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Thursday, October 06, 2011

Patrick McGorry's Delorean Proposal...FAIL

A recent poll undertaken by Psychiatry Update, an e-newsletter and website with the latest psychiatry news from Australia and overseas, has shown that almost 60% of psychiatrists think the Federal Government’s focus on Patrick McGorry's Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre [EPPIC] (1) is inappropriate. Over 50% of psychiatrists who took the poll also believe that EPPIC puts young people at risk of being over medicated.


Out of the 222 who took the survey, 121 were psychiatrists, almost half of whom also left comments



Psychiatry Update writes:
Among the non-psychiatrists, the biggest group was GPs (23.8%), followed by psychologists (21.8%) and then mental health nurses (12.9%).When asked about the risk of over-medication in EPPIC, 52.1% of psychiatrists thought it would put young people at risk of being over-medicated, with 14.9% “strongly agreeing” it would.A similar proportion of nonpsychiatrists also agreed.

This latest opposition to McGorry's DeLorean machine comes hot on the heels of a proposed clinical trial by McGorry.

McGorry, with the financial assistance of Seroquel manufacturer Astra Zeneca, wanted to carry out a clinical trial [of sorts] with children, among others, who had not yet been diagnosed with a psychotic illness. In other words, he wanted, it appears, to trial out Seroquel, a powerful antipsychotic, on subjects who, for all intents and purposes, had nothing wrong with them.

Psychiatrists, psychologists and researchers from all over the world lodged a complaint when they heard of the planned trial.

McGorry pulled the trial and now denies that the complaint had anything to do with his decision.

The planned trial, which was apparently 'ethically approved' is shrouded in mystery.

On Aug 16 2011, the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry [ANZCTR] showed that the planned study had NOT received approval from at least one ethics committee. Yet 6 days later the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry had been mysteriously amended and showed that the planned trial HAD received approval from at least one ethics committee.

Here's the rub, the icing on the cake if you will. McGorry pulled the trial, so he claims, in June 2011, almost two months before the ANZCTR showed that the planned study had NOT received approval from at least one ethics committee. Maybe the flux capacitor in his time travelling DeLorean was playing up or maybe the ANZCTR had been altered? It's fair to assume something smells here, isn't it?

I'm surprised none of the major Australian newspapers picked up on this 'faux pas'

Melbourne Health said its mental health research ethics committee was "satisfied the process and the decision to give ethics committee approval of the study were appropriate".

The health organisation said the study had been abandoned by the research team for "logistical reasons".

I wonder if they asked why the ANZCTR had miraculously changed overnight to show McGorry's planned trial had received approval?

It will be interesting to see if McGorry and his soothsaying henchmen respond to the Psychiatry Update poll. They have, in the past, slammed their critics and labelled them as an odd mix of armchair critics, conspiracy theorists and Scientologists.

The response from McGorry and Co should prove interesting, I anticipate that it will be published... 6 days ago and appear 6 days later - such is the power of the DeLorean posse.

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(1) The Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) is an integrated and comprehensive psychiatric service aimed at addressing the needs of people aged 15-24 with emerging psychotic disorders in the western and north-western regions of Melbourne.

Related articles:


Patrick McGorry Responds to Criticism by Allen Frances

Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry Slams His Critics [Diddums]

The Defence of Prof. Ian Hickie




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