Seroquel is Great...

And nobody paid me to say it [so it appears, misleadingly]...

Liz Spikol noted recently that Dr. Lakshmi Yatham was pimping Seroquel for bipolar disorder in a press release in which there was of course no mention that Yatham had served as a paid consultant for AstraZeneca in a number of capacities. Of course, the press release does mention that Dr. Yatham is the primary author of the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) guidelines for treating bipolar [on which Seroquel is listed as a first-line treatment] and is a Professor of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

I'm not saying anything regarding Seroquel's efficacy for bipolar disorder -- I plan to discuss that at another time in the relatively near future. Further, I am not saying anything about Dr. Yatham's integrity; I am merely stating that the press release in question paints Dr. Yatham as an academic with no vested interest in Seroquel, which does not appear to be true. In many ways, this story is not a huge scoop, as many press releases feature academic authors who have undisclosed conflicts of interest. As you know, I'm not a fan of such misleading press releases, but I'm afraid they're here to stay. I am mainly writing about this because I am pleased as punch to see another blogger writing about a conflict of interest in the mental health arena. Thanks Liz and keep it up! Link to her posts on the topic here and here.