Over Half of Contributors to New Mental Disorders Manual Had Conflicts of Interest: Report

Industry influence over the ‘bible’ of psychiatric disorders could have a ‘profound effect on public health.’
Over Half of Contributors to New Mental Disorders Manual Had Conflicts of Interest: Report
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Jennsworldofimagination/Shutterstock
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A new report published in the British Medical Journal reveals that over half the doctors who contributed to the newest edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) received millions of dollars as a result of conflicts of interest.

The revelation indicates a potential to obstruct the integrity of medical research as conflicts of interest “lead to implicit bias, compromise the research process, and erode public trust,” wrote lead researcher Lauren Davis of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and her team.
A.C. Dahnke
A.C. Dahnke
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A.C. Dahnke is a freelance writer and editor residing in California. She has covered community journalism and health care news for nearly a decade, winning a California Newspaper Publishers Award for her work.
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