Monthly Archives: September 2010

Forest Labs will pay $313 mil to settle criminal &civil charges that it improperly marketed antidepressants for use in children & distributed unapproved thyroid drug

Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) will pay $313 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it improperly marketed antidepressants for use in children and distributed an unapproved thyroid drug, the Justice Department announced Wednesday….The settlement also covers civil charges that Forest improperly promoted Celexa and another antidepressant, Lexapro, for pediatric use, which had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Forest’s improper promotion campaign took place from 1998 until at least 2005, the department alleged.

Prescription drug use widespread, dangerous

The abuse of prescription drugs is one of college campuses’ best kept secrets. Pharmaceutical pills don’t require a wet towel under a door, open windows or even mellow neighbors. A single pop and it’s as if that pill had never existed. With more than 50 million teenagers diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, it’s a painless effort to find a friend who can supply.

A psychiatrist who believes in returning to fundamentals of self care & traditional forms of healing instead of drugs

I call it a return to fundamental self care. Traditional forms of healing. These are fundamental and should be available to everyone. The problem is the medical establishment. This goes against the grain of what is taught in medical schools and threatens their authority and the income of the drug companies. We have a system that essentially says even in the most basic matters of care, doctors and medicine knows best and that’s simply not true. Western medicine is wonderful. Antibiotics are miracles. But we tend to hope for the same kind of miracles for psychological conditions. The alternative is going back to basics and learning how to take better care of one’s self.

Sleeping Pills and Anxiety Medications May Increase Mortality Rate, Study Finds

A recent 12-year Canadian study has found a possible link between medications used to treat anxiety or insomnia and an increased risk of death.”These medications aren’t candy, and taking them is far from harmless,” said researcher Geneviève Belleville, a professor at Laval University School of Psychology.

Big Pharma’s Next Big Thing: Antipsychotic Medicines for Preschoolers

Dr. Joan Luby, the preschool depression researcher at the center of a New York Times article that failed to mention her past research was funded by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Shire (SHPGY) and AstraZeneca (AZN), is currently testing the antipsychotic Risperdal on autistic children aged 30 months to 5 years old, according to the ClinicalTrials.gov database. Although the study is not funded by Janssen, the unit of J&J that makes Risperdal, it nonetheless typifies a new field of drug research: The use of mood-altering pharmaceuticals on the very, very young.