Informed Consent

From The New York Times: The recent trial of Wendy Dolin, whose husband died of suicide after starting the antidepressant paroxetine, demonstrates our need for more...

From The Washington Post: A new investigative report on deterrents in reporting problems with human research found evidence of fear of retaliation among whistleblowers in...

The researchers find that the drug effects for reducing psychosis are small and that treatment failure and severe side effects are common.

A recent Cochrane review has found that serious adverse events occur for about 1% of children and adolescents treated with Ritalin.

Following an extensive systematic review of treatments for major depression, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued a recommendation to clinicians suggesting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as a first-line treatment for major depressive disorder along with second-generation antidepressants. The results of the review revealed that CBT and antidepressants have similar levels of effectiveness but that antidepressants present serious side-effects and higher relapse rates.

A large longitudinal study finds once more that being prescribed antipsychotics significantly increases the risk of diabetes.

A group of researchers in Denmark examines what existing animal studies can tell us about the sexual side-effects of SSRI antidepressants.

Oryx Cohen at TruthOut explains why the "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR 2646) - commonly known as the 'Murphy Bill' - appears to cater more closely to the desires of pharmaceutical companies than to the actual needs of people in psychological distress, perhaps because of Murphy's connections to key lobbyists." "If the Murphy Bill is passed, psychiatric hospitals and pharmaceutical companies will reap huge financial benefits as a result of increased hospitalization and forced treatment."

In a featured article for Psychiatric Services, psychiatrists from Dartmouth raise the alarm on the increasing numbers of children prescribed dangerous antipsychotic drugs. Despite the fact that data on the safety of long-term use of these drugs in this vulnerable population “do not exist,” the rate of children and adolescents being prescribed antipsychotic drugs have continued to increase over the past fifteen years.

From The Chronicle of Higher Education: Last week, 200 doctors and scientists assembled at Georgetown University for the 10th annual conference of PharmedOut, an educational...

From The Scholarly Kitchen: We may be in a new phase of corporation-funded research. According to the 2016 Science & Engineering Indicators from the National...

Individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 are more likely to commit a violent crime if they are taking an SSRI antidepressant than if they are not, according to new research out of Sweden. The study published in PLoS Medicine on Tuesday, suggests "warnings about the increased risk of violent behavior among young people taking SSRIs might be needed.”

From STAT: Concerned about the potential adverse effects of ADHD medications, some parents are addressing their children's ADHD through nutrition-based approaches. Article →­

An editorial in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has called for a ban on advertisements about testosterone replacement therapy, and the FDA has issued warnings about the practice.

"To be sure, the FDA review process is not perfect. What is? But the agency is still considered the gold standard by which other...

Professionals are paid to share their wisdom with those who are, typically, less informed. But, when dealing with mental health professionals in the psychiatric arena, it is wise to retain a degree of skepticism about the words spoken by the doctors and nurses commissioned to help reduce human misery and suffering.

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...

World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day has just launched its official website, w-bad.org. The new site includes useful information about benzodiazepines, ideas for taking action, and video...

The president and president-elect of the American Psychological Association penned a letter to the New York Times calling on “Congress and other policy makers to address these factors with interventions supported by evidence rather than avoiding them by scapegoating the mentally ill.”

From the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: United Nations Special Rapporteur Dainius Pūras calls for our global community to rethink...

A woman in Texas attempted suicide while in the active group of a clinical trial for smoking-cassation drugs Chantix and Zyban, both known to...

In this month’s issue of the journal Brain a new study investigates whether the drugs prescribed to control seizures can increase the risk of...

A new film, "Cause of Death: Unknown" investigates the pharmaceutical industry and the deaths that have been caused by psychiatric drugs. The film will...

“Adolescents whose mothers took certain antidepressants while pregnant with them are more than four times as likely to become depressed by age 15, compared with...

Corruption of pharmaceutical industry sponsored clinical trials identified as a “major obstacle” facing evidence-based medicine.