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| Aussie Psychiatrist Ian Hickie |
Oh, I do love it when a professional spits his dummy out of the pram, particularly when that professional is a psychiatrist who has ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Professor Ian Hickie, whom I've wrote about numerous times on this blog, is in a tizz, it seems, with Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet. You see, Hickie wrote a review that appeared in The Lancet last year, a review that drew some scathing criticism from fellow psychiatrists. Hickies review was, in essence, bigging up the use of Valdoxan [agomelatine] an antidepressant marketed for the treatment of major depressive disorder. Hickie was chastised by his critics for not revealing his ties to Valdoxan manufacturer, Servier.
Now, it seems, the editor of The Lancet has joined in the fun and games. Hickie is accusing Horton of defamation because of tweeting an opinion about the review.
So, Hickie has come out fighting. A full response to Horton's tweet can be viewed on the crikey.com website where Hickie writes:
Sadly, tweeting has not only replaced the academic journal itself as the major source of credible information — the new social media is perceived to be the place where people say what they really believe. Any allegation in cyberspace is instantly assumed to be true and relayed extensively throughout the social network that is modern media.Do I sense a mild form of paranoia here? "Any allegation in cyberspace is instantly assumed to be true and relayed extensively throughout the social network that is modern media."
Oh lighten up Prof, get down off that pedestal you climbed up upon. You really are not that important.
Hickie, in typical fashion, skirts over the issues of conflict of interest [of which he has many not just Servier] and goes on to tell everyone how hard done by he is]
**Diddums
He further writes:
My professional colleagues who conduct original research, our institutions, health journalists and many of the editors of Australia’s major medical and mental health journals, are well used to receiving these social media missives from the same small band of local anti-medicine or anti-psychiatry warriors.If it were such a small band of local anti-medicine or anti-psychiatry warriors then why is Hickie getting so upset about a piddling little tweet?
Hickies professional colleagues include Patrick McGorry, an Australian psychiatrist who drives around town in a DeLorean predicting futures for children. He has a unique ability to spot signs of early psychosis in children - no x-rays, no blood samples, no PET or MRI scans or even urine samples - just a series of interviews and forms with boxes. I've also wrote about McGorry before.
Another of Hickie's professional colleagues is Professor Graham Burrows, who recently hit the news down under for prescribing experimental psychiatric drugs to his patients, a lawsuit against Burrows is pending.
Hickie has every right to come out and defend his name, quite why he would though is baffling. Personally, I believe the God factor has come into play here. Hickie et al have been group back-slapping for so many years now that they cannot see that having financial ties to a product is a conflict of interest. They cannot see how they can be criticised by academics and anti-psychiatry warriors. I've news for Hickie, there's a whole bunch of feisty anti-drug writers out here in cyberspace, most of whom have been harmed by the very same drugs he and his cronies dish out, many of whom have had children harmed by drugs he and his cronies dish out.
The anti-psychiatry warriors, as Hickie puts it, are here to stay. If Hickie does not like opposition or if he is feeling the heat then it may be wise for him to step out of the kitchen and take a good look at himself in the mirror - the image bouncing back is, it appears, living in that great Egyptian river [De Nile]
For the record - I wear a Tarzan-like loin cloth, have a bone through my nose and carry spears, arrows and other weaponry in my ruck-sack - That, I guess, makes me some sort of warrior in Hickie's eyes.
Oh, I regularly tweet too.
Hickie's full response to Twittergate can be read in full HERE, it's already creating a lot of responses, most of which continue to slam him. Will these psychs ever learn. TUT-TUT.
More about Hickie and his professional colleagues below:
Patrick McGorry: "Hey... Paddy... Leave Those Kids Alone"
Patrick McGorry - Torn Asunder Down Under
Early Intervention, McGorry, Politics & TV Shows
Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry Slams His Critics [Diddums]
Is Australia's "Number One Man" Misleading The Public?
Pre-Mental Disorder Screening & Drugging - THE PHARMACEUTICAL DELOREAN
Patrick McGorry's Delorean Pulls Over For New Passenger
The Defence of Prof. Ian Hickie
Australian Psychiatrist Ian Hickie's Lancet Paper Heavily Criticised
Hickierie Dickory Doc - McGorry Turns Back the Clock
Australian Psychiatrist Graham Burrows Denies Any "Wrongdoing"
Professor Graham Burrows - The "Cosmetic Psychiatrist?"
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