Tunderbar
Tue, May-15-07, 17:15
http://psychiatricnews.wordpress.com/
Psychiatrist Blasts Conflict of Interest in Own Field
PPychiatrist Blasts Financial Conflicts of Interest In His
Own Field Conflicts May be Reaching into Virginia State
Medical Office
With increasing exposure of the deeply embedded financial ties
between mental health practitioners and the pharmaceutical
industry, the latest whistleblower is psychiatrist Daniel J.
Carlat who told The Boston Globe yesterday, "Our [psychiatric]
field as a whole is progressively being purchased lock, stock,
and barrel by the drug companies: this includes the diagnoses,
the treatment guidelines, and the national meetings." Dr.
Jerome P. Kassirer, a Tufts University professor and author of
"On the Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can
Endanger Your Health," also weighed in on the issue, stating,
"psychiatrists are among the most conflicted of the medical
specialties."
These accusations are backed up by a March article in The New
York Times, which reviewed financial conflicts of interest
among doctors in Minnesota and found that psychiatrists in
that state received more drug company money than any other
medical specialty-$6.7 million from the pharmaceutical
industry between 1997 and 2005. Further, seven out of the last
eight Minnesota Psychiatric Society presidents served as
consultants to drug manufacturers.
A 2006 study published in the journal Psychotherapy and
Psychosomatics also determined:
=B7 A majority (56%) of the panel members responsible for
revisions to
PPPychiatry's billing bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), had one or more
financial ties to drug companies.
=B7 100% of the panel members determining "Mood Disorders" and
"Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders" (for which
antidepressants and antipsychotics are prescribed) had
financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.
Commenting on this study, UCLA psychiatry professor, Dr. Irwin
Savodnik, stated, "The very vocabulary of psychiatry is now
defined at all levels by the pharmaceutical industry."
The DSM was also criticized because, unlike medicine, there
are no physical tests that can prove the existence of any
mental disorder referenced in the manual. Co-researcher in the
study, Lisa Cosgrove of the University of Massachusetts
Boston, stated, "No blood tests exist for the disorders in the
DSM. It relies on judgments from practitioners who rely on the
manual." Despite the fact that
PPPPychiatric diagnoses are entirely subjective, psychiatrists
rely on these to justify the prescription of powerful,
mind-altering drugs. Worldwide sales of psychotropic
drugs, including stimulants, antipsychotics and
antidepressants, now exceed $80 billion annually.
Despite growing evidence documenting many psychiatric
drugs-especially antidepressants-to cause mania, hostility,
aggression, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, "homicidal
ideation" and acts of violence, the Virginia State Medical
Examiner's Office has refused to release the results of
Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho's autopsy and toxicology
results. Reports indicate that he had a prescription for
"depression medication" (usually antidepressants). Since the
antidepressant Prozac hit the market in 1988, at least 18
school shooters were reported to have been taking a
prescribed psychotropic drug that may have triggered their
violent actions.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a psychiatric
watchdog group, is joined by other concerned groups, doctors
and parents who want to see Cho's toxicology results released
in the public interest. The failure to do so begs the
question: Have vested interests influenced the decision to
keep the results hidden?
The groups are seeking a government investigation into the
correlation between acts of violence in schools and
psychotropic drugs.
>From CCHR
www.cchr.org
Psychiatrist Blasts Conflict of Interest in Own Field
PPychiatrist Blasts Financial Conflicts of Interest In His
Own Field Conflicts May be Reaching into Virginia State
Medical Office
With increasing exposure of the deeply embedded financial ties
between mental health practitioners and the pharmaceutical
industry, the latest whistleblower is psychiatrist Daniel J.
Carlat who told The Boston Globe yesterday, "Our [psychiatric]
field as a whole is progressively being purchased lock, stock,
and barrel by the drug companies: this includes the diagnoses,
the treatment guidelines, and the national meetings." Dr.
Jerome P. Kassirer, a Tufts University professor and author of
"On the Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can
Endanger Your Health," also weighed in on the issue, stating,
"psychiatrists are among the most conflicted of the medical
specialties."
These accusations are backed up by a March article in The New
York Times, which reviewed financial conflicts of interest
among doctors in Minnesota and found that psychiatrists in
that state received more drug company money than any other
medical specialty-$6.7 million from the pharmaceutical
industry between 1997 and 2005. Further, seven out of the last
eight Minnesota Psychiatric Society presidents served as
consultants to drug manufacturers.
A 2006 study published in the journal Psychotherapy and
Psychosomatics also determined:
=B7 A majority (56%) of the panel members responsible for
revisions to
PPPychiatry's billing bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), had one or more
financial ties to drug companies.
=B7 100% of the panel members determining "Mood Disorders" and
"Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders" (for which
antidepressants and antipsychotics are prescribed) had
financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.
Commenting on this study, UCLA psychiatry professor, Dr. Irwin
Savodnik, stated, "The very vocabulary of psychiatry is now
defined at all levels by the pharmaceutical industry."
The DSM was also criticized because, unlike medicine, there
are no physical tests that can prove the existence of any
mental disorder referenced in the manual. Co-researcher in the
study, Lisa Cosgrove of the University of Massachusetts
Boston, stated, "No blood tests exist for the disorders in the
DSM. It relies on judgments from practitioners who rely on the
manual." Despite the fact that
PPPPychiatric diagnoses are entirely subjective, psychiatrists
rely on these to justify the prescription of powerful,
mind-altering drugs. Worldwide sales of psychotropic
drugs, including stimulants, antipsychotics and
antidepressants, now exceed $80 billion annually.
Despite growing evidence documenting many psychiatric
drugs-especially antidepressants-to cause mania, hostility,
aggression, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, "homicidal
ideation" and acts of violence, the Virginia State Medical
Examiner's Office has refused to release the results of
Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho's autopsy and toxicology
results. Reports indicate that he had a prescription for
"depression medication" (usually antidepressants). Since the
antidepressant Prozac hit the market in 1988, at least 18
school shooters were reported to have been taking a
prescribed psychotropic drug that may have triggered their
violent actions.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a psychiatric
watchdog group, is joined by other concerned groups, doctors
and parents who want to see Cho's toxicology results released
in the public interest. The failure to do so begs the
question: Have vested interests influenced the decision to
keep the results hidden?
The groups are seeking a government investigation into the
correlation between acts of violence in schools and
psychotropic drugs.
>From CCHR
www.cchr.org