It is Time to Abandon the Candidate-Gene Approach to Depression

17
The candidate-gene approach to depression goes unsupported and is likely based on bad science, new research finds.

“Big Science is Broken”

0
For The Week, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry comments on the current state of Science: the replicability crisis, the failure to self-correct, outright fraud, the inadequacy of...

Most Psychology Research Does Not Generalize to the Individual

3
A new study claims that quantitative research in psychology is “worryingly imprecise” and that generalizations may be flawed and misleading.

New Study Raises Doubts About fMRI Neuroimaging Research

5
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...

JAMA Editorial: “Confluence, Not Conflict of Interest”

9
Yesterday, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) released an editorial entitled “Confluence, Not Conflict of Interest: Name Change Necessary.” The authors argue that the phrase “conflict of interest is pejorative,” and a better term “would be confluence of interest, implying an alingnment of primary and secondary interests.”

New Review of Antipsychotics for Schizophrenia Questions Evidence for Long Term Use

11
A systematic review of the limited research available on the long-term effects of antipsychotics finds fewer symptoms in those off of the drugs.

“A Frenzy Of Lobbying On 21st Century Cures”

13
Kaiser Health News and NPR report on the immense lobbying effort aimed at passing the "21st Century Cures" Act which would fast-track FDA approval...

Researchers Set the Record Straight on Controversial Zoloft Study

1
An issue of Lancet Psychiatry is devoted to clarifying the lack of efficacy for Zoloft (sertraline).

Researchers Expose Pharmaceutical Industry Misconduct and Corruption

8
Corruption of pharmaceutical industry sponsored clinical trials identified as a “major obstacle” facing evidence-based medicine.

Failed TB Vaccine Exposes Concerns Regarding Research Ethics

0
An investigation exposes violations to research ethics, finding that researchers failed to disclose risks and even misled government agencies.

Brain Imaging Results Biased by Lack of Representative Data

6
What does "normal" brain development throughout childhood look like? It may depend on your demographics.

Publication Bias and Meta-Analyses: Tainting the Gold Standard with Lead

For decades the gold standard for medical evidence was the review article - an essay looking at most or (hopefully) all of the research on a particular question and trying to divine a general trend in the data toward some conclusion ("therapy X seems to be good for condition Y," for example). More recently, the format of review articles has shifted - at least where the questions addressed have leant themselves to the new style. The idea has been to look at the original data for all of the studies available, and in effect reanalyze them as though the research participants were all taking part in one gigantic study. By increasing the number of data points and averaging across the vagaries of different studies, a clearer finding might emerge. The meta-analysis has gone on to be revered as a strategy for advancing healthcare. It has vulnerabilities.

Biogen Pushes FDA to Approve Failed Alzheimer’s Drug

2
A new analysis, published in Lancet Neurology, demonstrates how Biogen is spinning results from two failed trials for a new Alzheimer's drug.

Two Thirds of Patients See Physicians Who Receive Payments From Pharma

6
Study finds more patients are visiting physicians who have ties to industry than previously thought.

NEJM Editorial Doubles Down on Resistance to Data Sharing

0
The New England Journal of Medicine came under fire earlier this year when editors wrote that new efforts for transparency and open data would...

New Study Challenges Impartiality of Peer Review

0
New research shows that more connected and well-known researchers are more likely to be published, even when they receive negative reviews.

Majority of Pediatric Antidepressant Industry Trials Considered Low Quality

7
Meta-analyses including studies that detail these trials could be presenting misleading information.

“Martyrs to Science? When Research Participants Die”

0
Neuroskeptic covers a short article by Susan Lederer that appeared in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics discussing what happens when research participants die.

Researchers Push for Transparency of Mental Health Outcome Data

5
A new analysis of UK mental health data suggests the way organizations deliver mental health services can alter patient outcomes.

Poor and Foster Care Children More Likely to be Diagnosed and Treated with Psychiatric...

11
Study details Medicaid-insured birth cohort’s exposure to psychiatric medications and mental health services.

Brain Stimulation Research Lacking in Reproducibility and Scientific Integrity

2
Questionable research practices and poor reproducibility in electrical brain stimulation (EBS) studies.

Lancet Psychiatry’s Controversial ADHD Study: Errors, Criticism, and Responses

5
Amid calls for a retraction, Lancet Psychiatry publishes articles criticizing the original finding and a response from the authors.

“Amid Public Feuds, A Venerated Medical Journal Finds Itself Under Attack”

0
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has come under intense scrutiny for delayed corrections and controversial editorials and articles. “The Journal and its...

Industry Funded Trials Favor Drugs Over Psychotherapy

6
The researchers conclude that industry funding appears to bias studies towards pharmacotherapy over psychotherapy for the treatment of depression.

Researchers Pressure Psychiatric Journal to Retract Misleading Celexa Study

2
In 2004, the American Psychiatric Association published a paper supporting the use of the antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) in children and teens. After reanalyzing the...