Generalized anxiety disorder, the constant and fearful worry and fearful anticipation of events, is a common disturbance. A recent data analysis that was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggested that antidepressant drugs may offer the best treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. A new data analysis that is published in the recent issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics suggests that BMJ is faulty and biased by conflict of interest.
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Although the study was allegedly independent, all authors had financial ties with Lundbeck and other pharmaceutical companies which manufactured the drugs that were included and discussed in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis performed by Baldwin and colleagues is likely to yield misleading conclusions, particularly for the busy clinician who has no time to check its faulty procedures and the lack of appropriate clinical integration. The publication of this paper calls for a reassessment of journals' policies concerned with reviews, editorials and meta-analyses.
The entire article can be found here.
