by Alison Bass | Apr 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
When people exhibit signs of psychosis – they hear voices, they think someone is out to get them – more often than not, they are referred to psychiatrists who immediately put them on powerful drugs like Haldol, Depakote, Abilify or Seroquel. These drugs sometimes tamp...
by Alison Bass | Mar 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
Thanks to unsealed documents from legal proceedings, we now know that many drug makers routinely hid negative findings about antidepressants and anti-psychotics (ranging from Paxil to Seroquel) from doctors and consumers. Now comes evidence that the researchers who...
by Alison Bass | Mar 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
At a talk I gave Wednesday at George Washington University, someone in the audience asked why there seemed to be an inordinate number of psychiatrists on the take to the drug industry. Was it something about the specialty of psychiatry itself or the individuals...
by Alison Bass | Mar 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
The news that a Massachusetts anesthesiologist fabricated data in at least 21 studies (and probably more) is disturbing on several counts. First, it raises serious questions about the credibility of the peer review process at all the supposedly respectable journals...
by Alison Bass | Mar 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
Not a week goes by without news of the growing concern — among consumer advocates, medical students and Congressional watchdogs — about the financial conflicts of interest that bind doctors to the pharmaceutical industry and may bias their judgment about...
by Alison Bass | Feb 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
The New York Times today reported that the Justice Department has sued Forest Labs for defrauding the government of millions of dollars by illegally marketing Celexa and Lexapro, its two blockbuster antidepressants. The fraud complaint is based on allegations that...
by Alison Bass | Feb 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
In a long-overdue step toward health care reform, the massive economic stimulus bill that the Obama administration approved on Tuesday includes $1.1 billion to compare the effectiveness of drugs, medical devices, surgery and other medical procedures. The money will...
by Alison Bass | Feb 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
The health blog of The Wall Street Journal was the first to report Jan. 29 that GlaxoSmithKline is taking a $400 million hit related to federal and state probes into the drug giant’s research and marketing shenanigans. Glaxo announced the charge in its fourth...
by Alison Bass | Jan 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
On Saturday, The Boston Globe ran a front-page story about how three medical groups have threatened to pull their annual meetings out of Boston if the state of Massachusetts restricts drug and medical device promotions at medical meetings and requires the industry to...
by Alison Bass | Jan 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
It’s good to see that our new President is eager to fund the installation of an ambitious electronic medical records system that links doctors and hospitals with patient records, according to The New York Times. But as a number of legislators and consumers...
