Mad in America

Time: 1PM (GMT) / 8AM (EDT)

Various forces have aligned over the past 50 years to redefine sadness and depressed mood, from a multifactorial maladaptation to one’s surroundings to a homogeneous disease primarily treated with medication. This dominance of the medical model and the pharmaceutical industry’s influence on psychiatry have led to an over-emphasis on intra-individual solutions with a resultant under-appreciation for the social and psychosocial determinants of health and the need for population-based health promotion. The presentation will illustrate how commercialized science—the use of science primarily to meet industry needs—deflects attention away from the sociopolitical determinants of health, and will offer solutions for reform.

Doctor Shaughnessy received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and his Masters in Medical Education from the University of Dundee. He has completed a faculty development fellowship and the Department of Health and Human Services Primary Care Health Policy Fellowship. He has edited several books and published over 200 papers in the areas of family medical education, continuing medical education, evidence-based medicine, pharmacology, prescription writing, and medical information management. His long-term research interest has been on how the pharmaceutical industry adversely affects physician prescribing patterns and ultimately affects patient health.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session with members of the audience and proceedings will conclude by 2 pm GMT / 9 am EDT.