How publication bias affects our children

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I was more than slightly horrified to read this story on antidepressants in kids on the spectrum: http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/ ... overstated

The point of the article is that there are several completed studies on the effectiveness of antidepressants on kids on the spectrum whose data has not been made available via publication. In other words, there's information out there that neither doctors nor parents have access to.

I know how many parents with a child on the spectrum (and adults on the spectrum) struggle with the issue of medication, and I'm horrified to find out that there is impropriety in the release of information. The implication made by the article is that pharmaceutical companies are somehow making it difficult for researchers to publish studies that show their medications in a bad light (although the article is careful to say that there is no way of knowing what the unpublished studies found.)

Question is, what do we parents do about it? I think this is an extremely serious issue that needs the light of day.

That is horrifying to know there are studies that have been completed, quite possibly with public tax money, that are being swept under the carpet. I think one thing we can do is raise awareness about this issue by doing what you just did - post it in places where concerned people will see it and spread the word.