Kutcher Demands Retraction – May Sue The Coast Today, five days before voters go to the polls, Halifax weekly The Coast has featured a story critical of a 10 year-old scientific research study co-authored by a candidate for elected office. In their first ever article on Dr. Stan Kutcher, an international leader in the field of adolescent mental health, a writer better known for political commentary than scientific journalism, Tim Bousquet, has cited the work of another journalist to call into question Dr. Kutcher’s credibility. The one source Bousquet cites, Allison Bass, is a writer who is among those most frequently cited by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (http://www.cchr.org) an organization that sponsors exhibits such as "Psychiatry an Industry of Death." This contrasts with the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, who conducted a review of the scientific research paper in question, “Paxil 329”. This respected editor of a peer reviewed scientific journal found that the study “… does not contain any inaccuracies”. Further, the clinical trial that served as the basis for the research paper Dr. Kutcher co-authored, with 21 researchers from a total of 12 different institutions, was approved by the ethics boards of all participating institutions. The study was led by a respected researcher from the highly regarded Brown University. The Coast article incorrectly reports that Dr. Martin Keller “lost his job”. Commenting on the story Dr. Stan Kutcher, Liberal candidate for Halifax, said: “It comes as a great surprise that The Coast is confusing opinion with science – this is something we are more accustomed to hear from the American right wing than the Canadian left wing.” Kutcher has demanded a retraction. The confusion could be costly for The Coast. Dr. Kutcher intends to launch a defamation suit against the publication as a result of its inflammatory innuendo and the potential to damage his personal, professional and political reputation. - 30 – For more information, contact: Layton Dorey (902) 830-6830