Drugs // Current

David nutt urges drugs probe

Sacked government drugs adviser Prof David Nutt has called for a Royal Commission to... more

CarolineS
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Industrial-Strength Bias § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

The pharmaceutical industry spends millions of dollars developing drugs and millions... more

sairamoo
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Problems facing California prisons: Cell phones

California prisons have plenty of problems but one that you may not often hear about... more

afitzgerald
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A Bong Fit for Mac Lovers

Honestly, we're surprised that this doesn't already exist: Tribudesign, a young... more

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Big Pharma Spends Billions on Marketing!

Pharma’s Drug Ads: From Million Dollar TV Ads to $1.7 Billion Internet Marketing Campaign

On November 13th, 2009, Pharmaceutical companies flocked to a two-day FDA hearing into online drug advertising, which could influence their use of social media on the net. 1 Already, the explosive growth in online advertising has intensified public concerns: the pharmaceutical industry spent more than $1 billion on Internet ads last year and is projected to spend $1.7 billion on such marketing efforts in 2012, according to the Direct Marketing Association.2

Both Eli Lilly and Merck have received warning letters this year from the FDA accusing them of misleading online advertisements.3 But while the FDA scrambles to monitor online ads, who monitors the psychiatric-pharmaceutical industry’s use of front groups to indirectly market their products?

A Washington Post article of June 16, 2009 reported that an increasing number of pharmaceutical firms are turning to social media tools, such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and MySpace, to market their products. It cites how a community site sponsored by drugmaker McNeil called “ADHD Allies”—aimed at adults with ADHD—was established and offered an online podcast on financial advice and an “ADHD self-assessment tool.”4

British psychiatrist Joanne Moncrieff explains how this ultimately increases drug sales because only a biomedical approach is promoted: “Drug companies…provide funds for pro drug patient and carer groups and address advertising or disease promotion campaigns to the general public…This influence has helped to create and reinforce a narrow biological approach to the explanation and treatment of mental disorders and has led to the exclusion of alternative” treatments.5

Such websites do not mention company’s product but rather market the “disease.” In advertising, it can be accomplished through a strategy known as “condition branding,” where “mental illness” can be pitched just like cars, beer or laundry detergent. Witness the brand name “bipolar” and “social anxiety disorder” that drug companies marketed at a fever pitch.

Read More...
http://www.cchrint.org/2009/11/16/pharmas-1-7-billion-internet-marketing-pipeline/Pharma’s Drug Ads: From Million Dollar TV Ads to $1.7 Billion Internet Marketing... more

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America's 1st Cannabis Cafe

Last Friday America's first legal cannabis cafe opened in Portland OR. The Cannabis... more

phildavis
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Stop to Rototom Sunsplash Festival

It has been the biggest reggae festival in Europe, but now the Rototom Sunsplash will... more

bibabiba
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Mexico's Drug Violence Gives Rise To Vigilantism

Frustration among Mexicans over President Felipe Calderon's inability to stem drug... more

atomiclegion
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Sex Pills For The Female Libido Are On Their Way

The pharmaceutical industry has discovered the female libido. German biotech company... more

doggeman
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The Buzz v.s. The Bulge

Caffeine/Callories

remanns
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KNOW YOUR DRUGS-( not "No" your drugs )

Drugs World | Information Is Beautiful Information is Beautiful is worth the look.... more

remanns
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Psychiatrist charged over US army shootings

Kim Landers, North America correspondent Last Updated: 23 hours 27 minutes ago... more

PepsiJuror
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Andre Agassi: What a rich’s man’s discontent can teach us all about living an authentic life

I’m pretty jaded about the world of pro sports and for a long time I wasn’t much... more

hoosierdaddy
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Newsroom - FDA Approves Depressant Drug For The Annoyingly Cheerful

We're not too far off from this being a reality

PepsiJuror
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9 days ago
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From prison

The unjust and absurd death of Stefano Cucchi, and the suicide of the new Red brigade... more

hyperion74
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Joss Stone Loves Marijuana and Coke

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The Medicated Child and the Compliant Parent

"...Everywhere we looked it was, ‘Take meds, take meds, take meds.'"

Friday, 06 November 2009 01:23
pharmacyOn November 3rd, 2009 Frontline aired a program on the subject of a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/view/
These overly prescribed and strong behavior modifying medications are now just beginning to be tested in children. In recent years, the number of children being diagnosed with bipolar, which is considered a mental illness, and ADHD is not only shocking, but very disturbing.

The program opens with a video clip of an activist protesting on behalf of children's rights and bringing light to this epidemic sweeping across the nation.

A lot of the credit for lighting a fire under the FDA goes to the much-maligned anti psychiatry movement and its most prominent spokesperson, Peter R. Breggin, MD. Dr. Breggin the author of many scientific articles and books which includes Toxic Psychiatry, and Medication Madness: A psychiatrist exposes the dangers of mood- altering medications (2008), for years along with a few others have been the lone voices in pointing out how drug companies have essentially bought and paid for the psychiatric establishment. This includes lead academic researchers who have been paid to lend credibility to questionable industry research. According to Dr Breggin, this research, most of which is done on adults, has been used to "justify coercing unsuspecting kids into submission".
"The rates of bipolar diagnoses in children have increased markedly in many communities over the last five to seven years," says Dr. Steven Hyman, a former director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "I think the real question is, are those diagnoses right? And in truth, I don't think we yet know the answer."

The drugs can cause serious side effects, and virtually nothing is known about their long-term impact. "It's really to some extent an experiment, trying medications in these children of this age," child psychiatrist Dr. Patrick Bacon tells Frontline. "It's a gamble. And I tell parents there's no way to know what's going to work."

I was riveted to my seat watching in horror as a father made a desperate call to 911 stating "my daughter passed away in the night." A picture of a beautiful 4 year old girl staring back at me made me wonder, how could something like this even happen?

Jacob Solomon, a young boy of five, was initially believed to suffer from an attention deficit disorder. With over one million children diagnosed with either ADHD or bi-polar, his parents followed doctor's orders and reluctantly started him on Ritalin. Over the next five years, he would be prescribed one drug after another. "It all started to feel out of control," Jacob's father, Ron, told Frontline. "Nobody ever said we can work with this through therapy and things like that. Everywhere we looked it was, ‘Take meds, take meds, take meds.'"

Read More...
http://www.healthsentinel.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2642:commentary-the-medicated-child-and-the-compliant-parent&catid=5:original&Itemid=24"...Everywhere we looked it was, ‘Take meds, take meds, take meds.'" Friday, 06... more