As if pregnancy isn't challenging enough, body and soul...

A study published in the February '06 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) made a convincing case for the use of antidepressants during pregnancy for women who need them. Hurray! A ray of evidence-based light, after years of uncertainty on the real risk-vs.-benefit of taking antidepressants during pregnancy. Everyone concerned about antepartum mental health and the health of the developing fetus breathed a collective sigh of relief. All of us who've ever made the tough decision to take an antidepressant during pregnancy could sleep a little better at night.

But now this:A story breaks that the research team has compromised integrity in the form of extensive, undisclosed ties to pharmaceutical makers.

The Wall Street Journal reports today:

But the study, and resulting television and newspaper reports of the research, failed to note that most of the 13 authors are paid as consultants or lecturers by the makers of antidepressants. The lead author - Lee S. Cohen, a Harvard Medical School professor and director of the perinatal and reproductive psychiatry research program at Massachusetts General Hospital - is a longtime consultant to three antidepressant makers, a paid speaker for seven of them and has his research work funded by four drug makers. None of his financial ties were reported in the study. In total, the authors failed to disclose more than 60 different financial relationships with drug companies.

To read the full story, click here.

[Sigh.]