Over the last decade I have looked at the governance of the Psychopharmacology Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. My hope was to find improvement in relation to transparency.
An update on this committee from 2019.
An update on this committee from 2021.
An update on this committee from 2023.
This current post provides a 2024 update on this influential committee whose primary role is to educate on the prescribing of psychiatric drugs.
Since last reviewed, the Psychopharmacology Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has increased its membership from 16 to 17.
Here is a summary of some important aspects:
- 2 members have not declared competing interests. Here is an example:
- Only 1 member of this RCPsych committee [5.9%] have used the standardised Royal College of Psychiatrists “Declaration of Interests form”. This member’s declaration is more than 4 years old [the general accepted standard is that declarations should be updated at least every 3 years]
- 14 members of this committee, including the current chair and vice-chair, have provided un-dated and un-signed declarations.
The public and professionals alike cannot establish how much the pharmaceutical industry pays each year to UK professionals to promote and market their products, and indeed, how much of this goes to members of the RCPsych Psychopharmacology Committee.
The last three chairs of the RCPsych Psychopharmacology Committee [this includes the current chair] have all worked, career-long, as paid opinion leaders for the pharmaceutical industry.
