly and Company, Shire, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, Pfizer and Alcobra, Neurovance/Otsuka, and Ironshore*. Note: Wilens was previously sanctioned by Harvard for not properly disclosing payments received from multiple drug companies. (Read More)





49. Kevin Antshel USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 49) - No direct ADHD drug company ties found.



51. J.J. Sandra Kooij # Netherlands (ADHD Expert World Ranking 51) - Receives research support from Parnassia Groep, the Netherlands it is not known if this organisation is sponsored by ADHD drug manufacturers.



54. Michael H Bloch USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 54) - No direct ADHD drug company ties found.







62. Kapil Sayal UK (ADHD Expert World Ranking 62) - No direct ADHD drug company ties found. Note: Sayal led some excellent research that showed that the youngest children in classrooms in Finland are at much higher risk of being diagnosed and ‘medicated’ for ADHD than their older classmates. Later research led by the ADHDisBS.com editor Dr Martin Whitely demonstrated this is a global phenomenon.

63. Marjolein Luman Netherlands (ADHD Expert World Ranking 63) - No direct ADHD drug company ties found.


65. Saskia Van der Oord # Germany (ADHD Expert World Ranking 65) - No connections declared in the WFADHD Consensus Statement however she along with many researchers with extensive ADHD drug company connections participated in research into non-pharmaceutical treatments on ADHD that was supported by Janssen-Cilag, Lilly, Medice, Shire, and Vifor.


66. Michael Kofler USA (ADHD Expert World Ranking 64) - No direct ADHD drug company ties found.

By Martin Whitely PhD Editor ADHDisBS.com updated 28 December 2021


Note: While ADHD is serious (and big) business the Mockumentary ADHD is BS (Attention Deficit Disorder is Behavioural Science) starring Australian comedian Peter Rowsthorn as American 'ADHD Expert' Professor Chip Cash might make you smile.


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