Announcing the Launch of DSM V Shadow Team
There has been some press that most of the members of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Psychiatry (DSM-V) task force are on the pharma payroll, but although sites like Public Citizen quote that 16/28 members are on the payroll, if you actually look at the list on the APA web site there are only about six who don’t report pharma ties, and these include NIH employees. Now a series of investigative reports from David Wilmer from the LA Times in 2003-4 showed that many scientists from NIMH were receiving consulting fees from pharma that they were not disclosing, so maybe they aren’t reporting it or they were too lazy to flee once the truth got out. The few others are employees of the APA so it isn’t clear what they are actually doing on th committee. Others have received educational grants and other perks from pharma, making pretty much everyone compromised, so it isn’t surprising that a lot of people are worried about the potential corrupting influence that the pharmaceutical industry may be having on our beloved “bible” of psychiatry. Not to mention the fact the members of the task force were required to sign confidentiality agreements that they wouldn’t talk to anyone until the book was published. Oh, here is another one. They apparently decided that dissociative disorders don’t exist, since they didn’t even include that as one of their diagnostic groups. I guess there isn’t a pill for that, and that’s the whole purpose of this exercise, isn’t it anyway? To create diagnoses that increase the number of under identified Americans who need a psychotropic pill? Anyway, with all of these concerns, some of us psychiatrists when we were at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Scottsdale, AZ, recently decided to form…
DSM-V SHADOW TEAM!
DSM V Shadow Team, Christian Schmal MD, Ruth Lanius MD, Eric Vermetten MD PhD and (front) Doug Bremner MD
(front) Doug Bremner MD (Emory), (back), from left to right, Christian Schmahl MD (U. Mannheim), Ruth Lanius MD (U. Western Ontario), and Eric Vermetten MD (U. Utrecht). Photo credit: Rickey Gillespie, MD PhD (Emory)
…to express some dissenting opinions in the field of psychiatry. The idea is that we can “shadow” the “real” DSM-V task force and provide our own version of the DSM that is free of influence of pharma! (since we have either pissed off pharma by being to unsocial or ugly or asking embarassing questions or maybe we farted at the wrong time or live in Canada so that none of us have significant financial conflicts of interest!)
I got the inspiration for this idea when I responded to an article on pharmalot.com about conflicts of interests in FDA Advisory Boards by volunteering to work (for free) on an FDA advisory board as I have no significant conflicts, and I pointed out that I have alot to contribute (top in my field of PTSD based on ISI citations, 200 publications, drug trial expertise based on the last book I wrote). Henry Greenspan (Justice in Michigan) commented on pharmalot that maybe we could form our own “shadow” committees to parallel the FDA Advisory Committees for drug approvals that are so hopelessly corrupted by the fact that all of the members are paid consultants to pharma. I said I thought that was a wonderful idea.
I am not pointing out my own accomplishments for self aggrandizement but to demonstrate without equivocation that when the pharma shills say that the best and brightest always consult to pharma that they are full of bullshit.
Pharma pick and groom their candidates and them highlight them at circuses like the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association which further increases the glitter of their “thought leaders”.
We are a serious looking bunch in the picture, but, well this is serious business, I mean determining who gets psychiatric diagnoses and all. You’ll notice I couldn’t get any American psychiatrists to join the team. There are a few readers of the Drug Safety and Health News Blog that are on the “real” DSM-V work groups and we tried to get them to come over from the dark side but they just rolled their eyes.
Still time to reconsider guys! Won’t have a chance like this for another ten years!
OK, let’s get down to business. I am going to propose that one of the new diagnoses should be Narcissistic Psychiatrist Syndrome (NPS). This syndrome is characterized by:
- Inability to look patients (or anyone else for that matter) directly in the eye
- Delusional belief in the ability of psychopharmacology (as opposed to therapy) to heal all woes
- Inability to discuss emotions or feelings, whether in self or others
- Inability to perform self reflection
- Difficulty answering direct questions without somehow turning it around to the questioner
- Feelings of entitlement
- Inability to take blame
- Gravy spots on the tie
- Tennis shoes and jacket with patches on the elbows; pipe
Here is another one, Deviant Drug Rep Syndrome (DDRS)
- Feelings of sadness, anger, or tearfulness when contemplating the closure of pharmalot.com
- Obsessive internet activity involving reading comments about feelings of outrage related to a pharma HR exec who took a helicopter to work while rank and file employees were being laid off
- Having feelings of attachment to people you’ve never met who use false names like ‘Atlex’ and ‘Former Pharma Exec’
- Checking email inbox obsessively for pharmalot feeds
- Fantasizing about Ed Silverman’s laptop
originally posted Jan 7 2009
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update: I solely take responsibility for the actions of the so-called shadow team as I have not received input from the other members
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COMMENTS
The Shrink’s bible has been around for over 50 years, and now possibly contains nearly 300 mental disorders. Published by the APA, it is also used, I understand, for mental diagnostic criteria to assure reimbursement as well as to validate suspected assessments by the psychiatrist and is organized by the following:
I- Mental disorders
II- mental conditions
III- Physical disorders/syndromes, medical conditions (comorbidity)
IV- Mental disorder suspected etiology
V- Pediatric assessments
The next DSM, DSM-V, has had it’s task force members sign non-disclosure agreements, which is rather absurd. Lack of transparency equals lack of credibility because of these agreements of the content of the next DSM. It opposes any recovery model necessary regarding such disorders, I believe.
The DSM should be evaluated by another unrelated task force to assure objectivity,
Dan Abshear
Therapy Patient wrote
I loved your post on the DSM-V Shadow team, in particular the “new diagnoses”. Hysterical! I especially liked the Narcissistic Psychiatrist Syndrome (NPS) because I went to a psychiatrist for a while very close to that description. I found it amazing that he could open the door, let me in, get the door closed, his file out, conduct an assessment, handle payment, all without EVER looking at my face. I would bet he never looked ANYONE in the eye. It would have been funny even at the time if I hadn’t been wanting his help. I DO find it funny now!
Regarding cheerleaders recruited for pharma, that’s nothing new. A woman I know well (I hate to say friend!), was recruited from her dance department in a Louisiana college in the early 1970’s to sell drugs to doctors, so similar tactics have been in use for quite some time. She made a striking impression, I am sure, with her natural red hair. She STILL has exaggerated smiles, exaggerated enthusiasm. I don’t know if it was a prequalification for the job or if she learned it working for pharma, but she STILL has no qualms about lying, misrepresentation, and doing just about ANYTHING to make a sale, which is why I don’t call her a friend.
Perhaps your Shadow Team photo was purposely dark to represent the “shadow” part of Shadow Team, but if it was just a lousy exposure I have attached a corrected file.
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By Doug Bremner, January 29, 2009 @ 11:02 pm
Calling all DSM V Shadow Team Members! Time to reaffirm your committment to the cause! Email me to find common time to start our important work, Ja!