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NEWSFLASH: Mass General Hospital disciplines Biederman and other childhood bipolar pimps


cinephile

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Apologies for the effusive headline, but I'm sure I'm not the only one getting emotional about this.

 

I just read on 1boringoldman that none other than childhood bipolar pimp extraordinaire, Joseph Biederman, has FINALLY been "disciplined" by Mass General Hospital (where he practices) for his numerous conflicts of interest, totaling well into the seven figures. Two other psychiatrists, Thomas Spencer and Timothy Wilens, have also been disciplined.

 

In a nutshell, the punishments are as follows. The three shrinks now:

 

• Must refrain from "all industry-sponsored outside activities" for one year.

 

• For two years after the ban ends must obtain permission from Mass. General and Harvard Medical School before engaging in any industry-sponsored, paid outside activities and then must report back afterward.

 

• Must undergo certain training.

 

• Face delays before being considered for "promotion or advancement."

 

-I obviously agree with the boring old man that this isn't far enough -- they should have been fired -- but as the 'man says, "Like his comrades [Nemeroff, Schatzberg, Rush, Keller], Biederman still has an academic appointment. In a rational world, they should've been fired to a man. But we're still not yet that rational. Hopefully, that's where we're headed in the future."

-I agree, and I think that such a historic punishment (it IS one of the harshest of its kind) is an exciting promise of what's to come: more crackdowns on conflict of interest, more REAL research going forward in psychiatry, and more opportunity for psychiatric critics like Whitaker to have his voice heard as he -- and, of course, people like Alto -- take on the daunting task of revisiting the long, twisting chain of pseudoscientific studies poisoned by big pharma and construct THE REAL history of psychiatry in the last 30 years. We WILL have our moment -- the truth is on our side.

 

-Read the whole thing here: Biederman disciplined

Been on SSRIs since 1998:

1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses

2005-present: Lexapro.

2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year).

 

**PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT!

APA=FUBAR

FDA=SNAFU

NIMH=LMFAO

 

Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month:

 

STARTING: 15 mg

11/7/10: 13.5 mg

12/7/10: 12.2 mg

1/6/11: 10.9 mg

2/3/11: 9.8 mg

3/3/11: 8.8 mg

4/1/11: 7.8 mg

4/29/11: 7 mg

5/27/11: 6.4 mg

6/24/11: 5.7 mg

7/22/11: 5 mg

8/18/11: 4.5 mg

9/14/11: 4 mg

10/13/11: 3.6 mg

11/9/11: 3.2 mg

12/7/11: 2.6 mg

1/3/12: 2.1 mg

2/2/12: 1.8 mg

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A quick update: I just sent the link to the actual article -- http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2011/07/01/mass-general-punishes-three.html -- to the Drudge Report, a major online news source. It was totally painless. I just cut/pasted the link into the box at the bottom that says "Send News Tips to Drudge" and clicked the submit button. I then got a quick confirmation message.

 

I urge everyone else to do this for this article! And we should do this for future articles as well!

Been on SSRIs since 1998:

1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses

2005-present: Lexapro.

2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year).

 

**PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT!

APA=FUBAR

FDA=SNAFU

NIMH=LMFAO

 

Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month:

 

STARTING: 15 mg

11/7/10: 13.5 mg

12/7/10: 12.2 mg

1/6/11: 10.9 mg

2/3/11: 9.8 mg

3/3/11: 8.8 mg

4/1/11: 7.8 mg

4/29/11: 7 mg

5/27/11: 6.4 mg

6/24/11: 5.7 mg

7/22/11: 5 mg

8/18/11: 4.5 mg

9/14/11: 4 mg

10/13/11: 3.6 mg

11/9/11: 3.2 mg

12/7/11: 2.6 mg

1/3/12: 2.1 mg

2/2/12: 1.8 mg

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I agree with both posts!

 

One advantage: The reputations of Biederman et al are irretrievably blackened. This is usually the beginning of the end in academia, cf Alan Schatzberg losing his sinecure at Stanford.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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One advantage: The reputations of Biederman et al are irretrievably blackened. This is usually the beginning of the end in academia, cf Alan Schatzberg losing his sinecure at Stanford.

Sigh. I wish I could be as optimistic as you Alto. Fact is, even Schatzberg and barf-bag extraordinaire Charles Nemeroff are still stinking up the joint. They're still presences at APA meetings and are spitting out studies galore. See the link below to see what I'm talking about (it's one of 1boringoldman's best posts). Sure, they may have a tarnished reputation, but the fact that the APA still invites them for symposiums and they continue to pump out the junk science studies is very depressing indeed. As if we need more evidence that psychiatry doesn't give a damn about cleaning up its messes. Yuck.

 

Perhaps psychiatrist Joel Hassman said it best:

 

It is about the usual C.R.A.P.: Cash(money), Rule(monarchy), Assimilate(exclude independent thought), and Power(prestige). It is about politics and selfishness, and we [psychiatrists] by our silence and lack of initiative to challenge what is poor leadership and incompetent clinical direction deserve the representation we have.

 

LINK: Breakthrough Freaks

 

**EDIT: Mickey (the boring old man) just put up ANOTHER post about Biederman re corruption. Ghost-writing galore. Wow, this childhood bipolar business sure is a Roman orgy of greed, eh? It's a bonanza, I tells ya!

 

LINK: Detestable

Been on SSRIs since 1998:

1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses

2005-present: Lexapro.

2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year).

 

**PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT!

APA=FUBAR

FDA=SNAFU

NIMH=LMFAO

 

Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month:

 

STARTING: 15 mg

11/7/10: 13.5 mg

12/7/10: 12.2 mg

1/6/11: 10.9 mg

2/3/11: 9.8 mg

3/3/11: 8.8 mg

4/1/11: 7.8 mg

4/29/11: 7 mg

5/27/11: 6.4 mg

6/24/11: 5.7 mg

7/22/11: 5 mg

8/18/11: 4.5 mg

9/14/11: 4 mg

10/13/11: 3.6 mg

11/9/11: 3.2 mg

12/7/11: 2.6 mg

1/3/12: 2.1 mg

2/2/12: 1.8 mg

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Obviously, the APA is an old-boys network (like the Republican Party, as I believe Joel Hassman said). How else could Schatzberg be elected president of the APA when he had already be censured by Stanford for conflict of interest? Imagine Schatzberg as **** Cheney, Biederman as John Ashcroft, Mauricio Fava as Condoleeza Rice, etc.

 

1boringoldman is one of the outstanding citizen journalists in the field of criticism of psychiatry!

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously, the APA is an old-boys network (like the Republican Party, as I believe Joel Hassman said). How else could Schatzberg be elected president of the APA when he had already be censured by Stanford for conflict of interest? Imagine Schatzberg as **** Cheney, Biederman as John Ashcroft, Mauricio Fava as Condoleeza Rice, etc.

 

1boringoldman is one of the outstanding citizen journalists in the field of criticism of psychiatry!

 

No offense to Republicans on this list but I am shuddering at this.

 

Speaking of Republicans, we do need to thank Grassley for this. Without him investigating Biederman and his partners in crime, I don't think any of this would have happened.

 

CS

Drug cocktail 1995 - 2010
Started taper of Adderall, Wellbutrin XL, Remeron, and Doxepin in 2006
Finished taper on June 10, 2010

Temazepam on a PRN basis approximately twice a month - 2014 to 2016

Beginning in 2017 - Consumption increased to about two times per week

April 2017 - Increased to taking it full time for insomnia

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I agree, Grassley has been a bulldog.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • Administrator

This Harvard Crimson article contains an image of the actual "We're sorry" letter from the perps.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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