QuarterWatch is published by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices as a public service. It has no regular income, foundation grant, or other dedicated financial support and is provided to the public and health professions without charge. We seek outside peer reviewers for each issue but their identities are not disclosed. QuarterWatch’s essential costs are funded from the general budget of ISMP, a non-profit organization dedicated solely to promoting the safe use of medication. ISMP, in turn, is supported by charitable donations, volunteer efforts, foundation grants, and subscription income from its four other medication safety newsletters, for pharmacists in the acute care and ambulatory care settings, for nurses, and for consumers.
Thomas J. Moore serves as a part-time project director for QuarterWatch. He has developed and maintains the master adverse event database that serves as the primary data source for the publication and conducts the primary analysis for each issue. Mr. Moore receives an honorarium from ISMP for each issue, with the remaining work being on a volunteer basis. He is also a Lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and Adjunct Professor at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. Mr. Moore also conducts and publishes other independent studies in the peer-reviewed scientific literature and works as a consultant on drug safety issues, doing business under the name Drug Safety Research. He was a consulting expert to the Attorney General of the State of Texas in a Medicaid fraud lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson regarding the antipsychotic drug Risperdal (risperidone), and was an expert witness for the United States Army in connection with a criminal case involving Chantix (varenicline). He also worked as a consulting expert for plaintiffs in the civil litigation regarding Chantix. In 2011 Moore examined the completeness and accuracy of adverse drug event reports for biological products for Amgen. He has also conducted confidential assessments for attorneys inquiring about the safety profiles of bisphosphonates, antipsychotic drugs, and proton pump inhibitors. In 2013 he has worked as a consulting expert for the plaintiffs in Celexa and Lexapro Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation in U.S. District Court.
Curt D. Furberg, MD, PhD is a Professor Emeritus of Public Health Sciences at Wake Forest School of Medicine and serves as senior medical adviser to QuarterWatch. He receives no compensation for his work in assessing scientific evidence, defining safety issues, shaping the written report, and communicating with the FDA and others about QuarterWatch findings. He continues to have a research role at Wake Forest and has published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles. An expert on clinical trials of drug treatments, Dr. Furberg is author of a major textbook on that subject, and has worked for the National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical industry as an investigator in clinical drug research. He has recently given expert testimony or depositions in cases involving Chantix (varenicline), COX-2 inhibitors, Yaz, Yasmin, Vytorin, and Fosamax (alendronate) and has become an expert in the litigation involving Actos (pioglitazone), and Pradaxa (dabigatran). Dr. Furberg is a member of the British Medical Journal Advisory Board.
Michael R. Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD (hon) is founder and President of ISMP and guides the overall policies and content of QuarterWatch. He also edits the other ISMP newsletters and is author of the textbook Medication Errors. He has served as an advisor and consultant to the FDA, and for his work in medication safety was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Dr. Cohen receives a regular salary as president of ISMP and does not engage in outside consulting or legal testimony.