To the Editor: In the review by Robert T. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D (1), of Psychoneuroendocrinology: The Scientific Basis of Clinical Practice(2), he charged that I, a coeditor of the book, have an undisclosed conflict of interest: "Also troublesome is Rothschild’s undisclosed financial interest in Corcept Therapeutics, which is attempting to establish mifepristone as an antidepressant." There are only three sentences in this 588-page book regarding studies of mifepristone for the treatment of psychotic depression:

To set the record straight, I do not now and never have owned stock in Corcept Therapeutics. I served briefly as a consultant to Corcept Therapeutics (October 2000 to March 2001) regarding the methodology of a clinical trial of mifepristone for the treatment of psychotic depression. In addition, I was an investigator at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for multisite clinical trials of mifepristone for the treatment of psychotic depression, a fact that is obvious from the relevant paragraph in the book.