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Topic: Letters Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 5/9/2008 5:35:23 PM
Title: The Infinite Mind responds to Slate
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
From BILL LICHTENSTEIN, senior executive producer, The Infinite Mind: In their May 6 Slate.com article, Jeanne Lenzer and Shannon Brownlee use The Infinite Mind's recent program "Prozac Nation: Revisited" to frame an argument that pharmaceutical companies are planting "stealth marketers" inside seemingly objective media outlets to manipulate public opinion. The article suggests that as public radio producers we have allowed our guests on our national weekly program to hide financial links with pharmaceutical companies for the purpose of promoting the use of dangerous prescription drugs.

Ironically, "Prozac Nation: Revisited" was intended to examine the way the media has handled links between violent behavior, suicide and antidepressants. Our interest in the story began with press reports about Steven Kazmierczak, whose shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University left six dead and 16 wounded. We wanted to know: Why did the major news media uniformly target Steven's withdrawal from an antidepressant as explanation for his violent act? Why did the media ignore any number of other factors, such as his gun collection, his work as a prison guard, or his troubled childhood? We were interested in exploring the reflexive public reaction that ends up making the medication the culprit, and so simplifies a disturbing violent act while stigmatizing the already vulnerable people who take or consider taking prescription medication for depression.

And at the core of the program, we asked the question we always ask, the question that has guided the past 10 years of The Infinite Mind: Where is the best science on this particular issue? In this case, does the science find links between antidepressant medications and out-of-control behavior?

To help us, we turned to recognized experts in the field. Framing the discussion, we began with Dr. Andrew Leuchter, director of UCLA's Laboratory of Behavior and Pharmacology, who himself has conducted much of the important research in this area.

Next, we spoke with Dr. Nada Stotland, current president of the American Psychiatric Association and an expert in medical ethics. Dr. Stotland, another distinguished research scientist and clinician, spoke about the gap between public perception and the research about violence, suicide and psycho pharmaceutical medications.

Finally, we talked to Peter Pitts, a former associate commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration who was involved in the FDA's 2004 "black box" labeling of antidepressants as carrying a risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior, and who was at the time the "go-to" guy for the FDA on that issue.

What we didn't know, because he didn't disclose it to us, was that Pitts is currently working for a public relations firm whose clients include major pharmaceutical companies. If we had known, and (full mea culpa here) we should have, we would have disclosed that connection. Pitts apparently didn't disclose it elsewhere, either - he's appeared on NPR's Talk of the Nation as well as PBS' News Hour with Jim Lehrer, without either of those programs mentioning the PR company ties./CONTINUED

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