Psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

Conflicts of interest pervade the relationship between the psychiatric profession and pharmaceutical industry, threatening ethical standards of psychiatric care. They influence the quality and cost of treatment, the objectivity of research and educational activities, and the integrity of individual psychiatrists, as well as the profession in general. Various groups, apart from drug companies, bear responsibility for the prevalence of conflicts of interest, including individual practitioners and researchers, medical academe, professional organizations both within and external to psychiatry, and branches of the government. Reforming practices and policies that encourage such conflicts can only be contained by efforts aimed at educating the profession and public as to the relevant issues, as well as enlisting governmental action, in order to hold industry and the profession more accountable for potentially unethical collaborative activities.