Financial Ties between DSM-IV Panel Members and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Vol. 75, No. 3, 2006

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Regular Article

Financial Ties between DSM-IV Panel Members and the Pharmaceutical Industry
Lisa Cosgrove^a, Sheldon Krimsky^b, Manisha Vijayaraghavan^a, Lisa Schneider^a

^aUniversity of Massachusetts, Boston, Mass., and
^bTufts University, Medford, Mass., USA

Address of Corresponding Author

Psychother Psychosom 2006;75:154-160 (DOI: 10.1159/000091772)

Key Words

Conflicts of interest
Ethics
Financial interests
Psychopharmacologics

Abstract

Background: Increasing attention has been given to the transparency of potential conflicts of interest in clinical medicine and biomedical sciences, particularly in journal publishing and science advisory panels. The authors examined the degree and type of financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry of panel members responsible for revisions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM). Methods: By using multimodal screening techniques the authors investigated the financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry of 170 panel members who contributed to the diagnostic criteria produced for the DSM-IV and the DSM-IV-TR. Results: Of the 170 DSM panel members 95 (56%) had one or more financial associations with companies in the pharmaceutical industry. One hundred percent of the members of the panels on 'Mood Disorders' and 'Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders' had financial ties to drug companies. The leading categories of financial interest held by panel members were research funding (42%), consultancies (22%) and speakers bureau (16%). Conclusions: Our inquiry into the relationships between DSM panel members and the pharmaceutical industry demonstrates that there are strong financial ties between the industry and those who are responsible for developing and modifying the diagnostic criteria for mental illness. The connections are especially strong in those diagnostic areas where drugs are the first line of treatment for mental disorders. Full disclosure by DSM panel members of their financial relationships with for-profit entities that manufacture drugs used in the treatment of mental illness is recommended.

Author Contacts

Sheldon Krimsky, PhD
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
97 Talbot Ave
Medford, MA 02155 (USA)
Tel. +1 617 627 3394, Fax +1 617 627 3377, E-Mail sheldon.krimsky@tufts.edu

Article Information

Number of Print Pages : 7
Number of Figures : 4, Number of Tables : 0, Number of References : 32

Medline Abstract (ID 16636630)

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