Watchdog—Missing in Action

So why are so many dangerous psychotropic drugs being allowed on the market?

One reason may be the revolving door between government, academia and the drug industry, where panels recommending psychotropic drug approval have long been filled with psychiatrists with financial ties to drug companies.

Another may be that instead of serving a safety function as “post‑marketing surveillance,” the final phase of clinical trials are now being re‑cast as “post‑marketing research” and repurposed into a means of testing psychotropic drugs for additional psychiatric disorders.

That is also why drug companies continue to enjoy profit margins triple the norm of most businesses.

In fact, the total profits of the top ten drug companies in the Fortune 500 exceeded the combined profits of the other 490 businesses.

And with so much money at stake it is no wonder that stockholders are never told the truth about the drugs whose companies they invest in.

But once the drug is approved, the next challenge is:

How does one convince prescribing physicians that these drugs are truly safe, effective and carrying few side effects when the drug company’s own trials prove that this is not the case?