Texas Researchers, Mental Health Officials Sought Using McDonald's Gifts To Get Kids on Meds Trials

Earlier today I noted that the Dallas Morning News had dug up some new gems surrounding Texas' controversial Children's Medication Algorithm Project, which was pretty much designed to dope up children younger and older for just about any behavioral abnormality, including news that CMAP (and TMAP) officials had sought and received funding from pharma companies after saying it was an ethical problem. Later this morning, an attentive reader in Texas sent me a scan of the article from the paper's print edition, which differs slightly from the online version.

In the "At A Glance" section (pdf here), the paper reports that Texas researchers and state mental health officials:

"Discussed the need to defeat a bill in the Legislature that would have banned the use of psychotropic drugs in foster children younger than 5."

"Reduced information on child suicide risks in one of their published papers at the request of a prestigious medical journal. 'Please drastically prune this section' an editor at the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry wrote in an effort to shorten the report. 'Even the detailed discussion of risk factors for suicide is out of place in a paper reporting a medication algorithm.'"

"Accepted complaints and feedback on an adult psychiatric drug list from Eli Lilly and Janssen."

"Considered incentives to get children enrolled in drug plan trials, including offering gift certificates to Blockbuster and McDonald's. It's unclear whether the incentives were ever offered."

Gee, that would be one unhappy Happy Meal.

And the JAACAP asked them to limit suicidality information? I don't know what drugs or drugs docs and officials were discussing in the paper, but what do you want to bet we're talking Paxil Study 329 here which the JAACAP published and allowed to stand despite its false assertions about safety and efficacy?