Dr. Bernard Carroll: blogger, funny tweeter, and critic of scientific and ethical lapses in psychiatry

Dr. Bernard Carroll (Nov 21, 1940 – Sep 10, 2018)

The sound of one hand clapping while putting lipstick on pigs: Ketamine, A Promising Depression Treatment, Seems To Act Like An Opioid https://t.co/79eBIWmPqE

— Bernard Carroll (@bcarroll40) August 29, 2018

I was friends with Dr. Carroll (“Barney”) on Twitter, and always enjoyed his wit.

As we await McCain’s interment,
Not forgetting Trump’s deferments,
The question arises
Who gives out the prizes
That give the nod of our preferment.

— Bernard Carroll (@bcarroll40) August 31, 2018

Before that he was an early commenter and supporter of my blog, The Neurocritic. Which pleased me to no end, given this brief biography from his blogger site.

My blogs	Health Care Renewal
Occupation	Psychopharmacology
Introduction	Past chairman FDA Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee. Past chairman, department of psychiatry Duke University Medical Center.
Interests	Professional ethics, medicine

He didn't know who I was and didn't care. He assessed me by the quality of my writing, and allowed me entrée into a world I would have no access to otherwise.¹

As I'm facing the most catastrophic loss of my life, I will miss him too. He was a brilliant, principled, and compassionate man.


Remembrance from Health Care Renewal:  Remembering Dr Bernard Carroll


Obituary in BMJ by Dr. Allen Frances (and Dr. Barney Carroll):

Barney Carroll: the conscience of psychiatry

A pioneer in biological psychiatry, more recently Bernard Carroll (‘‘Barney’’) became a withering critic of its compromised ethics and corruption by industry. Shortly before his death, he helped prepare this obituary—his last chance to help correct the perverse incentives that too often influence the conduct and reporting of scientific research.
. . .

Barney rejected grand biological theories that offered neat, simple-but-wrong explanations of psychopathology. Ever aware of the complexity of the human brain, he was an early rejecter of blind optimism that any simple imbalance of monoamine transmitters could account for the wide variety of mental disorders. More recently, he deplored the ubiquitous hype that suggested that genetics or neuroimaging or big data mining could provide simple answers to deeply complex questions. He predicted—presciently—that these powerful new tools would have great difficulty in producing solid, replicable findings that could be translated to clinical practice.

Conveyor belt psychiatry or game changer? iTBS v rTMS are equivalent for MDD... but no active comparator. Are they both just placebos but just 3 mins v 37 mins per session? https://t.co/2fmgQozpg9 via @medscape

— Bernard Carroll (@bcarroll40) August 22, 2018

Footnote

¹ i.e., Very senior male psychiatrists. When I wrote my blog post about being female, and my wife's diagnosis of stage 4 cancer...

So yeah, think of this as my “coming out”. Sorry if I've offended anyone with my ability to blend into male-dominated settings.

Thank you for reading, and for your continued support during this difficult time.

...Barney was the first to comment, with his usual wit and grace: “I am pretty sure we can handle that. Bless you both.”