Tag Archives: psychiatrists

Once Again Psychiatrists Top the List of Top Prescribers—And Are Heavily Funded by Pharma

Three San Diego doctors [all psychiatrists] who prescribe medications at the same time they are paid by drug companies as experts on the products figure into a broader national debate about whether playing both roles poses a conflict. California Watch, a project of the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, compared two sets of data at the center of the debate — one a database of payments by drug companies to doctors nationwide and the other a list of the top antipsychotic prescribers in California’s Medi-Cal program for the poor and disabled.

Quarter of children with sleep problems being put on psych drugs

The most glaring omission in this study is whether the children who were having sleep problems, and who were all under psychiatric “care”, were being prescribed psychostimulants (Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta) in the first place. These drugs are in the same category of highly addictive substances as cocaine according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. That would account for the children’s inability to sleep. And instead of referring to this condition as “sleep disorder” a term which enables psychiatrists to prescribe even more drugs, we should demand to know what drugs psychiatrists had prescribed these children that stripped them of one of the most vital natural functions every child needs—sleep.

Is Free Thinking A Mental Illness?

Is nonconformity and freethinking a mental illness? According to the newest addition of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), it certainly is. The manual identifies a new mental illness called “oppositional defiant disorder” or ODD. Defined as an “ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior,” symptoms include questioning authority, negativity, defiance, argumentativeness, and being easily annoyed.

Making a Market in Antipsychotic Drugs: An Ironic Tragedy

Remember not so long ago when Prozac became the world’s largest selling medication of any kind, and then for years how Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft took over many of the top 10 spots? Remember the explanations at the time–that they were wonder drugs and that 15-50 percent or more of Americans would need them some time in their lives? To many people this seemed like a scientific breakthrough when in reality it was … a triumph of marketing.