The authors of a paper that endorses a computerized test for depression have acknowledged failure to disclose joint ownership of a company formed to bring the test to market. Lead author Robert Gibbons had incorporated the company, registered to do business as Adaptive Testing Technologies, and issued shares in the company to David Kupfer (chairman of the DSM-5 task force) and three other co-authors prior to acceptance of the paper by JAMA Psychiatry. The authors failed to acknowledge the conflict either in the paper or in a reply to criticism printed in JAMA.
When is Disclosure not Disclosure? (Health Care Renewal)
Gee, I guess everybody suffers from memory lapses once in a while. In fact, there is probably a DSM 5 diagnosis for such memory lapses along with failure to acknowledge conflicts of interest. Why don’t we just ask the Chair of the DSM 5 Task Force David Kupfer if the new DSM 5 has a way to determine whether this kind of memory lapse is associated with serious psychiatric pathology or merely a sign of anti-social but non-pathological capitalist greed.
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LOL! Exactly! They just happened to forget that they had conflicts of interest!!!!!! Psychiatry is a destitute wasteland these days. Where are the morals and ethics?
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This kind of thing is expected from Dr. Gibbons who has made a career out of testifying and statistic-ifying that SSRIs , Neurontin, Chantix etc. do not have dangerous side effects. And Dr. Kupfer was involved in this NIMH financed commercial project during the DSM-5 Task Forces’ deliberations. In fact, he pushed the agenda to add “cross cutting” dimensions – things like anxiety and depression to the manual, things measured by these peculiar instruments they’re pushing with this product. It’s a case of Dr. Kupfer capitalizing on his role as Task Force Czar. Fortunately, the APA Trustees said “no thanks” to the “cross cutting” dimensions.
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