Myomancy ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism

Do drug companies have influence not only over what doctors prescribe but over what doctors even consider a disease? This is the question being asked by a paper in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
They examined the people who complied DSM-IV, the manual used by doctors for diagnosing mental disorders.
“Results: Of the 170 DSM panel members 95 (56%) had one or more financial associations with companies in the pharmaceutical industry. One hundred percent of the members of the panels on ‘Mood Disorders’ and ‘Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders’ had financial ties to drug companies. The leading categories of financial interest held by panel members were research funding (42%), consultancies (22%) and speakers bureau (16%). Conclusions: Our inquiry into the relationships between DSM panel members and the pharmaceutical industry demonstrates that there are strong financial ties between the industry and those who are responsible for developing and modifying the diagnostic criteria for mental illness.“
The relation between doctor and drug company is a complex mix of commercial interests and the desire to give patients the best possible treatments. So just because a doctor has a financial relationship with a drug company does not mean that the doctor is unduly influenced by the company. However questions must be asked in the mental health field, with diseases such as ADHD, where prescriptions have sky-rocketed in a few short years, earning the drug companies huge amounts of cash.
Previously on Myomancy: The Business of ADHD, Stim Nation: Drug Mongering