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FDA’s Continual Responsibility for Making Our Children Into a Nation of Drug Addicts

cchrint — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:15:02 +0000

Salem-News.com
By Marianne Skolek
March 28, 2011

Dexedrine

In 1997, 5 million children were listed as using psychotropic drugs, Ritalin being among the most common. Ritalin use has increased by 700% since 1990. By the year 2000, it was prescribed for approximately 7 million children.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is diagnosed eight times more often in boys than in girls.

Of these diagnosed children, 90% use a stimulant to help control the disorder. 70% of children with ADHD are prescribed Ritalin. 20% use its counterpart, the generic form known as methylphenidate and an amphetamine known as Dexedrine.

Beginning in the 1960s, it was used to treat children with ADHD, or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), known at the time as hyperactivity or minimal brain dysfunction (MBD).

Production and prescription of methylphenidate rose significantly in the 1990s, especially in the United States, as the ADHD diagnosis came to be better understood and more generally accepted within the medical and mental health communities.

The benefits and cost effectiveness of methylphenidate, i.e. Ritalin long term are unknown due to a lack of research.

There is a lack of evidence of the effectiveness in the long term of beneficial effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) with regard to learning and academic performance.

An analysis of the literature concluded that methylphenidate quickly and effectively reduces the signs and symptoms of ADHD in children under the age of 18 in the short term but found that this conclusion may be biased due to the high number of low quality clinical trials in the literature.

Some adverse effects of stimulant therapy may emerge during long-term therapy, but there is very little research of the long-term effects of stimulants.

The United States produces 90% of the world’s Ritalin. It produces, sells and distributes more methylphenidate than any other country worldwide. In addition to the United States, methylphenidate is frequently used in the United Kingdom and Germany.

It is used in many European countries, but in much smaller percentages than in the United States. Some countries don’t use the drug at all, such as Sweden, which has banned its use.

Intuniv

The FDA approved ”Intuniv” – the first non-stimulant extended release medication for the treatment of ADHD in children. This means it can be administered in one daily dose and given in the morning or at night as a stand-alone medication or in conjunction with another ADHD drug to boost overall effectiveness. Because Intuniv is not a stimulant, parents can feel better knowing that their child is being treated with a medication that does not have addictive properties and is less likely to be abused since it is not a controlled substance.

In clinical trials, Intuniv has been shown to boost the effectiveness of treatment when combined with a stimulant, resulting in greater attention span and reduced levels of impulsivity and hyperactivity. One possible drawback, however, is that it has not been tested for extended use, beyond that of 8 to 10 weeks. For this reason, physicians who prescribe Intuniv must closely monitor patients to determine whether it continues to be a successful protocol for longer term management of ADHD symptoms.

At the present time, Intuniv’s longer term efficacy is unknown and will be determined by physicians who carefully monitor patients being treated and report associated outcomes. Shire, Intuniv’s biopharmaceutical developer, continues to focus their research on this drug’s long term use potential for maintenance of children with ADHD who need drug treatment in order to succeed academically — as well as socially.

Dr. Ann Blake Tracy

Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, executive director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness and author of Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? – Our Serotonin Nightmare is an expert consultant in cases like Columbine in which anti-depressant medications are involved.

Tracy says the Columbine killers’ brains were awash in serotonin, the chemical which causes violence and aggression and triggers a sleep-walking disorder in which a person literally acts out their worst nightmare.

Columbine shooter Eric Harris

Shortly before the Columbine shooting, Eric Harris (one of the shooters) had been rejected by Marine Corps recruiters because he was under a doctor’s care and had been prescribed an anti-depressant medication. Harris was taking Luvox, an anti-depressant commonly used to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Luvox is in a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). Other SSRIs include Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. An estimated 10 million Americans take anti-depressant medications.

Harris was taking Luvox

Mark Taylor, the first student shot at Columbine, brought a lawsuit against Solvay, the international pharmaceutical company that produces Luvox. Taylor’s 2001 lawsuit said Luvox had caused Harris to become manic, psychotic, and homicidal/suicidal and had brought about “emotional blunting,” or a lack of inhibition.

Tayor’s lawsuit also faulted Solvay for failing to warn of the “risks and dangers” associated with the drug. *

Columbine victim Mark Taylor

(*Taylor told American Free Press two years after the Columbine shooting, as a 17-year old recovering victim, he had been taken alone, without counsel, into a room with lawyers representing Solvay and threatened with court costs and counter suits. The fear of financial ruin led Taylor and others to withdraw the lawsuit. Solvay Pharmaceuticals was able to silence disclosure of exactly what had happened at Columbine — and why — even after its product had played ab obvious role in slaughtering 13 people).

Solvay Pharmaceuticals

In early 1998, according to Taylor’s lawsuit, Harris had taken Zoloft for two months, but soon became “obsessional.” Harris became obsessed with homicidal and suicidal thoughts “within weeks” after he began taking Zoloft, according to Dr. Tracy. Due to his obsession with killing, Harris was switched to Luvox, which was in his system at the time of the shooting, according to his autopsy. The change from Zoloft to Luvox is like switching from Pepsi to Coke, Dr. Tracy said.

Read entire article here: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march282011/child-addicts-ms.php

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Panel to Examine Murder and Suicide Associated With Antidepressants

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:39:58 +0000

The Huffington Post, March 22, 2011
by Dr. Peter Breggin

Click image to visit the Psychiatric Drug Database

On Saturday morning April 9th of this year, a panel discussion will be held for the public and professionals on the theme of “Psychiatric Drug Tragedies: Personal, Legal and Medical Perspectives.”

The two-hour presentation focuses on suicide and murder potentially caused by antidepressant medications. It is part of the international Empathic Therapy Conference put on by the Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education & Living (April 8-10, 2011 in Syracuse, New York).

The panel will present a unique examination of an antidepressant-related suicide from three perspectives: Mathy Downing, the mother of a twelve-old-child who committed suicide; Karl Protil, the lawyer in her case, which was settled without any admission of negligence; and myself as the medical expert in the case. Mathy will be accompanied by her surviving daughter. Other family members will tell the stories of two more children who committed suicide, a father who committed suicide, and a husband who murdered his two young children–all while taking prescribed antidepressants.

A great deal is now known about suicide and violence in association with the newer antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine), Paxil (paroxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Luvox (fluvoxamine), Celexa (escitalopram), Lexapro (escitalopram), Cymbalta (duloxetine), Effexor (venlavaxine), Pristiq desvenlafaxine), and Wellbutrin (bupropion).

The FDA has imposed a Black Box on all antidepressant labels that warns against the risk of suicidal behavior in children, youth and young adults. Click here to find the example of Prozac’s official prescribing information. More importantly and more broadly, the new labels also warn about the risk of aggression, hostility, mania, and an overall worsening of the individual’s mental condition, for all ages. The new FDA-approved labels also include a Medication Guide, which the FDA urges prescribers to give to patients and their families. Originally intended for children taking antidepressants, it now has no age limitation and pertains to all ages. The Medication Guide warns patients and their families to be aware of the possibility of suicidal and violent behavior, mania, and a long litany of other dangerous mental abnormalities.

The new FDA-approved antidepressant labels confirm that the risks are highest at the start of medication therapy or during changes in dose, either up or down. To a great extent, the labels read like my prior publications, one of which was given by the FDA to its outside expert committee that recommended the changes to the labels.

Unfortunately, many psychiatrists, internists, family doctors, nurse practitioners and other professionals continue to prescribe these medications, too often without providing adequate information to the patient and the family. As a result, I was asked to write about the implications of these new labels for the most widely read psychiatric journal for primary care prescribers. The panel at the Empathic Therapy Conference, the first of its kind, will explore these tragedies and put a human face on them through the presence and presentations of surviving family members.

Other aspects of the conference will describe empathic approaches to helping a wide variety of emotional conditions and problems in children and adults. Speakers will bring unique and inspiring approaches to children and adults given psychiatric diagnoses, ordinary folks who are suffering from stress, street people overcome by psychosis, military personnel recovering from PTSD and head injuries, and elderly victims of dementia. Professionals and the general public are welcome at the Empathic Therapy Conference in Syracuse, New York, April 8-10, 2011. Continuing education credits (CEs) for 29.5 hours are available.

Peter R. Breggin, MD is a psychiatrist in private practice in Ithaca, New York, and the author of dozens of scientific articles and more than twenty books including Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and Love Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock and Biochemical Theories of the “New” Psychiatry, as well as his newest book, Medication Madness. The Empathic Therapy Conference brings together more than forty presenters and a diverse audience from around the world. Professionals and nonprofessionals are welcome. Learn about the conference at http://www.empathictherapy.org.

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Dealing With Depression Naturally

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:05:42 +0000

FOX News, March 8, 2011
by Chris Kilham

If your life is making you unhappy, then making positive changes may be the very best prescription of all

According to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, approximately 10 percent of Americans are taking antidepressant medications.

This means that over 31 million Americans are gobbling Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Elavil, Norpramin, Luvox, Paxil, Wellbutrin and other antidepressant psychiatric drugs like M & M’s. This drug use accounts for billions of dollars in pharmaceutical sales annually (9.6 U.S. billion in 2008).

Yet according to a landmark study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, antidepressant medications work – as well as placebos and not more. In other words, people in depression studies who are given sugar pills instead of antidepressant drugs do as well as the group who gets the drugs.

Before you ask yourself whether you should simply take a Tic Tac instead of a Paxil, there is more disheartening news about these drugs. Many Americans are taking antidepressant medications instead of changing their own behavior or life circumstances. According to Maryland medical doctor Ronald Dworkin, “Doctors are now medicating unhappiness. Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives.” If you are beating your nose with a hammer, do you stop hitting yourself, or do you continue, and take a pain pill?

Digging more deeply into the mystery of antidepressants, George Washington University health analyst Thomas Moore examined unpublished studies conducted by drug companies with various antidepressants. Approximately 40 percent of the studies conducted on this class of drugs have never been published — because in those 40 percent of studies, antidepressants do not demonstrate effectiveness. In other words, in the unpublished studies, they didn’t work. In even further research, Irving Kirsch of the University of Connecticut looked at results from varying doses of antidepressants. The difference in effectiveness between small doses and large doses was virtually non-existent.

It gets even gloomier. A U.S. government study released in 2006 showed that fewer than 50 percent of people become symptom-free on antidepressants, even after trying two different medications. Many who do respond to medication slip back into major depression within a short while, despite sticking with drug treatment. And then there are the “side effects,” which are really effects pure and simple. The most common effects of antidepressant drugs include nausea, insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, loss of sex drive, dizziness, weight gain, tremors, sweating, sleepiness, fatigue, dry mouth, diarrhea, constipation and headaches. People over 65 are at extra risk of falls, fractures and bone loss, newborns of mothers on SSRI antidepressants can go through drug withdrawal, and among teens, the use of antidepressants can increase suicidal tendencies. Any sober assessment of these effects points to the fact that there is something terribly wrong with this entire class of drugs. Remember what Hippocrates said “First of all, do no harm.”

Many intangibles add up to either a happy life or a sad one. Do you spend enough time with your family? Your friends? Do you relax? Do you do things you love? Do you enjoy your work? If you answer no to these questions, you probably have good cause to feel depressed. But popping a pill won’t help if you are not living in a fulfilled way.

What about natural approaches to depression? A number of doctors believe that nutritional deficiencies play a key role in many cases of depression. After all, brain chemistry depends on nutrient intake for proper balance. Really, it’s no surprise that a junk food-eating culture would be increasingly mentally out of sorts. No brain food means poor brain function. This is where omega 3 fatty acids come in, notably DHA, which is essential for proper brain function. These essential fats greatly enhance brain health and mood. The best way to get them is to eat fresh seafood, especially wild salmon. But omega 3 fatty acid supplements from fish oil are also available.

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. Many people find that they can relieve or reduce anxiety by meditating. There are many ways to meditate. By setting aside time every day, you can calm your body and mind, change your brainwaves, and alter your mood for the better.

Regular exercise is also associated with improved mood. Exercise enhances circulation, modifies brain chemistry for the better, enhances overall energy, improves vitality and contributes greatly to well being. You don’t need to go to a gym, either. Just get outside and walk. Do so briskly for at least half an hour each day, and notice how much better you feel.

On the herbal side, Rhodiola rosea is the big antidepressant. Many forward-thinking psychiatrists have turned to Rhodiola as a first line of treatment, instead of pharmaceuticals. Psychiatrists Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg in New York are ardent advocates of Rhodiola for depression and mood enhancement, and have written profusely about it. Dr Hyla Cass of UCLA also is an advocate. Meanwhile, dozens of studies demonstrate significant improvement in all parameters of mental function with Rhodiola rosea. My favorite brands? Rhodiola Energy by Enzymatic Therapy, and Rapid Rhodiola by EuroPharma.

If your life is making you unhappy, then making positive changes may be the very best prescription of all. Many people are so buried by work and stress that they forget to take time to live, to enjoy themselves and to savor life itself. I remember once meeting a psychiatrist at one of my talks. He was retired, and I was deeply impressed by what he shared.

“I practiced psychiatry for twenty-eight years,” he said. “And I never once gave anybody a prescription.” I asked him what he did for his patients instead.

“I talked with them,” he replied. As Rabbi Earl Grollman, author of several books on grief says, “the mentionable is manageable.” Maybe talking is a good place to start.

Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com

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Note to Press Re: Arizona Shooting—Before Touting Pharma’s “More Mental Health Treatment Needed” Line – Try Asking The Right Questions

admin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:49:52 +0000

By CCHR International

10 recent massacres were committed by those under the influence of psychiatric drugs resulting in 54 dead and 105 wounded

Every single time there is a school shooting, or some senseless massacre, the press are quick to start touting the need for more mental health treatment to “prevent” these tragedies—well before the facts of the case have been investigated. In fact, most of the press don’t appear as interested in bringing the facts to light as they are in making “recommendations” based on assumptions and calling for more mental health services/treatments. How one can make recommendations before finding out what actually occurred seems illogical to us, and we’re hoping we’re not the only ones. What also seems illogical is the lack of direct questioning and demand for answers given the facts already known about prior massacres/shootings, such as: The majority of those who committed such acts had already undergone mental health “treatment,” and were already on psychiatric drugs. Drugs documented by international drug regulatory agencies to cause violence, mania, psychosis, hallucinations, suicide and even homicidal ideation.

In the case of prior massacres/shootings, what has repeatedly occurred is that when the facts finally came out, due solely to the efforts of those few determined investigative reporters (such as Fox National News reporter Douglas Kennedy), and it was revealed that the shooter had been under the influence of psychiatric drugs, or in withdrawal from them, most of the press were quick to counter the drug/violence connection by featuring some Pharma mouthpiece touting the “there is no evidence that these drugs cause violent or homicidal behavior” line.

Really? No evidence? There have been 22 International Drug Regulatory Agency Warnings on psychiatric drugs causing violence, mania, psychosis and even homicidal ideation. These warnings have been issued by drug regulatory agencies in the United States, the European Union, Japan, The United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

And consider that just last week, TIME Magazine reported on a study from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices that “based on data from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System has identified 31 drugs that are disproportionately linked with reports of violent behavior towards others.” And out of the Top 10, 8 were psychiatric drugs.

From Time Magazine: “When people consider the connections between drugs and violence, what typically comes to mind are illegal drugs like crack cocaine. However, certain medications — most notably, some antidepressants like Prozac — have also been linked to increase risk for violent, even homicidal behavior.

The Top 10 included the Antidepressants Pristiq, Effexor, Luvox, Paxil, Prozac, ADHD Drugs, Strattera and the Anti-Anxiety drug, Halcion.

Now, to be perfectly clear, we’re not saying for a fact that Loughner was taking psychiatric drugs at the time of the shooting, or in the past, which studies show can cause long-term damage long after an individual has stopped taking them. We’re saying, why aren’t the press finding out? Consider that 10 recent massacres were committed by those under the influence of psychiatric drugs documented to cause mania, psychosis, violence and even homicide, resulting in 54 dead and 105 wounded—and those are just the ones we know about. In several cases, medical records were sealed or autopsy reports not made public or, in some cases, toxicology tests were either not done to test for psychiatric drugs, or not disclosed to the public. But let’s just consider what we do know about the mental health “treatment” of those who committed these acts of violence:

Dekalb, Illinois – February 14, 2008: 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak shot and killed five people and wounded 16 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amount of Xanax in his system.

Omaha, Nebraska – December 5, 2007: 19-year-old Robert Hawkins killed eight people and wounded five before committing suicide in an Omaha mall. Hawkins’ friend told CNN that the gunman was on antidepressants, and autopsy results confirmed he was under the influence of the “anti-anxiety” drug Valium.

Jokela, Finland – November 7, 2007: 18-year-old Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School in southern Finland, then committed suicide.

Cleveland, Ohio – October 10, 2007: 14-year-old Asa Coon stormed through his school with a gun in each hand, shooting and wounding four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon had been placed on the antidepressant Trazodone.

Blacksburg, Virginia – April 16, 2007: 23-year-old Seung Hui Cho shot to death 32 students and faculty of Virginia Tech, wounding 17 more, and then killing himself. He had received prior mental health treatment, however his mental health records remained sealed.

Red Lake, Minnesota – March 2005: 16-year-old Jeff Weise, on Prozac, shot and killed his grandparents, then went to his school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation where he shot dead 7 students and a teacher, and wounded 7 before killing himself.

Greenbush, New York – February 2004: 16-year-old Jon Romano strolled into his high school in east Greenbush and opened fire with a shotgun. Special education teacher Michael Bennett was hit in the leg. Romano had been taking “medication for depression”.

El Cajon, California – March 22, 2001: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman, on the antidepressants Celexa and Effexor, opened fire on his classmates, wounding three students and two teachers at Granite Hills High School.

Williamsport, Pennsylvania – March 7, 2001: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was taking the antidepressant Prozac when she shot at fellow students, wounding one.

Conyers, Georgia – May 20, 1999: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with antidepressants when he opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates.

Columbine, Colorado – April 20, 1999: 18-year-old Eric Harris and his accomplice, Dylan Klebold, killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 26 others before killing themselves. Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox. Klebold’s medical records remain sealed.

Notus, Idaho – April 16, 1999: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school, narrowly missing students. He was taking a prescribed SSRI antidepressant and Ritalin.

Springfield, Oregon – May 21, 1998: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22. Kinkel had been taking the antidepressant Prozac.

So, given the fact that these shooters were on psychiatric drugs, given the fact that 22 international drug regulatory agencies warn these drugs can cause violence, mania, psychosis, suicide and even homicide, given the fact that a major study was just released confirming these drugs put people at greater risk of becoming violent, here are the questions we think deserve to be answered.

1) Court records show that a case against Jared Loughner was dismissed on Dec. 9, 2008, after he completed some type of diversion program. What was the diversion program? Did it include mental health treatment or do the case notes include any information about any prior mental health treatment Loughner may have undergone? Such was the case of Columbine shooter Eric Harris’s “diversion program”, where case notes dated 4/16/98 revealed that “Eric has been having difficulty with his medication for depression. A few nights ago he was unable to concentrate and felt restless. He went to the doctor and the doctor is changing his medication.”

* Further note to press: Sometimes finding the psychiatric drug connection requires a bit more due diligence than just asking the question; case in point, following the Columbine massacre, the Coroner’s office initially reported no drugs were found in Eric Harris’ tox reports. Following this, an investigative reporter found that Harris was rejected from the military and psychiatric drug use was suspected as the cause for the rejection. When this became known, the coroner’s office seemed to find that Harris did in fact have the antidepressant Luvox in his system.

2) The Wall Street Journal reported, “One high-school pal said Loughner had become suicidal”. Considering the FDA has issued black box warnings that antidepressants can cause suicidal ideation (as can other psychiatric drugs) was Loughner already under the influence of these drugs?

3) The press has reported that Loughner was “barred from campus pending a psychological evaluation.” So what happened? Did he get one? Was he ever in mental health treatment, or prescribed a psychiatric drug? Ever?

As a final note: Whether or not Loughner was yet another in the long list of shooters under the influence of drugs documented to cause mania, psychosis, hallucinations, aggressive behavior, suicidal and homicidal ideation—Given the international drug regulatory agency warnings & studies, the just released Institute for Safe Medication Practices study, this much we know for certain; the last thing we need is more kids on psychiatric drugs. And given what we already know about the risks of these drugs, any recommendation for more mental health treatment, meaning more people and more kids put on these drugs, is not only negligent, but considering the possible repercussions, criminal.

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Antidepressant Drugs Are Not Safe During Pregnancy—No Matter What the Pharma Shills Say

admin — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:50:44 +0000

by CCHR International

November 4, 2010

Medical News Today published an article entitled “Increased Depression Screening Needed During Pregnancy, Study Says,” that is so highly misleading, we wonder if they ever bother checking the validity of what they’re forwarding under the guise of “medical news.”

We’re going to make this really simple—the study and its findings are bogus not to mention highly misleading and we’re only going to take up the two most egregious “facts” of the article to make our point.

The article states, “The authors of the study say their findings suggest that screening for depression should be a routine part of prenatal and postnatal care. They conducted a 10-week pilot project at WIC clinics in Santa Fe and Las Vegas, N.M., finding that 109 of 467 women who were screened had a high enough score on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to require a referral.”

FACT: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale—also called EPDS, is a screening method documented to triple the number of women diagnosed with Post partum depression, according to a study published in Obstecrics & Gynecology. The Scandinavian Journal of Public Health stated that EPDS screening was so unethical it should not be used.

So the authors are knowingly promoting a study which is known to triple the amount of women diagnosed postpartum depression, has been called so unethical it should not be used.

Next, the article states, “There are antidepressants that are safe to take during pregnancy”

False.

FACT: Four countries have done nine studies on the effects of antidepressants during pregnancy or breast feeding. They found that newer and older antidepressants can cause premature births, and increase the risk of cardiovascular interventions such as heart surgery in early childhood. In addition, newer antidepressants could also cause withdrawal symptoms, respiratory problems, and neurological problems.

Six counties have issued a total of 15 drug regulatory warnings on antidepressants causing severe problems for newborns.

They warn of:

Newer antidepressants causing seizures,
Wellbutrin, Cipralex, Luvox, Remeron, Effexor and Zyban increasing the risk of a life-threatening lung condition in newborns,
Zoloft and Celexa causing withdrawal symptoms and increasing the risk of a life-threatening lung condition in newborns,
Paxil and Prozac causing withdrawal symptoms and increasing the risk of cardiovascular birth defects and a life-threatening lung condition in newborns

Like we said, the article and the “findings” are highly misleading to say the least.

We’d also like to suggest something to any press forwarding these psycho/pharma puff pieces— Its called Google Search. Its pretty easy these days to check the facts before promoting bogus studies and or “findings” that are not only false, but can harm pregnant women and can give false information under the guise of “medical news.” We also recommend that anyone reporting on psychiatric drugs at least check our psychiatric drug database to see what international drug regulatory agencies and international studies have warned about these drugs instead of just regurgitating the latest pro drug study http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers/

Here is a very short video of what can happen to pregnant women when they are not given the facts about these drugs:

In Memory of Matthew Schultz / Effexor Baby Pregnancy Infant Death

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnxuw2ufSug&p=7F22F2C419977E5A&playnext=1&index=70

And finally, the “Medical News” article:

Increased Depression Screening Needed During Pregnancy, Study Says

Medical News Today

Twenty-three percent of pregnant women screened at two Women, Infant and Children clinics in New Mexico met criteria for depression, according to a study by a work group of the New Mexico Health Department and state Human Services Department, the Albuquerque Journal reports.

Nationwide, 10% to 16% of pregnant women meet the criteria for depression, and 70% show some depressive symptoms, according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists. In June, ACOG said that screening of pregnant women for depression should be “strongly considered” but that there is not enough evidence to recommend it.

The authors of the new study say their findings suggest that screening for depression should be a routine part of prenatal and postnatal care. They conducted a 10-week pilot project at WIC clinics in Santa Fe and Las Vegas, N.M., finding that 109 of 467 women who were screened had a high enough score on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to require a referral. The work group recommended increased training on depression screening tools for providers and more support groups for women, in both English and Spanish.

Signs of depression in pregnant women include feeling dread about the pregnancy, anxiety, isolation from loved ones, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, constant sadness, changes in appetite and lack of ability to experience pleasure, according to therapist Stefanie Luna. Doctors say leaving severe depression untreated could increase the risk for low birthweight or premature birth. When women are depressed they also are less likely to care for themselves and more likely to drink or smoke. There are antidepressants that are safe to take during pregnancy (Schoenberg, Albuquerque Journal, 11/1).

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206701.php

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US Soldiers’ Suicides Caused by Prescription Drugs?

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:29:51 +0000

The Epoch Times, November 1, 2010

by Martha Rosenberg

The suicide rate among U.S. troops is astonishing.

In 2009 there were 239 suicides within the Army, including the Reserves, 160 active duty suicides, 146 active duty deaths from drug overdoses and high-risk behavior, and 1,713 suicide attempts, says the Army’s suicide report released in July.

More troops are dying from their own hands than in combat, says the Army report, titled “Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention.” Thirty-six percent of the suicides were among troops who were never deployed.

Also astonishing is the psychoactive prescription drug rate among active duty-aged troops, aged 18 to 34, which is up 85 percent since 2003, according to the military health plan, Tricare. Including family prescriptions, since 2001, 73,103 prescriptions for Zoloft have been dispensed, 38,199 for Prozac, 17,830 for Paxil, and 12,047 for Cymbalta. All of the drugs carry a suicide-warning label.

In addition to the spike in SSRI antidepressant prescriptions, prescriptions for the anticonvulsants Topamax and Neurontin rose 56 percent in the same group since 2005, says Navy Times. The FDA warned last year that taking these drugs doubles suicidal thinking.

In fact, 4,994 troops at Fort Bragg, N.C., are on antidepressants right now, says the Fayetteville Observer. Six hundred and sixty-four are on an antipsychotic and “many soldiers take more than one type of medication.”

Troops may also be taking Chantix, an antismoking drug so linked to violence and self-harm that Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake was forced to defend its use before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs in 2008 even in drug trials. Related Articles

“If you know the drug induces suicidal thoughts,” an unappeased committee chair Bob Filner, D-Calif., asked Rep. Filner, “Why don’t you just stop [prescribing it]?”

The FDA says that even widely prescribed asthma drugs like Singulair and Advair are linked to suicide and have been cited in young people’s deaths.

Who knows what happens when the drugs are mixed with mood stabilizers, insomnia meds, pain pills, anti-anxiety drugs, and antipsychotic pills? These drug combinations have never been tested for safety.

Links between suicide and even murder-suicide and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) antidepressants have been long recognized.

Traci Johnson, a healthy 19-year-old with no mental problems, hung herself during Lilly trials of Cymbalta in the drugmaker’s own clinic in 2004. Columbine shooter Eric Harris had reportedly just switched from Zoloft to Luvox.

Red Lake shooter Jeff Weise who killed 10 on a Minnesota Native American reservation in 2005 had just upped his Prozac dose. And the Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was also on psychoactive medications, say news reports.

Even though Americans have doubled their antidepressants since 1999 so that 10 percent of the population or 27 million now take them, suicides have climbed by 5 percent since 1999 and 16 percent in middle-aged adults, says an article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2008.

In fact, the high percentage of civilian suicides on psychoactive drugs is probably the clearest indication that military life is not the only cause of the shocking troop suicides.

In September alone, there were 18 civilian suicides, 11 murders, 2 murder-suicides, and other violence linked to people who were using or had used antidepressants, according to published reports. (Ssristories.com/index.php?sort=what&p=recent)

A 54-year-old patient with a breathing tube and an oxygen tank and no previous criminal record held up a bank in Mobile, Ala. She had gone off her antidepressants.

An enraged man in Australia, also off his antidepressants, chased his mailman and threatened to cut his throat for bringing him junk mail.

A 58-year-old Amarillo, Texas, man with no criminal history tried to abduct three people, killing an Oklahoma grandmother in the process. He had “an antidepressant in his blood,” said police.

Also in the 30-day period, a 60-year-old grandmother in Seattle killed three family members and herself; a disc jockey in Bristol, U.K., set himself on fire; and a man in Exeter, U.K., was found to have stabbed himself in the heart. All were on antidepressants.

Finally, in the month of September, legal proceedings began against two mothers and a father charged with killing their own children.

Over 4,000 published reports of violent and bizarre behavior of people affected by antidepressants on the Web archive ssristories.com reveal the same out-of-character violence and self-harm in civilians that is currently seen in the military.

Twenty people set themselves on fire. Ten bit their victims (including a biter who was sleepwalking and a woman, on Prozac, who bit her 87-year-old mother into a critical condition.) Three men in the 70s and 80s attacked their wives with hammers.

Many stabbed their victims obsessively—one even stabbed furniture after killing his wife—and 14 parents drowned their children, a crime seldom heard of before the 2001 Andrea Yates case. Yates, who drowned her five children, was on the antidepressant Effexor, which manufacturer Wyeth (now Pfizer) “issued no public warning” about [the possibility of violent behavior], says the Associated Press.

Then there was the North Carolina pilot on Zoloft who sang “I’m going down for the last time” into the cockpit voice recorder before he crashed his plane in June. And the mayor of Coppell, Texas, Jayne Peters, who killed herself and her daughter in July over the grief of losing her husband. Police found antidepressants at the home.

Such murder-suicides committed by women used to be rare, says Betty Henderson the ssristories.com moderator and researcher. “Before the SSRI antidepressants, women committed 5 percent of the murder-suicides, and now they account for almost 15 percent of this type of violence,” she said in an interview.

Antidepressants are also causing women to become sexual predators, says Henderson. “There have been more than a dozen recent cases of women school teachers molesting their young students under the influence or withdrawal of antidepressants. Who heard of this type of sexual aberration before the antidepressant craze?”

Why don’t doctors and media outlets publicize the names of these volatile drugs?

“It’s a good question,” said Dr. Gary Kohls, a Minnesota family practitioner, in an op-ed written after Iraq veteran Matthew Magdzas killed his pregnant wife, their 13-month-old daughter, their dogs, and himself in Wisconsin in August.

“Nobody in the media has, to my knowledge, had the courage to report what the drugs were, nor have they interviewed the physician or his clinic to find out the rationale for prescribing drugs that have common violence-inducing effects (with black box warnings stating that in the prescribing information),” he writes. “Therefore nothing has been learned from this important teachable moment, probably because revealing the common reality of prescription drug-induced violence would be economically harmful for the sacred cows of Big Pharma and Big Medicine.”

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., called the fact that one of every six troops are now on psychoactive drugs “pretty astounding and also very troubling,” in Senate hearings this year.

Retired Col. Bart Billings, a former Army psychologist who has also testified before Congress, says, “I feel flat-out that psychiatrists are directly responsible for deaths in our military, for some of these suicides,” in a March Marine Times article. “I think it’s criminal, what they are doing.”

Even Katie Bagosy, the wife of Marine Sgt. Tom Bagosy, who took his own life in May, indicts the Neurontin medication he was prescribed for his downfall.

“He told me, ‘It all started to get worse when I got on this medication.’ Looking back, that was the beginning of the end,” she says in an article called “A Prescription for Tragedy” in the current National Journal.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/45181/

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Psychotropic Drugs, Our Children and Our Pill-Crazed Society

cchrint — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:16:01 +0000

The Huffington Post
By Dr. Ronald Ricker and Dr. Venus Nicolino
September 8, 2010

Today, the use of psychoactive drugs by children (6-17) is all too common, relied on far too much and growing at an alarming rate. It all started in the ’70s.

Memorialized in 1966 by the Rolling Stones’ “Mothers Little Helpers,” it was at that time that our society took the first steps at becoming “Pill Crazy.” Valium and Librium and Quaaludes were “Mother’s Little Helpers. The first drugs to enter the stage. If you couldn’t stand Johnny, your friends, your husband, in-laws, etc, tranquilizers smoothed you out, made you tranquil. Not surprisingly, in the 70s, the consumption of these tranquilizers, once discovered and available, skyrocketed. Anxiety was the popular diagnosis. Antidepressants were beginning to raise their heads as well. Their popularity at that time, however, was muted by the fact that they didn’t work well, and also sported many side effects, some of which were very annoying and occasionally dangerous. And, no one knew what was just around the corner.

Prozac

Prozac was first marketed in 1987. It was a totally new type of antidepressant, which seemed to work and had far less side effects. What had been a stream of tranquilizers became a tsunami of Prozac’s and tranquilizers. Other ‘Prozac’s’ entered the scene–Zoloft, Celexa, Paxil and Luvox, all vying to take part of Prozac’s market share. Promotion of these drugs by drug manufacturers exploded. Where there had been a surge in the diagnosis of anxiety, now the diagnosis of the decade was ‘depression.’ Housewives by the droves needed and demanded antidepressants and even more tranquilizers. If one was good, two must be better. The pill craze was on.

Diagnoses started to morph. The more the diagnoses, the more opportunities to sell drugs. Anxiety became anxiety neurosis, panic disorder, panic attacks, etc. ‘Depression,’ as a diagnosis, was of course and remains very popular. However, many patients don’t and didn’t like that diagnosis–perhaps it sounded too much like a disease. So a new depression explanation and diagnosis emerged–’chemical imbalance,’ which sounded more sheik and less like a disease and, of course, yielded more customers.

Not far behind ‘chemical imbalance’ came ‘mood disorder,’ a special type of depression, also called bipolar disorder. There are people who actually have a bipolar disorder and require numerous special medications for treatment. These medications, mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and second generation antipsychotics are far more dangerous medications than Prozac and tranquilizers. Further, there are also many people who are said to have ‘bipolar disorder’ who don’t. Often these patients are those who were said to be depressed yet don’t get better with standard antidepressants. They get all the special and dangerous medications (the number of which is multiplying geometrically) and have the additional advantage of being able to excuse pretty much anything they do as a result of their ‘mood disorder.’

This pretty well takes us through the ’90s. But here come our children. How did our children get sucked into all this? Our pill craze was and is a huge part. Parents and physicians often subscribe to this theory, that there is a pill for everything. Mommy says Johnnie is depressed, doctor agrees, Johnnie doesn’t. Guess who wins? Certainly not Johnny. Guess what Johnnie gets? A pill, usually an SSRI, which he may end up taking for a long time. Assuming Johnnie takes three years of SSRI therapy, his diagnosis is changed 25 percent of the time, usually to the much more serious diagnosis, bipolar disorder. His medications are changed to a much more serious and dangerous types. If Johnny takes an SSRI for six years the chances of his diagnosis changing to bipolar increases to 50 percent. So do his meds.

There’s yet another and newer mine field for Johnnie to negotiate, new in the last two decades. Let’s say Johnnie fidgets in his seat, doesn’t listen to the teacher, hates to read, and talks to his neighbor all the time. Guess what. Johnnie is diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and given another serious type of drug, a stimulant–usually Ritalin or a form of speed (one example being Adderall). Did you know that Adderall is 100 percent speed? We know speed kills but give it to our children. Think about that. Speed kills and we give speed to our children, masked as Adderall. Astounding.

Read entire article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-ronald-ricker-and-dr-venus-nicolino/psychotropic-drugs-our-ch_b_680488.html

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Before you take that antidepressant, visit website feauturing 3,500 crimes/suicides related to antidepressant use

cchrint — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:27:20 +0000

Martha Rosenberg
OpEdNews.com
January 3, 2010

With our national love of drugs, sex, celebrities and violence you’d think SSRIstories.com would be more popular.

The 12-year-old web site lists 3,500 crime related news reports linked to the use of SSRI antidepressants with celebrities like Wynona Ryder, Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy, Anna Nicole Smith, Heather Locklear, Glen Campbell, Carrie Fisher, Sharon Osbourne, Phil Hartman, Princess Di’s driver, Patrick Swayze’s Sister, O.J. Simpson and the Crown Prince of Nepal generously sprinkled in.

You can search and sort stories by drug–Lexapro, Celexa, Luvox, Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil and the related Effexor and Cymbalta–date, location, type of violence and the articles about school shootings, famous cases and legal cases won on SSRI defenses are color coded.

You don’t even have to read the whole article.

SSRIstories founder and manager Betty Henderson pulls out and boldfaces the story’s drug-related citation like Lynyrd Skynyrd harmonicist Mike Caruso’s remark that, “the doctor put me on Cymbalta. That turned me manic,” and Oklahoma murder suspect Ronson Bush’s remark, “I killed my friend when I took these. I’m not going to take them,” when offered SSRIs at the Grady County Jail.

Read entire article: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Before-You-Take-That-Antid-by-Martha-Rosenberg-100103-313.html

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Duty to Warn: The Fort Hood Murders/Suicide and the Taboo Question – Were brain & behavior-altering drugs involved?

cchrint — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:42:27 +0000

Gary G. Kohls, MD
Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel
November 11, 2009

Most of us have been listening to the massive, round-the-clock press coverage of the latest mass shooting incident at Fort Hood, Texas. Seemingly all the possible root causes of such a horrific act of violence have been raised and discussed. However, there is an elephant in the room, and it’s something that should be obvious in this age of the school shooter pandemic.

We should be outraged at the failure of the investigative journalists, the psychiatric professionals, the medical community and the military spokespersons who seem to be studiously avoiding the major factor that helps to explain these senseless acts. Why would someone unexpectedly, irrationally and randomly shoot up a school, a workplace or, in this case, an army post? Why would someone who used to be known as a seemingly rational person suddenly perpetrate a gruesome, irrational act of violence?

The answer to the question, as demonstrated again and again in so many of such recent acts of “senseless” violence, is brain- and behavior-altering drugs.

Read entire article: http://baltimorechronicle.com/2009/111109Kohls.shtml

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Behind the Marketing of antidepressants: Psychiatrists get more Pharma $$ than any other medical specialty

cchrint — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:02:23 +0000

Gardiner Harris
The New York Times
September 1, 2009

The pharmaceutical industry has developed thousands of medicines that have saved millions of lives, but it has also used its marketing muscle to successfully peddle expensive pills that are no more effective than older drugs sold at a fraction of the cost.

No drug better demonstrates the industry’s salesmanship than Lexapro, an antidepressant sold by Forest Laboratories. And a document quietly made public recently by the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging demonstrates just how Forest managed to turn a medicinal afterthought into a best seller.

The document, “Lexapro Fiscal 2004 Marketing Plan,” is an outline of the many steps Forest used to make Lexapro a success. Because of concerns from Forest, the Senate committee released only 88 pages of the document, which may have originally run longer than 270 pages. “Confidential” is stamped on every page.

But those 88 pages make clear that one of the principal means by which Forest hoped to persuade psychiatrists, primary care doctors and other medical specialists to prescribe Lexapro was by finding many ways to put money into doctors’ pockets and food into their mouths.

Read entire article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/business/02drug.html

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