why not also?…

Posted on Friday 15 May 2015

In a recent discussion about the origin of the chemical imbalance notion of depression [see guilding the lily…], I mentioned a BMJ Editorial by David Healy [available online]…
… that ends with "so long, and thanks for all the Serotonin" – an allusion to Douglas Adams’ So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish [the fourth book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy]. It’s what the Dolphins said when they disappeared from earth, knowing that the earth was about to be destroyed – for good. It’s the kind of finality he’s suggesting we put on the Serotonin Depression Myths…

In his response yesterday to various comments, Dr. Healy is much more direct and speaks to a very obvious point:
I wrote an almost identical editorial in 1991. Covering the marketing of serotonin in 1997, I cited Jerome Gaub’s 1767 opinion of Leibniz’s views on the relations between mind and body—it is a “fable whose novelty has recommended it, whose recommendation has spread it, whose spread has polished it, refined and adorned it with … a pleasing look of truth.”

I use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs]. Nevertheless I believe the SSRI era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. The shame does not stem from what drug companies have done, which is only what might have been expected, but from the failure of doctors to know as much as they should have done about drugs they dish out so liberally. A recent study showing how a dollop of neuroscience dressing can disguise otherwise meaningless material should be compulsory reading for doctors who are, after all, the true consumers of these drugs.

But perhaps an even greater shame will be seen to lie with the fact that, during this era, most publications on on-patent drugs in our best journals were ghost-written. In addition, during this time journals refused to demand access to trial data as the price for publication — this is most clearly demonstrated in the area of antidepressant studies on children. It has been an era when industry has controlled journals, by spending money on some of them and by intimidating others.
I heartily agree. And while this is one of the more important announcements we’ve heard recently [and I applaud the decision]…
by Elizabeth Loder and Trish  Groves
British Medical Journal. 2015 350:h2373

Heeding calls from the Institute of Medicine, WHO, and the Nordic Trial Alliance, we are extending our policy. The movement to make data from clinical trials widely accessible has achieved enormous success, and it is now time for medical journals to play their part. From 1 July The BMJ will extend its requirements for data sharing to apply to all submitted clinical trials, not just those that test drugs or devices. The data transparency revolution is gathering pace.2 Last month, the World Health Organization [WHO] and the Nordic Trial Alliance released important declarations about clinical trial transparency.

These announcements come on the heels of the US Institute of Medicine’s [IOM] report on sharing clinical trial data, which called for a transformation of existing scientific culture to one where “data sharing is the expected norm.” The efforts of industry, too, must be acknowledged, some of which caught many people by surprise. In particular, Medtronic’s cooperation with the Yale University Open Data project and GlaxoSmithKline’s leadership on data disclosure efforts stand out.

WHO’s statement on public disclosure of clinical trial results and the accompanying rationale reiterate the organisation’s support for registration of clinical trials. WHO declares that the main results of clinical trials should be posted on a clinical trial registry or other acceptable website and submitted for journal publication within a year of study completion. The expectation is that results will be “made available publicly at most within 24 months of completion.” The statement does not call for mandatory sharing of primary data from trials but instead “encourages” sharing of research datasets “whenever appropriate.”

In a move that is particularly welcomed by Ben Goldacre, cofounder of the AllTrials campaign, WHO also recommends disclosure of previously conducted but unreported clinical trials in a searchable and free registry and says it is “desirable” that these trials should be published in a peer reviewed journal. Goldacre notes that this is important because “the overwhelming majority of prescriptions today are for treatments that came onto the market — and were therefore researched — over the preceding decades rather than the past five years”…
… why not also say, "NO GHOST WRITTEN ARTICLES ACCEPTED? If discovered after the fact, they will be retracted! noisily!"
  1.  
    Jane
    May 23, 2015 | 4:46 AM
     

    I am a victim – prescribed a series of SSRIs over period 2008 to 2014. Now on Seroquel XR – as a result of huge weight gain concerns I have, over just the last few days, done loads of web based research and am seething with anger at what I have found.
    Question is – what can I as a ‘mere mortal’ lay person, non medic, do to help the cause of revealing the marketing scandal associated with Serquel and the seeming HUGE ignorance within both the specialist and general medical profession abouth the “myth” rating to SSRIs and the use of Quetiapine for MDD and dangerous side effects?
    Moreover – what do I, and very many others in a similar predicament, do now to get ourselves cleaned up of all this drug interference in our bodies?

  2.  
    Jane
    May 23, 2015 | 12:54 PM
     

    Excuse typos in my post – ’twas written in haste!
    eg. ‘rating to’ should read ‘relating to’ !!
    PS. Hoping to get some answers to my questions ……

  3.  
    May 23, 2015 | 1:14 PM
     

    Jane,

    Four years ago, I wrote a series “the selling of Seroquel” starting here. That followed another longer series on Seroquel here. They were written as my way of learning about all that went on with that drug. I would suggest also visiting David Healy’s RxISK site and adding your story to the others you will find there. It’s a growing resource. Also visit Alto’s SurvivingADs site for help with withdrawal. Hope that helps…

  4.  
    Jane
    May 23, 2015 | 6:11 PM
     

    Thanks, Mickey

    I shall be looking at those links and reading avidly….

    I have my 3 monthly appointment with my consultant psychiatrist on Wednesday next week (I’m in England, btw) – any thoughts on what I say to him? Do I tell him about all I have discovered? Will he be aware of all this already, I wonder……. If not, then why not? – it’s his job, afterall!
    If he is aware then why the hell has he messed up my body so?

    I know we’re not meant to get too personal on here, but
    any comments would be gratefully recieved – and hopefully of use to others…

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