Review of "Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America," by Robert Whitaker

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Notes

Greenberg brings together the roles played by drug companies, physicians and patients to portray depression as common as the common cold. His critique of the pharmaceutical marketers uncovers the overly optimistic and blatantly biased claims made regarding drug efficacy.

In the process of compiling a meta-analysis of the literature on anti-depressants and placebos Kirsch uncovered evidence of unethical procedures. Pharmaceutical companies made a habit of “cherry picking” test results for research intended for publication. Unwanted outcomes were suppressed and evidence of positive outcomes on tests comparing drug effectiveness with placebos frequently were the result of guesswork.