Geisinger College faculty, graduate students publish paper shining light on conflicts of interest in guidelines for psychiatric care

SCRANTON, Pa. – Four Geisinger College of Health Sciences School of Graduate Education alumni and a faculty member co-authored a paper published by The BMJ. The paper, “Undisclosed financial conflicts of interest in DSM-5-TR: cross sectional analysis,” assessed the extent and types of financial ties to industry of panel and task force members of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR), published in 2022.
 
The Geisinger Master of Biomedical Sciences alumni are Lauren C. Davis, MBS; Alexa T. Diianni, MBS; Sydney R. Drumheller, MBS; and Noha N. Elansary, MBS. They were mentored by co-author, Brian J Piper, PhD, assistant professor, Geisinger Center for Pharmacy Innovation and Outcomes and assistant professor of neuroscience at Geisinger College of Health Sciences.
 
Using the Open Payments database, the researchers found 168 individuals who served as either panel or task force members of the DSM-5-TR. 92. Of these, 92 individuals, 55 (60%) received payments from industry. 
 
The paper concluded that “. . . Because of the enormous influence of diagnostic and treatment guidelines, the standards for participation on a guideline development panel should be high . . . When no independent individuals with the requisite expertise are available, individuals with associations to industry could consult to the panels, but they should not have decision making authority on revisions or the inclusion of new disorders.”
 
The BMJ is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. First published in 1840 as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal, it became the British Medical Journal and finally The BMJ in 2014.

About Geisinger College of Health Sciences
Geisinger College of Health Sciences is the research and education arm of the Geisinger family. Geisinger is committed to making better health easier for the more than 1 million people it serves. Founded more than 100 years ago by Abigail Geisinger, the system now includes 10 hospital campuses, a health plan with more than half a million members, and the College. The College houses a Research Institute, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Geisinger School of Nursing and the School of Graduate Education, in addition to Geisinger graduate medical education programs and its Academy of Educators. The College is committed to non-discrimination in all employment and educational opportunities. Visit geisinger.edu/gchs