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 […]
The REST Project, based at MIND in Camden, has been providing essential support services to patients suffering from dependence and withdrawal from benzodiazepines for 30 years. During this time it has helped thousands of clients safely withdraw from long term use of sedatives, tranquilisers and sleeping pills, through specialised group meetings and personalised support. […]
We anticipate that there will be significant media coverage next week around the issue of prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal. We are therefore looking for individuals who have had a negative experience withdrawing from benzodiazepines, z-drugs, gaba-ergic drugs (e.g. neurontin), opioids or antidepressants who would be prepared to tell their story to the media, including on television. […]
Dr James Davis, co-founder of CEP, is interviewed in this new documentary by the BBC which investigates the deals struck between health professionals and pharmaceutical companies. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b096sjk2
