GoozNews
February 10, 2010

The American Psychiatric Association yesterday gave the press an advance view of its proposed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and the reports were highly skeptical. Will Tiger Woods soon be diagnosed with “hypersexual disorder”? He could be if the proposals go into effect. The APA will be accepting comments through April.

The news reports barely noted the fact that dozens of psychiatrists who serve on the DSM-V (it’s the fifth edition) task force and working groups have financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, as well as to numerous patient advocacy groups, which themselves are often funded by industry. A quick check of the APA website reveals that none of the financial disclosures for committee members have been updated since 2008, when the committees were intially appointed.

The APA promises to “relaunch” the website later today. Hopefully, the update will include new biographies and financial disclosures for all the committee members. It is crucial that the disclosures include all relationships with industry during 2009 and 2010 — the period when the committees were actively engaged in coming up with the proposals.

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