Washington Post: Psychiatry panelists with ties to drug industry say yes 

Washington Post reporter Peter Whoriskey did an impressive job looking into the ties between the American Psychiatric Association and the drug industry and how they might influence their new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 

“In what some prominent critics have called a bonanza for the drug companies, the American Psychiatric Association this month voted to drop the old warning against diagnosing depression in the bereaved, opening the way for more of them to be diagnosed with major depression — and thus, treated with antidepressants. 

“The change in the handbook, which could have significant financial implications for the $10 billion U.S. antidepressant market, was developed in large part by people affiliated with the pharmaceutical industry, an examination of financial disclosures shows.

He recently wrote this piece of investigative journalism, Drug Companies' Influence Over Research Grows.

Whoriskey doesn’t accept that everything is on the up and up and that those overseeing medical products for Americans have the best interests of the public as their primary focus.  He’s looked into the overriding influence and control of the drug industry everywhere in medicine.  So where is Whoriskey and lots of other journalists when the subject is vaccines and autism?  Why don’t reporters EVER want to delve into the non-stop mantra, “studies show no link”?  Why aren’t they suspicious about endless the conflict of interest waivers of our public health officials and how much industry money they receive?   How come the independent studies linking vaccines to serious side effects never make it into news reports? 

I guess crusading journalism has its limitations.  The Washington Post has long closed its eyes to industry ties and public health denials when the headline involves vaccines and their side effects.