tagged w/ CCHR
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We would all agree that child mental health is an important issue in society. Recent trends might lead us to believe that mental illness is on the rise, and that modern “science” is now properly labeling the countless “mental disorders” that children, adults and the elderly exhibit, but were previously misunderstood. For example, children are known to have higher energy and activity levels, shorter attention spans, difficulty learning, uncontrolled emotional tantrums, fears, and shyness. In the past we just let children grow up; but now these behaviors are labeled psychiatric disorders of one kind or another, and the children drugged to “fix” them. No one knows the long-range effects of the new powerful anti-psychotic drugs not even tested on children. But Ritalin and some of the earlier drugs have proven to stunt body and skull growth – directly countering a child’s health. Nevertheless, these and the newer more powerful drugs are freely prescribed to children younger than four and through the teenage years, as being necessary for child mental health.
Schools have become clinics to the degree that many teachers no longer improve teaching methods, but instead chalk up problem behavior to “disorders”, sending students to the school nurse for a meds prescription. Is this helping children and schools? Quite the contrary: medicated children zone out, literacy levels and test scores have dropped drastically, and tragic violence has plagued schools where students are on these powerful “meds”.
One writer for a prominent mental health magazine points out that the problem is not related to mental health at all, but to an ingenious million-dollar marketing campaign by drug manufacturers. After successfully lobbying for legalized drug advertising, and by paying psychiatrists to promote and prescribe their drugs, sales are literally skyrocketing. The public mistakes marketing for science, buys what is being sold, and government hands over billions of dollars annually for psychotropic drugs prescribed to foster children, the military, the elderly, and prisoners. Interestingly enough, a major pharmaceutical company producing one of the top-selling anti-psychotic drugs, has placed research and development under their Sales and Marketing division. Accordingly, drug studies are now paid for by the pharmaceutical industry itself, which profits from bringing them to market. Science is obviously being compromised, because investigations discover skewed test results covering up harmful results, and miracles being claimed about drugs that worked no better than sugar pills. But then again what would one expect from a commercial marketing department?
Read Full Article: http://www.nationalconfidential.com/images/2011/08/sad-little-girl.jpgWe would all agree that child mental health is an important issue in society. Recent... more
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A state psychiatrist has been fired from Terrell State Hospital for not disclosing a 2001 settlement banning him from working in other state of Texas mental health facilities.
The Austin American-Statesman first reported Jan. 4 that Dr. Alejandro Munoz was fired from the hospital in December. He had been employed in Terrell since 2006.
Carrie Williams, a press officer with the Texas Department of State Health Services, confirmed Tuesday that Munoz had falsified his application for employment, stating that he had left Rolling Plains State Operated Community Services in Graham in 1998 for personal reasons.
“When in fact, he had been dismissed,” said Williams, who added that the dismissal resulted in Munoz filing a grievance and lawsuit against the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. “He then entered into a settlement agreement in which he agreed never to seek employment with TDMHMR or any component facilities or contractors.”
According to Williams, Munoz was hired in Terrell in 2006 as part of a limited pool of applicants.
“His license was in good standing,” said Williams, adding that Munoz shouldn’t have applied to work for the state hospital and the facility shouldn’t have hired him due to the settlement agreement and abuse confirmation. “We should have picked up on the extent of the history and the issues with his application. Our practice is not to hire people with sexual abuse confirmations.”
The Department of State Health Services checked employment records for Munoz after he was mentioned in a newspaper story on state hospital psychiatrists and alleged sexual improprieties with patients, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Williams said that applicants for state hospital jobs are heavily scrutinized during the hiring process.
“At this point, Munoz appears to be an outlier that we discovered as part of our ongoing review of all our hospital doctors,” Williams said. “The vast majority of our employees are good hires doing great work, but there is always room to improve. Our hospital employees are heavily scrutinized, and we’re going through our process with a fine-tooth comb.”
http://www.kaufmanherald.com/articles/2012/01/18/community/doc4f1710b46d39c150724019.txtA state psychiatrist has been fired from Terrell State Hospital for not disclosing a... more
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Psychiatrist Sohail Punjwani Busted! Ambushed by news crew in parking lot.
State nukes his Medicaid Funding. ABC National News with Diane Sawyer
http://youtu.be/K0EnJHAvRDsPsychiatrist Sohail Punjwani Busted! Ambushed by news crew in parking lot.
State... more
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U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs
U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs
By DR. MARK ABDELMALEK, BRINDA ADHIKARI, SARAH KOCH, JOSEPH DIAZ and CLAIRE WEINRAUB
Nov. 30, 2011
The federal government has not done enough to oversee the treatment of America’s foster children with powerful mind-altering drugs, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to be released Thursday.
ABC News was given exclusive access to the GAO report, which capped off a nationwide yearlong investigation by ABC News on the overuse of the most powerful mind-altering drugs on many of the country’s nearly 425,000 foster children.
Read Full Story - http://www.psychsearch.net/psych_news/?p=2035
http://youtu.be/ZY-kzjF_d8wU.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs... more
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All is not well in the land of antidepressants.
Doctors, scientists and Big Pharma industry have not been honest in what they tell the public about psychiatric drugs, says Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic, Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness.
Whitaker's book eloquently argues that psychiatric drugs — including brand-names such as Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil and antipsychotics such as Risperdal, Zyprexa, and Seroquel — are driving an epidemic of drug-induced mental illness.
Perhaps better detection and various cultural factors contribute to the spike in the number of disabled mentally ill in society, Whitaker told the Montreal Gazette.
But studies looking at health outcomes suggest a different story, Whitaker said, which is that the very drugs prescribed to treat mental disorders are inducing changes in brain chemistry and triggering suicide and manic and psychotic episodes, among other illnesses.
http://www.canada.com/health/antidepressants+doing+more+harm+than+good/5605693/story.htmlAll is not well in the land of antidepressants.
Doctors, scientists and Big Pharma... more
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ADHD is a bogus mental "disorder" based only on a checklist of behaviors. There are no medical tests to prove any child has ADHD, yet more than 4.5 million kids have been diagnosed and put on drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta, which the U.S. DEA places in the same highly addictive category of drugs as cocaine, morphine and opium. According to the Center for Disease Control, boys are much more likely to be diagnosed "ADHD" than girls. The "checklist" for ADHD could fit any normal child and literally includes such ridiculous criteria as " runs about or climbs excessively in situations when it is not appropriate" (we are talking about KIDS here... right?) " is often 'on the go "acts as if driven by a motor" "blurts out answers" "is easily distracted" " loses pencils or toys" "often doesn't seem to listen"
To be perfectly clear — this is ALL that it takes to diagnoses a child with a 'mental disorder' of ADHD; a checklist of behaviors (the above is taken directly from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), psychiatry's billing bible. There is no medical or scientific test that is then taken afterwards to 'confirm' this diagnoses -- simply because there isn't one. So the ONLY way a kid is ever diagnosed is simply based on the checklist. That's it. There are no blood tests, brain scans, chemical imbalance tests, X-rays or "genetic" factors to prove any child has a mental "illness" called ADHD. This is simply a list of child-like behaviors that psychiatrists clustered together, repackaged as a mental disorder and the result is a multi- billion dollar empire — the child labeling and drugging industry
ADHD—Labeling normal kids "mentally ill"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3xZnKX_0xQ&feature=player_embeddedADHD is a bogus mental "disorder" based only on a checklist of behaviors.... more
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MedScape
By Fran Lowry
September 23, 2011 — Routine screening for depression in primary care, as recommended by organizations in the United States and Canada, has not been shown to be beneficial, and may even be harmful, according to new research published online September 19 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. In addition, in this era of fiscal restraint, this screening is a waste of precious healthcare dollars, the authors write.
Read full article: http://www.psychsearch.net/psych_news/?p=1873MedScape
By Fran Lowry
September 23, 2011 — Routine screening for depression... more
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A Miami psychiatrist’s license was suspended by the Department of Health after he tested positive for using cocaine and pleaded no contest to a charge of soliciting a prostitute.
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
JDORSCHNER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The license of Evan Zimmer, a Miami psychiatrist who’s had previous legal problems involving prostitutes and drug abuse, was suspended by an emergency state order this week after he tested positive in July for cocaine and marijuana.
The Florida Department of Health order noted that Zimmer, 60, “has a significant history of substance abuse” and “an inability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety.”
Zimmer could not be reached for comment. State records indicate he is board certified in psychiatry and addiction psychiatry with an office in northeast Miami.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/19/2366708/miami-psychiatrists-license-suspended.html#ixzz1Vny1r22JA Miami psychiatrist’s license was suspended by the Department of Health after... more
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Remember sucking candy out of a plastic neck?
Pez Dispensers, they call them. Flip back the noggin of Bugs Bunny or the Tasmanian Devil and extract a tangy little pellet. Kids love 'em. Adults, too -- now dispensing Prozac, Paxil, Abilify, Wellbutrin, Lexapro and Zoloft.
Or so it sometimes seems in today's pop-me-a-pill-I'm-unhappy world.
"We live in a fast-paced culture, so people think they can get rid of bad feelings just by swallowing," says Las Vegas psychiatrist Dr. Norton Roitman. "They think they don't have to make an effort."
Add such now-common names as Celexa, Cymbalta, Effexor and Pristiq to the aforementioned list, thanks to carpet bombing-style advertising on television. (Seen the animated one in which a woman, her body half-buried in the ground, rises once a kindly doctor arrives, presumably with a cache of Abilify?)
Read full article: http://www.lvrj.com/health/antidepressants-most-popular-prescription-medication-in-u-s-128168918.htmlRemember sucking candy out of a plastic neck?
Pez Dispensers, they call them. Flip... more
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Featuring Chill EB - Psycho/pharma spends billions of dollars a year marketing mental 'disorders' & drugs for kids -- yet these drugs are documented by international drug regulatory agencies to cause mania, psychosis, hallucinations, suicide, violence, homicidal ideation, heart attack, stroke and death. What's more, they are being prescribed for psychiatric disorders that are simply a checklist of behaviors. Get the facts here http://www.cchrint.org/psychiatric-disorders/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7rACI-WJEw&feature=player_embeddedFeaturing Chill EB - Psycho/pharma spends billions of dollars a year marketing mental... more
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A child and adolescent psychiatrist suspended from Billings Clinic who reported to investigators that he had a collection of child pornography is facing federal charges.
An information filed Monday in U.S. District Court charges Dr. James H. Peak with one count of possessing child porn. The crime carries a penalty of maximum of 10 years in prison, a maximum $250,000 fine and from five years to a lifetime of supervised release.
After talking with authorities, Peak voluntarily surrendered his medical license, notified his employer and entered and successfully completed a 90-day inpatient treatment program in Texas, Hurd said.
Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_10a66d01-4088-5992-bd16-8cba5fc399b6.html#ixzz1VQZpeG4rA child and adolescent psychiatrist suspended from Billings Clinic who reported to... more
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“Psychiatrists under contract with the Veteran Affairs—in my opinion—are legal drug dealers who almost took my life.”
- Former Marine Scout Sniper
By Shane Ellison
Award-winning scientist, Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry
Chad was a Marine Scout Sniper who served two tours in Iraq. Upon being honorably discharged as a Sgt. in 2007, he summoned the courage to ask for help in dealing with the images and emotions that gnawed on him from being dropped into combat. Like so many of his peers, the help he was given was “meds.” Although Chad was used to putting his life at risk, he never expected that his life would be more directly threatened by the “treatment” he was offered—psychiatric drugs.
After a single day of “following doctor’s orders,” Chad felt things were starting to look up. He seemed to be more cognizant, and the weight of daily struggles was lifted. But, as he describes it, things “quickly flip-flopped.”
“As time passed, I began changing into someone I wasn’t. Once a focused, motivated sniper, my reaction time became stagnant. My thought process became dry and lethargic, while my independence drifted. I became unable to make decisions on my own and reluctantly found myself relying on others in ways I had never done before. I had become a sort of medicated drone. All emotion turned into apathy and I found myself lackadaisical and eventually felt meaningless. That’s where it got really bad for me, and it’s hard to talk about now…. It was as if my brain chemistry went whack.”
This bleak scenario is becoming all too common for today’s military. The psychiatric death threat is becoming riskier than combat. In 2010, Time magazine reported that, “During the month of January, more soldiers committed suicide than were killed by enemy fire in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.” Mystified by the death toll among troops, Army Chief of Staff George Casey said that, “The fact of the matter is, we just don’t know why suicides have increased.”
Read Full Story: http://www.cchrint.org/2010/03/31/our-u-s-military-betrayed-and-drugged/“Psychiatrists under contract with the Veteran Affairs—in my... more
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Warnings/Precautions:
* Those who have heart problems, diabetes, or a history of drug abuse should NOT use this medicine.
* Children with attention deficit disorders who also have Tourette’s syndrome or tics also should NOT use this medicine.
* Amphetamines may impair the ability of patients to drive a car or perform other potentially dangerous activities.
* Amphetamines can be habit forming.
Possible Side Effects:
Some common side effects reported with this medicine include:
* chest pounding
* nervousness
* trouble sleeping
* upset stomach
* dry mouth
If you experience other bothersome side effects, contact your health care provider.
http://www.psychiatricdrugs.org/meds/adderall.htmlWarnings/Precautions:
* Those who have heart problems, diabetes, or a history of drug... more
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ELECTRIC shock therapy on young children will be banned and psychiatrists could be jailed for carrying out the controversial treatment on teenagers and adults without strict legal checks, under proposed legislation.
The same rules will apply to adults, with the final decision on whether to use shock therapy taken out of psychiatrists' hands and given to the tribunal. Doctors who breach the laws will face up to a year in jail.
Last year The Sunday Age revealed there had been a 10 per cent rise in the number of patients receiving shock therapy since the previous year.
Almost 20,000 sessions were carried out on 1791 patients in Victorian hospitals in the 2009-10 financial year, including 46 sessions on seven children under 17 and a further 163 on an undisclosed number of 18 to 19-year-olds.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/new-laws-to-ban-electric-shocks-on-children-20110730-1i5px.html#ixzz1UGCLVb3hELECTRIC shock therapy on young children will be banned and psychiatrists could be... more
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The Marketing of Madness is the definitive documentary on the psychiatric drugging industry. Here is the real story of the high income partnership between psychiatry and drug companies that has created an $80 billion psychotropic drug profit center.
But appearances are deceiving. How valid are psychiatrists’ diagnoses-and how safe are their drugs? Digging deep beneath the corporate veneer, this documentary exposes the truth behind the slick marketing schemes and scientific deceit that conceal dangerous and often deadly sales campaigns.
In this film you’ll discover that… Many of the drugs side effects may actually make your ‘mental illness’ worse. Psychiatric drugs can induce aggression or depression. Some psychotropic drugs prescribed to children are more addictive than cocaine. Psychiatric diagnoses appears to be based on dubious science. Of the 297 mental disorders contained with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, none can be objectively measured by pathological tests.
Mental illness symptoms within this manual are arbitrarily assigned by a subjective voting system in a psychiatric panel. It is estimated that 100 million people globally use psychotropic drugs.
The Marketing of Madness exposes the real insanity in our psychiatric ‘health care’ system: profit-driven drug marketing at the expense of human rights.
This film plunges into an industry corrupted by corporate greed and delivers a shocking warning from courageous experts who value public health over dollar.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/08/03/the-marketing-of-madness-the-truth-about-psychotropic-drugs/The Marketing of Madness is the definitive documentary on the psychiatric drugging... more
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The second-most widely prescribed antipsychotic drug for combat veterans with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder works no better than a placebo.
Veterans Affairs Department researchers found risperidone, a drug used to treat schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and often prescribed for the most severe symptoms of PTSD, did not reduce symptoms in 267 veterans who completed a study on the drug’s efficacy for PTSD.
Krystal urged caution in assuming that if risperidone doesn’t alleviate chronic PTSD symptoms, none of the SGAs will work for PTSD symptoms.
He said risperidone was found to relieve daydreams, nervousness and agitation, a few of the symptoms of chronic PTSD. The widest prescribed SGA for veterans, Seroquel, also known as quetiapine, usually is given at low doses as a sleep aid and not in high amounts as an antipsychotic and is effective for that purpose, he added.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/08/military-common-ptsd-drug-treatment-doesnt-work-080411/
http://www.cchrint.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/army_pills-a.jpgThe second-most widely prescribed antipsychotic drug for combat veterans with chronic... more
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Side effects that may occur while taking this medicine include:
* vomiting
* fever
* lightheadedness
* dizziness
* change in weight
* blurred vision
* drowsiness
Contact your doctor IMMEDIATELY if you experience:
* uncontrolled muscle movements (especially of the face or tongue)
* severe muscle stiffness
* irregular or unusually fast heartbeat (especially with fever and increased sweating).
* Contact your doctor IMMEDIATELY if you develop symptoms of high blood sugar such as increased thirst, increased urination, or vision changes. Keep all lab appointments.
Warnings/Precautions
Do NOT increase your dose of this medicine without first talking to your doctor, even if you feel that the medicine is not working.
Do NOT abruptly stop this medicine without talking to your doctor.
This medicine may cause DROWSINESS or DIZZINESS, or lightheadedness. DO NOT drive, operate machinery, or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how you react to this medicine.
Alcoholic beverages can increase the effects of this medicine and should be avoided.
This medicine may reduce sweating. DO NOT become overheated in hot weather, during exercise, or during other activities since risk of heatstroke may be increased. Drink plenty of fluids.
This medicine may increase your risk of getting diabetes or increase blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels can cause serious problems if left untreated. Your healthcare provider can give you more information on this.
http://psychiatricdrugs.org/meds/abilify.html
http://www.givemetalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/abilify.jpgSide effects that may occur while taking this medicine include:
* vomiting
* fever... more
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