The ALS Association (ALSA) is distancing itself from a researchers who is mired in controversy
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Dr. Joe Beckman and ALSA have come
under fire for their newly-revealed COI.
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Today, leaders at the ALS Association broke their silence about a researcher who recently dlsclosed a scheme to profit from money donated during the the Ice Bucket Challenge.
"While Dr. Beckman is not incorrect in that this is his interpretation of what *could* happen, we wanted to help clarify," explained ALSA, in a post on their own website.
ALSA concedes that the researcher used their blog to make misleading statements to patients, but leaders of the organization have not yet revealed whether Beckman lied to them during the period of time that he was leveraging their funding for his own financial benefit.
Hundreds of people with ALS (PALS) demonstrated at ALSA headquarters last week after ALSA released an updated conflict of interest statement from Beckman.
ALSA has not responded to repeated requests for comment on their conflict of interest policy for researchers. It is unclear whether the organization was aware of Beckman's scheme before they sent him ice bucket money or allowed him to publish erroneous statements on their website.