<p>[Will</a> data deception damage Emory? | <a href=“http://www.ajc.com%5B/url%5D”>www.ajc.com](<a href=“http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/will-data-deception-damage-emory/nRMLP/]Will”>http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/will-data-deception-damage-emory/nRMLP/)</a></p>
<p>This is only the latest incident to raise questions about Emory’s integrity.</p>
<p>Emory Healthcare announced in April that it had lost 10 discs containing personal data such as Social Security numbers for about 315,000 patients. Officials acknowledged the discs were not stored according to protocol and said the hospital system was clarifying policies and procedures to ensure patient information is secure.</p>
<p>Emory University came under scrutiny for its handling of Dr. Charles Nemeroff, an internationally recognized expert on depression who was stripped of his chairmanship of Emory’s psychiatry department in 2008. He failed to disclose $800,000 in speaking fees from a drug company and was the focus of a congressional probe on conflicts of interest.
University officials said they had raised concerns about Nemeroff’s relationships with drug companies several times since 2000. But the professor, who brought in millions of dollars in grants, remained department chairman until he came under congressional scrutiny. He has left the school, and Emory has implemented new conflict of interest policies.</p>
<p>Kirshstein said some people might see a pattern of wrongdoing on the part of Emory. This current instance, she said, is more visible because it is a lie that impacted students.
She sees some likely financial impact, especially in less alumni giving.</p>
<p>“When I sit down to write my little check,” Kirshstein said, “I might send it to my graduate school, the University of Massachusetts, which needs the money.”</p>