The pharmaceutical industry and the internet: Are drug company funded depression websites biased?

Wattignar, Sarah; Read, John

doi:10.1080/09638230902968183

Cited by 11 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 0 publications

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“…All concerned need to be wary of drug company claims on this issue (e.g. Eli Lilly ; Glaxo Smith Kline ; Tonks ), including on the Internet (Read & Cain ; de Wattignar & Read ). In the light of the difficulty millions of people are experiencing when trying to stop or reduce their ADs, patients, and the general public, need to be educated about the existence, and difficulty, of withdrawal symptoms.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How many of 1829 antidepressant users report withdrawal effects or addiction?

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Cartwright

Gibson

2018

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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More than 10% of adults are prescribed antidepressants annually in some countries. Recent increases in prescribing can be explained more by repeat prescriptions than new patients. This raises the question of whether antidepressants are addictive. A total of 1829 New Zealanders who had been prescribed antidepressants completed an online survey; 44% had been taking antidepressants for more than 3 years and were still taking them. Withdrawal effects when stopping medication were reported by 55%, and addiction by 27%. Paroxetine had particularly high rates of withdrawal symptoms. Only 1% of participants recalled being told about withdrawal effects when prescribed the drugs. Such high rates of withdrawal symptoms suggest that all concerned, including mental health nurses, need to help people considering antidepressants to understand that it can be difficult to withdraw from them. It will also be beneficial to closely monitor people already taking antidepressants and who are at risk of long-term usage.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How many of 1829 antidepressant users report withdrawal effects or addiction?

Read

Cartwright

Gibson

2018

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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“…Recent studies, on schizophrenia (Read, 2008), PTSD (Mansell & Read, 2009) and depression (de Wattignar & Read, 2009), have all found a biological bias among drugcompany funded websites. To date there has been no such investigation in relation to childhood mental health problems.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, drug companies and the internet

Mitchell

Read

2011

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry

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This study investigated the influence of drug-company funding on websites about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Websites in the top 60 for either Google or Yahoo!Xtra with information about causation and treatment were analysed. Likert scales, based on those used in previous similar studies, were developed to rate aetiological explanations and recommended treatment approaches, on a dimension from psycho-social to biological. Overall, the quality of information on websites was poor with a strong bias towards bio-genetic aetiological explanations of ADHD. Twenty-one of the 57 websites (37%) were funded by drug companies. The drug-company funded (DCF) websites were significantly more likely than non-DCF websites to recommend medication rather than psycho-social treatments. The selective lack of consideration of psycho-social treatments by DCF websites is discussed in relation to the relevant research literature, including the evidence in favour of a multimodal approach. The findings, which are consistent with previous similar studies in relation to websites about adult mental health problems, confirm that the pharmaceutical industry is seeking to influence public opinion via the internet.

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“…Nine studies that address the role of drug companies in mental health–related websites could be identified . Six have compared websites that are, and are not, funded by drug companies .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Entering (‘drug company’ OR ‘pharmaceutical industry’) and ‘mental health’ generated 47. On examination of abstracts, eight papers were identified as relevant. The inclusion of one unpublished paper brought the total to nine.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%