FDA Approves Potential “Blockbuster” Sleep Drug
The US FDA on Wednesday approved a new type of drug for insomnia, called Belsroma. Last year, a lengthy investigative report in The New...
Is Evidence Based Medicine a Form of Microfascism?
In this post for BMJ Opinion, Richard Smith critiques a 2006 paper condemning evidence based medicine as an exclusionary, colonizing form of microfascism that promotes a...
Teva to Pay $27.6M to Settle Clozapine False Claims Lawsuit
Teva Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $27 million to settle federal and state accusation of false claims regarding the antipsychotic Clozapine, and payments made...
Antidepressants, Not Alcohol, Implicated in Mary Kennedy Suicide
When Mary R. Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., committed suicide last May, initial speculation centered around the possible contribution of...
“Context Matters When Replicating Experiments, Argues Study”
Retraction Watch reports on a new study suggesting that research experiments that are “contextually sensitive,” like many of those in psychology and the social...
National Initiative Launched to Get People Out of Prisons and Into Treatment
The American Psychiatric Foundation has announced the launch of a pharmaceutical company-funded national initiative to move people from jails into psychiatric care.
EEG Shows That Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Improves Brain Function in Bipolar Disorder
In a study of 12 patients with bipolar disorder and 9 controls, researchers found that after an 8-week training in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy...
Baseline Lipid Monitoring with Antipsychotics “Disappointingly Low”
"Even in an academic setting with active discussions among psychiatrists regarding issues of metabolic risk ... baseline lipid monitoring is disappointingly low" according to...
PsychRights Dismisses Watson v. King-Vassel, Medicaid Fraud Case
Counsel for ex rel Watson v. King-Vassel - Psychrights' latest effort to show that prescribing medication for children that is not supported by scientific evidence constitutes fraud...
Medical Model Does Not Increase Social Acceptance
A review of all studies of mental illness-related beliefs and attitudes in the general population published before March 31, 2011 found that understanding of...
Are Antidepressants and Psychotherapy Really Equally Effective for Depression?
A recent review of the evidence by the American College of Physicians (ACP) determined that cognitive behavioral therapy and antidepressants had similar levels of effectiveness for the treatment of depression. In a critical commentary for the Journal of Mental Health, however, Michael Sugarman from Wayne State University challenges these findings. Pointing to differences in research settings and clinical practice, Sugarman asserts that “these head-to-head comparisons are heavily biased in the direction of psychiatric care.”
Collaboration with Consumers of Mental Health Services Improves Quality and Value of Research
A new study examines the benefits of collaborating with mental health consumers in research.
Psychiatrists and Psychologists Not Reliable Expert Witnesses
Psychiatrists and psychologists who work as expert witnesses for the courts are generally no more scientifically knowledgeable or accurate about issues that involve human...
“A River of Lost Souls Runs Through Western Colorado”
The Washington Post investigates the epidemic of suicide and the overuse of psychiatric drugs that is sweeping through towns in Colorado.
Why Precision Psychiatry is Not a Paradigm Shift
A letter just published in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that “precision psychiatry” is not the paradigm shift it’s purported to be by the psychiatric establishment.
Fear and Belief in “Chemical Imbalance” Prevent People from Coming Off Antidepressants
Researchers interviewed people who were given medical advice to discontinue antidepressants.
University of Minnesota Psychiatry: A Pattern of Research Abuse
KMSP News has aired a report of yet another mentally ill man pressured to enroll in a study of an unapproved antipsychotic drug, with near-disastrous results. His story bears a striking resemblance to the case of Dan Markingson, who committed suicide in a University of Minnesota study in 2004.
Professionals Push Back on Psychiatric Diagnostic Manual, Propose Alternatives
Criticisms of the DSM-5 spark alternative proposals and calls to reform diagnostic systems in the mental health field.
Antipsychotic Drugs and the Risk of Hyperglycemia in Older Adults Without Diabetes: A Population-Based...
Objective: To determine whether current antipsychotic use among older persons without diabetes is associated with a higher risk of hospital visits for hyperglycemia, as...
Very Slow Tapering Best For Antidepressant Withdrawal
A new article in Lancet Psychiatry finds that slower tapering of SSRIs is better for preventing antidepressant withdrawal effects.
Why Do Better Health Care Systems Make People Feel Less Healthy?
The more a country's system of medical care expands, the sicker people feel -- and much of that effect seems related to psychiatry.
Benzodiazepines Linked to Treatment Resistant Depression
Prior use of benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Librium, or Ativan, may increase the risk of treatment-resistant depression (TRD), according to a new study published in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
iPad Use Before Surgery as Effective as Sedatives for Children
A group of French doctors presented a new study in the area of pediatric anesthesiology at this year’s World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Hong...
Military Suicides Outnumber Combat Deaths
In a reversal of an historic rate of suicides below that of the general population, suicides in the military have surged. Newsweek explores the...
Ethical Failings in Experimental Drug Safety Trials
Leading human subjects ethics researcher questions exploitation of uninsured minorities in experimental drug trials.
