Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:45:43.820Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The engineers of human souls & academia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2011

Summary

Aims – There has been recent concern about interactions between academia and the pharmaceutical industry. This article seeks to explore the basis for the current sense of crisis. Methods – The approach taken is a historical one, outlining the origins of the crisis. Results – The analysis outlines the roles that brands, patents, and the control of the scientific literature play in the current marketing of psychotropic drugs, and describes the processes of guideline capture and brand fascism. Conclusions – The analysis makes it difficult to see current interactions between industry and academia as anything but bad for academia. One option that might restore some balance would be to restrict scientific meetings and journals to communications that made all relevant scientific data available, excluding exercises that restrict access to data.

Declaration of Interest: In recent years I have had consultancies with, or been a chairman or speaker at symposia for, or received support to attend meetings from Astra-Zeneca, and Lundbeck. I have been expert witness for the plaintiff in the past decade in 15 legal actions involving antidepressants and on patent case, and have been consulted on a much greater number of attempted suicide, suicide, and suicide-homicide cases linked to treatment, in which I have offered the view that the treatment was not involved or have declined to give a view.

Type
Special Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Angell, M. (2005). The Truth about the Drug Companies. How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It. Random House: New York.Google Scholar
Applbaum, K. (2004). The Marketing Era. Routledge: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ban, T.A. (1987). Prolegomenon to the clinical prerequisite. Psychopharmacology and the classification of mental disorders. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 11,527580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ban, T.A. (2006). Academic psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 30,429441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blumsohn, A (2006a). Scientific Misconduct Blog. Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http://scientific-misconduct.blogspot.com/Google Scholar
Blumsohn, A. (2006b). Authorship, ghost-science, access to data and control of the pharmaceutical scientific literature: who stands behind the word? Professional Ethics Report 19(3). Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http://www.aaas.org/spp/sfrl/per/per46.pdfGoogle Scholar
Colton, C.W. & Manderscheid, R.W. (2006). Congruencies in increased mortality rates, years of potential life lost, and causes of death among public mental health clients in eight states. Preventive Chronic Disease 3(2). Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http://www.cdc. gov/pcd/issues/2006/apr/05_0180.htm.Google ScholarPubMed
Davies, H (2001). The role of the private sector in protecting human subjects. Institute of Medicine. Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http:// www.acrohealth.org/testimony.php?yr=2001Google Scholar
Delay, J., Deniker, P. & Ropert, R (1955). Etude de 300 dossiers de maladies psychotiques traits par la chlorpromazine en service fermé depuis 1952. Encephalè 528535.Google Scholar
Fava, G. (2007). Financial conflicts of interest in psychiatry. World Psychiatric Association Journal 6(1), 1924.Google ScholarPubMed
Fish, F (1964). The influence of the tranquilizers on the Leonhard schizophrenic syndromes. Encephale 53, 245249.Google ScholarPubMed
Fugh-Berman, A. (2006). Doctors must not be lapdogs to drug firms. British Medical Journal 333, 1027.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Getz, K. & De Bruin, A. (2000). Breaking the development speed barrier. Drug Information Journal 34, 725736.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healy, D. (1997). The Antidepressant Era. Harvard University Press: Cambridge Mass.Google Scholar
Healy, D. (2004). Let Them Eat Prozac. New York University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Healy, D. (2006a). The latest mania. Selling bipolar disorder. PloS Medicine. Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pmed.0030185CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healy, D. (2006b). Manufacturing Consensus. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 30, 135156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Healy, D (2006c). Let them eat Prozac. Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http://www.healyprozac.com/AcademicStalking/default.htmGoogle Scholar
Healy, D. (submitted for publication). Trussed in Evidence? Ambiguities at the interface of Clinical Evidence and Clinical Practice. Transcultural Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Healy, D. & Cattell, D. (2003). The Interface between authorship, industry and science in the domain of therapeutics. British Journal of Psychiatry 182, 2227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healy, D., Savage, M., Michael, P., Harris, M., Hirst, D., Carter, M., Cattell, D., McMonagle, T., Sohler, N. & Susser, E. (2001). Psychiatric bed utilisation: 1896 and 1996 compared. Psychological Medicine 31, 779790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Healy, D., Harris, M., Cattell, D., Michael, P., Chalasanni, P. & Hirst, D. (2005). Service utilisation in 1896 and 1996: Morbidity and mortality data from North Wales. History of Psychiatry 16, 2741.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Healy, D., Harris, M., Tranter, R., Gutting, P., Austin, R., Jones-Edwards, G. & Roberts, A.P. (2006). Lifetime suicide rates in treated schizophrenia: 1875–1924 and 1994–1998 cohorts compared. British Journal of Psychiatry 188, 223228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, I. (2006). Combating disease mongering: daunting but nonetheless essential. PLoS Medicine 3, e146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joukamaa, M., Heliövaara, M., Knekt, P., Aromaa, A., Raitasalo, R. & Lehtinen, V. (2006). Schizophrenia, neuroleptic medication and mortality. British Journal of Psychiatry 188, 122127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kassirer, J. (2005). On the Take. How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health. Oxford University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Keller, M.D., Ryan, N.D., Strober, M., Klein, R.G., Kutcher, S.P., Birmaher, B., Hagino, O.R., Koplewicz, H., Carlsson, G.A., Clarke, G.N., Emslie, G.J., Feinberg, D., Geller, B., Kusumakar, V., Papatheodorou, G., Sack, W.H., Sweeney, M., Wagner, K.D., E, Weller, Winters, N.C., Oakes, R. & McCafferty, J.P. (2001). Efficacy of paroxetine in the treatment of adolescent major depression: a randomized, controlled trial. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 40, 762772.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemmens, T. & Freedman, B. (2000). Ethics review for sale? Conflict of interest and commercial research review boards. Milbank Quarterly 78, 547584.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lieberman, J.A., Stroop, T.S., McEvoy, J.P., Swartz, M.S., Rosenheck, R.A., Perkins, D.O., Keefe, R.S., Davis, S.M., Davis, C.E., Lebowitz, B.D., Severe, J., Hsiao, J.K & Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) Investigators (2005). Effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia. New England Journal of Medicine 353, 12091223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moynihan, R. & Cassels, A. (2005). Selling Sickness. Nation Books: New York.Google Scholar
Petryna, A. (2006). Globalizing human subjects research. In Global Pharmaceuticals. Ethics, Markets, Practices (ed. Petryna, A., Lakoff, A.and, A.Kleinman, ), pp. 3360. Duke University Press: Durham.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepherd, M. (1998). Psychopharmacology: specific and non-specific. In The Psychopharmacologists, Vol. 2 (by Healy, D.), pp. 237258. Arnold: London.Google Scholar
Thompson, J., Baird, P. & Downie, J. (2001). The Olivieri Report. James Lorimer & Co.: Toronto.Google Scholar
United States Patent (1991). No. 4,988,731. Date of Patent Jan 29th1991.Google Scholar
United States Patent (1992). No. 5,229,382. Date of Patent May 22, 1992. European patent, EP0,454,436, filed on April 24, 1991.Google Scholar
United States Patent (1993). No. 5,212,326. Date of Patent May 18th 1993.Google Scholar