Monthly Archives: April 2011

Grief is most definitely not a mental illness

Those of us working at Nanaimo Hospice were shocked at this headline. The proposed revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders designating grief as a mental illness leaves us wondering if we, as humans, have lost our way. And although I am not a cynical person, one has to wonder who is behind this kind of move to “medicalize” grief — who would benefit most?

Let me be clear — grief is not a mental disorder. It is a natural reaction to a life transition that we must all face many times over a lifetime.

Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry Ticked Off CCHR’s Busted Him Over Bogus “Early Intervention” Claims

It would appear that Australian psychiatrist Patrick McGorry [originally an Irish born lad] doesn’t like it when he is brought to task regarding his early intervention claims [He can predict if a child can get a mental disorder in later years you know]

The article, written by Brigid O’Connell, lays claim that McGorry has become the target by the Church of Scientology after he and other psychiatrists spoke out against them. I think you will find that it’s the other way around.

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights [CCHR] have, for a long time, been on McGorry’s back. Where McGorry gets confused [bless him] is that CCHR is not the Church of Scientology. Okay, CCHR was founded by the Church [and actually also a psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, who no doubt wouldn’t agree with your “early intervention” drugging kids fad either] but they are funded by Tom, Dick and Harry…that is, by anyone concerned enough about human rights.

CCHR have requested documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Documents that may or may not show McGorry’s links to the pharmaceutical industry. We are not talking about a free dinner here, we are talking millions of Aussie dollars.

Mad World:”A pill to make you numb, a pill to make you dumb, a pill to make you anybody else”— Marilyn Manson

If you’ve ever watched two episodes of House M.D., you know the routine. The doctors are on a mad rush to get a diagnosis, throwing one treatment after another at the symptoms to see if it works. All tests have been inconclusive, all theories have been shot down, and the only thing that can save the day is the last minute epiphany of a brilliant and eccentric doctor. If you take away that last step you get a somewhat less interesting show where the patients always die, but also a much better metaphor for the psychiatric industry.

Let’s put on our diagnostic whiteboard the term “chemical imbalance”. What is the cause? Unknown. What are the physiological signs of a chemical imbalance? Since there is no control model for a chemically balanced brain, there are no physiological signs of an imbalance.

You’re Fired: Forest Lab’s CEO May Be Banned from Federal Healthcare

As reported at Pharmalot, the CEO of Forest Laboratories received an unfortunate letter last week, demanding that he explain within 30 days why he should not be excluded from participation in federal healthcare programs. Banning Mr. Howard Solomon would prevent Forest from billing the government—every pharma company’s largest customer—and effectively end his over thirty-year tenure as CEO…The move to exclude Mr. Solomon apparently stems from Department of Justice accusations of fraud in 2009 related to Lexapro, an antidepressant. In a civil complaint, federal prosecutors alleged that Forest hid from parents and doctors the results of a study indicating that Lexapro might increase the risk of suicide in kids. Meanwhile, the complaint alleges, the company was promoting another clinical trial—financed by Forest, naturally—showing Lexapro’s effectiveness.

How Big Pharma’s Deceptive Advertising Helps Addict Patients, Screw Over Doctors and Jack Up Insurance Rates

All you knew about prescription drugs were creepy ads in a JAMA at the doctor’s office with a lot of fine print. Even if you knew the name of a drug, you’d never ask your doctor for it because that would be self-diagnosing and cheeky for a patient.

Flash forward to the late 1990s when direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising, drug Web sites and online drug sales came on board, and self-diagnosing and demanding pills has become medicine-as-usual for the doctor/patient encounter.

The DTC/Web perfect storm didn’t just sell drugs like Claritin, Prozac and the Purple Pill, it sold the diseases to go with them like seasonal allergies, GERD and depression. It sold risk of diseases like heart events for which you’d take a statin like Lipitor, osteoporosis for which you’d take a bone drug like Boniva and asthma attacks for which you’d use a second asthma drug like Advair. Of course, by the very definition of prevention, you didn’t know if the drugs were working but you weren’t paying out of pocket anyway so what the hay…