Mental Health Information

I was a "naked PhD" with interests in the population biology and community ecology of parasitic disease, not a DVM or an MD but I regularly attended national Parasitology conferences that included talks and seminars that were funded by pharmaceutical companies.

Allied industries do conduct research in order to determine safety and efficacy of their products, and this research is published and it does influence educational content and clinical practice. No doubt the pharmaceutical companies work with internal incentives that pose conflicts of interest between science and profits.

IMO the misuse of studies and scientific presentations as marketing is another case of good intentions sometimes/often going wrong. It's a rather expected natural outcome of both American health industries being imbedded in a free-market system and of human nature.

The media has no shortage of clinicians interested in the personal satisfaction, celebrity, and money that accompanies being a mouthpiece for the med-ertainment industry. Medical treatment break-through stories on the morning shows get air-time because they get pushed by publicists, especially if they are a 'program' available as a book or CD.

It's somewhat surprising there is not a reality show called "America's Next TV MD".