This is Wilson.* His mother, Aline, took the picture to mark a happy and hopeful moment following a traumatic period when Wilson participated in a University of Illinois at Chicago clinical trial that tested whether lithium was effective in treating children with bipolar disorder.
ProPublica Illinois reported in April that the UIC psychiatrist who oversaw several federally funded studies, Dr. Mani Pavuluri, violated research rules, failed to alert parents of risks and falsified data to cover up misconduct, and that UIC didn’t properly oversee her work. The National Institute of Mental Health forced UIC to return $3.1 million in grant money in December and, not long after, Pavuluri left the university. Pavuluri, who had founded a UIC pediatric mood disorders clinic in 2000 and treated children from around the country, opened a private practice.
Hundreds of children participated in Pavuluri’s studies. After UIC provided only limited information about how they were affected, we put out a call for families who took part to tell us about their experiences.
[For more on this story by Jodi S. Cohen and Logan Jaffe, go to https://features.propublica.or...amp;utm_medium=email]
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