Dr Dayal Mirchandani

“Why our evidence is trusted” - or maybe not. The Cochrane Collaboration’s self-praise is seriously dishonest. Read my article: bit.ly/3MuBIzl. Cochrane claim they have never accepted commercial funding, which is a huge lie, and even today, they allow authors to receive money from the drug company whose product they are reviewing. Moreover, many Cochrane reviews are flawed, particularly those of psychiatric drugs. An organisation that accepts authors on industry payroll; that considers guild and financial interests more important than getting the science right; and that allows publication of politically expedient but seriously misleading Cochrane reviews and press releases while committing editorial misconduct by preventing high-quality, unbiased reviews from being published, or undermine them publicly without even consulting the authors, which the current CEO did in relation to the Cochrane review of face masks, is doomed.

There are a dozen MRI studies (yes, 12) showing that prenatal SSRI exposure alters the developing fetal brain. What are we waiting for before we warn the public? 15 studies? 20 studies? MRI Studies List is below: #1 Zanni, G., van Dijk, M. T., Caffrey Cagliostro, M., Sepulveda, P., Pini, N., Rose, A. L., Kesin, A. L., Lugo-Candelas, C., Goncalves, P. D., MacKay, A. S., Iigaya, K., Kulkarni, P., Ferris, C. F., Weissman, M. M., Talati, A., Ansorge, M. S., & Gingrich, J. A. (2025). Perinatal SSRI exposure impacts innate fear circuit activation and behavior in mice and humans. Nature Communications, 16(1), 4002. doi.org/10.1038/s41467… #2 Koc, D., Tiemeier, H., Stricker, B. H., Muetzel, R. L., Hillegers, M., & El Marroun, H. (2023). Prenatal antidepressant exposure and offspring brain morphologic trajectory. JAMA Psychiatry, 80(12), 1208–1217. doi.org/10.1001/jamaps… #3 Moreau, A. L., Voss, M., Hansen, I., Paul, S. E., Barch, D. M., Rogers, C. E., & Bogdan, R. (2022). Prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor exposure, depression, and brain morphology in middle childhood: Results from the ABCD study. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 3(2), 243–254. doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsg… #4 Campbell, K. S. J., Williams, L. J., Bjornson, B. H., Weik, E., Brain, U., Grunau, R. E., Miller, S. P., & Oberlander, T. F. (2021a). Prenatal antidepressant exposure and sex differences in neonatal corpus callosum microstructure. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(6), e22125. doi.org/10.1002/dev.22… #5 Salzwedel, A., Chen, G., Chen, Y., Grewen, K., & Gao, W. (2020). Functional dissection of prenatal drug effects on baby brain and behavioral development. Human Brain Mapping, 41(15), 4123–4135. doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25… #6 Rotem-Kohavi, N., Williams, L. J., Muller, A. M., Abdi, H., Virji-Babul, N., Bjornson, B. H., Brain, U., Werker, J. F., Grunau, R. E., Miller, S. P., & Oberlander, T. F. (2019a). Hub distribution of the brain functional networks of newborns prenatally exposed to maternal depression and SSRI antidepressants. Depression and Anxiety, 36(8), 753–765. doi.org/10.1002/da.229… #7 Rotem-Kohavi, N., Williams, L. J., Virji-Babul, N., Bjornson, B. H., Brain, U., Werker, J. F., Grunau, R. E., Miller, S. P., & Oberlander, T. F. (2019b). Alterations in resting-state networks following in utero selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor exposure in the neonatal brain. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 4(1), 39–49. doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc… #8 Lugo-Candelas, C., Cha, J., Hong, S., Bastidas, V., Weissman, M., Fifer, W. P., Myers, M., Talati, A., Bansal, R., Peterson, B. S., Monk, C., Gingrich, J. A., & Posner, J. (2018). Associations between brain structure and connectivity in infants and exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during pregnancy. JAMA Pediatrics, 172(6), 525–533. doi.org/10.1001/jamape… #9 Podrebarac, S. K., Duerden, E. G., Chau, V., Grunau, R. E., Synnes, A., Oberlander, T. F., & Miller, S. P. (2017). Antenatal exposure to antidepressants is associated with altered brain development in very preterm-born neonates. Neuroscience, 342, 252–262. doi.org/10.1016/j.neur… #10 Jha, S. C., Meltzer-Brody, S., Steiner, R. J., Cornea, E., Woolson, S., Ahn, M., Verde, A. R., Hamer, R. M., Zhu, H., Styner, M., Gilmore, J. H., & Knickmeyer, R. C. (2016). Antenatal depression, treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and neonatal brain structure: A propensity-matched cohort study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 253, 43–53. doi.org/10.1016/j.pscy… #11 Salzwedel, A. P., Grewen, K. M., Goldman, B. D., & Gao, W. (2016). Thalamocortical functional connectivity and behavioral disruptions in neonates with prenatal cocaine exposure. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 56, 16–25. doi.org/10.1016/j.ntt.… #12 Knickmeyer, R. C., Meltzer-Brody, S., Woolson, S., Hamer, R. M., Smith, J. K., Lury, K., & Gilmore, J. H. (2014). Rate of Chiari I malformation in children of mothers with depression with and without prenatal SSRI exposure. Neuropsychopharmacology, 39(11), 2611–2621. doi.org/10.1038/npp.20…

"Antidepressant withdrawal is a pervasive clinical issue that remains significantly underrecognized and inadequately addressed." Excellent piece from the APA, no less, also noting how recent reviews have minimised withdrawal @markhoro @ReadReadj psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ap…

Today Tavi @ Jammu Tomorrow Mula-Mutha @ pune Same concept Same consultant Hundreds may die Who will be responsible? All those who promoted it, All those who had the power to stop but didn't act @AUThackeray @Dev_Fadnavis @AjitPawarSpeaks @mohol_murlidhar @narendramodi @INCIndia

This is Mutha River in Pune. Do we really need to decorate it with RCC walls, concrete pathways, SS railings, lighting posts and palm trees?

13.1 I have seen a lot of complaints on @StarHealthIns before on X, couple of them are below,

In a heartbreaking display, a highly qualified cardiac anesthesiologist professor is reduced to tears, begging for help from govt run by illiterate officials amidst #planecrash at the BJMC hostel, Exposing the tragic betrayal of human dignity in our country. #MedTwitter

Sad

The Robi v Merck lawsuit could mark a turning point in accountability. It is about the broader mechanisms by which drugs are tested, approved, and marketed. bit.ly/4d6onq5. @brokenmedics, @SecKennedy, @martinkulldorff, @StabellBenn, @DrJBhattacharya, @MartyMakary

@joannamoncrieff "[O'Sullivan] draws a contrast with people with functional disorders exposed to modern medicine. Not only must they undergo many tests and pick up “diagnoses” along the way but they may also become permanent patients...." bmj.com/content/380/bm…

Excellent article by neurologist Suzanne Sullivan on our medicalising culture and how escalating diagnosis (depression, ADHD, autism) is harmful and preventing recovery. 'We are becoming victims of too much medicine and it is time to turn back the dial.' theguardian.com/society/2025/m…

NEW STUDY: Antidepressants are associated with faster rates of cognitive decline in dementia patients. SSRI users also had a greater risk of fractures and all-cause mortality than non-users.

Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs: My book has come out in Danish, Dutch, English bit.ly/4h0UsQw(freely available here: bit.ly/3CSTk3o), French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. @APApsychiatric

How to kill a habitat in under two years? Good article on how RFD and vested land grabbing interests, killed the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary in Pune @PuneRivers @Jeevitnadi @ameetgsingh @SVYadwadkar @jbaphna indianexpress.com/article/cities…

Medicines with a red line should NEVER be consumed without medical advice. Misuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance. #ReadTheRead #HealthForAll

UK doctors plead 'stop handing out anti-depressants to patients who are just stressed' msn.com/en-gb/health/o… "More than eight of 10 GPs are concerned that people are being prescribed antidepressants when they would be better off with help which does not involve drugs."

In healthcare, the basic rule is that you cannot trust anyone, which is why I wrote the book, “Survival in an overmedicated world: look up the evidence yourself” to tell laypeople how they can find reliable information on the Internet about diagnoses and healthcare interventions.

"Researchers are concerned that people are being told to come off antidepressants too quickly, which can lead to significant withdrawal effects." #antidepressants Article Link: buff.ly/3VS6lAm

Deprescribing antidepressants: An integral and neglected component of high-quality prescribing practice journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10… via @markhoro & @DavidTa23968240