This article presents two clinical scenarios based on antidepressant-induced deaths, which make clear that there are a number of intervening processes in between the valuable data Read and colleagues present and the verdicts that come out of inquests. The manner in which inquests and court cases are structured means that it is very rare for even clearly-proven prescription drug induced deaths to result in a verdict that the drug has caused the death. Instead, a growing number of drug-induced deaths fuel perceptions of a need for more and better drugs.

Central to this situation is a question about how to determine causality in drug-induced injury cases. The idea that randomized controlled trials are the way to establish causality needs to be revisited. Unless there is reform, people caught in situations like the two described here would be better placed holding their own inquests, and finding ways to promulgate the resulting verdicts, rather than “trusting” in a process that is biased against them.

Two publications by Merzon and colleagues in the Journal of Attention Disorders (JAD) suggest that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increases the risk of COVID-19 infections (2020) and severe outcomes (2021). Adherence to stimulant treatments was recommended to attenuate the spread of the pandemic (2020). The conclusions of these timely studies attracted considerable attention, probably due to their wide-scope implications for public health. But how valid are they? Furthering our earlier critique published in this journal, the current article outlines seven severe gaps in these publications, including inconsistencies in the definitions and rates of ADHD, inadequate definition of the treated individuals, omissions of crucial information, unsuitable analyses, and unmet declarations regarding conflicts of interests and data availability. In fact, the latter, which constitutes a repeated avoidance of data sharing (up to this day, March 19, 2023), seems to have led the editor-in-chief of JAD to propose the write-up of the current article (which he then judged, after the peer review process, as “worthy of publication,” but also that JAD is “not the best placement” of its publication—despite its specific focus on several JAD articles). To complete the picture regarding this burning public health issue, this article also provides a glimpse into the problematic happenings that took place behind the scenes, which included a personal defamation and various stalling tactics, along with an elaborated and fully- referenced response that was sent by the authors of the current article to the reviewers and the editor-in-chief of JAD in real time (Appendix). Together, the discrepancies and problematic ethical conducts that are exposed in the current article suggest that the speculation regarding the link between a neurodevelopmental diagnosis (ADHD) and a respiratory virus (COVID-19) has not been subjected to adequate scientific inquiry. On the contrary, the lack of transparency, the observed gaps, and the existing extensive literature on stimulant-related cardiovascular risks, including the recently published guidelines for starting ADHD medications by one of the authors of the 2021 study, raise concerns regarding the potentially dangerous implications of stimulant use during a global epidemic.

Statistics indicate social workers comprise most of the mental health workforce in the United States. Social workers also abide by the profession’s code of ethics, comprising ethical principles and standards. Psychiatric disorders are predicated on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Psychiatric disorders are ubiquitous, notably in the realm of mental health to help individuals gain access to services and for insurance reimbursement purposes. However, the development of the DSM and diagnoses are not without significant controversy, forcibly placing social workers in a role of practicing in unethical ways, contributing to oppressive practices and social problems.

Modern psychiatry is a house divided. On the one hand, the dominant concept of biological reductionism means that the great bulk of research funding and effort is directed at finding a physical cause for mental disorders. On the other hand, many practitioners are unhappy with the apparent inhumanity of looking at the mentally disturbed as “biological specimens.” They prefer an approach that allows them to integrate psychological, social, cultural, and other historical elements in their management. Unfortunately, until recently, there has been no such model available. The biocognitive model for psychiatry argues that reductionism is wrong, and offers a highly developed mentalist model in its place. The goal is to allow the integration of psychosociocultural information in a formal, scientific model of the mind.

In this study, we highlight the importance of methodological creativity when researching existential phenomena in caring science. Our intention is to provide epistemological and methodological support that would encourage researchers to be creative when collecting data. One fruitful way to approach creativity involves basing one’s research on the epistemological and methodological ideas of lifeworld research. We will illustrate the usefulness of lifeworld research via examples from empirical caring science research and show how creativity may contribute to a profound understanding of patients’ experiences. Hopefully, this article will help other researchers be creative without losing epistemological foundations and scientific validity.

Ubuntu philosophy emphasizes the value of caring for one another. Caring is an integral part of the nursing profession. The purpose of the study was to explore perceptions of student-nurses on the interconnectedness of Ubuntu and caring in nursing. Focus group interviews were conducted on Zoom and Google meeting platforms with 49 fourth-year student-nurses. Data were analyzed thematically using Tesch’s eight-step coding process. Ubuntu and caring in nursing emphasize caring for others. Ubuntu is interrelated to caring through its shared values. The incorporation of Ubuntu into the nursing curriculum has the potential to improve the quality of care in nursing.