Psychiatric News — Antidepressants/Antismoking Drugs Linked to Violent Behavior

A link between several types of psychotropic medications and violent behavior toward others has been documented in a recent study.

The medications most strongly linked to violent behavior were the smoking-cessation aid varenicline and antidepressants, regardless of class.In a study published in the December 15, 2010, PloS One, the researchers used 2004 to 2009 data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System. They found that during the study period, 780,169 serious adverse events of one kind or another had been reported for 484 drugs, and that of those serious adverse events, 1,937 had been acts of violence. They defined a violent event as any case report containing one or more of the following items: homicide, physical assault, physical abuse, homicidal ideation, or violence-related symptom, but not more ambiguous descriptions such as crime, aggression, belligerence, or hostility.

Australian Medical Journal Bans Pharma Advertising

Concerned about the influence advertising may have on physicians, an Australian medical journal will no longer accept paid ads about prescription drugs and has called on other journals to take the same stand.

The ads could “change the prescribing practices of doctors”, wrote editors George Jelinek and Anthony Brown wrote in an editorial. “It is time to show leadership and make a stand, and medical journals have a critical role to play in this. At Emergency Medicine Australasia, we have, therefore, drawn a line in the sand and have stopped all drug advertising forthwith. We invite other journals to show their support and follow suit by declaring their hand and doing the same.”

These Popular Drugs Can Make You Violent – Avoid Them

Some medications have been linked to an increased risk for violent, even homicidal behavior. A recent study identified 31 drugs that are disproportionately linked with violent behavior. Time Magazine lists the top ten offenders:
1. Varenicline (Chantix): The number one violence-inducing drug on the list, this anti-smoking medication is 18 times more likely to be linked with violence when compared to other drugs
2. Fluoxetine (Prozac): This drug was the first well-known SSRI antidepressant
3. Paroxetine (Paxil): Another SSRI antidepressant, Paxil is also linked with severe withdrawal symptoms and a risk of birth defects
4. Amphetamines: (Various): Used to treat ADHD
5. Mefoquine (Lariam): A treatment for malaria which is often linked with reports of strange behavior
6. Atomoxetine (Strattera): An ADHD drug that affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline
7. Triazolam (Halcion): This potentially addictive drug is used to treat insomnia
8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox): Another SSRI antidepressant
9. Venlafaxine (Effexor): An antidepressant also used to treat anxiety disorders
10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq): An antidepressant which affects both serotonin and noradrenalin

Not the Only Psychiatrist Who Opposes ECT

by Dr. Peter Breggin—The FDA is proposing to move ECT from the high risk category to the medium risk category to avoid the necessity of any testing for safety or efficacy. As a result, ECT would be grandfathered into continued use without ever being tested. This would place ECT in the same category as syringes which no longer need proof of safety or efficacy. The FDA hearings will be held January 27-28, 2011, and I hope some of my more courageous colleagues will attend and testify against approving ECT without testing.
ECT causes closed head injury by means of electrically-induced seizures. There can be no doubt that the treatment causes trauma to the brain. The patient is comatose for several minutes in the recovery room and after a few treatments becomes confused and disoriented. A recent study confirms long-term memory loss and other cognitive deficits, which by definition is dementia. As I review in Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry (2008, pp. 237-241), large animal studies have shown brain cell death using ECT dosages less than those routinely inflicted today. My website has a very extensive ECT bibliography that can be downloaded for free. It includes a variety of the original large animal ECT research projects.

Drugs cloud US troops judgment

Experts believe the growing variety of antipsychotic drugs prescribed for the US combat forces impair the troops’ ability to make correct judgments.
The United States Central Command allows troops struggling with sleep deprivation to receive a 6-month supply of Seroquel — a drug first developed to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, mania and depression, according to a report published by AllGov on Sunday.