New Study Raises Doubts About fMRI Neuroimaging Research
More than forty thousand papers have been published using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to explore the brain. A new analysis of the common...
Clinton Releases Mental Health Plan
Today, Hillary Clinton’s campaign released their plan for addressing mental health care in the United States. The plan calls for a full integration of...
“Many Clinical Trials’ Findings Never Get Published. Here’s Why That’s Bad”
STAT’s watchdogs, Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus, explain why unpublished studies for drug makers and researchers “put young patients at risk, particularly if those...
Lancet Study on CBT and Behavioral Activation Challenged
In July, The Lancet published a study finding that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) from trained psychotherapists was not superior to short-term behavior activation (BA) intervention...
“Distrustful of Authority, a Holocaust Survivor Became a Fierce Critic of Medical Establishment”
STAT’s Rob Waters profiles Vera Sharav, a holocaust survivor whose son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and died from a side effect of his antipsychotic...
NEJM Editorial Doubles Down on Resistance to Data Sharing
The New England Journal of Medicine came under fire earlier this year when editors wrote that new efforts for transparency and open data would...
“Driven to Suicide by an ‘Inhuman and Unnatural’ Pressure to Sell”
Today’s New York Times features a story of a drug salesman, Ashish Awasthi, who committed suicide when he felt he couldn’t keep up with...
Researchers Pressure Psychiatric Journal to Retract Misleading Celexa Study
In 2004, the American Psychiatric Association published a paper supporting the use of the antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) in children and teens. After reanalyzing the...
“Institutional Corruption Blamed for Dramatic Increase in Drug Adverse Events and Deaths”
Pharmaguy investigates the rise of adverse event reports filed each year and reports on a new article in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics ("Institutional...
“European Regulator Recommends Suspending Numerous Drugs Over Clinical Trial Problems”
Pharmalot’s Ed Silverman reports that a number of generic drugs, sold by Novartis and Teva Pharmaceuticals, may be pulled off of the shelves after...
“Medical Groups Push to Water Down Requirements for Disclosing Industry Ties”
Pharmalot’s Ed Silverman reports on a Senate bill aimed at loosening requirements around the reporting of financial conflicts of interest between companies and physicians....
“Vast Majority of Americans Want to Criminalize Data Fraud”
Retraction Watch highlights a new study, “Public Attitudes Toward Data Fraud And Selective Reporting in Science,” finding that the public overwhelmingly believes that data fraud...
Despite Official Recommendations, Depression Screening in Children is Not Supported by Research
Earlier this year, the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) came out with the controversial recommendation that all adolescent and adult patients undergo depression...
“Evolutionary Forces Are Causing a Boom in Bad Science”
From the New Scientist: “Paul Smaldino and Richard McElreath at the University of California Davis used an evolutionary theory-based computational model to analyse the problem of bad...
“Drug and Device Makers Paid $6.5 Billion to Docs and Teaching Hospitals Last Year”
From Ed Silverman with Pharmalot: “Drug and device makers paid nearly $6.5 billion in payments to doctors and teaching hospitals last year, according to...
“FDA Issues New Draft Guidelines For ‘Appearance’ of Conflicts of Interest”
For STAT news, Pharmalot correspondent Ed Silverman reports on a new guideline being drafted by the FDA that adds new rules that could restrict...
Effects of Exercise on Depression Underestimated, Review Finds
A new meta-analysis finds that the large antidepressant effects of exercise may have been underestimated in previous reviews. This latest report, published this month...
How Can We Address the Corruption Problem in Clinical Trials?
Recently, major researchers, including David Healy, Jon Juriedini, Mickey Nardo, and their colleagues, have brought a great deal of attention to issues of corruption...
“You Could Be Paying More for Less Effective Medicine”
A new study by Lisa Cosgrove, "Under the Influence: The Interplay among Industry, Publishing, and Drug Regulation," suggests that weak drug regulation can lead...
JAMA Review Questions Use of Ritalin for ‘ADHD’
In December, MIA reported on a systematic Cochrane review on the research for the safety and effectiveness of Ritalin (methylphenidate) that found substantial bias...
“If Antidepressants Don’t Work Well, Why Are They So Popular?”
“The true balance of risk versus benefit for people taking these kinds of antidepressants will probably only emerge when independent researchers have access to...
Major Review Finds Antidepressants Ineffective, Potentially Harmful for Children and Teens
In a large review study published this week in The Lancet, researchers assessed the effectiveness and potential harms of fourteen different antidepressants for their use in children and adolescents. The negative results, familiar to MIA readers, are now making major headlines.
Correction: No “Charges” Against Former FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg
Our headline on an Around the Web item posted on June 8 stating that the former head of the FDA, Margaret Hamburg, had been "charged"...
Study Finds Racial and Class Discrimination in Psychotherapy
Are psychotherapists less likely to accept patients that are working class or black? According to a new study from the American Sociological Association, the answer is yes. The study, published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that therapists in New York City were less likely to offer appointments to patients who were black or lower working-class.
Undisclosed Financial Conflicts Endemic in Clinical Practice Guidelines
While there has been a recent push to account for financial conflicts of interest in medical research, less attention has been paid to organizations...
