Groups and activists have described the suicide of a 17-year-old boy who had just spent 26 days in a mental-health unit as further evidence of how such services are over-reliant on medication and outdated hospital models.

THE organisers of a medical conference which will discuss conflicts of interest within the pharmaceutical and medical industries have expressed dismay that the Irish Medicine Board has refused to attend.

OVER the past number of years there has been an increasing articulation of concerns about the current state of mental health services in this country.