Ball or aerosol? Sin, soap and the pharmaceutical industry.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this paper is to provoke careful and continuing reconsideration of the relationship between psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry through historical analysis of trends in the promotion of psychotropic drugs.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychiatrists remain concerned about the relationship of the profession with the pharmaceutical industry. From examination of my own extended experience of that relationship (including as a former Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists General Councilor and chair of the Clinical Practice Advisory and Ethical Practice Committees), attention is drawn to the influence of the industry on the categorization and naming of drugs, attempts to propose target disorders and the obsolescence of established agents. Caution in accepting the role of 'opinion leader' is recommended but it remains important for psychiatrists to continue to ethically engage with the industry.