Tag Archives: effexor

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

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.

Finally—An Official Admission: Psychiatric Drugs Cause Violent & Homicidal Behavior

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.

A new study from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices published in the journal PloS One and 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…

Nation of Pill Poppers: 19 Potentially Dangerous Drugs Pushed By Big Pharma

Since direct-to-consumer drug advertising was legalized 13 years ago, Americans have become a nation of pill poppers — choosing the type of drug they desire like a new toothpaste, sometimes whether or not they need it. But if patients want the drugs, doctors and pharma executives want them to have the drugs and media gets full page ads and huge TV flights (when many advertisers have dried up), is the national pillathon really a problem? Yes, when you consider the cost of private and government insurance and the health of patients who take potentially dangerous drugs like these.

Seroquel, Zyprexa, Geodon, atypical antipsychotics—Even though the antipsychotic Seroquel surpasses 71 drugs on the FDA’s January quarterly report with 1766 adverse events, even though it’s linked to eight corruption scandals, even though military parents blame Seroquel for unexplained troop deaths, it is the fifth biggest-selling drug in the world and netted AstraZeneca almost $5 billion last year. Atypicals were originally promoted to replace side-effect prone drugs like Thorazine but soon became pharmaceutical Swiss Army Knives for depression, anxiety, insomnia, bipolar and conduct disorders and other off label uses — and betrayed the same side effects as older antipsychotics. (Especially tardive dyskinesia-linked Abilify.)

5 Myths About Depression Treatments

Myth 1: Antidepressants Are More Effective than Placebos
Myth 2: If the First Antidepressant Fails, Another Antidepressant Will Likely Succeed
Myth 3: Electroconvulsive Treatment (ECT) is an Effective Last Resort
Myth 4: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is the Best Psychotherapy for Depression
Myth 5: No Treatment for Depression Works

Wyeth Execs Can’t Hide Behind Silence on Antidepressant Data

A lawsuit that alleges Wyeth executives told a series of lies about the antidepressant Pristiq — suggesting that it was a good treatment for post-menopause hot-flashes when they were sitting on study data showing a risk of heart and liver problems — gives new guidance to management on what counts as a false or misleading disclosure to investors.

In the case, the judge ruled that front-loading your investor presentations with a bunch of boilerplate language about “safe-harbor” predictions and “forward-looking statements” that ought to be treated with caution does not allow you to stay silent about negative data that you know will affect the fortunes of your company. (The order was reaffirmed just before Thanksgiving.)