Psychiatry and pharma industry: Ethical issues of a strange relationship

Psychopharmacology is presently dominating psychiatry and its influence has both beneficial and problematic influences. It is beneficial, that there a re scientific informations available for everybody in unprecedented quantit y, detail and pracitcal utility. It is again beneficial, that pharma indust ry supports congresses, postgraduate medical education and travels of well- known presenters as well as participants to scientific meetings. This activ ity of pharma industry is lowering the former difference between the profes sional perspectives of doctors of western and Eastern countries. There are, however, also problems and issues of serious concern. The big economic pow er of pharma industry gives advantage to biological research over psycholog ical and especially psychotherapeutical studies. Biological research result s are spread over through the world with efficacy by congresses, special me etings, sponsored books and periodicals, nowadays by financially supported electronic rr communication. Doctors are made interested to use and to prom ote drugs in their treatment practice by different financial means. Valuabl e gifts, high sum payments for lectures and lavish trips to abroad (sometim es including spouses, children or even partners) raise concern all over the world. In the post-communist and third-world countries, where salaries in psychiatry are low, the gifts and travel opportunities amount to bribery an d corruption. The paper tries to deal with these issues with a systematic w ay and gives account of the usages in post-communist countries and suggests solutions for the problems. Psychotherapy has to cope with these problems and it can do it only relying upon such allies as clinical psychologists, s ocial workers, users' and carers'.