Tag Archives: Australia

Attention deficit disorder gurus in conflict of interest

TWO of the seven experts advising the government on national guidelines for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have links to ADHD drug companies, new conflict-of-interest declarations show. Westmead adolescent health expert Michael Kohn, who has been appointed to the National Health and Medical Research Council working group, was paid by Eli Lilly, the maker of the ADHD drug Strattera, to develop educational material.

ADHD review as US expert faces inquiry

AUSTRALIA’S ADHD guidelines are being redeveloped as a US psychiatrist whose work is heavily cited in existing draft guidelines has been sanctioned by Harvard University for violating conflict-of-interest rules.

Professor Joseph Biederman and two colleagues, Thomas Spencer and Timothy Wilens, were investigated by Harvard after allegedly failing to report to the university millions of dollars they received from drug firms.

In Australia— 200 Psych Patients Died Suddenly

MORE than 200 psychiatric patients died in ”unexpected, unnatural or violent” circumstances last year, a report by Victoria’s chief psychiatrist reveals. Six patients died by committing suicide in hospital but most of the 237 deaths occurred in the community…Dr Vine’s annual report for 2009-10 shows that 14 per cent of inpatients were secluded, or confined in a room locked from the outside, in what guidelines say should be used only when a patient poses an immediate risk to himself or others.

A total of 1828 patients were secluded and there were 6059 episodes of seclusion, up slightly from the previous year. More than 1100 were for longer than 12 hours. A total of 1750 patients received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), including 83 children, the youngest of whom was 13.

In Australia – Electric shock therapy on the rise for young

More than 1 million people are electroshocked every year, including children, the elderly and pregnant women. This is simply a brutal, invasive and damaging ‘treatment’ where up to 450 volts of electricity are sent through the skull. Psychiatrists admit they don’t know how electroshock ‘works’ and the reason behind this is simple: it doesn’t work. Not unless you consider cognitive impairment, brain seizures, permament memory loss and death ‘workable.’ Now in Australia, the use of electroshock for the young is on the rise. Mentioned in this article are the atrocities that were committed in Chelmsford psychiatric hospital where patients were put into drugged induced coma’s and electroshocked, killing dozens. That lethal and inhumane practice was exposed and then banned due to the efforts of CCHR. No organization has done more to expose the deadly practice of electroshock, or helped enact more international laws restricting or prohibiting its use, than CCHR.

Australia’s Outrageous Mental Health Agenda Under Attack from Leading U.S. Psychiatrist

While the United States unfortunately leads the world in labeling its children with mental ‘disorders’ which cannot be scientifically proven to exist as medical conditions, Australia seems determined to take over the [dishonorable] title. And they just might do it. For poised to carry them into the winners circle is none other than psychiatrist and former “Australian of the Year” Patrick McGorry. The scam is called “pre-psychosis risk syndrome” which simply translates as this: Despite the fact there is not one proven scientific or medical test to prove any child has a mental “disorder,” Patrick McGorry maintains he can determine who will develop one. That’s right. He can determine who will develop a mental disorder before they develop a mental disorder that cannot be medically proven to exist. If that sounds a little crazy to you, rest assured, you’re not alone. In fact, the logic is so backwards that McGorry’s plan has come under fire from U.S. psychiatrist Allen Frances, who chaired the committee that produced the psychiatric diagnostic bible of “mental disorders” used the world over, ‘The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV. That is called being attacked from altitude. And from your own profession nonetheless.