Dr Roy Perlis has been accused of “tedious and unprofessional” omissions after he failed to mention his links to antidepressant companies in his article suggesting the drugs should be available without a prescription.
Doctors have criticized a leading psychiatrist for suggesting antidepressants should be given without a prescription and failing to disclose that he has received funding from several companies making mental health pills.
in a opinion article For STAT News, Dr. Roy Perlis, a Harvard psychiatry professor, wrote that it was time to do “everything we can” to give Americans easier access to medications for mental health conditions like depression.
The doctor, who also treats patients at Massachusetts General Hospital, argued that the drugs are safe and effective, and that the need for them is greater than ever.
An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from mental illness and may benefit from medications to treat it.
Dr. Perlis argued that over-the-counter medications would be especially helpful for those who are afraid to seek help because of social stigma.
However, mental health medications, which are prescribed to more than one in eight adults in the U.S., have been linked to concerning side effects, including psychiatric disorders and sexual dysfunction.
Reading Dr. Perlis’ argument, experts turned to X to highlight these potential harms and point out his ties to pharmaceutical companies.
‘Why can’t this psychiatrist, who calls for antidepressants to be sold without a prescription, like aspirin, also declare his numerous ties to pharmaceutical companies at the bottom of this one-sided article that seeks to erase the damage?’ Dr. James Davies, associate professor of medical anthropology and psychology at the University of Oxford, asked about X.
“These omissions are tedious and unprofessional,” he added.
Antidepressants, which are prescribed to more than one in eight adults in the US, have been linked to concerning side effects including vomiting, diarrhea, impact on appetite leading to weight loss or gain, and sexual dysfunction .
Other medical professionals have described Mr. Perlis’ comments as evidence of “corruption” in medicine.
“The fact that any psychiatrist, much less one from a prominent academic institution, could suggest that antidepressants be sold without a prescription… is evidence enough of how corrupt, unscientific and dangerous that medical specialty has become,” he wrote. psychologist Dr. Roger McFillin. .
Dr Perlis owns shares at antidepressant makers Psy Therapeutics and Circular Genomics, according to their research articles and letters between 2022 and 2022, including one titled ‘Conflict of interest and impact of citations among authors of dermatology guidelines.’
The documents also stated that the doctor had received personal fees and consultation fee of both firms.
Dr. Perlis has also received consulting or speaking fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, as revealed in a 2005 research paper titled ‘Industry Sponsorship and Financial Conflict of Interest in Clinical Trial Reporting in Psychiatry.’
These companies are major companies operating in the antidepressants market, according to the Global Antidepressants Market Report 2024.
Pfizer makes Zoloft, the most commonly prescribed antidepressant in the U.S., according to Definite Healthcare, while Eli Lilly makes Prozac, the fourth most commonly dispensed.
Dr. Perlis’ links were not revealed in the disclaimer at the end of his recent comment, as is customary.
A recent study by researchers at Yale University found that nearly six in ten doctors in the United States received more than $12 billion in payments from pharmaceutical companies in the last decade. Dr. Perlis was not involved in this research.
Neurologists and psychiatrists were the second highest-paid group behind orthopedic surgeons, receiving a total of $1.32 billion in payments from manufacturers.
Monthly rate of antidepressant dispensing among US adolescents and young adults ages 12 to 25, 2016 to 2022. The vertical line represents March 2020, the beginning of the Covid outbreak in the United States. The diagonal dashed line represents the trend that would have occurred if trends prior to March 2020 had continued.
Other doctors have accused Dr. Perlis of exaggerating the benefits of antidepressants.
Several reviews, analyzing hundreds of studies, have found that, on average, between 40 and 50 percent of people with depression and anxiety who take SSRIs see an overall improvement in their mental health.
This means that for about 60 percent of patients the medications will not work. What’s more, about half will experience some side effects and one in ten will find these problems so serious that they will stop taking them.
Studies show that possible side effects of SSRIs may include nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, headache, drowsiness, dry mouth, insomnia, nervousness, agitation or restlessness, dizziness.
Some patients also experience a worsening of their psychological symptoms, at least in the few weeks after starting treatment.
According to studies, up to 80 percent of patients have reported sexual dysfunction while taking antidepressants, compared to about 12 percent taking a placebo.
Anecdotal reports suggest that many experience sexual problems years after stopping the medications.
This comes as the birth control pill became available over the counter last month, meaning anyone can go to a pharmacy and buy the FDA-approved Opill.
The change was hailed as “historic” by medical and advocacy groups such as Free the Pill and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which have been pushing for years to make an over-the-counter birth control pill available at an affordable price.
Opill has been used safely for about five decades, but the United States has been an outlier when it comes to making the pills available without a doctor’s order.
Doctors have called for other medications to also be sold over the counter, including anti-nausea drugs Zofran and EpiPens, which are used to treat allergic reactions.
Dr. Perlis has been contacted for comment.