Listen to former Pharma rep Gwen Olsen talk about how drug company representatives put a positive spin on dangerous meds at her site, Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher.
Update: Texas suspends drug program for kids
A state mental health plan naming the preferred psychiatric drugs for children has been quietly put on hold over fears drugmakers may have given researchers consulting contracts, speakers fees or other perks to help get their products on the list, The Dallas Morning News reports.
The Children’s Medication Algorithm Project, or CMAP, was supposed to determine which psychiatric drugs were most effective for children and in what order they should be tried at state-funded mental health centers, the paper writes. In April, state health officials gave researchers the go-ahead to roll out the guidelines, but a month later, they delayed the protocol after objections from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office.
At most, the suspension indicates that state investigators fear fraud has occurred, according to the paper. At the least, the change reflects nationwide unease with potential conflicts of interest between leading medical researchers and drugmakers that fund much of their work. Publicly, officials say it’s because the state is suing Johnson & Johnson’s Jannsen unit for allegedly using false advertising and improper influence to get its drugs on Texas’ now-mandatory adult protocol, the Texas Medication Algorithm Project.
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