Portrait of Alexander Neumeister used during his time as a staff member at Yale University.
Brain scan that highlights the posterior cingulate cortex.
A portion from the letter that was addressed to Neumeister from the FDA describing the protocols he failed to follow.
Portrait of Alexander Neumeister used during his time as a staff member at Yale University.
Alexander Neumeister NYU Post Traumatic Stress Studies
Alexander Neumeister is a psychiatric researcher who at one point was the head of New York University’s molecular imaging program. In 2016, Neumeister held a study within the University to experiment on how drugs with similar effects to marijuana benefit people suffering with PTSD. However, after an investigation by The Food and Drug Association (FDA), the study was shut down after it was revealed that Neumeister was not properly regulating the study.
One of the allegations targeted towards Neumeister and the study included one of the subjects named Diane Ruffcorn being asked to stop taking her current medication. However, due to circumstances such as false starts of the study, Ruffcord was on and off taking her medication. This caused her PTSD symptoms to come back worse than ever, such as constant nightmares and flashbacks. One other allegation was in regards to a subject who had completed another drug study only 16 days after completing a different drug study, even though the protocol called for the window between testing being 30 days.
While the Neumeisters actions during the study were not illegal, they still violated many of the protocols that are standard for drug studies. Besides the physical dangers that came from deviating from protocols, the study also failed to keep their records and some researchers even falsified their records. The study being shut down also led to many of the participants who were participating in the study being left without any information regarding the drugs they were experimenting with.
"A Top N.Y.U. Researcher Dismissed From Research Study." University of Arkansa for Medical Sciences. 2016. https://research.uams.edu/research-compliance/news/an-n-y-u-study-gone-wrong-and-a-top-researcher-dismissed/.
Sources:
Carey, Benedict. "An N.Y.U Study Gone Wrong, and a Top Researcher Dismissed." The New York Time. 2016.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/28/health/nyu-cannabis-ptsd-psychiatry.html.
Hall, Geoff B. An M.R.I. Scan of a Brain Highlighting the Posterior Cingulate Cortex. In a Study, Traumatic Memories Appeared to Engage This Area, Which is Usually Involved in Internally Directed Thought, Like Introspection or Day Dreaming. Photograph.
Pham, Douglas B. Alexander Neumeister 2/19/16. Letter. From Citizens For Responsible Care and Research. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.circare.org/fdawls3/neumeister-fdawl-20160219.pdf.
Sonenshine, Jacob. "How a Medical Study on PTSD at NYU Went Wrong." USA Today. 2016.