'In a global medical culture where evidence-based practice is seen as the gold standard for care, these failings are a disaster. Meta-analysis of published data supports an increasing number of clinical decisions and guidelines, which in turn dictate the use of vast levels of health-care resources. This process is made entirely redundant if its results are so easily manipulated by those with potentially massive financial gains. The global sales of the GlaxoSmithKline SSRI paroxetine, for example, amounted to US $4.97 billion last year alone. Moreover, the utility of organisations such as the National Institute for Clinical Evidence (NICE) is significantly undermined in circumstances where they are only able to access data on health-care products that are seen as advantageous to the product's manufacturers'.
- The Lancet
Articles in The Science of Mental Health are written by the originating institution. This article was originally posted to Newswise.
Reference: DATA FROM UNPUBLISHED TRIALS SUGGEST THAT MOST SSRI ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN (pp 1335, 1341) Lancet 2004; 363: 1335, 1341-45
