Dr. Peter Gøtzsche, author of Deadly Psychiatry and Organised Denial (2015) and Deadly medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma has Corrupted Health Care (2013) is an internationally recognized expert on the effectiveness and safety of medications, having published four books and more than 70 papers in “the big five” (British Medical Journal, Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the New England Journal of Medicine). His scientific works have been cited over 15,000 times. Through the generous support of the Alaska Mental Health Authority, Dr. Gøtzsche gave a talk at the Anchorage Hilton on June 2nd titled “Forced Admission and Treatment in Psychiatry are Violations of Basic Human Rights and Must be Abolished.” It is available on youtube under the title Forced Admission and Treatment in Psychiatry are Violations of Basic Human Rights and Must be Abolished.

The main talk is a little under an hour, and there is about another hour in questions and answers. One key takeaway is that neuroleptics do so much more harm than good that forcing them on anyone is unjustifiable. Another one might be that no matter how psychotic someone might be they still know how the drug(s) make them feel and have capacity to decide not to take them.

Professor Gøtzsche graduated as a Master of Science in biology and chemistry in 1974 and as a physician 1984. A specialist in internal medicine, he worked with clinical trials and regulatory affairs in the drug industry from 1975 to 1983, and at hospitals in Copenhagen from 1984 to 1995. With about 80 others, he helped start The Cochrane Collaboration in 1993 with its founder, Sir Iain Chalmers, and established The Nordic Cochrane Centre the same year. He became professor of Clinical Research Design and Analysis in 2010 at the University of Copenhagen.