I would like to thank
PLoS Medicine for publishing Lacasse and Leo''s important and methodical Essay that debunks
the chemical imbalance advertisements for
psychiatric drugs
. Why would the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve such ads? Our human rights group, MindFreedom International, has been asking that question for a long time. On behalf of MindFreedom, US Senator Ron Wyden contacted the FDA for an explanation about why they approve such advertising. In their responsewhich took over one year to receivethe FDA could cite no
scientific literature or studies. It turns out there''s a good reason that the FDA can''t find any scientific evidence for the claims of a chemical imbalance in these ads: the scientific evidence in support of the serotonin hypothesis is very weak.
Readers who would like more information about the psychiatric industry''s advertising suggesting a chemical imbalance in depression may be interested in the following: (1) MindFreedom''s debate with Pfizer, manufacturer of Zoloft, available at
, and (2) a historic debate with the American Psychiatric Association resulting from MindFreedom''s 2003 hunger strike, available at
(Researcher Jonathan Leo was on the MindFreedom International Scientific Panel for the hunger strike).