A Response to Columnist Dr. Greg Smith at the Aiken Standard
In this five-part series for the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition, Nicole L. critiques a recent article by Dr. Greg Smith that was highly laudatory of benzodiazepines. Click...
“F.D.A. Targets Inaccurate Medical Tests, Citing Dangers and Costs”
Following an eye-opening FDA report, the Obama administration is attempting to pass tighter regulations on medical tests. “Inaccurate and unreliable medical tests are prompting...
We Need Ecstasy and Cocaine in Place of Prozac and Xanax
From Aeon: While psychiatric drugs are often ineffective and can have serious side effects, there are many psychedelics and other illicit substances that have proven...
Patient Advocacy Groups Aren’t Always What They Seem
From HealthNewsReview.org: Recent studies have shown that well over half of patient advocacy groups accept money from drug, biotech, or medical device companies, and nearly...
NIH Hospital Made Patient Safety ‘Subservient to Research’
A Washington-Post exclusive reveals that that the leadership of the flagship hospital of the National Institute of Health (NIH) is being restructured after a...
The Ketamine Consensus?
From Discover Magazine: A group of psychiatrists from the American Psychiatric Association has recently released A Consensus Statement on the Use of Ketamine in the...
“Lawsuits Link Abilify with Compulsive Gambling”
Plaintiffs allege that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical failed to warn doctors and patients about the risk for compulsive behaviors when taking the atypical...
We Need to Encourage People to Make Advance Directives
In this piece for STAT, Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu describes the value of psychiatric advance directives for those at risk of experiencing an emotional crisis.
"'It’s something that can...
Doctors Rarely Warn about Benzo Withdrawal
The Boston Globe interviews people who became ever more severely dependent on sedating benzodiazepines without realizing it, because as they tried to stop taking...
“Generation Meds: the US Children Who Grow Up on Prescription Drugs”
“In America, medication is becoming almost as much a staple of childhood as Disney and McDonald’s,” writes Sarah Boseley in the Guardian. In this piece photographer Baptiste Lignel follows six boys and girls to examine the long-term effects of these drugs.
The Changing Role of the Pharmaceutical Representative
From the Center for Health Journalism: Due to drug safety scandals and rising drug prices, pharmaceutical representatives are increasingly being criticized by physicians, medical schools, and...
Corrupt Health Care Practices Drive Up Costs and Fail Patients
From The Huffington Post: Corruption is insidiously pervasive in our healthcare system and dramatically increases our health expenditures. Patients are increasingly being given unnecessary treatments...
Payment Disclosure Bill is a Good First Step, but More is Needed
From The Globe and Mail: Ontario's newly proposed physician-payment disclosure law is an important first step in the direction of improved health care and increased...
Older Patients Being Prescribed Risky Anticholinergic Drugs
From MinnPost: A new University of Minnesota study has found that anticholinergic drugs, including antidepressants, continue to be prescribed to millions of older Americans despite...
“Bernie Sanders Blocks Obama’s FDA Nominee for Big Pharma Ties”
Yesterday, senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders announced that he will formally oppose Robert Califf’s nomination as FDA commissioner. “Dr. Califf’s extensive ties to...
New Nutrition Study Changes Nothing
From The Atlantic: The science of nutrition and healthy eating is not complicated and has remained relatively consistent for the past several years. However, the...
New Site Names Companies Who Fail to Report on Clinical Trials
From Pacific Standard: The U.S. government has never penalized anyone for breaking a law that requires institutions to report the results of clinical trials. A...
Is the FDA Withholding Data to Protect a Drug Manufacturer?
From Scientific American: The FDA seems determined to prevent the public from accessing valuable data about the safety, efficacy, and potential adverse effects of the...
How Big Pharma Deceives You About Drug Safety
From The Conversation: A Saskatchewan judge recently rejected a proposed settlement between the Canadian provinces and Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, over the opioid...
QuarterWatch Reports: Perspectives on Emerging Drug Risks
A new issue of QuarterWatch critiques the recent Ciprani meta-analysis on antidepressants and reports on the adverse effects of the newest antidepressant, vortioxetine.
Report →
“Curing Naughty Children With Drugs”
Dr. Max Pemberton “The Mind Doctor” weighs in on the Cochrane review which questioned the evidence for Ritalin for ADHD. He writes: “History is...
Throwback Thursday: The Daily Show on the Pharmaceutical Drug Epidemic
On The Daily Show, Michael Che interviews MIA contributor Peter Gøtzsche and discovers that pharmaceutical companies and drug cartels have more in common than one might think.
Health Care? More Like Health Scare!
From the Lown Institute: For pharmaceutical companies who use scare tactics to sell drugs, every day is like Halloween. This list of egregious advertisements shows...
If a Drug Company Publishes a Magazine, is it Journalism?
From Undark Magazine: Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and agricultural science conglomerate, has launched a digital magazine covering the ethical and social implications of new biotechnologies....
Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers
Kaiser Health News has launched a new database called Pre$scription for Power, which exposes donations pharmaceutical companies have made to patient advocacy groups. The...
