Informed Consent Matters

You too

I think that’s the problem. Pharmaceutical products are sold as doing only good. Asking questions is socially proscribed.

I think this weakens the argument for benefit.

The public can deal with nuance.

No, I’m not ‘anti-vax’.

Denying any nuance weakens your argument.

To argue for the pros outweighing the cons, you have to discuss them both or people will think you’re hiding something.

Sanitation? Nutrition? Public health?

I’m not anti medicine, but you need to acknowledge that it was only part of a broader improvement in living standards.

You fail the fight for democracy if you use misinformation too.

Why didn’t you question him about Norway’s intentions regarding future fossil fuel exploration and extraction?

The 110-Year “Schizophrenia Genetic Research” Train Wreck The “genetics of schizophrenia” area of research—which began as a eugenics program—is currently in disaster mode and awaits its endpoint.

My new article: “The 110-Year ‘Schizophrenia Genetic Research’ Train Wreck.”

"The schizophrenia/psychosis causality puzzle pieces will fit together much better once we knock the ‘genetics’ pieces off the table.”

www.madinamerica.com/2025/08/the-...

Join us online this Wed to hear Child &Adolescent Psychiatrist Sami Timimi talk about his book ‘Searching for Normal: A New Approach to Understanding Mental Health, Distress and Neurodiversity’ &his work that challenges the pathologising of emotional distress.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1222883701...

On Love in America After I nearly died during open-heart surgery, I realized that there is no room in this second life for anything but gratitude — and love.

On Love in America
by Kermit Cole

After I nearly died during open-heart surgery, I realized that there is no room in this second life for anything but gratitude — and love.
www.madinamerica.com/2025/08/on-l...

Please read our paper out now about the resistance, repurposing and reimagining of oppressive mental health technologies, such as Oxevision (now LIO), used on us against our will. And how we must dream them differently.

Bar chart showing % of articles retracted, with expression of concern, or no action from different publishers. 100% no action from Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer; 100% retraction from Taylor and Francis.

Huge variability documented in how publishers respond when informed about a problematic body of work by a research group. www.jclinepi.com/article/S089...
#publishers #retractions

Public Citizen, the FDA, and SSRI Safety The safe and effective treatment for depression recommended is psychotherapy and social support, not prescription drugs.

Public Citizen, the FDA, and SSRI Safety
by Allan Leventhal

The safe and effective treatment for depression is psychotherapy and social support, not prescription drugs.
www.madinamerica.com/2025/08/publ...

Informed patients are safer patients.

So many studies from Iran with red flags. This time a RCT on CBT. No reduction in suicide ideation at all in the control group, same for Beck's hopelessness scale (sometimes referred to as despair, sometimes as hopelessness)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Antidepressants in Pregnancy—Turning a Blind Eye, Again You might think that telling women about the potential risks of taking antidepressants during pregnancy would be uncontroversial.

‘Dismissing the risks and reassuring women that these drugs are ‘safe’ is a paternalistic approach that obscures the central role of the pregnant woman herself’

www.madinamerica.com/2025/08/anti...

Antidepressants in Pregnancy—Turning a Blind Eye, Again You might think that telling women about the potential risks of taking antidepressants during pregnancy would be uncontroversial.

Antidepressants in Pregnancy—Turning a Blind Eye, Again
by Joanna Moncrieff, MD, and Adam Urato, MD

Dismissing the risks and reassuring women that these drugs are ‘safe’ is a paternalistic approach that obscures the role of the pregnant woman in deciding her own medical treatment.
buff.ly/AlI3RNB

Not Even the Unborn Are Safe from Psychiatric Harm Medical organizations and the media dismiss the large body of research telling of fetal harm from exposure to SSRIs during pregnancy.

Not Even the Unborn Are Safe from Psychiatric Harm
An MIA Report by Robert Whitaker

Medical organizations and the media dismiss the large body of research telling of fetal harm from exposure to antidepressants during pregnancy.
www.madinamerica.com/2025/08/not-...

We need to act fast to close the NHS AI safety gap (20 August 2025) Current safety standards can’t keep up with AI, writes Yvette Khozam, electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) lead pharmacist at West London NHS Trust, in this article for Digital H...

We need to act fast to close the NHS artificial intelligence safety gap - an article by Yvette Khozam, published by @digitalhealth2.bsky.social, featured on the hub this today. www.pslhub.org/learn/commis... #patientsafety

It’s the same for patients who experience treatment-related injuries. They are routinely denied, ghosted and given misdiagnoses (always psychiatric disorders, which means they will never be taken seriously in the future).

Long Covid patients gaslit by GPs, Surrey study finds - BBC News The University of Surrey study says patients faced "gatekeeping" of medical treatment from doctors.

"We urge practitioners to treat patient-generated data as a valuable resource. Without this shift, patients with contested illnesses like long Covid risk remaining stuck in a system where they have to be their own doctors."
Dr Jayadeva

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...?

#LongCovid #PatientAdvocacy

Behandlungserfolge ohne Antidepressiva | Depression-Heute Prof. Dr. Reinhard Maß hat systematisch über einen Zeitraum von knapp 20 Jahren die Besserungen der depressiv erkrankten Patienten auf seiner Station erfasst. Seine aktuelle Studie kommt zu überrasche...

Kein Zusatznutzen von Antidepressiva in der stationären Behandlung einer Depression (eher das Gegenteil!)
Wie konträr zur gängigen Praxis!
Sehr gutes Interview mit Links zu der bemerkenswerten Studie von Maß.
www.depression-heute.de/behandlungse...

This study demonstrates a promising approach to screen for PIP at a population level by applying coding to a large database of health administrative data.

Want to help tackle Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing (PIP)?

Find helpful deprescribing.org resources here:
buff.ly/PoE6sPh

Venlafaxine protracted withdrawal diary: never think you're getting better

Effects of ketamine and esketamine on death, suicidal behaviour, and suicidal ideation in psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis Background: Ketamine and esketamine have been claimed to possess anti-suicidal effects and potentially to transform suicide prevention. This study provides an updated overview of evidence from clinica...

1/n Our systematic review & meta-analysis on the effect of ketamine/esketamine on suicide ideation/behavior is now out as a preprint. Ketamine/esketamine are considered by some as transforming suicide prevention due to their rapid and large effects. Here's the evidence:

🔎 Is it keeping you safe… or just routine?

Our blog on why some safety routines in #Healthcare don't benefit patients is now available to read on
@careopinion.org.uk

careopinion.org.uk/blogposts/12...

#PatientSafety @rebeccalawton.bsky.social

Doctors Who Accept Industry Cash Get More Patient Complaints, Study Finds Physicians paid by drug and device companies are more likely to receive unsolicited complaints, pointing to the corrosive effects of industry influence on care.

Doctors Who Accept Industry Cash Get More Patient Complaints, Study Finds

Physicians paid by drug and device companies are more likely to receive unsolicited complaints, pointing to the corrosive effects of industry influence on care.

By Richard Sears

www.madinamerica.com/2025/08/doct...

Pro-tip if you seriously messed in a paper: just do nothing, don't reply to emails. Chances are high that nothing will happen. There are no incentives for journal editors or universities to get the records corrected. And even if someone takes action, it may take years until retraction/correction.

Doctors: Patients Don’t Want You to Use AI New survey shows patients will avoid doctors who use AI, considering them less trustworthy, skilled, and empathetic.

Doctors: Patients Don’t Want You to Use AI

New survey shows patients will avoid doctors who use AI, considering them less trustworthy, skilled, and empathetic.

By Peter Simons

www.madinamerica.com/2025/08/doct...

I’m happy for my doctor uses AI if it means that I will actually receive the information I need to be able to decide about the treatment on offer.

Maybe it’s the patient that needs access to AI for this, to avoid gatekeeping.