Photo: De Balie, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons¹⁵

Peter C. Gøtzsche

Danish physician and medical researcher (born 1949)

Peter Christian Gøtzsche (born 26 November 1949) is a Danish physician, medical researcher, and former leader of the Nordic Cochrane Center at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Peter C. Gøtzsche (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Nov 26, 1949.¹

About

He is a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration and has written numerous reviews for the organization. His membership in Cochrane was terminated by its Governing Board of Trustees on 25 September 2018. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) extensively covered Peter Gøtzsche's expulsion from the Cochrane Collaboration, framing it as a major crisis involving governance, transparency, and conflicts of interest.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, vocal vaccine advocate David Gorski, surgical oncologist and Professor of Surgery and Oncology, and critic of the anti-vaccine movement published on Science-Based Medicine (SBM) on March 21, 2023 the article, where he critiques a preprint systematic review "Serious Harms of the Covid-19 Vaccine" by Peter Gøtzsche and Maryanne Demasi.

From Wikipedia’s article on Peter C. Gøtzsche, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

CochraneFounder¹⁴

Career

Occupation: biologist, physician, internist.⁵

Date not recordedFounded Cochrane³
Date not recordedFounded Institute for Scientific Freedom⁴

Personal life

BornNov 26, 1949, Næstved⁶
CitizenshipKingdom of Denmark⁷
ResidenceHørsholm⁸
SpouseHelle Krogh Johansen⁹
Children2¹⁰

Legal issues and controversies

Systematic Criticism of Psychiatric Drugs

In his 2015 book Deadly Psychiatry and Organised Denial, Peter Gøtzsche claims that psychotropic drugs are minimally effective but highly dangerous, stating that 98% of users with mental disorders could discontinue them. He believes only a few need short-term antipsychotics or benzodiazepines during acute episodes, with gradual tapering to avoid withdrawal. Gøtzsche says national authorities should revise psychiatric guidelines and open discontinuation clinics.

Flaws in Trials and Concealed Risks

Gøtzsche reports that trials overestimate benefits due to withdrawal in placebo groups from prior drugs, increasing complications like suicides in antipsychotic studies. He claims industry-funded trials hide deaths; his FDA analysis reports antidepressant suicides 15 times higher than reported (14 vs. 5, excluding post-discontinuation cases).

Increased Mortality

Gøtzsche states antipsychotics raise dementia mortality by 1% (one death per 100 treated); he reports benzodiazepines double risk in over-55s (one death per 100/year). He claims antidepressants add 2%. Using Danish data, he reports 3,693 annual deaths in Denmark; he stated in 2015 at least 539,000 deaths in US/EU.

Dubious Efficacy

Gøtzsche claims double-blind trials fail due to unblinding; he reports a Cochrane review with active placebo (atropine) showed no tricyclic antidepressant advantage. He states fluoxetine/venlafaxine effects lag placebo by days, likely natural remission. Gøtzsche reports antipsychotics improve PANSS by 6 (below clinical minimum of 15). He claims stimulants for ADHD offer doubtful benefits outweighed by harms, including animal-proven brain damage.