tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:39:07 +0000commercial biasACCMEEli LillyNemeroffWyeth PharmaceuticalsAstra ZenecaMassachusetts gift banMedscapeSeroquelindustry-funded CMEAmerican Psychiatric AssociationBristol-Myers SquibbGrassleyConflicts of InterestFDAAbilifyAlan SchatzbergCurrent PsychiatryDSM-VEmory UniversityADHDCEJACMEDesignWriteFugh-BermanGoodwinJAMANew York TimesPfizerPhysician Payments Sunshine ActProPublicaghostwritingprescription data-miningAMAAPACNS SpectrumsEffexorGlaxoSmithKlineJoseph BiedermanJournal of Clinical PsychiatryMassachusetts General HospitalPhysician paymentsShireThe Infinite Mindantipsychoticshired guni3 CMEindustry-free CMEACREAmerican Medical AssociationAntidepressantsBoston GlobeBritish Medical JournalBusinessWeekCymbaltaMedical Meetings MagazineNew York Times MagazineOregonPharmaceutical marketingPlacebo controlled trialPristiqPsychiatric TimesSolvayStephen StahlUniversity of Wisconsindrug repsgift banpromotional 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tacticsMartha RosenbergMartin SamuelsMcAllenMcCainMcGeeneyMed Page TodayMedbribeMedical Marketing and MediaMedical SocietiesMeghna ChakrabartiMelody PetersonMental Health AmericanMerckMichael FirstMina DulcanMinh UongMother JonesMukherjeeNEBANancy RappaportNatasha SingerNesiNeuroinvestmentNeuroscience education insttituteNew York State AssemblyNew YorkerNiravamNissenNotes from RWNovartisNuvigilOff-label promotionOn PointOpen PaymentsOranskyOregon Academy of Family PhysiciansOrexigenPRMSPV UpdatesPain TVParryPatent ExtendersPatient PrimingPaul SimonPaul ThackerPewPhRMA codePhysiPhysician disclosurePiesPlacebo Journal BlogPoison PillsPrescription projectPri-MedPrimedia HealthcareProduct theatersProfessional Medical AssociationsPsynomicsQuantiaMDRadio BostonRajnish MagoReed ElsevierRelmanRemissionReporting on HealthRidge DiagnosticsRobert DeLeoRobert FreedmanRoyal College of PhysiciansRozeremSPECTSchwarz PharmaSchwitzerSenate Finance CommitteeSentinelSourceSepracorShahram AhariSharfsteinSilenorSimple and Practical Mental HealthSmithKline BeechamSomaxonSpencerSpielmansSprout PharmaceuticalsStandards for Commercial SupportSternthalSteven StahlStosselStratteraSymbyaxTMSTakedaTamar HosanskyThackerThe Carlat Addiction Treatment ReportThe Carlat Medical ReportThe Carlat Psychiatry ReportThomas SullivanThought BroadcastTim KukloTom AshbrookTom SullivanTranscranial Magnetic StimulationTuftsUnbranded DoctorUniversity DiariesUniversity of MichiganUniversity of North Texas Health Science CenterVerispanVermont Psychiatric AssociationViibrydVioxxViraceptVox MedicaWall Street Journal Health BlogWashington PostWeb ChatWebMDWhitakerWilensWilliam CarpenterWired magazineWisconsin Medical SocietyWoodZimmermanaripiprazolebinge eating disorderbipolar depressionbipolar disorderbook reviewbupropionchild psychiatrycontinuing medical educationdirty thirtydisclosuredrug companiesfibromyalgiafree speechgenericsgeneticsgreedhospitalityiPhonekey opinion leaderslegal consultationmajor depressive disorderneuroscienceCMEopiatespharma marketing blogpharmacogeneticspodcastpractice guidelines committeepremarinprescriptive privilegespsychosissanofi aventisseeding trialsstimulantssuper PACstestosteronevilazodonevortioxetineKeeping Psychiatry Honest Since 2007http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)Blogger368125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-2010745201100747186Wed, 27 Sep 2017 14:22:00 +00002017-09-27T10:27:26.301-04:00 The Carlat Report Newsletters are launching a bi-monthly email newsletter that will contain concise, practical advice for busy clinicians based on the work we are doing in The Carlat Report, The Carlat Child Report, and The Carlat Addiction Treatment Report. You don't have to be a paid subscriber to get it, simply fill out this quick webform and you'll start receiving each new issue, http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2017/09/sign-up-for-carlat-reports-free-quick.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jives)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-983712447507071792Tue, 12 Sep 2017 21:01:00 +00002017-09-13T10:53:02.109-04:00antipsychoticsaripiprazolebupropionFDAResearch Antipsychotics are not perfect. No drugs are. They can cause weight gain and weird movement side effects and sleepiness. But they have their uses, such as quelling racing thoughts, inner turmoil, and psychosis. There’s nothing inherently good or bad about any class of drugs. It’s up to physicians to understand the data and to prescribe medications judiciously. With that introduction out of thehttp://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2017/09/hating-on-antipsychotics-are-we-going.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-6852576878947684713Wed, 06 Sep 2017 18:54:00 +00002017-09-08T11:53:21.579-04:00 The fact that psychiatry lags far behind the rest of medicine scientifically is no great news flash. The leaders of our field have long acknowledged this problem (see, for example, this withering self-critique by then head of NIMH Thomas Insel).  None of this should be taken personally. Psychiatrists are just as smart as other doctors. It’s just that we have the misfortune of having http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2017/09/were-diagnosing-like-its-1799.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-8877404301993306601Tue, 29 Aug 2017 22:06:00 +00002017-08-30T03:21:49.722-04:00 You may have heard that the Food and Drug Administration has given the drug ecstasy (MDMA) its "breakthrough designation" for the treatment of PTSD. See this very thoughtful article in the Washington Post for details.  I came out of blog-slumber to post about this because we're in the midst of planning an upcoming issue of TCPR (The Carlat Psychiatry Report) on PTSD, and becausehttp://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2017/08/ecstasy-for-ptsd-some-background.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-6883619418923907578Fri, 17 Feb 2017 20:13:00 +00002017-02-17T15:13:19.923-05:00Alkermes PharmaceuticalsAntidepressantsopiatesPlacebo controlled trialIn the early 1950s, opium was considered an effective treatment for depression, but gradually it fell out of favor as its addiction risk became clear. Nonetheless, there's no denying that opioids rapidly elevate the mood of just about anybody, even the very depressed. So that's a pretty tantalizing challenge: Is it possible to harness the elating effects of opiates while avoiding the addictive "http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2017/02/antidepressant-news-just-right-amount.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jives)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-7335530797226140403Wed, 07 Sep 2016 18:33:00 +00002016-09-07T14:33:21.639-04:00A new article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) by Alastair Matheson takes a fresh look at ghostwriting in medical research. Apparently, pharmaceutical companies are waging a campaign to convince us that they are now opposed to ghostwriting. But Matheson argues that the practice continues, only under a different name: "editorial assistance." It comes down to how we define ghostwriting. The http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2016/09/have-companies-stopped-ghostwriting-bmj.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-4137391391968348145Mon, 05 Oct 2015 15:17:00 +00002015-10-07T10:48:34.106-04:00GeneSightGenetic TestingResearchWeb Chat It would be fantastic to have a lab test to help us decide which drugs to prescribe in psychiatry. See Sunday's great Boston Globe article that picked up on our recent coverage of the GeneSight test.  It's a promising technology, but the marketing has leap-frogged ahead of the science.  This Wednesday afternoon I will be participating in a webcast with journalists and http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/10/upcoming-webcast-about-genetic-testing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Admin)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-2409161075199002596Wed, 16 Sep 2015 20:54:00 +00002015-09-16T16:54:53.808-04:00Brain DevicesDevicesTMSTranscranial Magnetic Stimulation In the pages of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, we’ve covered transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) numerous times—most recently in the current issue. For those who haven’t heard of these devices, they work by pulsing magnetic fields into the brain. The magnetic fields stimulate neurons—far more gently than electroconvulsive therapy. The theory is that this gentle brain stimulation, focused on http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-tms-wars-psychiatry-goes-high-tech.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Admin)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-4170744229003197773Fri, 21 Aug 2015 01:24:00 +00002015-08-20T21:24:59.167-04:00AddyiFlibanserinHSDDHypoactive Sexual Desire DisorderSprout Pharmaceuticals Flibanserin (brand name Addyi) has just received a controversial and complicated FDA approval for the treatment of low sex drive in women. There’s a lot of outrage in the blogosphere, much of it centered on the lobbying of the FDA by disease advocacy groups.  I agree that this politicization of what should be a scientific process is embarrassing to both Sprout and its supporters. http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/08/flibanserin-5-things-to-consider-before.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Admin)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-4741493324377201194Wed, 05 Aug 2015 16:50:00 +00002015-08-05T12:57:45.831-04:00binge eating disorderstimulantsThe Carlat Psychiatry ReportVyvanseOne of the benefits of having the Carlat World Headquarters here in beautiful Newburyport, Massachusetts is that we get to work next door to an iconic antiques barn called Oldies. It's a wonderful stockpile of odds and ends that range from decommissioned lobster traps to faded movie posters. The other day I came across an old issue of LIFE Magazine with a cover story on “The Dangerous Diet http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/08/vyvanse-is-history-repeating-itself.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Admin)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-5414147412858893888Wed, 01 Jul 2015 18:20:00 +00002015-07-01T17:28:27.382-04:00ACCMECMEgift banhospitalityPharmaceutical marketingDecades of mutually beneficial economic ties have bound the fortunes of hotels, restaurants, and drug companies. But in an era of Sunshine Act disclosure, renewed calls for professional ethics, and ballooning healthcare costs, that relationship may be souring. It used to be a veritable love-fest. As recently as 2011, I was writing about a restaurant's attempt to rebrand itself as a "http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/07/hospitality-and-pharma-relationship-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Admin)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-1943165486216554484Fri, 26 Jun 2015 21:52:00 +00002015-06-26T17:52:11.398-04:00 In a fascinating new chapter in the battle over industry funding of CME, a huge hotel workers' union has started a campaign to end the practice. Unite Here represents 270,000 workers, and the organization claims that industry funding of CME drives up their health care costs, which is undoubtedly true. So they have created a website, No More Drug Money, to advocate their cause, and they arehttp://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/06/hotel-workers-against-industry-funded.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-2268615704792416485Sun, 17 May 2015 13:07:00 +00002015-05-17T09:09:57.060-04:00AssurexGeneSightpharmacogenetics We just published the May issue of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, and the topic is "Biomarkers in Psychiatry." I contributed an article reviewing the evidence for the GeneSight genetic test, which is being quite heavily marketed as a way to choose the right medications for patients. According to company's website: "Multiple clinical studies have shown that when clinicians used GeneSight to http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-genesight-test-wing-prayer-and-13.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-4058816555868766023Thu, 30 Apr 2015 13:30:00 +00002015-04-30T11:22:15.201-04:00Please file this blog post under "Shameless Self-Promotion." I just published a new edition of my book, Drug Metabolism in Psychiatry: A Clinical Guide. You can buy it here, and you can read a free preview of the first two chapters here. It's mostly a book for psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners. It's pretty short at 145 pages, but it's very concise and in my opinion fun to http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/04/how-drugs-collide-what-every.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-4313766153821418118Thu, 16 Apr 2015 19:17:00 +00002015-04-16T16:14:01.636-04:00ADHDdepressionEEGmajor depressive disorderMDDScoreNEBA Four years ago I wrote a blog post about the MDDScore blood test for depression. That was before there were any peer-reviewed publications describing it. Now there are at least two. The latest came out a couple of months ago in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and you can access the article, along with two interesting commentaries, for free. While I won't go into the article in any detail, http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/04/how-new-blood-test-for-depression-is.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-6796121325979197023Wed, 15 Apr 2015 16:15:00 +00002015-04-15T16:50:25.856-04:00ACCMEBrintellixindustry-funded CMEMedscapeStandards for Commercial Supportvortioxetine As I wrote in part one of my Medscape review, the website gets high marks for up-to-the-minute coverage of psychiatric news, and it deserves kudos for posting a ton of textbook-like content on disorders and drugs. I wasn’t so thrilled with its "un-privacy" policy, which results in your personal info and browsing history being sold to third parties.  Today we get into the dark side of http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/04/medscape-presents-brintellix-show.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-5179064314636067363Wed, 08 Apr 2015 13:49:00 +00002015-04-08T09:49:33.619-04:00MedscapePsychiatry websitesReviews of websitesWebsite reviewsMedscape is the number one website for American physicians--a 2010 survey found that 57% of doctors read the site. I'll wager that proportion is higher in 2015. I have not always been Medscape's number one fan. I've called the site out for pushing Cymbalta in a Lilly-funded "Pain TV" program and for touting Invega in a CME-accredited infomercial that was so blatant that Business Week ran a http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/04/medscape-psychiatry-review-part-one-good.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-4060595225946168716Wed, 01 Apr 2015 18:12:00 +00002015-04-08T17:06:07.860-04:00Psychiatry websitesRajnish MagoReviews of websitesSimple and Practical Mental HealthWebsite reviews Lately I've been browsing for good psychiatry websites to harvest ideas for an upcoming redesign of The Carlat Psychiatry Report. Everything's fair game in my search, whether industry-funded or not. I'm not going to try to pretend that industry funding inevitably leads to tainted information. Clearly, sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn't. I've been finding a lot of quality http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/04/psychiatry-website-review-rajnish-magos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-2939282654577884147Tue, 24 Mar 2015 21:10:00 +00002015-03-25T10:57:03.455-04:0012-step programsAAAlcoholics AnonymousAtlantic MagazineCATRThe Carlat Addiction Treatment Report The current issue of The Atlantic magazine has a fascinating article entitled "The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous." In a wide-ranging and well-researched article, the author Gabrielle Glaser, begins with the story of a lawyer identified as "J.G." "J.G." began drinking at age 15 and his habit ramped up through college and law school. Ironically, much of J.G.'s law practice is http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-atlantic-slams-alcoholics-anonymous.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-2428289966911129769Sat, 21 Mar 2015 14:55:00 +00002015-03-21T10:55:53.800-04:00 I woke up this morning and realized that I've allowed myself to become a victim of BPS--Blog Procrastination Syndrome. It happens to the best of us. We write a post, and days and weeks and months go by. "My next post has to be really, really good," we think. Forget that. I'm just going to dive back in beginning today. "Done is better than perfect," someone once told me. At The Carlat http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-combining-antipsychotics-top.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-7448813925905946958Thu, 06 Nov 2014 21:57:00 +00002014-11-06T16:57:52.278-05:00 This article was originally published in The BMJ on November 5, 2014. Orthopedic surgeons receive the biggest payments from industry in the US according to the Open Payments database. The next step, writes transparency pioneer Danny Carlat, is for researchers to compare payment data with disclosures of physicians’ prescribing patterns  After substantial delays, the Open Payments http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2014/11/exploring-link-between-industry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-2082044642658529987Wed, 08 Oct 2014 17:04:00 +00002014-10-08T13:15:50.307-04:00 There's a scene in Ghostbusters in which the characters are discussing gun safety.     "Don't cross the streams." "Why?" "It would be bad." "I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, 'bad'?"  "Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. Total protonic http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2014/10/payments-to-doctors-bottom-line.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-5579506908880430655Wed, 01 Oct 2014 19:23:00 +00002014-10-03T09:54:08.801-04:00Charles OrnsteinOpen PaymentsPewPhysician Payments Sunshine ActProPublica Hi readers. Yesterday was my last day at The Pew Charitable Trusts--timed to coincide with the launch of the Open Payments website. Before commenting on the website, here are some quick impressions about my last 2 1/2 years in Washington: fascinating, sometimes frustrating, often exhilerating, and overall just a great introduction to the arena of politics. Pew is amazing--work there if you http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2014/10/im-back-now-lets-talk-sunshine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-2211289110028901687Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:55:00 +00002012-03-21T15:26:43.443-04:00This will be my last Carlat Psychiatry Blog post for a while, as I have recently accepted a new job as the director of the Pew Prescription Project in Washington DC. My main job there will be to pull together a group of experts to review conflict of interest recommendations, and to work with various partner organizations (AMSA, Community Catalyst, and the National Physician's http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2012/03/dr-carlat-goes-to-washington-to-head.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562387750337311798.post-5464107527573758085Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:15:00 +00002012-01-06T14:15:19.904-05:00BMJThe British Medical Journal's great blogger Richard Lehman has published the following Ten Commandments for excellent clinical practice. These are great rules of thumb for any savvy health care practitioner--but they do require that wee bit of extra work to truly understand the statistics behind the medical literature. (Hat tip to Steve Balt, MD, for sending me the link).  The New http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2012/01/bmjs-ten-commandments-for-ideal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Daniel Carlat)6