NEWS: Psychiatry's 'Chemical Imbalance' Ads Debunked by Researchers

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Tue, 8 Nov 2005 17:02:34 -0800

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NEWS: Psychiatry's 'Chemical Imbalance' Ads Debunked by

Researchers

 

 

 

MindFreedom International News - 8 Nov. 2005

http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward

 

Researchers Say Psychiatric Drug Ads

Mislead Public About " Chemical Imbalance "

 

Why Would The US Food & Drug Administration

Approve False Advertising?

 

Millions of viewers have seen the TV ads for

the anti-depressant drug Zoloft.

 

A bouncing ball turns from a sad face

to a happy face. Like many ads for similar

psychiatric drugs, the voice-over claims

Zoloft helps correct a " chemical imbalance. "

 

The December 2005 issue of a peer-reviewed

medical journal will include an essay by

two scientific researchers that debunks

psychiatric drug advertising claims about

a " chemical imbalance. "

 

Countless consumers choose to take

psychiatric drugs based on these claims.

 

Why would the US Food and Drug Administration

approve false ads for the SSRI drugs?

 

The human rights group MindFreedom International

has been asking that question for a long time.

 

On behalf of MindFreedom, US Senator Ron Wyden

contacted the FDA for an explanation about why

they approve such false advertising. In their

response -- which took over one year -- the FDA

could cite no scientific literature or studies.

 

It turns out there's a good reason the FDA can't

find any scientific evidence for these ads.

 

The scientific evidence does not exist.

 

This new medical journal essay concludes, " The

incongruence between the scientific literature and

the claims made in FDA-regulated SSRI advertisements

is remarkable, and possibly unparalleled. "

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

BELOW are links to the essay in both

text and PDF print versions.

 

At BOTTOM is a news release from the

publishers of the journal entitled, " Ads for

SSRI antidepressants are misleading,

say researchers. "

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

FULL TEXT OF ESSAY:

 

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-

document & doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392

 

or use this smaller url:

 

http://tinyurl.com/8vywy

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

PRINT PDF (205 K) VERSION OF ESSAY:

 

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/archive/1549-1676/2/12/pdf/

10.1371_journal.pmed.0020392-p-L.pdf

 

or use this smaller url:

 

http://tinyurl.com/bcwf3

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

[forwarded from publisher:]

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

Contact: Paul Ocampo press

415-624-1224 - Public Library of Science

 

Ads for SSRI antidepressants are

misleading, say researchers

 

Consumer ads for a class of

antidepressants called SSRIs often

claim that depression is due to a

chemical imbalance in the brain, and

that SSRIs correct this imbalance,

but these claims are not supported by

scientific evidence, say researchers

in PLoS Medicine.

 

Although scientists in the 1960s

suggested that depression may be

linked to low brain levels of the

chemical serotonin (the so-called

" serotonin hypothesis " ), contemporary

research has failed to confirm the

hypothesis, they say.

 

The researchers -- Jeffrey Lacasse, a

doctoral candidate at Florida State

University and Dr. Jonathan Leo, a

neuroanatomy professor at Lake Erie

College of Osteopathic

Medicine -- studied US consumer

advertisements for SSRIs from print,

television, and the Internet. They

found widespread claims that SSRIs

restore the serotonin balance of the

brain. " Yet there is no such thing as

a scientifically established correct

'balance' of serotonin, " the authors

say.

 

According to Lacasse and Leo, in the

scientific literature it is openly

admitted that the serotonin

hypothesis remains unconfirmed and

that there is " a growing body of

medical literature casting doubt on

the serotonin hypothesis, " which is

not reflected in the consumer ads.

 

For instance, the widely televised

animated Zoloft (setraline)

commercials have dramatized a

serotonin imbalance and stated,

" Prescription Zoloft works to correct

this imbalance. " Advertisements for

other SSRIs, such as Prozac

(fluoxetine), Paxil (paroxetine), and

Lexapro (escitalopram), have made

similar claims.

 

In the US, the FDA is responsible for

regulating consumer advertisements,

and requires that they be based on

scientific evidence. Yet, according

to Lacasse and Leo, the mismatch

between the scientific literature and

the SSRI advertisements is

" remarkable, and possibly

unparalleled. "

 

And while the Irish equivalent of the

FDA, the Irish Medicines Board,

recently banned GlaxoSmithKline from

claiming in their patient information

leaflets that paroxetine (Paxil)

corrects a chemical imbalance, the

FDA has never taken any similar

action on this issue.

 

Commenting on Lacasse and Leo's work,

Professor David Healy of the North

Wales Department of Psychological

Medicine, said: " The serotonin theory

of depression is comparable to the

masturbatory theory of insanity. Both

have been depletion theories, both

have survived in spite of the

evidence, both contain an implicit

message as to what people ought to

do. In the case of these myths, the

key question is whose interests are

being served by a widespread

promulgation of such views rather

than how do we test this theory. "

 

Dr Joanna Moncrieff, Senior Lecturer

in Psychiatry at University College

London, said: " It is high time that

it was stated clearly that the

serotonin imbalance theory of

depression is not supported by the

scientific evidence or by expert

opinion. Through misleading publicity

the pharmaceutical industry has helped

to ensure that most of the general

public is unaware of this. "

 

###

 

Citation: Lacasse JR, Leo J (2005)

Serotonin and depression: A

disconnect between the advertisements

and the scientific literature. PLoS

Med 2(12): e392.

 

CONTACTS: Jeffrey Lacasse

jeffreylacasse

(850) 294-0875

 

Jonathan Leo jleo1

941-321-9034 or 941-723-8710

 

PUBLISHED BY OPEN-ACCESS

JOURNAL PLoS MEDICINE

http://www.plosmedicine.org

 

All works published in PLoS Medicine

are open access and may be freely

re-distributed under the Creative

Commons Attribution License.

 

- end forwarded news release -

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

ACTION: Please help inform the public!!

 

Forward this important news far and wide.

 

WOULD YOU LIKE MORE INFORMATION about

psychiatric drug industry false advertising

about a " chemical imbalance " ?

 

See MindFreedom's debate with Pfizer, Inc.,

manufacturer of Zoloft:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/pfizerlies.shtml

 

Also see the historic debate with the

American Psychiatric Association resulting

from MindFreedom's 2003 hunger strike:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/hungerstrike.shtml

 

Researcher Jonathan Leo was on the MindFreedom

International Scientific Panel for the hunger strike.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

This news alert is forwarded as a free

public service by MindFreedom International

http://wwww.MindFreedom.org.

 

Since 1987 MindFreedom has won victories

for human rights in the mental health

system. MindFreedom unites 100 sponsor and

affiliate groups and individual members.

 

MindFreedom is one of the few totally

independent groups in the mental health

field with no funding from governments,

drug companies, the mental health system

or religions.

 

TO JOIN, DONATE or RENEW your MindFreedom

membership please go here:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml

 

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mental health: http://www.madmarket.org

 

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email: office fax: (541) 345-3737

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