Erick Turner
@eturnermd1.bsky.social
Advocate for and researcher on transparency in medical research. Former FDA reviewer of psychotropic drugs back when the FDA was a tougher gatekeeper.
TLDR: Strength of evidence for efficacy of gepirone ER for major depressive disorder... Based on published clinical trials: B/B+ Based on clinical trial data in FDA reviews: D+
Erick Turner@eturnermd1.bsky.social · 4w agoTrying out AI to see what it says about the subject of our recent @jamapsychiatry.com paper, gepirone ER. I asked OpenEvidence to give it a grade for the level of evidence. Its initial response ⬇️
Trying out AI to see what it says about the subject of our recent @jamapsychiatry.com paper, gepirone ER. I asked OpenEvidence to give it a grade for the level of evidence. Its initial response ⬇️
Reason to hope for a more transparent FDA: "A proposed rule planned for October would end the “longstanding presumption” that an unapproved application’s existence is confidential, enabling proactive disclosure of complete response letters, the agency’s unified agenda states." Fingers crossed!🤞
What we heard this week ⬇️👀 #MedSky "I said, 'Wait a minute. Isn't this the same drug?'" -- @eturnermd1.bsky.social, of @ohsunews.bsky.social, discussing the FDA's approval of a depression drug that had more negative than positive studies. www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...
How a Drug With More Negative Than Positive Studies Won FDA Approval
Researchers urge inclusion of negative studies on drug labels
medpagetoday.com
Happy to report that a paper of ours is out today in JAMA Psychiatry. Many thanks to co-authors @akesselheim.bsky.social, John Powers, and Rosa Ahn-Horst. The FDA’s job is to approve “effective” drugs, but what does that mean exactly? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42340691/
Recently published study on reporting bias, led by @vipsmdmed.bsky.social. I might be missing something, but I'm surprised that a couple of these high-impact journals were publishing negative studies at rates of ~50%, higher than I would have expected. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Nick @ndevito1.bsky.social, a question for you. In ur 2020 Lancet pub www.thelancet.com/journals/lan..., ~41% of trials had reported results w/in the 1-yr deadline. OTOH ur TrialsTracker fdaaa.trialstracker.net shows a % reported = 79%. Have things improved that much or R the methods different?
Compliance with legal requirement to report clinical trial results on ClinicalTrials.gov: a cohort study
Compliance with the FDAAA 2007 is poor, and not improving. To our knowledge, this is the first study to fully assess compliance with the Final Rule of the FDAAA 2007. Poor compliance is likely to refl...
thelancet.com
"These findings suggest that longstanding concerns regarding publication bias in CAM publishing have not diminished over time and appear to have intensified..." Reports of positive outcomes have ~doubled, while reports of negative findings remain ~nonexistent. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42249414/
The latest episode of the FDA soap opera... F.D.A. Commissioner Marty Makary Resigns After Weeks of Pressure www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/u...
F.D.A. Commissioner Marty Makary Resigns After Weeks of Pressure
nytimes.com
The FDA has announced a new initiative. Given the FDA's history, the cynic in me suspects that this idea of "real-time clinical trials" is designed to lower the bar for industry (again). (cont'd) www.fda.gov/news-events/...
More evidence of the pervasiveness of publication bias. Article: "Publication Bias in Coronary Artery Disease Clinical Trials: A Bibliometric Review" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41999643/ "The publication rate for positive studies was 92%, whereas for negative studies it was 50% (P<0.001)."
Psychedelic drug policy via podcaster influence. @garyschw.bsky.social, quoting @statnews.com: "Rogan said he texted Trump about research around ibogaine, and the president’s response was quick: 'Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.'" garyschwitzer.substack.com?utm_campaign...
Hopefully we'll C some teeth following this overly gentle "reminder". This FDA bulletin www.fda.gov/news-events/... mentions a Mar 30 message to trial sponsors intended to "provide...the opportunity to comply", hinting at poss "further regulatory action". Nice, but the FDA need not B so obsequious.
FDA Reminds More Than 2,200 Sponsors and Researchers to Disclose Trial Results
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reminded more than 2,200 medical product companies and researchers of the requirements to submit certain clinical trial results information to ClinicalTrials....
fda.gov
Erick Turner@eturnermd1.bsky.social · 4mo agoF.D.A. Pushes Drug Developers to Report Clinical Trial Results www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/w...
This guy picked up nearly $4000 worth of "goodies" at a dermatology conference. Multiply that by thousands of conference attendees. Yet only a fraction of what these companies spend on marketing. Just witness the plethora of ads for very expen$I've derm drugs on TV www.tiktok.com/@dr.michaelp...
you’ll never guess the total cost 😅 AAD dermatology conference skincare haul
TikTok video by Michael Park, MD
tiktok.com
F.D.A. Pushes Drug Developers to Report Clinical Trial Results www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/w...
F.D.A. Pushes Drug Developers to Report Clinical Trial Results
nytimes.com
BMJ Open article: "Substantial undisclosed financial COIs were identified among the top 10 earners in high-impact psychiatry journals." bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/1...
Undisclosed financial conflicts of interest among physician-authors in leading US psychiatry journals: a cross-sectional study
Objective To assess the prevalence and magnitude of undisclosed financial conflicts of interest (COIs) among physician-authors in high-impact US-based psychiatry journals. Design Cross-sectional stud...
bmjopen.bmj.com
Vinay Prasad resigns from the FDA. Well, he did resign in August but was brought back in a few days, but maybe this time it's for real. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/h...
Divisive F.D.A. Vaccine Regulator Resigns
nytimes.com
Makary apparently wants his FDA reviewers to be about as thorough as the "security guard" in this meme.
a man in a green and blue jacket stands next to another man
ALT: a man in a green and blue jacket stands next to another man
media.tenor.com
Erick Turner@eturnermd1.bsky.social · 5mo agoHey, here's a thought... How about offering bonus payments for staffers who complete CORRECT reviews and recommend approval ONLY if the drugs are truly safe and effect?
Hey, here's a thought... How about offering bonus payments for staffers who complete CORRECT reviews and recommend approval ONLY if the drugs are truly safe and effect?
Erick Turner@eturnermd1.bsky.social · 5mo agoapnews.com/article/drug... to offer bonus payments to staffers who complete speedy drug reviews
apnews.com/article/drug... to offer bonus payments to staffers who complete speedy drug reviews
FDA to offer bonus payments to staffers who complete speedy drug reviews
The head of the Food and Drug Administration plans to start offering bonus payments to agency drug reviewers who complete their work ahead of the schedule.
apnews.com
This could be extremely harmful. False positives, power issues, & rare adverse events come to mind if there is only one trial required 🤦♀️
FDA will drop two-study requirement for new drug approvals, aiming to speed access
The Food and Drug Administration plans to drop its longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies for new drug approvals.
apnews.com
STAT piece first-authored be @lizzylawrence.bsky.social. Perhaps she has insight into the politics. I can’t imagine RFK Jr NOT supporting a psychedelic, so was this a defeat for him? (Apologies if this is addressed in the full text of the article, but I lack access.)
Erick Turner@eturnermd1.bsky.social · 6mo agoIt seems that decisions at the FDA can go either way based on a combination of science and politics. www.statnews.com/2026/02/04/p...
It seems that decisions at the FDA can go either way based on a combination of science and politics. www.statnews.com/2026/02/04/p...
Trump administration officials blocked FDA effort to fast-track review of psychedelic treatment
Trump administration officials vetoed the FDA's plan to fast-track the review of a psychedelic treatment for severe depression, STAT has learned.
statnews.com
Article: Missing data about missing tissue ⬇️ dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
Missing tissue, missing data: Resolving brain volume loss caused by anti-amyloid therapies
Anti-amyloid drugs modestly slow Alzheimer’s disease progression, albeit with uncertainty of sustained benefit, particularly as they cause paradoxical acceleration of brain volume changes. Here, we ex...
dx.plos.org
Nice article, providing an overview of the various types of spin: Although the article relates spin to research on acupuncture, it applies to research in general. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Misleading Readers without Lies: Understanding Spin and its Relevance to Acupuncture Research
This article provides an overview of spin in general and the current state of spin research in acupuncture studies. We introduce the definition and hi…
sciencedirect.com
This “stellar groups” has a North Star…@floriannaudet.bsky.social An honor to be helping shine some additional light!
Florian Naudet@floriannaudet.bsky.social · 7mo agoA 🧵 : As 2025 comes to an end, it is time to look back at the work done this year with a stellar group of colleagues, including @ioanaacristea.bsky.social, @eturnermd1.bsky.social and many others. If I had to highlight 1 paper, it would be our BMC Medicine Registered Report 🥇...
