Pro-drugging shrink received Big Medicine payoffs

Dr. Frederick Goodwin is a psychiatrist who hosted the radio show 'The Infinite Mind' on NPR.

Goodwin seemed to support drugging of children. In one of the most outrageous statements on his show, he claimed that children who were not drugged for bipolar disorder would suffer brain damage. This propaganda was broadcast to countless parents nationwide - and at taxpayer expense through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other organizations. He claimed the drugs were "proven both safe and effective in bipolar children" - though they were not.

Now it turns out that Goodwin received at least $1,300,000 from drug companies to give marketing lectures. This income was never mentioned on his show. He got $2,500 from GlaxoSmithKline just on the day he made his controversial statement.

When you see or hear a commercial, you know it's a paid announcement. But what Goodwin did was far more virulent, for it occurred as part of his show and didn't appear to be the paid plug that it was.

In another display of Goodwin's greed-driven drug plugs, he once falsely claimed, "There is no credible scientific evidence linking antidepressants to violence or to suicide." The same week he said that, he was paid $20,000 from Glaxo, a company that suppressed studies showing Paxil increased suicidal behavior.

As a result of this conflict, NPR is removing 'The Infinite Mind' from its lineup.

But a lot of damage may already be done. How many parents fed their kids antidepressants because Frederick Goodwin said they'd be brain-damaged if they didn't? The lives of many of these children are destroyed now because of Goodwin's "advice."

(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/health/22radio.html)