# David F. Horrobin
David Frederick Horrobin (1939–2003) was a physiologist and pharmaceutical entrepreneur who worked on lipid biochemistry, essential fatty acids, and psychiatry, and who is known for the prostaglandin (hormone-like fatty acid compound made in body tissues)–schizophrenia hypothesis and for his critique of grant peer review.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) Born in Bolton, England on 6 October 1939, he died in Edinburgh on 1 April 2003, aged 63, of pneumonia while undergoing treatment for mantle cell lymphoma.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) His career ran from professorships in Nairobi and Montreal and a readership in [Newcastle upon Tyne](https://www.edgepedia.org/newcastle-upon-tyne) to two companies built on evening primrose oil, and his obituaries in 2003 recorded sharply divided assessments of both.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/25/science.highereducation)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born; died | 6 October 1939, Bolton, England; 1 April 2003, Edinburgh, aged 63[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) |
| Training | Balliol College, Oxford; DPhil in neurophysiology with G.W. Harris; prize Fellowship at Magdalen College; clinical training at St Mary's Hospital, London; qualified 1968[3](https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/29/obituary-david-f-horrobin-originally-submitted-bmj-15-april-2003) |
| Academic posts | Professor of medical physiology, Nairobi 1969–72; Reader, Newcastle 1972–75; Professor of Medicine, Montreal 1975–79[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html) |
| Industry | Director, Efamol Research Institute 1979–84; managing director, Efamol Ltd 1984–87; chief executive, Scotia Holdings 1987–97; chairman, Laxdale 1998–2003[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html) |
| Signature work | Prostaglandin–schizophrenia hypothesis, restated in "Prostaglandins and schizophrenia: further discussion of the evidence", Psychological Medicine[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700006619) |
| Journals founded | Medical Hypotheses (1975) and Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987703001889) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html) |
## Education and early career
Horrobin went from King's College School, Wimbledon, to [Balliol College, Oxford](https://www.edgepedia.org/balliol-college-oxford), where he took the top first-class honors degree in physiology.[3](https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/29/obituary-david-f-horrobin-originally-submitted-bmj-15-april-2003) He then completed a DPhil in neurophysiology under G.W. Harris, held a prize Fellowship at Magdalen College from 1963, and only afterwards took the clinical part of his medical degree at [St Mary's Hospital, London](https://www.edgepedia.org/st-marys-hospital-london), qualifying in 1968.[3](https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/29/obituary-david-f-horrobin-originally-submitted-bmj-15-april-2003) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html) In 1969 he founded the medical publishing house MTP Press.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html)
## Nairobi, Newcastle and Montreal
In 1969, straight out of internship, he was appointed professor of medical physiology at the then-new medical school in Nairobi, an aid project supported by independent donors and by the [University of Glasgow](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-glasgow) and McGill, which brought him into contact with many [Canadians](https://www.edgepedia.org/canadians).[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [7](https://samizdathealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Horrobin.pdf) In 1972 he returned to Britain as reader in medical physiology at the University of Newcastle, where he studied essential fatty acids and prostaglandins.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) His prolactin self-experimentation at this period sparked three lines of work: salt and water balance in [East Africa](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-africa), schizophrenia (because antipsychotic drugs stimulate prolactin release), and fats (because prolactin stimulates the release of essential fatty acids from cells).[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) In 1975 he became professor of medicine at the University of Montreal, a post he held for four years.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [8](https://isom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JOM_2003_18_2_02_David_Horrobin.pdf) The Daily Telegraph dates the Montreal move to 1974; the Lancet obituary, the Independent, and the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine tribute all give 1975.[9](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1428907/David-Horrobin.html) • [1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html)
## Representative work
The hypothesis for which he is best known, restated in Psychological Medicine, held that 'classic' schizophrenia results from a specific deficiency of prostaglandin E1, while a subgroup including catatonic schizophrenia is associated with an excess of prostaglandins.[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700006619) A later paper developing the evidence explained the apparent contradiction between deficiency and excess by a 'bell-shaped' dose-response curve, in which high concentrations of prostaglandin E1 produce effects similar to those of deficiency.[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700006619) The hypothesis was later recast in lipid terms: a 1994 review in Schizophrenia Research, written from the Efamol Research Institute in Kentville, Nova Scotia, set out a membrane hypothesis of schizophrenia, and according to a 1991 study in Biological Psychiatry, post-mortem fatty acid levels in the brains of people with schizophrenia were compared with controls.[10](https://doi.org/10.1016/0920-9964(94)90043-4) • [11](https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(91)90235-e) A United States patent with a 1988 priority date covered treating schizophrenia with essential fatty acid compositions.[12](https://patents.google.com/patent/US4977187A/en)
## Essential fatty acids, Efamol and Scotia
In 1979, aged 40, he left academia to found Efamol and the Efamol Research Institute in [Nova Scotia](https://www.edgepedia.org/nova-scotia), which researched and marketed evening primrose oil as a source of gamma-linolenic acid.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html) According to *HerbalGram*, Scotia, as the company was later named, pioneered medical applications of essential fatty acids from evening primrose (*Oenothera biennis*), black currant seed oil, and borage seed oil, and became one of the first biotechnology companies listed on the [London Stock Exchange](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-stock-exchange).[13](https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/58/table-of-contents/article2496/) • [1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) By his departure at the end of 1997 it had 450 employees and a market capitalization of over £400 million.[3](https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/29/obituary-david-f-horrobin-originally-submitted-bmj-15-april-2003) • [8](https://isom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JOM_2003_18_2_02_David_Horrobin.pdf) Its marketing authorizations covered three products: Efamast for benign breast pain, Efalith for seborrhoeic dermatitis, and Epogam for atopic eczema.[14](https://www.bmj.com/content/326/7394/885.1) Epogam was approved for atopic eczema in 1988.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) In 1997 he left Scotia to found Laxdale, developing lipid-based pharmaceutical approaches to psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders including depression, schizophrenia, and [Huntington's disease](https://www.edgepedia.org/huntingtons-disease); the Lancet obituary and the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine tribute place it in Stirling, Scotland, while the Independent places it on the Isle of Lewis.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [8](https://isom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JOM_2003_18_2_02_David_Horrobin.pdf) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html)
## Peer review and Medical Hypotheses
In 1975 he founded the journal Medical Hypotheses, with a founding advisory board of distinguished scientists and philosophers.[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987703001889) In its inaugural editorial he pleaded "willingly and proudly… guilty to the charge that I shall publish some ideas which seem improbable and perhaps even faintly ridiculous", arguing that innovative articles should be published more readily than conventional ones.[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987703001889) He also founded and edited Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html) Unable to obtain mainstream grants for his lipid research in Montreal, he analyzed the peer-review system itself in articles in JAMA, The Lancet, and Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, including the 1990 JAMA paper "The philosophical basis of peer review and the suppression of innovation".[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987703001889)
## Reception and legacy
The obituaries published after his death provoked a public storm: one called him "a rotter, a snake oil salesman, a chancer", and the assessments divided sharply between colleagues who credited his originality and critics of his essential fatty acid claims.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/25/science.highereducation) According to the BMJ's obituary note, the [General Medical Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/general-medical-council) found Dr Goran Jamal guilty of research fraud for falsifying clinical trials of the drug Tarabetic, also known as Efamol, at Scotia, the company Horrobin had led; the Guardian's report of the controversy does not mention the allegation.[14](https://www.bmj.com/content/326/7394/885.1) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/25/science.highereducation) According to a 2003 tribute in the *Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine*, he served as medical adviser and president of the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain, though not of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship.[8](https://isom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JOM_2003_18_2_02_David_Horrobin.pdf) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html) His book *The Madness of Adam and Eve*, which linked lipid biochemistry to human evolution and schizophrenia, was shortlisted for the Aventis Science Book of the Year in 2002.[1](https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf) • [6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987703001889)
## Where the hypotheses stand
The fatty-acid program in psychiatry was tested at scale after his death, and its central claims did not hold. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis of 16 trials with 1,435 participants found no significant difference between omega-3 fatty acids and placebo in schizophrenia at the endpoint of intervention (standardized mean difference −0.123, 95% confidence interval −0.267 to 0.021, p = 0.095), though subgroup analyses suggested possible benefits for first-episode schizophrenia, treatment over 24 weeks, and adjunctive antioxidant treatment.[16](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12888-025-07508-6) A meta-analysis of randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trials likewise found no beneficial effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids versus placebo on symptom severity of psychosis (Hedges's g = −0.26, 95% CI −0.55 to 0.03, p = 0.08), disputing the originally reported effect.[17](https://researchrepository.universityofgalway.ie/entities/publication/e79868e3-0e0c-4ee5-b250-bf0f66445010) The PURPOSE trial, a double-blind study of about 110 subjects aged 13 to 20 at ultra-high risk for psychosis across 16 centers in 8 European countries, found no effect of omega-3 on transition to psychosis or symptom severity, and its authors describe it as the third study failing to replicate the original protective finding.[18](https://iris.uniroma1.it/retrieve/23452e51-a1e0-4b1c-aee5-9cf69de86b1c/sbae186.pdf) On the commercial side, both evening primrose licenses were withdrawn, and Epogam is believed to be the only product ever withdrawn because evidence showed it did not work.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html)
## References
1. David F Horrobin obituary, The Lancet. https://www.isad.org.uk/pdf/Horrbinobituary.pdf
2. "'A rotter, a snake oil salesman, a chancer' – how scientist's obituary sparked a storm", The Guardian, 25 May 2003. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/25/science.highereducation
3. Obituary of David F Horrobin, BMJ rapid response, 15 April 2003. https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/29/obituary-david-f-horrobin-originally-submitted-bmj-15-april-2003
4. David Horrobin, The Independent obituary. https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/david-horrobin-36447.html
5. Prostaglandins and schizophrenia: further discussion of the evidence, Psychological Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700006619
6. T.C. Erren, "From David Horrobin's legacies – the freedom to think and to use the head as a primary laboratory", Medical Hypotheses, 2003. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987703001889
7. Interview with David Horrobin, Samizdat health history transcript. https://samizdathealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Horrobin.pdf
8. David Horrobin, Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine tribute, 2003. https://isom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JOM_2003_18_2_02_David_Horrobin.pdf
9. David Horrobin, The Daily Telegraph obituary. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1428907/David-Horrobin.html
10. https://doi.org/10.1016/0920-9964(94)90043-4
11. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(91)90235-e
12. US4977187A – Treating schizophrenia with essential fatty acid compositions. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4977187A/en
13. David F. Horrobin 1939–2003, HerbalGram, American Botanical Council. https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/58/table-of-contents/article2496/
14. David Horrobin, BMJ obituary note, 19 April 2003. https://www.bmj.com/content/326/7394/885.1
15. David Horrobin, BMJ obituary by a critic, 2003. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1125787/
16. Effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the treatment of schizophrenia, BMC Psychiatry, 2025. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12888-025-07508-6
17. The therapeutic effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on symptom severity of psychosis, University of Galway repository. https://researchrepository.universityofgalway.ie/entities/publication/e79868e3-0e0c-4ee5-b250-bf0f66445010
18. Effectiveness of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Versus Placebo in Subjects at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: The PURPOSE Randomized Clinical Trial. https://iris.uniroma1.it/retrieve/23452e51-a1e0-4b1c-aee5-9cf69de86b1c/sbae186.pdf
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in clinical neuroscience, neurology, and psychiatry research › Schizophrenia and psychosis research*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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