Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ludwig representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. In late 1995 the National Health and Medication Research Council released the first guidelines on ADHD diagnosis and treatment in Australia. In 2008 the Royal Australian College of Physicians was commissioned by the NHMRC to redevelop these guidelines. The Australian earlier this week reported that the revised guidelines rely heavily on the work of Dr Biederman, who is under investigation for failing to disclose around $1.6 million of funding from the pharmaceutical industry. It is also reported that Minister Roxon’s advisers were warned of this investigation in August 2008 but no action was taken until last month. My questions to the minister are: can the minister confirm the accuracy of these reports and explain if the release of the redeveloped guidelines on ADHD have been delayed or abandoned because of concerns that a reliance on Dr Biederman’s research has undermined their credibility?