The recent US Supreme Court approval process for Brett Kavanaugh opened the lid of an earthenware vase marked Trust, when Christine Blasey-Ford stepped forward and said she had been abused by him. The hearings were dramatic. Other dramas never came into the frame. Dr Blasey-Ford had previously been engaged in medical research linked to figures like Alan Schatzberg and … [Read more...] about Pandora: Dos Centavos
Search Results for: Left Hanging
The Spectre of Dissent
The last post The Greatest Failure of What Used to be called Medicine provoked a lot of comment - or at least the photographic images in it did. There was little discussion about the content of the post and what to do about the spectre of bureaucrats in the guideline and the regulatory apparatus hanging together when it comes to something like children hanging after … [Read more...] about The Spectre of Dissent
The Greatest Failure in What used to be Called Medicine
A little over a year ago, the British Minister for Health, Jeremy Hunt, said children's mental health was the greatest failing of the NHS. Teenagers, primarily girls, are being seen by family doctors and referred to the secondary mental health services. The waits are so long, they attempt suicide by the time they get seen. A growing number succeed. This is happening … [Read more...] about The Greatest Failure in What used to be Called Medicine
The Thalidomide Catastrophe
Editorial Note: This is adapted from a piece by Martin Johnson who with colleagues has just published The Thalidomide Catastrophe. This is available as of today on Amazon and at Onwards and Upwards. This is one of the great books about what the twentieth century was all about. A must buy, costing almost nothing. Child abuse and the harms of not being believed - engaged … [Read more...] about The Thalidomide Catastrophe
Cisparency and Transparency
Editorial Note: This post continues Vampire Medicine and links to Reformation Day on RxISK and forthcoming posts - Here We Stand. Between 2002 and 2004, giving antidepressants to teenagers and the risks of triggering suicidality became one of the most high profile issues in medicine. Raising a profile should be the way to put things right but things are getting much worse. … [Read more...] about Cisparency and Transparency
Tweeting While Psychiatry Burns
Editorial Note: This is part 1 of a lecture given at a British Neuropsychiatric Association meeting in London on February 22 under the heading of Psychopharmacology: 1952 - 2017. The lecture will feature here in 3 posts of which this is the first. Slides 1 -11 can be found HERE. The Birth This picture is taken from a newspaper in 1952. It features Jean Delay wearing navy … [Read more...] about Tweeting While Psychiatry Burns
Study 329: Data Wars
Sensing the end of the Roman Republic and unhappy at the approach of Empire, Cassius approached Brutus to save the Republic. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." The Republic was a Democracy, with a Government answerable to its Electors. Caesar’s conquests meant that the Roman Government was now responsible for swathes of … [Read more...] about Study 329: Data Wars
Magna Pharma
This post on the eight hundredth anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta is the second in a Magna Carta series, and the twentieth in the Persecution series. Faced in 2012 with questions about the $3 Billion fine imposed on GSK - triggered by a sequence of events starting with Study 329, – is it just the cost of doing business? Andrew Witty snapped back: “Although corporate … [Read more...] about Magna Pharma
Sense about Science: First Admit No Harm
Editorial Note: This is a second post exploring Sense about Science. The first post Follow the Rhetoric is here. Anyone interested in Pharma will know about its ability to Astroturf – to create patient organizations whose role is to promote an illness or subvert an existing one. Creating awareness of conditions sells drugs. On a higher astral plane Less well known is what … [Read more...] about Sense about Science: First Admit No Harm
Witty A: Report to the President
Editorial Note: This was to be the last in the Lasagna posts that began with Not So Bad Pharma, April Fool in Harlow, The Tragedy of Lou Lasagna, Empire of Humbug: Bad Pharma, Empire of Humbug 2, and Brand Fascism. But the series will continue into Marilyn's Curse and When does Yes Mean No. Faced with questions about the $3 Billion fine imposed on GSK – is it just the cost of … [Read more...] about Witty A: Report to the President