Re: Please join me in protesting The New England Journal of medicine.

[Guest guest]

Leslee and Everyone:

Here is the link to submit letters to the journal:

http://authors.nejm.org/Misc/LetterInstrx.asp

Here is my letter:

I am surprised that you would choose to publish a favourable article

regarding the mental health screening of children within schools without at

least citing the controversy swirling around the TeenScreen program and its

adherents.

TeenScreen officials have themselves admitted that the test used has a high

false positive rate. Some thirty percent of children screened are referred

for follow up and possible medication regimes, whereas the suicide rate in

America is 9.9 per 100,000 teenagers, which is hardly an epidemic. Many

feel that this drugging of America's youth is overzealous at best and a

marketing gambit for psychotropics at worst. Since the diagnosis offered by

teenage school screening has been called murky by some and has been hotly

debated in the media, you would do well to at least allude to this dialogue.

References

Youth Suicide Prevention Program of Washington State. (2004-2007) Youth

Suicide: Frequently Asked Questions: Seattle, WA.

On 1/1/07, Leslee Clifford <blueleslee@...> wrote:

>

> The following is a letter I am sending to The New

> England Journal of medicine. Please join me in

> protesting this blatant example of advertising

> masquerading as an informative article. Leslee

>

> http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/355/26/2717

>

> https://secure.nejm.org/services/contactus/contact_home.aspx

>

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>

> Dear Editor

>

> Regarding " Uncovering an Epidemic — Screening for

> Mental Illness in Teens " by A. Friedman, M.D.

>

> I strongly object to The New England Journal of

> medicine throwing away its own reputation by allowing

> itself to be used in a misguided effort to legitimize

> the sleazy marketing ploy which calls itself

> " Teenscreen " .

>

> The credibility of The New England Journal of medicine

> has been badly damaged by choosing to publish this

> blatant example of advertising masquerading as an

> informative article.

>

> I suggest that in order to recover its reputation,The

> N.E.J.M hire a reputable investigative reporter to

> research and expose Teenscreens long history of

> unethical behavior.

>

> From the funneling of pharmaceutical moneys thru front

> groups such as the American Foundation for Suicide

> Prevention, to its history of screening children

> without parental consent to its refusal to show its

> " test " to parents and school board members; the

> teenscreen organization has shown itself to be

> secretive and dishonest.

>

> With its absurdly high rate of false

> positives,Teenscreen is a program that is as likely to

> do great harm as good. Look deeper and you will

> discover that this is nothing more than a furtive

> scheme concocted by the pharmaceutical industry to

> sell more drugs.

>

> The New England Journal of medicine has much to lose

> by aligning itself with insidious corporate PR firms

> and disreputable organizations. If The New England

> Journal of medicine continues to allow itself to be

> used to launder the filthy reputations of

> organizations such as teenscreen, The Journal will

> cease to have relevance and indeed will end up with no

> more prestige than the real-estate magazines produced

> by realtors to order to sell houses.

>

> In order to maintain its high professional standards

> The New England Journal of medicine must now expose

> Teenscreen for what it is, a conniving, mendacious

> effort to further expand the coffers of a bloated and

> devious pharmaceutical industry.

>

> By the way, Teenscreen claims that its only critics

> are scientologists.

> I have no connection to the Church of Scientology what

> so ever.

>

> Sincerely

>

>

>