A recent study new report published Thursday in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics found that 56 percent (95 out of 170) of the experts who worked on the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published in 1994 and known as the DSM-IV had at least one monetary relationship with a drug maker between 1989 and 2004.
The DSM is known as "the bible of mental health" and is used by an estimated 400,000 mental health workers to diagnose conditions. It is also used by health insurers to determine coverage and is crucial to pharmaceutical firms: the FDA will not approve a drug to treat a psychological condition not found in the DSM.
The study found that 100 percent of the experts that worked on the DSM's panels overseeing mood disorders and schizophrenia/psychotic disorders had financial involvement with the pharmaceutical companies.
Critics suggest that the DSM is becoming to expansive and including disorders such as social anxiety that only create new markets for drug companies. The first edition of the DSM, published in 1952 contained 107 disorders. The DSM-IV has more than tripled that number, containing 365 disorders.
According to the Chicago Tribune:
Dr. Darrel Regier, director of research at the American Psychiatric Association, said disclosure of potential conflicts of interest "wasn't the standard in the field" at the time the latest edition came out. "For the next revision," due in 2011, "we will have full disclosure," he said.
Study Finds a Link of Drug Makers to Psychiatrists (New York Times)
Top Mental Health Guide Questioned (Chicago Tribune)
