Chairman of DSM-5 Task Force & Others Belatedly Admit Conflict of Interest Related to...

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The authors of a paper that endorses a computerized test for depression have acknowledged failure to disclose joint ownership of a company formed to bring the test to...

“What’s it Really Like to Take Antidepressants?”

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Britain's HealthTalkOnline.org offers videotaped interviews with 36 people in their homes, talking about their decision to take antidepressants and the impact of that decision...

Diagnosis Dispute Traps Teenager in Boston Children’s Hospital

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Justina Pelletier, a 15-year-old Connecticut teenager who had been diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, remains trapped in Boston Children's Hospital 9 months after a team...

J&J Fraud Plea Prompts Academics to Regret Participation

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Following Johnson & Johnson's record $2.2 billion settlement for criminal marketing — including $1.4 billion related to its marketing of Risperdal, making it one of the...

Sleep Therapy for Depression

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Pending research on the connection between insomnia and depression offers new prospects for treatment, according to recent articles in the New York Times.  "Psychiatrists...

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome Linked to Polypharmacy, Benzos, and Race

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Research from London and Taipei finds that neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is associated with the number of different antipsychotics used (polypharmacy), rather than the overall...

Childhood Social Function & Schizophrenia

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A 48-year longitudinal study of 244 subjects, published in Schizophrenia Research, finds that those with schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses had had the worst social functioning scores at...

The Church of GSKology

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Facing a sexual abuse lawsuit, the archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis made a big deal of putting an independent panel in place to investigate. They put the Reverend Reginald Whitt in charge of appointing the panel and receiving its reports on behalf of the archdiocese. Rev. Whitt told priests and deacons that the task force may review specific files to determine whether the policies of the archdiocese concerning clergy sexual misconduct were properly followed. But, he wrote, “Access to these files will be within my control, and limited only to what is necessary for the task force.” This sounds terribly like the approach Sir Andrew Witty is attempting to put in place for GSK, AbbVie and the rest of the branded pharmaceutical industry vis-a-vis abuses, including child abuse committed in their name. They are asserting their right to spin their version of what it is you put in your body even though this clashes fundamentally with your right to know what you are putting in your body.

Benzos & Brain Tumors

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Researchers in Taiwan found a 3.33x greater risk of benign brain tumors in patients who had been prescribed benzodiazepines for at least 2 months....

Antidepressants & Sexual Function

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Two studies of the effects of antidepressants on sexual function - one on the relative effects across classes of antidepressants on men, the other...

American Psychosis

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E. Fuller Torrey has a new book. While I was not thrilled to support the Treatment Advocacy Center, I was curious as to what he had to say. Where Torrey has clarity, I contend there is much that we still do not understand. I worry that a perspective that suggests the answers are clear cuts us off from inquiry into alternate approaches.

Environment is a Primary Factor in Transition to Psychosis

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Researchers (including Jim van Os) find, in a three-year cohort study of 1272 people at possible genetic risk of psychosis, that "most transitions (to psychosis)...

Childhood Trauma Linked to Bipolar Diagnosis, Symptoms

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Research on a sample of 587 patients with DSM-IV defined bipolar disorder finds that an earlier age at onset of bipolar illness - along...

On Pharma, Corruption, and Psychiatric Drugs

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"My studies in this area lead me to a very uncomfortable conclusion: Our citizens would be far better off if we removed all the psychotropic drugs from the market, as doctors are unable to handle them. It is inescapable that their availability creates more harm than good." - Peter Gøtzsche, MD; Co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration

U.K.’s Guardian Survey: “Your Experiences of Antidepressants”

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The U.K. newspaper The Guardian asked readers of five newspapers in the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Italy to talk about their experiences of...

Call for Papers: Critical Underpinnings of User/Survivor Research and Co-Production

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The journal Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology is calling for proposals for papers "aimed at tackling the 'hard' questions implicated in processes of user/survivor inclusion,...

One in Five Diagnosed With ADHD May Develop Cocaine Habit as Adults

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Research from Boston University suggests that exposure to stimulant medications such as Ritalin during adolescence may result in cocaine addiction in later life. “You...

Janssen to Pay $11M for Failure to Warn of Topamax Birth Defects

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A Philadelphia jury yesterday ordered Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen to pay $11 million to the parents of a five-year-old boy for failure to warn...

The House of GSK

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In recent months the English pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has assiduously portrayed itself as an advocate of transparency, and in support of access to clinical trial data. Well, in support of "Responsible Access." "Responsible" here essentially means that a researcher commits to the primacy of RCTs and statistical significance over an analysis of adverse events. It would not, for example, be responsible to claim that an SSRI causes suicide, a statin muscle damage or cognitive failure, or hypoglycemics cause hypoglycemia unless a trial has shown this to happen to a Statistically Significant extent – and they never do.

$2.2B J&J Settlement: Only the Beginning

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At least 250 lawsuits involving Johnson & Johnson's improper marketing of Risperdal are pending in Pennsylvania's Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, according to information...

When Science Goes Astray

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The Los Angeles Times business section explores how it is possible that "so many scientists looking for cures to diseases have been building on...

“MHRA Consultant Calls for Antidepressant Use in Young”

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Bob Fiddamen dissects the issue of suicidality, bizarre behavior and antidepressants in light of BMJ Open's publication of "Suicide-related events in young people following...

Obama Administration to Require Mental Health Insurance “Parity”

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The Obama administration will announce today, according to the New York Times, regulations that will require insurers to offer care for mental health issues...

J&J Whistleblowers to Collect Record $168 million

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The whistleblowers who helped to build the case for prosecuting Johnson & Johnson for illegal marketing of Risperdal will take home nearly $168 million...

J&J Settlement Inspires PA Legislators on False Claims Act

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Following Johnson & Johnson's $2.2 billion settlement for off-label marketing and kickbacks related to its antipsychotic Risperdal, Pennsylvania legislators Brandon Neuman and Tony DeLuca...