by Alison Bass | Sep 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
Over the years, David Michaels, the George Washington epidemiologist who is President Obama’s pick to head OSHA, has developed a reputation as a fair-minded proponent of using the best available science to protect workers and the environment. As Effect Measure...
by Alison Bass | Sep 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
I just received a wrenching email from a woman in North Carolina who was prescribed a SSRI antidepressant because she was having trouble eating due to a “horrible metallic taste” in her mouth. After her blood work came back negative, her doctor decided the...
by Alison Bass | Sep 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
Forgive me for tooting my own horn but this is such a great honor I had to post the news: Side Effects has been named a winner of the 2009 NASW Science in Society Awards. Here’s an excerpt from the official press release: The winners of the 2009 Science in...
by Alison Bass | Sep 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
When I was writing Side Effects, I learned that the New York State Attorney General’s office had sued Pfizer for the illegal off-label marketing of Bextra, its Cox-2 painkiller. (If you’ll recall, Bextra, like Vioxx, was withdrawn from the market because...
by Alison Bass | Aug 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
I can relate to Katherine Snow Smith, the mom in Florida who wrote in the St. Petersburg Times about how she lost it with her kids one time too many. But what I can’t relate to is Smith’s decision that she needs to take a potent psychoactive drug to calm...
by Alison Bass | Aug 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
Madness Radio, the radio station affiliated with Freedom Center, a nonprofit advocacy group for people with mental illness, interviewed me about Side Effects, the story behind the deceptive marketing of Paxil, and the ongoing battle to clean up corruption in the...
by Alison Bass | Aug 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
Many mental health professionals remain concerned that the regulatory warnings put on antidepressants in this and other countries have had a deleterious effect, possibly leading to an increase in depression and suicides among young people. This concern has been stoked...
by Alison Bass | Aug 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
It’s good to see The New York Times maintain a spotlight on the widespread practice of ghostwriting in drug research. In her article today, Natasha Singer focuses on Wyeth’s use of a ghostwriting firm to prepare an estimated 60 articles favorable to its...
by Alison Bass | Aug 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
It looks like the Obama administration may be backing off its insistence on a public health plan option in the health care reform bill wending its way through Congress. I’m sorry to hear that because I believe that the inclusion of a government-run plan (like...
by Alison Bass | Aug 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
In recent weeks, researchers with ties to the drug industry have once again tried to drum up opposition to the FDA’s black box warnings on antidepressants for children and young adults. The latest dart came in an Archives of General Psychiatry study in June...
