The All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence today publishes two new pieces of research, authored by members of CEP, which indicate that many doctors and psychiatrists may be failing to warn patients about the potential risks of antidepressants, and subsequently fail to recognise withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, sources of NHS support for patients, such […]
The Journal of Addictive Behaviors has today published a new systematic review which shows that antidepressant withdrawal is much more widespread, severe and long-lasting than indicated by current guidelines, with millions of antidepressant users in the U.K. potentially affected. ‘A Systematic Review into the Incidence, Severity and Duration of Antidepressant Withdrawal Effects: Are Guidelines Evidence-Based?’ was undertaken by CEP members […]
The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry today issues a declaration of support for our colleague, Professor Peter C. Gøtzsche – co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration, Director of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, Professor of Clinical Research at the University of Copenhagen, and member of CEP. Prof Peter C. Gøtzsche is known throughout the medical world as a tireless […]
When you consult the Royal College of Psychaitrists’s website it proclaims that one if its primary aims is to ‘improve the mental health of individuals, their families and communities’[i]– thus, to act in the public interest. Recent events at the Royal College put that proclamation in serious doubt. The first concerns the College’s public position […]
A formal complaint of misleading the public on a matter of public safety has today been lodged with the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) against its President, Professor Wendy Burn, and the Chair of its Psychopharmacology Committee, Professor David Baldwin. Burn and Baldwin stated, in a letter to The Times on 24 February, that: ‘[for] […]
The following letter was sent, by email, at 2.26pm today: To: Professor Wendy Burn, President – Royal College of Psychiatrists; Professor David Baldwin, Chair, Psychopharmacology Committee – Royal College of Psychiatrists. February 28, 2018 Dear Professors Burn and Baldwin On 24.2.2018 The Times published a letter signed by you, in your capacities as President, and […]
This huge systematic review (Cipriani et al 2018) does not add anything to the knowledge we already had about depression pills. Briefly, the effects as estimated on the Hamilton scale are very similar to those reported in a another huge meta-analysis in early 2017 (Jakobsen JC, Katakam KK, Schou A, et al. Selective serotonin reuptake […]
The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry 22 February 2018 For immediate release: Cipriani’s et al’s new research on whether antidepressants work has generated much excitement in the news media as well as the psychiatric community. The study has been represented by the Royal College of Psychiatrists as “finally putting to bed the controversy on anti-depressants“. This statement […]
The Chair of the Petitions Committee, David Rowlands AM, has requested written evidence from people in Wales about their experience of Prescribed Drug Dependence and their opinions on what support services there are on offer and what could be improved. His letter states: “The Committee has agreed to seek the views and experiences of people […]
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence (for whom CEP provides the secretariat) welcomes Public Health England’s announcement today of an evidence review into prescribed drugs that may cause dependence and withdrawal. Prescribed drug dependence is a growing problem, with increasing numbers of prescriptions for addictive, psychoactive drugs being given to adults and […]
