Science’s Gatekeepers, a Credibility Gap_Dr. Lawrence Altman,
"Virtually every major scientific and medical journal has been humbled recently by publishing findings that are later discredited." NYT
Ex-Head of F.D.A. Faces Criminal Inquiry
The New York Times reports that former FDA Commissioner, Dr. Lester Crawford "is under criminalo investigation by a federal grand jury over accusations of financial improprieties and false statements to Congress."
Glaxo denies “disease mongering”_Selling Bipolar questioned_PLoS
Under the influence of pharmaceutical companies, physicians anhd drug companies engage in "disease mongering." Below is a critique of Dr. David Healy’s essay: Dr. Nassir Ghaemi who argues for the legitimacy of bipolar diagnosis.
Bioethics: Dial ‘E’ for ethics
Bbioethicists are seizing the opportunity to expand their own marketability. The UK publication, NATURE, reports about the latest bioethics gimmick that has sprung up in California– ‘dial-an-ethicist’—at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics.
India’s Outsourced Drug Trials-The Dark Side: BBC
A BBC documentary that airs Thursday, April 27 exposes the disregard for the welfare of patients exploited by US pharmaceutical companies that outsource their clinical drug trials to India, the drug industry’s current favorite drug testing laboratory.
What’s wrong with American medicine?
The answer given by Dr. Joseph Britto, a pediatric intensive care physician, hits the nail on the head: "Unlike pilots, doctors don’t go down with their planes."
Oregon Preschoolers Rx ‘adult’ psychotropic drugs_Portland Tribune
In the U.S. the two populations at greatest risk of inappropriate, coercive, dangerous prescribing of highly toxic psychotropic drugs as chemical
restraints are the elderly and children.
“Corruption & Pharmceuticals”–World Bank/ Blocking Generics–Peter Rost / WashPost
"Corruption in any one of the critical decision points in the pharmaceutical system can be detrimental to a country’s ability to improve the health of its population." [World Banki]
GAO Report Gives FDA Flunking Grade in Detecting Drug Dangers
“More than a year after the Food and Drug Administration announced it had strengthened its drug safety system, the agency still lacks a reliable system for keeping track of emerging problems, congressional investigators concluded in a report to be released today.” [Los Angeles Times, below]
NJ: Mandatory Mental Screening Women_Pill Pushers: NO Science, Salesmanship_FORBES
Three reports illustrate the wide and deepening disconnect between medicine under the influence of pharmaceutical industry marketing goals and scientific evidence that contradicts current practice and public health policies:
List: APA-DSM-IV_ DSM-IV- TR TASK FORCE
APA "Diagnostic Statistical Manual" Task Force has been shown to have financial relationships with drug manufacturers.
Conflicts of interest: psychiatry’s diagnostic manual DSM-III_DSM-IV
Dr. Robert Spitzer, who has continued to play a central role in DSM revisions since 1980, claim he does not think a conflict of interest exists.
See list of APA Task Force on DSM-IV and DSM-IV Revised Text at: https://ahrp.org/cms/content/view/145/27/