Conflicts of Interest in Medicine

Abstract

This chapter deals with the manifold competing financial and professional interests that contemporary medicine is subjected to. It focuses on the dismissal of harms resulting from medical interventions and the censoring and discrediting of experts questioning the benefit–harm ratio of established healthcare practices. A special emphasis is put on the denial and minimisation of both withdrawal syndromes resulting from physical dependence to antidepressants and treatment-emergent suicidality. The author also discusses the pervasive influence of the pharmaceutical industry over drug regulation, clinical research, medical education, and healthcare practice.