tagged w/ Pharmaceuticals
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Shane Ellison has a masters degree in organic chemistry and is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Grant for his studies in biochemistry and physiology. Here Shane exposes the inner workings of the psycho/pharmaceutical industry, the manufacture and marketing of psychiatric drugs and the fact that the psycho/pharma industry is well aware their drugs do not cure anyone. He previously worked for both Array BioPharma and Eli Lilly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOT5DSIUTOY&playnext=1&list=PL1DD3AB0095B085C9Shane Ellison has a masters degree in organic chemistry and is a two-time recipient of... more
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A recent research of over 7 years has revealed striking facts of soaring use of stimulant drug to treat attention deficit hyperactivity in children. With the unprecedented surge in the prescription of stimulant drug to treat ADHD, the authorities have expressed concern over the alarming statistics.
Though the surge was largely driven by the male children and teenagers, the study revealed a conclusive evidence of medical negligence in case of prescribing medicine.
http://topnews.net.nz/content/211455-debate-over-excessive-use-stimulant-drugA recent research of over 7 years has revealed striking facts of soaring use of... more
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Children are overprescribed medications for psychiatric conditions, psychologists and psychiatrics say.
In the United States, prescriptions for childhood antipsychotic drugs — prescribed to treat conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia — increased sixfold between 1993 and 2002, according to a study published the Archives of General Psychiatry in June 2006.
"Antipsychotic medications have substantially increased in the last 10 years, and caused a great deal of medical concerns for kids who are on them," said Dr. Paul Ballas, a child psychiatrist in Philadelphia.
"Often I wonder, kids who are on antipsychotics, whether they are being prescribed for an appropriate diagnosis," Ballas said.
Others are concerned about the use of stimulant medications, prescribed for conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Prescriptions for amphetamines for children increased 120-fold between 1994 and 2009, according to statistics from the United Kingdom's National Health Service, said Dave Traxson, an educational psychologist in the U.K.
Brain damage?
The effects of continually medicating kids remain to be seen.
"We worry about what we don’t know…we don’t know the long-term effects," Brown said.
Some studies have suggested that the long-term use of stimulants may lead to changes in the brain. For example, children placed on stimulants for long periods have a buildup of the neurotransmitter dopamine in their brain, Traxson said. This buildup can damage the connections between nerve cells, he said.
http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/children-psychiatric-medication-over-prescribed-110114-1064/Children are overprescribed medications for psychiatric conditions, psychologists and... more
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Lawyers for the estate of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley announced last night that they have settled their medical malpractice lawsuit against the girl’s psychiatrist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Tufts Medical Center, for $2.5 million.
The psychiatrist’s role in Rebecca’s death has been a source of intense controversy. Shortly after Rebecca died in December 2006, Kifuji entered into a voluntary agreement with the Board of Registration of Medicine to halt her practice.
But two years later, after the grand jury declined to indict her and the licensing board conducted its own initial inquiry, the board allowed her to return to practice. Kifuji has been seeing patients over the past year.
Still, many in the medical and legal community questioned why Kifuji was not held criminally accountable. When Rebecca died, Kifuji was the psychiatrist for all three Riley children, diagnosing each with ADHD and bipolar illness and prescribing similar mood-altering drugs.
Many jurors questioned why Kifuji, who had indications about the parents’ dangerous conduct, did not do more to protect the Riley children.
Kifuji, who agreed to testify only after being granted immunity from prosecution.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/25/tufts_settles_suit_against_doctor_in_girls_death_for_25m/Lawyers for the estate of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley announced last night that they have... more
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The Obama administration has become so concerned about the slowing pace of new drugs coming out of the pharmaceutical industry that officials have decided to start a billion-dollar government drug development center to help create medicines.
The new effort comes as many large drugmakers, unable to find enough new drugs, are paring back research. Promising discoveries in such illnesses as depression and Parkinson's that once would have led to clinical trials are instead going unexplored because companies have neither the will nor the resources to undertake the effort. Drug companies have typically spent twice as much on marketing as on research, a business model that is increasingly suspect.
The initial financing of the government's new drug center is small compared with the $45.8 billion that the industry estimates it invested in research in 2009. The cost of bringing a single drug to market can exceed $1 billion, according to some estimates.
Groundwork for drug firms
The National Institutes of Health has traditionally focused on basic research, such as describing the structure of proteins, leaving industry to create drugs using those compounds. But the drug industry's research productivity has been declining for 15 years, "and it certainly doesn't show any signs of turning upward," said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the institutes.
The job of the new center, to be called the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, is akin to that of a home seller who spruces up properties to attract buyers in a down market. In this case, the center will do as much research as it needs to do to attract drug company investment.
Read more: Federal agency to spearhead new drug-development center - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_17171570?source=rss#ixzz1BsgqBwLu
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
So, since the drug companies aren't spending on R&D with their record profits, the tax payer will fund it with a government agency, who will then sell it to the drug companies, who will then sell it to us at more record profits. Oh by the way, when was the last time a pill cured anything?The Obama administration has become so concerned about the slowing pace of new drugs... more
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For the first time the side effects of psychiatric drugs that have been reported to the FDA have been decrypted and been made available to the public in an easy to search psychiatric drug side effects database and search engine provided by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Reports reveal 2,452 deaths, 4,260 suicides, 195 homicides from 2004-2006 alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDdA7WPgeDMFor the first time the side effects of psychiatric drugs that have been reported to... more
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Dallas, TX: Terri Rimmer is a journalist and mother who has been trying to figure out for years what lay at the root of her daughter's eating disorder. She now believes that taking Effexor while she was pregnant with her daughter, now 10, is the culprit. Effexor side effects have been hotly debated with regard to pregnancy and the need for women to remain on antidepressants at the potential risk of harming their unborn child.
Rimmer wrote back in May that her daughter has a food aversion and has required a feeding tube since the age of two. Rimmer now laments that her use of Effexor venlafaxine while she was pregnant with her daughter might constitute the most likely cause.
"When I found out I was pregnant January 2, 2000, I immediately got off the Depakote and Effexor I was taking for fear it would affect my unborn child," Rimmer writes.
"My new gynecologist assured me it was right to get off the Depakote but that the Effexor wouldn't hurt the fetus and that in my extremely depressed state, that any benefits outweighed the risks.
"So I believed him.
"I didn't know that Wyeth, the drug company who makes Effexor, knew as far back as 1993, along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that the medication had a 30 percent chance of causing respiratory and heart problems for newborns as well as feeding difficulties.
Read Full Story: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/effexor-heart-birth-defects/effexor-side-effects-venlafaxine-9-15779.htmlDallas, TX: Terri Rimmer is a journalist and mother who has been trying to figure out... more
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A West Hollywood psychiatrist has agreed to plead guilty to a drug charge in connection with writing thousands of prescriptions without examining patients who paid cash.
Court documents filed Wednesday show Dr. Nathan Kuemmerle (KOOM'-er-lee) agreed to plead guilty to one count of distributing a controlled substance without a legitimate medical purpose. He could face up to five years in federal prison.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/20/state/n142243S34.DTL#ixzz1BgXl2WkuA West Hollywood psychiatrist has agreed to plead guilty to a drug charge in... more
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Linda Ware wanted to stop smoking. So two years ago, she went to her doctor to get help, and began taking a new prescription medication aimed at fighting nicotine addiction: Chantix. She experienced hallucinations a few days later. While driving in a remote area with her cousin she said she saw a vision of a sign in the distance that read "God is in the realm."
Ware suddenly pulled off the road, commanding her cousin to get out of the car. Then, just as abruptly, she broke out in laughter. Although Ware suffered from depression, her daughter, Cary Ussery, said she had never acted like this. The next day, a family friend found Ware slumped in front of her bed with a suicide note by her side. At the age of 57, Ware, a real estate agent from Cypress, Calif., overdosed on a lethal combination of pills.
Tragedy has plagued Chantix ever since it was approved in May 2006, even as the drug has helped some smokers to kick the habit. By mid-2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had received reports of nearly 100 suicides, 200 attempted suicides and close to 5,000 serious psychiatric events overall. Hundreds of reports of side effects have continued to stream in this year
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Suicides-may-be-linked-to-smoking-drug-923340.php#ixzz1BbVOQC13Linda Ware wanted to stop smoking. So two years ago, she went to her doctor to get... more
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Having certain health problems that require medication can be bad enough. Many prescription drugs come with numerous side effects. When those medications bring about sexual dysfunction as one of the side effects, it can be a double whammy.
Several prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications can cause sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction, menstrual irregularities, lack of libido and the inability to experience orgasm. The risk of sexual side effects can be increased when someone is taking multiple medications.
Antidepressants are most frequently the culprits behind sexual dysfunction. They work by altering levels of chemicals in the brain. In particular they increase serotonin levels. Serotonin inhibits sexual function.
Read Full Article: http://www.empowher.com/sexual-well-being/content/medications-can-adversely-affect-sexual-functionHaving certain health problems that require medication can be bad enough. Many... more
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Army leaders are increasingly concerned about the growing use and abuse of prescription drugs by soldiers, but a Nextgov investigation shows a U.S. Central Command policy that allows troops a 90- or 180-day supply of highly addictive psychotropic drugs before they deploy to combat contributes to the problem.
The CENTCOM Central Nervous System
Drug formulary includes drugs like Valium and Xanax, used to treat depression, as well as the antipsychotic Seroquel, originally developed to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, mania and depression.
Although CENTCOM policy does not permit the use of Seroquel to treat deploying troops with these conditions, it does allow its use as a sleep aid, and allows deployed troops to be provided with a 180-day supply, even though the drug has been implicated in the deaths of two Marines who died in their sleep after taking large doses of the drug.
Read Full Article: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110118_8944.php?oref=topnewsArmy leaders are increasingly concerned about the growing use and abuse of... more
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According to some sources, the use of psychiatric drugs like ritalin, prozac and xanax, has doubled in the last decade.
A local science journalist and author, Robert Whitaker, says in his recent book, “Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Durgs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America,” that the long-term use of these popular psychiatric medications is actually causing more mental illness — not less.
Whitaker says his research which examines for the first time the long-term effects of psychiatric drugs, shows that these medications are often making diseases such as depression and schizophrenia worse, not better. He points to a major increase in the number of people getting federal disability benefits for mental illness who are taking these medications as a sign that the drugs are, in fact, contributing to chronic mental illness in America. For example, Whitaker points out that between 1987 and 2007, “the number of disabled mentally ill children rose thirty-five fold.”
http://radioboston.wbur.org/2011/01/19/mental-diagnosesAccording to some sources, the use of psychiatric drugs like ritalin, prozac and... more
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As U.S. military leaders gathered Wednesday to give their latest update on the rash of Army suicides, new questions are being raised about a U.S. Central Command policy that allows troops to go to Iraq and Afghanistan with up to a six-month supply of psychotropic drugs.
Prescription drugs have already been linked to some military suicides, and a top Army official warned last year about the danger of soldiers abusing that medication. Psychiatrists are now coming down hard on the military for continuing to sanction certain psychotropic drugs for combat troops, saying the risk from side effects is too great.
"There's no way on earth that these boys and girls are getting monitored on the field," said Dr. Peter Breggin, a New York-based psychiatrist who has extensively studied the side effects of psychiatric drugs. "The drugs simply shouldn't be given to soldiers."
Anxiety, violent behavior and "impulsivity" are all side effects of some of these medications, he said, the latter symptom being particularly dangerous in a war zone. Breggin said that if patients were given these medications in the civilian world and not monitored, it would amount to "malpractice."
But Nextgov.com reported that Army leaders and doctors are increasingly concerned that the policy continues to allow combat troops to use everything from antidepressants to antipsychotics to hypnotics, medications they say could impair a soldier's judgment. The swath of active-duty troops on these kinds of medications, according to a June 2010 Defense Department report, was about 20 percent.
Read Full Article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/19/concerns-raised-combat-troops-using-psychotropic-drugs/As U.S. military leaders gathered Wednesday to give their latest update on the rash of... more
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Parker Waichman Alonso LLP Yet another study has linked significant weight gains in children to some antipsychotic medication. Forbes reported that an emerging study found that weight gains of 10-to-20 pounds were not unusual in children during their first three months on the medications like Zyprexa, Seroquel, Risperdal and Abilify. Also, cholesterol, triglyceride, and other metabolic “parameters” were elevated, said Forbes.
It has long been known and we have long written about the association between weight gain and antipsychotics; however, this new study points to even deeper increases, said Forbes. Tracking 272 children, aged four to 19 ,who were initially prescribed popular antipsychotic medications between 2001 and 2007, the researchers discovered that while increases in weight were dependent on the drug, the gains appeared in the entire spectrum of atypical antipsychotic medications, reported Forbes. The study was conducted at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, New York and the findings are being published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said Forbes.
"Weight gain was pervasive even in medications usually considered to be weight neutral in adults," said study lead Christoph Correll, an Albert Einstein College of Medicine psychiatrist, quoted Forbes. "The worry is that weight gain sustained over long periods of time can cause adverse outcomes like diabetes and heart attacks and strokes," Correll added.
According to the research, children on Eli Lilly’s Zyprexa gained 19 pounds in three months; children taking AstraZeneca’s Seroquel, Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal, and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Abilify gained 10 to 13 pounds in the same time frame, said Forbes. Meanwhile, Seroquel and Zyprexa were linked to “statistically significant” cholesterol level increases and Seroquel, Zyprexa, and Risperdal were found to increase triglyceride levels, added Forbes, which explained that triglycerides are fatty particles in the blood.
Read Full Article: http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/17191Parker Waichman Alonso LLP Yet another study has linked significant weight gains in... more
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INCREASED MORTALITY IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA-RELATED PSYCHOSIS and SUICIDALITY AND ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS
Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death. Analyses of seventeen placebo-controlled trials (modal duration of 10 weeks), largely in patients taking atypical antipsychotic drugs, revealed a risk of death in drug-treated patients of between 1.6 to 1.7 times the risk of death in placebo-treated patients.
Antidepressants increased the risk compared to placebo of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in children, adolescents, and young adults in short-term studies of major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders.
Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Stop using aripiprazole and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:
•fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats;
•jerky muscle movements you cannot control;
•sudden numbness or weakness, headache, confusion, or problems with vision, speech, or balance;
•fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms;
•white patches or sores inside your mouth or on your lips;
•increased thirst or urination, loss of appetite, fruity breath odor, drowsiness, dry skin, nausea, and vomiting;
•seizure (convulsions);
•thoughts of hurting yourself;
•feeling like you might pass out;
•jaundice (yellowing of your skin or eyes); or
•urinating less than usual or not at all.
Less serious side effects may include:
•choking or trouble swallowing;
•dizziness, drowsiness, or weakness;
•constipation, mild stomach upset;
•headache, anxiety;
•sleep problems (insomnia); or
•weight gain.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur.
http://www.rxlist.com/abilify-drug-patient.htmINCREASED MORTALITY IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA-RELATED PSYCHOSIS and... more
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Many doctors write prescriptions for atypical antipsychotic medications without strong evidence that the drugs will help, finds a study by Stanford University School of Medicine and University of Chicago. The popular drugs may cause serious side effects, such as heart disease, weight gain and diabetes. Antipsychotic medications are often prescribed "off-label," for uses other than those approved by the FDA. One example is quetiapine (Seroquel), which is approved for schizophrenia and some aspects of bipolar disorder and depression, but is often prescribed for anxiety and dementia. Researchers examining information from surveyed doctors' visits found that off-label antipsychotic use increased from 4.4 million prescriptions in 1995 to 9 million in 2008.
http://calorielab.com/labnotes/20110107/off-label-antipsychotic-medicine-increasing-lack-strong-evidence-work/Many doctors write prescriptions for atypical antipsychotic medications without strong... more
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Jan. 7, 2011 -- Many people taking powerful psychiatric medications that increase their risk of weight gain and diabetes are prescribed those drugs when there’s little evidence that they will get any benefit from them, a new study shows.
What’s more, experts say that even when these drugs, which are known as atypical antipsychotics, are prescribed as recommended, they may not be safer or more effective than the less expensive, older medications that they’ve apparently replaced.
Atypical agents were once thought to be safer and possibly more effective,” says study researcher G. Caleb Alexander, MD, an assistant professor in the department of medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals. “And what we’ve learned over time is that they are not safer, and in the settings where there’s the best scientific evidence, they are no more effective.”
In children, the use of the drugs skyrocketed, increasing 800% from 1995 to 2005.
“Time and time again what we see is medications that are prematurely adopted in populations that have little or nothing to gain, and this study is yet another example of how both doctors and patients may overenthusiastically or prematurely adopt medicines beyond the evidence base,” Alexander says.
Read Full Article: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20110107/study-newer-antipsychotic-drugs-are-overusedJan. 7, 2011 -- Many people taking powerful psychiatric medications that increase... more
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(NaturalNews) The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recently published a study in the journal PLoS One highlighting the worst prescription drug offenders that cause patients to become violent. Among the top-ten most dangerous are the antidepressants Pristiq (desvenlafaxine), Paxil (paroxetine) and Prozac (fluoxetine).
10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) - An antidepressant that affects serotonin and noradrenaline. The drug is 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
9. Venlafaxine (Effexor) - An antidepressant that treats anxiety disorders. The drug is 8.3 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) - A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug that is 8.4 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
7. Triazolam (Halcion) - A benzodiazepine drug for insomnia that is 8.7 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
6. Atomoxetine (Strattera) - An ADHD drug that is 9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
5. Mefoquine (Lariam) - A malaria drug that is 9.5 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
4. Amphetamines - This general class of ADHD drug is 9.6 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
3. Paroxetine (Paxil) - An SSRI antidepressant drug that is 10.3 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs. It is also linked to severe withdrawal symptoms and birth defects.
2. Fluoxetine (Prozac) - A popular SSRI antidepressant drug that is 10.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
1. Varenicline (Chantix) - An anti-smoking drug that is a shocking 18 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031017_violence_prescription_drugs.html#ixzz1BUnLAExv(NaturalNews) The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recently published a... more
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ENID — Three Longfellow Middle School students received medical treatment Tuesday after one of them lost consciousness during class because of a drug overdose.
Amber Fitzgerald, school and community relations director for Enid Public Schools, said a seventh-grader lost consciousness about midmorning Tuesday. The teacher called 911.
The school nurse and campus police talked with other students, and it was determined the student who passed out had taken prescription antidepressant medication. Two other students also had taken the pills.
The two other students’ parents were notified to take their children to be medically examined, Fitzgerald said.
Read more: http://newsok.com/enid-middle-school-student-loses-consciousness-after-taking-antidepressants/article/3531839#ixzz1BUhaC93RENID — Three Longfellow Middle School students received medical treatment... more
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