A 10-Year Fight to Rein in Pharmaceutical Promotion
FromĀ The Chronicle of Higher Education: Last week, 200 doctors and scientists assembled at Georgetown University for the 10th annual conference of PharmedOut, an educational...
Unanswered Questions in New Mental Health Screening Program for Children
An article presents new screening tools for pediatric depression and anxietyābut fails to answer its own questions about efficacy.
Power Causes Brain Damage
FromĀ The Atlantic: New research suggests that power may impair neural processes involved inĀ feeling empathy and understanding others' perspectives. Recalling experiences of powerlessness can help...
Remembering the Murder You Didn’t Commit
In this pieceĀ forĀ The New Yorker, Rachel Aviv investigates how a psychologist and deputy sheriff convinced several suspects that they committed a murder, for which...
Psychological Research Fails to Capture Human Diversity, Researchers Call for Action
Data demonstrate an overreliance of non-representative and non-diverse sampling biases in psychological research.
A University Ethics Scandal Turns Into a Business Opportunity
FromĀ City Pages: In a 2014Ā University of Minnesota research scandal, a young man was coerced into an experimental drug study conducted by his psychiatrist that...
Panels That Developed Treatment Guidelines Had Industry Ties
FromĀ STAT: A recent analysis found that a large portion of depression treatment guidelines wasĀ developed by individuals with financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
"Of 172...
Is Evidence Based Medicine a Form of Microfascism?
In this post forĀ BMJ Opinion, Richard Smith critiques a 2006 paper condemning evidence based medicine asĀ an exclusionary, colonizing form of microfascism that promotes a...
Researchers Question the Utility of an ADHD Diagnosis
A new article examines the usefulness of the ADHD diagnosis and suggests alternatives
Do Antidepressants Increase Risk of Adult Suicide?
FromĀ From Insults to Respect: It is commonly assumed that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide in children and young adults, but not in adults...
Study Investigates Physicians’ Beliefs About Placebo and Nocebo Effects of Antidepressants
Surveyed doctors overestimate pharmacological effects of antidepressants and underestimate placebo effects.
āSalami Slicingā Found in Analyses of Antipsychotic Trials
Evidence of duplicate publishing in articles analyzing data from clinical trials testing second-generation antipsychotics for depression
FBI Raids Lab That Pays Doctors to Promote Genetic Tests
FromĀ STAT: Federal investigators recently searched Proove Biosciences, a genetic testing company that purports to determine an individual's likelihood of becoming addicted to opioids.Ā Proove's genetic...
The Crisis of Expertise
FromĀ Aeon: Experts have been wrong many times throughout history, from nutritional scientists' claims that eggs might be lethal in the 1970s to the Nobel...
United Nations Report Calls for Revolution in Mental Health Care
In a new report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dr. Dainius PÅ«ras, calls for a move away from the biomedical model and āexcessive use of psychotropic medicines.ā
Are Pharmaceutical Companies to Blame for the Opioid Epidemic?
FromĀ The Atlantic: As opioid abuse rises, some attorneys general and advocates are filing lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for misleading doctors and the public about...
Researchers Reveal Misconceptions About ADHD
A new article explains common misconceptions about ADHD that are held by teachers and mental health professionals and may lead to overdiagnosis and overmedication in schools.
Corrupt Health Care Practices Drive Up Costs and Fail Patients
FromĀ The Huffington Post: Corruption is insidiously pervasive in our healthcare system and dramatically increases our health expenditures. Patients are increasingly being given unnecessary treatments...
Big Pharma Might Be Intentionally Confusing You
FromĀ Benzinga: The FDA has suggested that drug commercials may intentionally list potential side effects in such a rapid-fire, overwhelming way that the warning messages...
Ohio Attorney General Sues Prescription Opioid Manufacturers
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine hasĀ filed a lawsuit against five leading prescription opioid manufacturers and their related companies in Ross County Court of Common...
Study Examines Who Gets Recruited for Psychosis Research
Study examines who gets approached and who gives consent for research on psychotic disorders.
Opioid Conflict-of-Interest Reveals Big Pharma’s Ties to Doctors
FromĀ CBC News: A McMaster University committee has been assigned to develop new opioid-prescribing guidelines for Canada'sĀ doctors. While the rules explicitly prohibited anyone with ties...
Some Social Scientists are Tired of Asking for Permission
FromĀ The New York Times: The Department of Health and Human Services's Office for HumanĀ Research Protections recently revised its rules for social science research. Studies...
Researchers Find that Textbooks Include Biased Information About ADHD
A review of academic textbooks finds that they often leave out effect sizes and molecular genetics findings, both of which suggest minimal impact of genetics on ADHD. Instead, textbooks focus on overblown conclusions from behavioral studies.
Doctors Too Reliant on Pfizer’s Depression Questionnaire
FromĀ The Telegraph: Depression is being overdiagnosed due to doctors' reliance on a nine-question form designed by pharmaceutical company Pfizer to assess patients for depression.
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