"Our Patients,Ourselves:Art and Science of Psychiatry": NCPS Annual meeting and pharma income: Dr.Jason Bermak

While perusing the AstraZeneca Speaker Compensation Report listing doctors receiving income from AstraZeneca from January 2011 through March 2011, I discovered many doctors receiving $20,000 and higher.

So I did a little digging and found one in particular with many conflicts (income from drug companies).

Dr.Jason Bermak is in the Dollars for Docs database as well as in the AstraZeneca dollars for docs database.



Dr. Jason Bermak was on the Professional Education Committee at the recent Annual Meeting of the NCPS (Northern California Psychiatric Society) held in March at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, in Monterey, California.



Dollars for Docs- J&J (makers of Risperdal) Pfizer, AstraZeneca



Displaying all 3 payments for the term Jason Bermak .

Name State City Company Amount Quarters Service Payees

BERMAK, JASON CHARLES Calif. San Francisco Pfizer $5,096 2009

Q3-Q4 Expert-Led Forums: $4375.00, Meals: $460.00, Business Related Travel: $261.00

BERMAK, JASON CHARLES

Bermak, Jason Calif. San Francisco AstraZeneca $27,800 2010

Q1-Q2 Speaker compensation JASON BERMAK

Bermak, Jason C. Calif. San Francisco J&J $48,693 2010

Q1-Q3 Consulting, Speaker Bureau; Service Fees: $37600, Business Meals: $596, Business Travel: $10497 Jason C. Bermak
---



The brochure for the Annual NCPS also lists BMS (maker of Abilify) as a source for Dr. Bermak's pharma income.


Listed as a staff psychiatrist at California's Vacaville State Prison, that appears to be a conflict of interest as well, considering the doctor is in charge of medicating the patients/prisoners, and is now directly influenced by his personal bank account via several pharmaceutical companies.


The Art and Science of Psychiatry seems to have taken a turn from true art and science, where doctors believed there was an art and science approach to helping the human being in a suffering condition.


The Art and Science now appears to be of balancing personal integrity, justifying income from the same pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drugs prescribed for the mental health - as well as the same companies backing many studies and research. It seems to be the way it goes for psychiatry now, and is increasing at a rate faster than one can keep up with, or read databases....


There is much to consider when in a vulnerable frame of mind while seeking help from a professional. Frankly, the line is blurred when doctors such as Jason Bermak and others walk lockstep with Big Pharma.

More

Researcher Profile - Jason Bermak -RESEARCHER INFORMATION
First Name: Jason
Last Name: Bermak
Advanced Degrees: MD / PhD
Affiliation: University of California, San Francisco
Department: Psychiatry
Clinical Interests:
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, ADD) , Schizophrenia, Depression, Anxiety disorders , Bipolar disorder , Borderline personality disorder

Research Focus:
Drug screening, GABAergic transmission, Clinical trials, Pharamacology, Glutamatergic transmission
---


This distinguished faculty are paid consultants of Janssen, Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Jason Bermak:

Jason C. Bermak, MD, PhD

is Medical Director of SF-CARE, Inc., a clinical research organization based in San Francisco, where he cares for and conducts clinical research studies involving seriously mentally ill patients. As a board-certified psychiatrist, Dr. Bermak also sees patients privately in San Francisco, at the California Medical Facility (Vacaville State Prison), and as an attending psychiatrist at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital.

In addition to his work as a clinical psychiatrist, Dr. Bermak is also Chief Medical Officer to Anvyl LLC, an early stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of non-sedating anxiolytic as well as cognitive enhancing medications. He holds a PhD in pharmacology with an emphasis in neuropharmacology and over a dozen publications in high- impact journals. In his scientific roles, Dr. Bermak consults frequently for biopharmaceutical companies with a focus on clinical trial design in the transition from preclinical to clinical stages of drug development.

As an educator who thrives on engaging and lecturing to his colleagues, Dr. Bermak is the chairman of an annual San Francisco-based psychopharmacology conference, hosted by the Northern California branch of the American Psychiatric Association. He obtained his medical degree and PhD in pharmacology from the University of California, Irvine and his residency training in general and adult psychiatry from the University of California, San Francisco."


$$$$$$