Dr. Allen Frances spent his early career at Cornell University Medical College where he rose to the rank of professor. In 1991, he became chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine. Frances was the founding editor of two well-known medical journals: the Journal of Personality Disorders and the Journal of Psychiatric Practice.

Frances chaired the task force that produced the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) and became critical of the current version, DSM-5. In his book, Saving Normal, he warns that the expanding boundary of psychiatry is turning ordinary human distress into mental disorders. He also denounces the influence of the pharmaceutical industry in shaping medical practice and driving overprescription of psychiatric medications to swell profits.