Freedom from Pharma Drugs

Senator Targets Abusive High Prescribing Antipsychotic Medicaid Doctors

2012-02-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

Senator Grassley contacted all States to request statistics of top prescribing doctors in 2006. Senator Grassley is an Iowa Republican and he recently sent letters to some thirty states asking what those states have done to investigate over prescribing doctors of antipsychotics. Well some of the states are not doing so well in tackling this problem. Florida has allowed several physicians to continue to subscribe to Medicaid patients. Even though there is at least an appearance of prescription fraud and elder abuse.

According to ProPublica a number of the top-prescribing Medicaid doctors around the country are listed twelve pharmaceutical companies in payments to physicians for speaking and consulting Medicaid. These were jointly funded by the states and federal government, providing health care coverage to about 60 million low income enrollees. Also according to ProPublica Grassley’s letter to Ohio notes that the top prescriber of the anti-psychotic Abilify wrote 13,825 prescriptions in 2009 which is about 54 prescriptions per weekday. Ohio paid $6.7 million for that those prescriptions, state officials reported to Grassley. There are reports of almost 20,000 prescriptions of Seoquel at a Medicaid cost of almost $6 million. This noted by Grassley is nine prescriptions an hour.
Senator Grassley was quoted “If state and federal taxpayers are being cheated because of inappropriate prescriptions,” Grassley said, “the state and federal governments have to get to the bottom of it and stop it.”
We applaud the Senator for attacking this issue head on. Not just for the potential financial gain to these doctors and losses to the US tax payers, but also for the massive drugging of older Americans. These doctors are taking advantage of the most vulnerable of citizens all for money. They are tarnishing their own profession. At least one Senator is making the charge. Now we need the public to contact their local and state representative to push them investigate this grave and disgusting practice. There is a link on our website and here http://www.statelocalgov.net/ All citizens will be older in time. Do you want this to happen to you or to ones you love?

Some Psychologist’s will do Anything for a Patient

2012-01-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

From the Bradenton Herald
Bradenton psychologist charged with smuggling drugs into Sarasota jail
Herald Staff Report
Jan. 09, 2012

SARASOTA — The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a licensed psychologist from Bradenton for illegally providing controlled substances to an inmate at the Sarasota County jail.
A corrections sergeant developed intelligence information that Holli Bodner, 51, of the 7300 block of Kensington Court, Bradenton, agreed to supply an inmate with Oxycodone and Lorazepam during prearranged visits at the jail, according to a news release.
Sheriff’s office detectives monitored four occasions in the month of December during which Bodner met with and supplied an inmate with narcotics. Detectives recovered the drugs from the inmate immediately after each meeting, according to the report.
Bodner was arrested Friday afternoon as she arrived at the jail for another scheduled appointment with the inmate.
She was charged with four counts of delivery of a controlled substance and four counts of introduction of a controlled substance into a correctional facility, all felonies.
She was released Saturday evening after posting $4,000 bond.

The Song “Pumped Up Kicks” by the Band Foster the People Helps Bring to Light the Issue of Kids Shootings in Schools

2012-01-03T07:15:00.001-08:00

“Pumped Up Kicks" is a song about a kid preparing to shoot his classmates at school. Part of the chorus says you’d better run, out run my gun. Pump of kick simply means expensive shoes.
It is refreshing to hear a band will write and perform music that doesn’t involve love or partying, but an unfortunate form of life in US schools.
Our take on it is not just that guns seem to be so handy to teenagers. Apparently, families leave guns and bullets around for kids to get at them. What is going on in these households? How do parents manage homes these days: No more potato chips before dinner and only two hours of T.V., but here is how you remove the safety on the pistol and can you get me the bullets in the pantry? If you take the gun out of the equation you would simply get a fight, or a stabbing at worst. But to us the real reasons behind these continual school shootings are antidepressants. The media will never talk about the effects of the antidepressants if a gun is involved. The government and media jump on the gun story, while the real ailment is psychotropic drugs. Parents seem to have little problem sanctioning a doctors prescription of antidepressants for their children.
The song “Pumped Up Kicks” has been moving up the charts all this past summer illuminating the violence that schools have become. Two decade ago the worst you got was a bruise or bloody nose, what will the next ten years bring?

Merck to Pay $950 Million in Settlement Over Vioxx Health Care Fraud

2011-12-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

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Vioxx is not an antidepressant, but we wanted to continue to enlighten readers of the unethical actions of Pharmaceutical Companies. Merck will pay $950 million and was forced to plead guilty to a criminal misdemeanor in their illegal promotion of Vioxx and their deception of the government and consumers. This court action is part fine ($320 million) and in part to settle civil penalties ($630 million). This came about from a 2004 study showed that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Vioxx was initially approved as a pain killer in 1999. This ruling is based on Merck promoting via marketing and pharmaceutical representatives unauthorized “off label” marketing. According to the Wall Street Journal a Merck spokesman Ronald Rogers indicated that some sales representatives promoted Vioxx as a treatment to rheumatoid arthritis before FDA approval. The government indicated that its representatives didn’t inform medical practitioners regarding Vioxx’s issue with cardiovascular safety.

Other pharmaceutical companies have recently been fined for misrepresentations such as GlaxoSmithKline $3 billion settlement for improper drug marketing. Dey Inc. Dey Pharma L.P. agreed to pay $280 million to settle False Claims Act allegations. The Justice department indicated that the Dey Pharma inflated government payments when they charge the Medicare and Medicaid a higher amount over actual price paid by health care providers. That discovery was related by Ven-A-Care. Elli-Lilly, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca have also been fined heavily in the past few years.

Pharmaceutical companies have shown a pattern in promoting their products for other reasons then FDA approval. This misrepresentation and unethical behavior must be from top management to the sale representatives. Why would a sale rep inform medical practitioners of the uses of drugs unless they were told to indicate so by management? This also brings up another issue as doctors are allowed to prescribe drugs for “off label” uses. Shouldn’t a drug be only allowed to be used for the reason it was approved by all involved in the drugs distribution? It looks like a Congressional law is needed here.

Please Keep Us Afloat and Make a 2011 Donation

2011-11-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

We are sure you are aware of the important role we can all play in helping people whose lives are impacted by Antidepressants. Our important work is supported largely by the support of generous donors who contribute to our annual capital campaign. This year’s goal is $20,000 which will allow Stoprx.org to continue providing much needed information and assistance to those in around the world who are in need of the real information on pharmacuetical drugs, and to be aware of the deathly effects of psychotropic drugs. Without the continued support of generous donors like you, these needs will likely not be met.
In order to continue making a difference in the lives of individuals affected by the work of Stop Foundation Inc. it is vital for this year's capital campaign to be a success. Can we count on you to make a donation to this important cause? By making a tax deductible donation to our campaign, you'll be directly contributing to helping people struggling to cope with thoughts of suicide, and BigPharma drug induced aggressive behavior.
Stop Foundation Inc. (stoprx.org) is depending on your assistance and generosity. Please visit www.stoprx.org to pledge your support by using the Paypal Donate button on the contact us donate page, or mail a check to Stop Foundation Inc. 1450 Sutter Street San Francisco, Ca. 94109. Your donation is fully tax deductable in the US as we are a 501(C) 3. We are happy to accept even small donations of $10, $15, $20 and more, which helps our mailing campaigns. Larger donations will help us expand and spread the word about the true effects of antidepressants.

Thank you for your consideration and continued support.
Stop Foundation Inc

Are Vitamins Really Bad for You? Or Are Their Other Forces at Work?

2011-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

(imageVitamin-supplements.com)

The recent Archive of Internal Medicine study widely published claims that older women who take dietary supplements die sooner than those who don't. Another Recent Study in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims that men with prostate cancer who take vitamin E supplements are more likely to die than those who don’t.

The Archive of Internal Medicine study collected information from nearly 40,000 women several times over 22 years. They collected more data than supplements, but in their supplement data they indicated several supplements that they say increases mortality, vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, and the innocent multivitamin. The increase in mortality rate ranged from 2.2 percent (multivitamins) to as much as 18 percent (copper).

In a contrarian view, Dr Alan Gaby (Author of a leading nutritional textbook) says “Dietary supplements have been clearly shown to decrease the severity of many diseases in people who are not deficient by any standard laboratory measurement” (PRWeb)
As for the study on vitamin E and prostate cancer, Dr Gaby suggested that both vitamin E supplements, and vitamin E research, are often misunderstood. “There are four types of vitamin E that occur naturally in food. Two of them, alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, have been shown to slow the growth of prostate cancer cells (in a test tube study) and to be associated with lower risk of developing prostate cancer (based on blood levels.) In both cases, gamma-tocopherol was more effective than the alpha form."
There is, however, an important shortcoming in vitamin E studies, as well as in most vitamin E supplements.
“It’s important to understand that isolated alpha-tocopherol is the form present in most vitamin E supplements, and is the form of vitamin E used in almost all clinical research. But we know that large doses of the alpha form deplete the body of the gamma form, and this upsets the natural balance of vitamin E derived from food. Because of this, it appears that large doses of isolated alpha-tocopherol may be harmful. However, natural vitamin E in the form of mixed tocopherols contains all four types of naturally-occurring vitamin E, and may prevent prostate cancer. Alpha-tocopherol may only be protective when it is supplied with gamma-tocopherol in the proper natural balance.” (PRWeb)
Also, Wen-Bin Chiou, Ph.D., a professor at National Sun Yat-Sen University told Men's Health. “Taking dietary supplements increases perceived invulnerability,” In other words: It’s not the vitamins that are harmful; it’s the life choices people make while taking vitamins. Do people take vitamins to substitute bad life choices?

We also looked at the source of the study which is the American Medical Association, which has become and arm of the Pharmaceutical industry.
Archive of Internal Medicine and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) are published by the American Medical Association (AMA) which is heavily influence by the Pharmaceutical industry. BigPharma uses its financial resources to help shape the continuing medical education of physicians in order to server its marketing purposes. Physicians and medical educational institutions aid and abet this influence by accepting, sometimes even soliciting, financial help and other favors from the industry, thus relinquishing what should be their professional responsibility for self-education, and the uninfluenced patient doctor relationship. The medical profession is being educated by BigPharma to sell the drugs physicians prescribe and thus surrenders its ethical commitment to serve as the independent fiduciary for its patients.
In our opinion, a study that diminishes the effect and use of vitamins will in turn increase the use and prescription of pharmaceuticals. We also don’t believe that all vitamins are the same, as many supplements have “fillers” or additives, so you are not taking the full vitamin. Consumers need to research to locate the best vitamin sources, so you ensure you get the full effect of the supplement.

CBS News Interview-$760 million Paid to Doctors By Pharma Past Two Years

2011-10-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500188_162-20124165/mega-bucks-flow-from-drug-cos-to-doctors/
(CBS News)
A dozen pharmaceutical companies have given doctors and other healthcare providers more than $760 million over the past two years - and those companies' sales comprise 40 percent of the U.S. market.
The numbers come from the non-profit journalism organization Pro Publica, which assembled and continues to update a database on the payments.
The payments, says Pro Publica, are for consulting, speaking, research and expenses on the part of the providers.
Drug companies have traditionally been very tight-lipped about those payments, Pro Publica notes, but, "Over the past two years, companies have begun posting this information on their websites, some as the result of legal settlements with the federal government."
What's more, Pro Publica points out, "Federal law requires that all companies publicly report this data beginning in 2013. That information will be posted on a government website."
With bucks that big flying around, is the quality of care offered by providers accepting them compromised? "Absolutely," said Dr. John Santa, head of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center.
"Money works," Santa told "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Russ Mitchell. "Doctors are human. Doctors who take money from drug companies are more likely to give you an expensive drug or more likely to give you a drug you may not need."
A recent Consumer Reports survey had 72 percent of respondents saying they believe pharmaceutical companies have too much influence on the drugs that doctors prescribe; 85 percent saying they were concerned about drug companies rewarding doctors who write a lot of prescriptions for their drugs; and 76 percent saying they were concerned about doctors providing testimonials or serving as a spokesperson for a drug.
Santa says he'd be reluctant to advise someone to go to a doctor who has that sort of relationship: "The issue is, who are you working for? Me, as the patient? Or the drug company you're taking money from?"
Do the payments result in doctors not giving patients the least expensive drugs in some cases?
"Absolutely," Santa replied. "We know from our studies and others that there are still many opportunities for doctors to prescribe generic drugs and they're not doing it, and one of the reasons is these financial relationships."
Santa pointed to three signs that could tip off patients that their doctor is getting drug company money.
First off - seeing drug company salespeople in a doctor's office. "The last time I was in a medical office," Santa says, "there were three drug representatives in the waiting room. I haven't been back."
Another sign? Free drug samples. "People think a free sample is a good thing," Santa observes. "Well, the expensive prescription that follows it, if it works, is not a good thing. It can be, again, a much more expensive drug than you may need."
Also: Marketing materials in the physician's office. "Doctors who have relationships with drug companies will often have promotional materials, will have information that they give patients that come from the drug company. You should be wary of that," Santa cautioned.
And what if you spot any of those signs?
"First of all," Santa suggested, "you shouldn't hesitate to ask, 'Do you have a relationship with a drug company? Is it your policy and your practice to take money from drug companies?' More and more, I think, it's good for consumers to ask those kinds of questions.
"What you should especially ask, though, is, 'What are my other options?'"

US Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Pharma on Vaccines, Data Mining and Generics. Who is Looking Out for You?

2011-10-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

United States: Supreme Court Rules In IMS Data Mining Case
by Maria Buckley

On June 23, 2011, the Supreme Court in Sorrell, Attorney General of Vermont, et al. v. IMS Health Inc. et al1, struck down a Vermont law2 that bans the sale of physicians' prescribing information to pharmaceutical companies and further bans pharmaceutical companies from using such data to market their products. The Supreme Court's 6-3 opinion by Justice Kennedy found that the Vermont law unconstitutionally restricted the pharmaceutical companies' right to free speech.
Vermont's Prescription Confidentiality Law provides that absent the prescriber's consent, pharmacies and other related entities are prohibited from selling prescriber identifiable information for marketing purposes and that such information cannot be used by pharmaceutical manufacturers to market their products. The statue permits other uses of the data, e.g., healthcare research.
The Court found that speech in the process of pharmaceutical marketing is a form of expression protected by the free speech clause of the first amendment. Therefore, the Vermont statue must be subjected to heightened judicial scrutiny of the reasons for the restrictions on speech.
Vermont's justification was that the law was necessary to protect medical privacy, avoid physician harassment by drug company representatives, and to preserve the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship. Vermont further argued that the statute is integral to its efforts to control healthcare costs and improve public health.

HEALTH News
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Vaccine Manufacturers
SCOTUS makes it more difficult to sue manufacturers in autism cases.
By Meghan McCarthy
The Supreme Court Feb 22, 2011 ruled that vaccine companies cannot be sued for design defects, handing the pharmaceutical industry a victory and making it more difficult to bring cases against vaccine manufacturers for allegedly causing autism.
A 1986 law established a federal system for compensating patients injured by "unavoidable" side effects after being given a vaccine. The law aimed to make collecting damages for children injured by vaccines easier and faster by giving the Health and Human Services Department the authority to hear the cases and hand out compensation, funded by an excise tax on pharmaceutical companies making vaccines. President Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget estimated the vaccine fund would have $3 billion. The fund has paid out over $2.5 billion since its inception.
A ruling that allowed suits against the vaccine producers for a "design defect" might have opened up the pharmaceutical industry to thousands of cases alleging that vaccines caused autism in children.
The case heard by the Supreme Court, brought by Russell and Robalee Bruesewitz, alleged that their daughter Hannah was disabled by a diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine she received as an infant in 1992 manufactured by Lederle Laboratories, now owned by Pfizer Inc.’s Wyeth unit. After the family was denied compensation in the federal vaccine court in 1995, they filed the suit that ultimately reached the Supreme Court, charging that the defective design of the vaccine caused their daughter’s disabilities and that the company could be held liable for negligent design under Pennsylvania law.

Supreme Court Rejects Generic Drug Labeling Suits
Reuters by James Vicini June 23, 2011
(Reuters) - The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that generic drug companies cannot be sued under state law over allegations that they failed to provide adequate label warnings about potential side effects.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices gave a victory to Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Mylan Inc's UDL Laboratories and Iceland-based Actavis Inc by overturning U.S. appeals court rulings that allowed such lawsuits.
The companies argued that federal law barred such lawsuits because the drug had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Federal law requires generic drugs to have the same labels as their brand name equivalents.
Justice Clarence Thomas in the court's majority opinion agreed. He said federal drug regulations applicable to generic drug manufacturers directly conflicted with and thus pre-empted state lawsuits.
The Supreme Court decided a related issue in 2009 when it ruled FDA drug regulations do not protect pharmaceutical companies from being sued under state law over drug labeling, a case involving Pfizer Inc's Wyeth unit and its antinausea drug Phenergan.
But in the generic drug cases, the justices reversed separate U.S. appeals court rulings that the lawsuits against the companies could go forward.
The high court agreed with the arguments of the generic drug makers that they had no choice but to use the same drug labels as the brand manufacturer.
Teva, Actavis and the Generic Pharmaceutical Association hailed the ruling.

The court ruled 6-2 to uphold the ruling of the 3rd Circuit appellate court, finding that the federal law preempts all “design-defect claims” made against vaccine manufacturers. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said the statute only holds manufacturers liable for proper manufacturing and labeling, not for the actual design of the drug.

Carson City IHOP Shooter Kills Four and Wounds Eight. He had Mental Issues and Most likely was taking Antidepressants

2011-09-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

(imageLVSun)

The IHOP gunman Eduardo Sencion was wielding an AK-47 opened fire at an IHOP restaurant on Tuesday Sept 6, 2011 in an outburst of violence that killed four people, wounded eight others and put Nevada's capital city on high alert.
He was on disability income of approximately $923/month according to the Las Vegas Sun. The Sun reported information on a bankruptcy filing; Sencion listed more than $42,000 in outstanding debts for a car, several credit cards and some medical expenses. At the time, Sencion reported having $200 spread over three bank accounts the $923 in disability income, mostly from Social Security.
In order to get disability payments from the government you have to have a physical or mental disability. He didn’t demonstrate a physical disability, but in order to get mental disability approval you have to see a psychiatrist. Psychiatry has only one solution and that is antidepressants. You see a psychiatrist and fifteen minutes later you will be prescribed a psychotropic drug. It is still unclear exactly what disability Sencion had, but based on the initial evidence, a psychiatrist once again failed to assist Sencion and the four innocent people and the eight wounded.
The antidepressants most likely did their job as the side effects are similar for all antidepressants (mania, aggressive behavior, suicide, hysteria, paranoid reaction, and hostility) and unfortunately many more.
Who will be held responsible for all the innocent loss of life here? The media and the government will not target psychiatry, or the pharmaceutical companies who produce these killer drugs. Senator Reid D-NV was quick to offer condolences, but like many of these similar incidents nobody pays the price for killing. The media doesn’t even investigate it any further than 24 hours. If it bleeds it leads until it bleeds no more.

Chill E.B. Rapper Define Better youtube Video on BigPharma and Psychotropic Drugs

2011-09-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

We Found this link via CCHRint.org

You may have to copy and paste the link below to Youtube if it doesn't show above
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7rACI-WJEw&feature=channel_video_title

Has America Become a Nation of Psychotics on Psychotics?

2011-08-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

(photovecteezy)

An article reprint by James Ridgeway who writes for The Guardian newspaper, and is the senior Washington correspondent for Mother Jones magazine.

You would certainly think so, based on the explosion in the use of antipsychotic medications. In 2008, with over $14 billion in sales, antipsychotics became the single top-selling therapeutic class of prescription drugs in the United States, surpassing drugs used to treat high cholesterol and acid reflux.
Once upon a time, antipsychotics were reserved for a relatively small number of patients with hard-core psychiatric diagnoses - primarily schizophrenia and bipolar disorder - to treat such symptoms as delusions, hallucinations, or formal thought disorder. Today, it seems, everyone is taking antipsychotics. Parents are told that their unruly kids are in fact bipolar, and in need of anti-psychotics, while old people with dementia are dosed, in large numbers, with drugs once reserved largely for schizophrenics. Americans with symptoms ranging from chronic depression to anxiety to insomnia are now being prescribed anti-psychotics at rates that seem to indicate a national mass psychosis.
It is anything but a coincidence that the explosion in antipsychotic use coincides with the pharmaceutical industry's development of a new class of medications known as "atypical antipsychotics." Beginning with Zyprexa, Risperdal, and Seroquel in the 1990s, followed by Abilify in the early 2000s, these drugs were touted as being more effective than older antipsychotics like Haldol and Thorazine. More importantly, they lacked the most noxious side effects of the older drugs - in particular, the tremors and other motor control problems.
The atypical anti-psychotics were the bright new stars in the pharmaceutical industry's roster of psychotropic drugs - costly, patented medications that made people feel and behave better without any shaking or drooling. Sales grew steadily, until by 2009 Seroquel and Abilify numbered fifth and sixth in annual drug sales, and prescriptions written for the top three atypical antipsychotics totaled more than 20 million. Suddenly, antipsychotics weren't just for psychotics any more.
Not just for psychotics anymore
By now, just about everyone knows how the drug industry works to influence the minds of American doctors, plying them with gifts, junkets, ego-tripping awards, and research funding in exchange for endorsing or prescribing the latest and most lucrative drugs. "Psychiatrists are particularly targeted by Big Pharma because psychiatric diagnoses are very subjective," says Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, whose Pharmed Out project tracks the industry's influence on American medicine, and who last month hosted a conference on the subject at Georgetown. A shrink can't give you a blood test or an MRI to figure out precisely what's wrong with you. So it's often a case of diagnosis by prescription. (If you feel better after you take an anti-depressant, it's assumed that you were depressed.) As the researchers in one study of the drug industry's influence put it, "the lack of biological tests for mental disorders renders psychiatry especially vulnerable to industry influence." For this reason, they argue, it's particularly important that the guidelines for diagnosing and treating mental illness be compiled "on the basis of an objective review of the scientific evidence" - and not on whether the doctors writing them got a big grant from Merck or own stock in AstraZeneca
Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and a leading critic of the Big Pharma, puts it more bluntly: "Psychiatrists are in the pocket of industry." Angell has pointed out that most of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of mental health clinicians, have ties to the drug industry. Likewise, a 2009 study showed that 18 out of 20 of the shrinks who wrote the American Psychiatric Association's most recent clinical guidelines for treating depression, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia had financial ties to drug companies.

In a recent article in The New York Review of Books, Angell deconstructs what she calls an apparent "raging epidemic of mental illness" among Americans. The use of psychoactive drugs—including both antidepressants and antipsychotics—has exploded, and if the new drugs are so effective, Angell points out, we should "expect the prevalence of mental illness to be declining, not rising." Instead, "the tally of those who are so disabled by mental disorders that they qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) increased nearly two and a half times between 1987 and 2007 - from one in 184 Americans to one in seventy-six. For children, the rise is even more startling - a thirty-five-fold increase in the same two decades. Mental illness is now the leading cause of disability in children." Under the tutelage of Big Pharma, we are "simply expanding the criteria for mental illness so that nearly everyone has one." Fugh-Berman agrees: In the age of aggressive drug marketing, she says, "Psychiatric diagnoses have expanded to include many perfectly normal people."
Cost benefit analysis
What's especially troubling about the over-prescription of the new antipsychotics is its prevalence among the very young and the very old - vulnerable groups who often do not make their own choices when it comes to what medications they take. Investigations into antipsychotic use suggest that their purpose, in these cases, may be to subdue and tranquilize rather than to treat any genuine psychosis.
Carl Elliott reports in Mother Jones magazine: "Once bipolar disorder could be treated with atypicals, rates of diagnoses rose dramatically, especially in children. According to a recent Columbia University study, the number of children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder rose 40-fold between 1994 and 2003." And according to another study, "one in five children who visited a psychiatrist came away with a prescription for an antipsychotic drug."
A remarkable series published in the Palm Beach Post in May true revealed that the state of Florida's juvenile justice department has literally been pouring these drugs into juvenile facilities, "routinely" doling them out "for reasons that never were approved by federal regulators." The numbers are staggering: "In 2007, for example, the Department of Juvenile Justice bought more than twice as much Seroquel as ibuprofen. Overall, in 24 months, the department bought 326,081 tablets of Seroquel, Abilify, Risperdal and other antipsychotic drugs for use in state-operated jails and homes for children…That's enough to hand out 446 pills a day, seven days a week, for two years in a row, to kids in jails and programs that can hold no more than 2,300 boys and girls on a given day." Further, the paper discovered that "One in three of the psychiatrists who have contracted with the state Department of Juvenile Justice in the past five years has taken speaker fees or gifts from companies that make antipsychotic medications."
In addition to expanding the diagnoses of serious mental illness, drug companies have encouraged doctors to prescribe atypical anti-psychotics for a host of off-label uses. In one particularly notorious episode, the drugmaker Eli Lilly pushed Zyprexa on the caregivers of old people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, as well as agitation, anxiety, and insomnia. In selling to nursing home doctors, sales reps reportedly used the slogan "five at five"meaning that five milligrams of Zyprexa at 5 pm would sedate their more difficult charges. The practice persisted even after FDA had warned Lilly that the drug was not approved for such uses, and that it could lead to obesity and even diabetes in elderly patients.

In a video interview conducted in 2006, Sharham Ahari, who sold Zyprexa for two years at the beginning of the decade, described to me how the sales people would wangle the doctors into prescribing it. At the time, he recalled, his doctor clients were giving him a lot of grief over patients who were "flipping out" over the weight gain associated with the drug, along with the diabetes. "We were instructed to downplay side effects and focus on the efficacy of drug…to recommend the patient drink a glass a water before taking a pill before the meal and then after the meal in hopes the stomach would expand" and provide an easy way out of this obstacle to increased sales. When docs complained, he recalled, "I told them, ‘Our drug is state of the art. What's more important? You want them to get better or do you want them to stay the same--a thin psychotic patient or a fat stable patient.'"
For the drug companies, Shahrman says, the decision to continue pushing the drug despite side effects is matter of cost benefit analysis: Whether you will make more money by continuing to market the drug for off-label use, and perhaps defending against lawsuits, than you would otherwise. In the case of Zyprexa, in January 2009, Lilly settled a lawsuit brought by with the US Justice Department, agreeing to pay $1.4 billion, including "a criminal fine of $515 million, the largest ever in a health care case, and the largest criminal fine for an individual corporation ever imposed in a United States criminal prosecution of any kind,''the Department of Justice said in announcing the settlement." But Lilly's sale of Zyprexa in that year alone was over $1.8 billion.

Making patients worse

As it turns out, the atypical antipsychotics may not even be the best choice for people with genuine, undisputed psychosis.
A growing number of health professionals have come to think these drugs are not really as effective as older, less expensive medicines which they have replaced, that they themselves produce side effects that cause other sorts of diseases such as diabetes and plunge the patient deeper into the gloomy world of serious mental disorder. Along with stories of success come reports of people turned into virtual zombies.
Elliott reports in Mother Jones: "After another large analysis in The Lancet found that most atypicals actually performed worse than older drugs, two senior British psychiatrists penned a damning editorial that ran in the same issue. Dr. Peter Tyrer, the editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry, and Dr. Tim Kendall of the Royal College of Psychiatrists wrote: "The spurious invention of the atypicals can now be regarded as invention only, cleverly manipulated by the drug industry for marketing purposes and only now being exposed."
Bottom line: Stop Big Pharma and the parasitic shrink community from wantonly pushing these pills across the population.

German Association of Psychiatrists Acknowledge Murdering the Mentally Ill during the Nazi Third Reich Nazi

2011-08-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

(imageeuropehistory)

(The following interview article is a translation of a November 26, 2010 article from the German online magazine Focus.de The original article can be seen in Focus Magazin)

65 years after the end of the Third Reich, the German association of psychiatrists faces up to its dark history—at last. Only today it offers an apology for its crimes committed during the period of the National Socialism.
Only now the German association of psychiatrists officially faces up to its gruesome crimes during the period of the Third Reich. In a commemoration for the victims and the expelled Jewish doctors, president Frank Schneider offers an apology for the atrocities committed.
FOCUS: In this commemoration at the congress of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Nervenheilkunde (German Association of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology) you are about to offer an apology for the crimes committed by psychiatry during the period of the National Socialism. Why hasn’t this long been done?
Frank Schneider: I don’t know why we talk about this only now. We are at a loss of words why an event like this one can take place only now. It’s almost impossible to explain, there is no justification for it.
In our association DGPPN we refer to 160 years of tradition, and it existed even in the Third Reich. The president at that time was doing research on racial hygiene and propagated it externally. Inconceivable crimes were being done. And still, after 1945, we didn’t support the victims but we had a part in their renewed discrimination and disadvantage. This darkest part of our history has been shunned and repressed much too long. The persistent silence is also a debasement for the victims. We are ashamed of that.
Today we are going to apologize and ask for reconciliation. A lot of the victims are dead by now, and insofar our solicitation is too late. But maybe it isn’t too late for the people still alive and their descendants – and for all mentally ill people today, for today’s psychiatrists and for the association itself.
FOCUS: How exactly does your association face up to the crimes?
Schneider: To begin with, we decided to change the articles of association. Paragraph 1 now firmly states that the association commemorates the victims and is responsible for what happed back then. And that we are responsible that something like this will never ever happen again.
Furthermore an independent international commission of four outstanding science historians is engaged to research our association’s history in the Third Reich. We provided 150,000 Euros (about 200,000 USD) to accomplish that, and we stipulated to announce the results of the study no matter what comes out of it.
Subsequently we plan to do another study in order to clear up the postwar years, i. e. the period of the cover-up and the repression which went on until the 1980s.
FOCUS: What kind of victims do you commemorate?
Schneider: First of all the approximately 2,000 Jewish psychiatrists who were forced to emigrate and therefore lost their home and their belongings. Then also the people who suffered enforced sterilization and those who were killed.
We also commemorate the victims who bared misery due to psychiatric research, who were maimed or murdered.
FOCUS: You, as president, have made the subject of the National Socialism period to the core theme of this congress and your term in office. Why did you do that?
Schneider: The subject of psychiatry’s Nazi history is very important to me personally. I have always been aghast and wondered: How can psychiatrists kill their patients? And this has been done very extensively either by themselves or they have had other people do it.
Including the East European countries there were all in all about 300,000 mentally ill people whose psychiatrists caused their deaths. That’s incredible.
FOCUS: What kind of reactions did you encounter inside your association?
Schneider: I thought nobody liked the subject but the responses have been positive uniformely. I was surprised and happy about that. I just watered the seed. It was long overdue.
FOCUS: Weren’t there admonishers earlier that fought for a clearing-up and a confession?
Schneider: There was Professor Gerhardt Schmidt, head of psychiatry in Lübeck, Germany, who directly after 1945 came to a clinic where patients starved to death, meaning they were killed. He wrote a very outright book about these conditions. I read it as a student and I was highly impressed at the time. This man named Schmidt was not able to publish his book for 20 years because he was facing a Mafia of psychiatrists who didn’t want anybody to foul their nest. In the 1980s it was a moment of glory in our association to award him with a medal for it.
FOCUS: How come psychiatry’s atrocities have been ignored for so long?
Schneider: It was hushed up and repressed. After the war, three renowned psychiatrists, who made medical estimates for enforced sterilizations and who decided upon life or death, became presidents of our association and even honorary members. One of these former presidents, professor Ehrhardt from Marburg, Germany, was also the leading secretary. He wrote a booklet about the history of German psychiatry and its associations. It isn’t thick. It says that psychiatrists of the Third Reich had no knowledge of what was going on and they didn’t have anything to do with it and they found it all really terrible. This is an official document of the association.
What’s even worse: In the 1960s, when the question arose whether people who suffered forced sterilization should get any indemnity, Ehrhardt and also other psychiatrists appeared as an authority on the subject in the Bundestag (Lower House of German Parliament). In an advisory committee they declared that forced sterilization was compliant to the rules at that time and it was all done within the then current scope of science and nothing was to take back. This is once again a debasement for the victims. There was nobody to say anything against that.
FOCUS: How were the conditions in psychiatry after the war was over?
Schneider: It was awful how the mentally ill were kept back then, in the years after the war. People were locked up in big “loony bins” in the countryside. Especially chronically schizophrenic patients lived in these mental institutions for years.
The revolution in psychiatry in Germany emerged later than in other European countries. For one, there were too little psychiatrists due to the enforced emigration, and those who were here continued with the back then normal lock-up psychiatry for the time being. In other countries the social psychiatric movement started earlier. There the chains were opened more quickly.

Antidepressant Linked to Cause Autism When Used by Pregnant Women

2011-07-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

A recent article from SFgate.com and other news sources indicates that a recent study published in Archives of General Psychiatry, looked at the possible role of maternal antidepressant use before and during pregnancy. Prenatal Children whose mothers take Prozac, Zolft, or similar SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy are twice as likely as other children to have a diagnosis of autism or similar disorder. The study of 298 autistic children in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system found a two fold increase in risk of the disorder when mothers took antidepressants at some point in the year before giving birth.
The study doesn't prove that the antidepressants actually caused autism, but it shows that genetics is not the sole reason for autism. Environmental issue can cause autism and antidepressants appear to be a common cause. We hope and expect there will be more studies, but we are not surprised of the results.

"The problem with our 'treatment procedures' is that, unlike standard medical practices, we have no way to verify the true cause of the problem or the effectiveness of our 'solutions'. We have gone from hot/cold baths, to lobotomies, to electric shocks, to psychotropic drugs - with no proof of any kind. If other MDs treated a broken arm the way we treat the human brain they would be in court. And so, more and more, that is where we find ourselves." Dr. Thomas Szasz MD, chair of psychiatry, Syracuse University.

Antidepressants Do Not Work to Treat Autism Either

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any medications to specifically treat autism, but they have approved three SSRIs sertraline (Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac) and fluvoxamine (Luvox) to alleviate certain symptoms of the illness. But research indicated that these antidepressants also provide no benefits.
Another study found that the antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) is not any better than a placebo at alleviating autism symptoms. Additionally researchers concluded that studies of other antidepressants revealed the same results.

Besides not working, these antidepressants often cause major side effects, especially in young people. In the citalopram study, one child participant developed severe seizures from taking the drug. Even after being taken off it, the child continued to have seizures. Other children taking it had a hard time sleeping and concentrating. Hard time concentrating is a symptom of autism, so the study shows the so called alleviate is causing the problem.

It must be devasting for a mother to have an autistic child, but what is worse is the potential prescription of an antidepressant is actually causing the life long problem for the child. The responsibility lies heavily on the pharmaceutical companies that produced these drugs Eli Lilly(prozac), Pfizer(zolft), Solvay(Luvox), GlaxoSmithkline(Paxil), Forest Labs(Celexa). There are class action lawsuit currently by baumhedlundlaw.com, rxbirthdefects.com and others

Psychiatrist Pleads Guilty Role in $200 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

2011-07-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

(DOJimage)

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 30, 2011

WASHINGTON - A Miami-area psychiatrist pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami for his part in a fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $200 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, the Department of Justice, FBI and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)announced.

Dr. Alan Gumer, 64, of Tamarac, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Gumer was charged on Feb. 15, 2011, with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud.

According to court documents, Gumer was a psychiatrist at American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), a Florida corporation headquartered in Miami. ATC purported to operate partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) in seven different locations throughout South Florida and Orlando. A PHP is a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness.

Gumer admitted that he signed evaluations, notes and other documents in medical files for patients who did not need the treatment for which ATC billed Medicare. Specifically, as a psychiatrist, Gumer knew that the patients attending ATC did not need intensive mental health treatment, and that the treatments offered by ATC were not the type of intensive treatments a PHP should provide. Gumer admitted that he signed these files without examining the patients, or writing and reading the statements he was signing. Gumer also admitted to writing prescriptions for psychiatric medications for patients who did not need them in order to make it appear to Medicare that the patients qualified for PHP treatment. According to court documents, Gumer also referred hundreds of ATC patients to a related company, the American Sleep Institute (ASI), for unnecessary diagnostic sleep disorder testing.

According to court filings, Gumer’s co-defendants and ATC’s owners and operators paid kickbacks to owners and operators of assisted living facilities (ALFs) and halfway houses and to patient brokers in exchange for delivering ineligible patients to ATC and ASI. In some cases, the patients received a portion of those kickbacks. Throughout the course of the ATC and ASI conspiracy, millions of dollars in kickbacks were paid in exchange for Medicare beneficiaries, who did not qualify for PHP services, to attend treatment programs that were not legitimate PHP programs so that ATC and ASI could bill Medicare for more than $200 million in medically unnecessary services.

According to the plea agreement, Gumer’s participation in the fraud resulted in $19.3 million in fraudulent billing to the Medicare program. Sentencing for Gumer is scheduled for Jan 19, 2012. Gumer faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATC, its management company Medlink Professional Management Group Inc., and the owners and lead manager of ATC, Medlink and ASI, were charged with various health care fraud, money laundering and other offenses in a separate superseding indictment unsealed on Feb. 15, 2011. Two of the three owners and the lead manager, as well as both ATC and Medlink, have pleaded guilty and have admitted to the fraudulent scheme and that more than $200 million in billings were submitted to the Medicare program as a part of the scheme. They are scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 14, 2011, by U.S. District Court Judge James Lawrence King. The trial of the third owner charged in the separate superseding indictment is scheduled to begin on Aug. 15, 2011.

The remaining 17 co-defendants named in the indictment in which Gumer was charged are scheduled to stand trial on Nov. 7, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz.

An indictment is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Today’s guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Miami field office; and Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Dennis of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations Miami office.

The criminal case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jennifer L. Saulino of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,000 defendants that collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $2.3 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Psychiatry and BigPharma The Two Headed Failed Monster

2011-06-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, too many people use psychiatry, yet psychiatry has destroyed virtually everything it claims to attempt to cure. Psychiatry is responsible for the revolving door of non-rehabilitated prisoners worldwide, also just listen to BigPharma’s ads “we don’t know what causes depression, but we think this antidepressant can help” That should tell you everything about psychiatry and BigPharma that you need to know. Psychiatry today specializes in prescribing psychotropic drugs, and their past history involves the use of lobotomies, electro-shock treatment and strait jackets. Psychiatry has quite a failed and grotesque history. Psychiatrists claim over 1 billion of the humans are mentally ill. If you smoke too much your ill, feel down your ill, too thin your ill. Their plan is to drug everyone, without any evidence to back up any of their claims. They even admit they don’t know the causes of their claimed illness, and they don’t know the solutions. It’s all billing and money with no results. Go to http://www.cchr.org/museum.html%23/museum/intro#/museum/intro for more details on psychiatry fraud.

Side Effects of Antidepressants
Antidepressants can cause several surprising side effects, such as restlessness, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, feeling of grief, anxiety, guilt, despair, sense of numbness or hollowness, loss of interest and pleasure in activities, dullness, decreased energy, difficulty concentrating, disrupted sleep, overeating, weight gain, loss of appetite and weight loss.
Outside of the short-term side effects, antidepressants can alter the biochemistry of the brain, and can be very difficult to discontinue. Many patients have attempted to get off their antidepressants but experienced neurological symptoms like tics, tingling, and “zapping” sensations in their brains every time they tried tapering off the drugs.

Long term Effects of Antidepressants
Studies have shown long term effects of SSRI’s are weight gain, and sexual dysfunction, lethargy and fatigue. Reports also show that these antidepressants may induce induced Tardive Dyskinesia/Dystonia (severe body movement disorder, mostly permanent), Parkinsonism (a sign of future Parkinson's disease) and Akathisia (a neurological driven severe mania/agitation that can lead to suicide attempts, and self-harm.

Dianetics as an Alternative to Anti-Depressants and Psychiatry

2011-06-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

We located the following information on Dianetics via their website. Dianetics was released in 1950 and the author L. Ron Hubbard via his extensive research found techniques to handle the single source of one’s fears, anxieties and stresses. Through Dianetics he found the solution in overcoming personal problems that are often met in today’s society with a prescription pills or street drugs. Psychotropic Drugs just cover up ones underlying situation, and destroys lives with horrific side effects. While the very viable alternative Dianetics can uncover the single source of psychosomatic ills, depression, stress, self-doubt and instability. People who have read and practice Dianetics have indicated that they increased their natural abilities rather than destroying them, and relieved themselves of depression, and have full control of their life. There are no side effects with Dianetics as you begin by reading the book and get personal knowledge and awareness. The practice and use of Dianetics is by going to a Dianetic or Scientology Mission or Org. You can learn how to know more about yourself and your true natural capabilities. According to Dianetics website you can also get information via a DVD.

A testimonial on Dianetics and Scientology
“I just feel like the anger that was stored in my mind toward other people is gone. I feel very relieved. I can express myself without being scared of anyone. I feel more powerful than my past. I want to be more successful and to see other people doing good as well. I love to be around people with positive energy because that is the key to success.” – C.A
We found this testimonial at http://dmsmh.wordpress.com/ and more testimonials can be found via http://www.dianetics.org

Do you want to live with psychotropic side effects or do you want to be cured.

BigPharma Killed Jeff Conaway

2011-05-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

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Jeff Conaway, died at age 60. He was an actor who played in the Broadway version of and also the movie version of “Grease” and had a long stint in the 70’s and early 80’s in “Taxi”. He was recently on “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,” where he was confronting his sobriety, and overuse of pharmaceutical drugs. He died today May 27 at a hospital in Encino, California from complications from pneumonia according to the Washington Post and news reports. The Washington Post quoted his sister Carla Shreve as saying, He was taken off life support after arriving unconscious at Encino Hospital Medical Center on May 10, the result of “just too many prescribed drugs,” said his sister Carla Shreve. He had been in a medically induced coma.
He did have issues with recreational drugs since high school and alcohol, so reports indicate he had an addictive personality. This is something his doctor and the pharmaceutical companies should be held accountable for. He died from too many pharmaceutical drugs. It is consistent with how pharmaceutical company’s, psychiatrists and doctors operate. If one drug doesn’t work then they prescribe another until the drugs consume you.
Trusting your doctor is a thing of the past. There is too much money to be made prescribing drugs to truly care for the patient.

My Biggest Mistake was Seeing a Psychiatrist: Stevie Nicks

2011-05-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2011. This is an article by Stevie Nicks in Newsweek
The biggest mistake I ever made was giving in to my friends and going to see a psychiatrist. It was in the mid-1980s, and I had just gotten out of Betty Ford. I was feeling buoyant and saved and fantastic. But everyone said, “We’re sure you’re going to start using again. You should go to a psychiatrist.” Finally, I said, “All right!” and went. What this man said was: “In order to keep you off cocaine we should put you on the drug that we’re using a lot these days called Klonopin.” Stupidly, I said, “All right.” And the next eight years of my life were destroyed.

Klonopin is in the Valium family, but Valium is fuzzy and Klonopin is insidious because it’s so subtle that you can hardly tell you took it. I got through 1986 and 1987. Thank God I’d already written the words for my record The Other Side of the Mirror. But what started happening was that if I didn’t take it, my hands started to shake. I felt like I had a neurological disease or Parkinson’s. I started not being able to get to Lindsey Buckingham’s house on time, and I would get there and everybody was drinking, so I’d have a glass of wine. Don’t mix tranquilizers and wine. Then I’d sing horrific parts on his songs, and he would take the parts off. I was hardly on Tango of the Night, which I happen to love.

The next six years were terrible. Looking back on it, I think this therapist was basically a groupie. He had no science, no facts, no provable research - none. That "profession" isn't comparable to MDs. It is all guess work, and they admit that in their ads and drug labels. But they are guessing with our lives. We are so desperate that we think we have nowhere else to turn. He loved hearing stories of rock and roll and he started upping my dose. He watched me go from a beautiful, 125-pound, newly sober woman who had the world at her feet to a 170-pound woman who had the lights go out in her eyes.

Finally, in 1993, I’d had enough. I said, “Take me to a hospital.” I went in for 47 days, and it made Betty Ford look like a cakewalk. My hair turned gray and my skin molted. I could hardly walk. You can detox off heroin in 12 days. Coke is just a mental detox. But tranquilizers—they are dangerous. I was terrified to leave, and I came away knowing that that would never happen to me again.

I learned so much in that hospital. I wrote the whole time I was there, stuff that I consider to be some of my best writing ever. I learned that I could have fun and laugh and cry with amazing people and not be on drugs. I learned that I could live my life and still be beautiful and fun and still go to parties and not even have to have a glass of wine. I never went to therapy again after that—why would I?

South Korea Psychiatrists Now Claiming Autism is 1 in 38 Children, Even more than 1 in 110 as US Claims? Sounds like More Drugging for All Kids

2011-05-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

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In a recent article by Shari Roan of the LA Times on May 9, 2011
A new study found a rate of autism spectrum disorder of one in 38 children in South Korea, included highly functioning children who appear to have a milder disorder usually called Asperger's syndrome. Whether Asperger's syndrome is a distinct disorder or a variation of autism is a question under debate by psychiatrists.

The current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual the text book of mental disorders lists Asperger's syndrome as distinct from autism. But a proposal for a new DSM (DSM-5), which will be published in 2013, is to delete the Asperger's diagnosis and lump these cases in with the larger group of autism. That is what the authors of the South Korean study did, which resulted in a much higher rate of autism than the one in 110 normally quoted in the United States. End of excerpt of LA Times Article.

In stoprx’s view this simple provides cover for more psychiatrists to prescribe Autism symptom drugs mainly antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs which are primarily used to treat severe behavioral problems. An especially popular medication for autistic kids is the antidepressant citalopram, sold under the brand name Celexa, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

If you believe these statistics with so many children getting this prognosis of autism and or depressed thoughts in their childhood there will be nobody remaining who is not on BigPharma’s psychotropic drugs. This doesn’t count the existing population that didn’t get drugged when they grew up. The world population is approximately 7 billion. So if this absurd 1 in 38 figure were to be correct just on autism alone there are approximately 40 thousand autistic people per million. If psychiatry and BigPharma had their way virtually all humans would be on some kind of pharmaceutical drug from cradle to grave, and the human species will be doomed out of existence. It is up to parents to contest and fight for the health of their children and free kids from this pharmaceutical engulfing madness.

Catherine-Zeta Jones Diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder. Would Omega 3 Fish Oil be a better solution?

2011-04-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

The following is from MSNBC.com earlier this month.
Stress can indeed be a trigger for bipolar episodes, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical editor, told TODAY. And a brief stay in a hospital would not be uncommon, either to bring a manic episode under control, or to tune-up medications for more effective treatment, Snyderman and Saltz noted. Bipolar disorder can usually be controlled with a combination of medication and therapy. Lithium is one of the most common treatments.

Here is the part of the article that should be of most interest to people
Researchers aren’t quite sure what causes bipolar disorder a combination of genetic and environmental factors seem to come into play. They do know the disorder is associated with an imbalance in the brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Bipolar disorder affects about 2.5 percent of the U.S. population, around 6 million people. End MSNBC article

The reality is that these doctors don’t know what causes Bi-polar disorder which doesn’t matter to them. It is all about pushing another drug on society.

The Alternative Solution is Omega 3 Fatty Acids

A diet low in omega 3 fatty acids has been found to cause significantly more mental problems, depression and bipolar mood swings. Manic Depression (Bipolar) has been characterized with mood swings or euphoria and then depression.

Occasional feelings of depression are natural in our stressful world, but if it is longer term then our view is an alternative solution should be your first choice. Mind altering Pharma Drugs can have extremely negative side effects, and lead to more drugs to combat the side effects. Omega 3 Fatty acids (fish oil) has shown consistent positive results in bi-polar research. They can get taken in a pill form or simply eat more fish like salmon an trout.

Do Video Games or Do Psychotropic Drugs Cause Violence and Rape?

2011-04-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Some legislators and the media have attacked the gaming industry and have blamed massed murder shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech on violent videogames. One of the most known accusers is psychiatrist Carole Lieberman who claims that video games trigger rapes. She was quoted on FoxNews recently that “The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of sexual scenes in videogames,” Lieberman told Fox News for an article.
In a recent article by Jason Schreier at Wired.com who asked Carole Leiberman a number of times to clarify how video games incite rape. Lieberman later cited to Wired.com a 2010 study titled “Violent Video Games Effects on Aggression by Craig Anderson, but the study doesn’t site the relationship of video games with sexual aggression and rape.
From what we can locate there doesn’t appear to be any clear studies between video games and aggressive behavior, so at this point the connection is professional conjecture.
We have found however a direct connections between psychotropic drugs and aggressive behavior. The FDA latently sites them on blackbox warnings.
Heightened suicide risk is a possible result of any psychotropic drug, according to MedlinePlus. Young people under age 24 taking antidepressants are especially susceptible to this serious side effect according to the FDA. Columbine and Virginia Tech killers were clearly on a suicide mission. Prozac, Wellbrutin and other (SSRI’s) antidepressants have aggressive side effects such as abnormal dreams, anxiety, panic attacks, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irritability, hostility, exaggerated feeling of well-being, restlessness, insomnia, and changes in sex drive.

In January of 2002, Psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin M.D. testified regarding the adverse mental and behavioral effects of SSRI antidepressants. Both judges reduced the sentences for violent crimes because of the influence of antidepressants. In these 2002 cases the drugs were Prozac and Paxil.

Also from breggin.com In South Carolina in November 2001 Dr. Breggin testified at a sentencing hearing. A 27-year-old man with no prior history of violence pleaded guilty to charges of rape. Dr. Breggin presented evidence that Paxil can cause mania with disinhibition and aggressive sexuality, and that a Paxil induced Mood Disorder caused or contributed to the defendant's actions. The judge gave him a more limited 21 year sentence with actual release in 19 years.

There are no proven studies that video games cause aggression, but court cases and blackbox warnings clearly show a connection with psychotropic drugs and violent behavior including rape.

More Data Regarding Suicide and Chantix

2011-04-01T07:39:00.000-07:00

The Food and Drug Administration has received information about numerous serious problems with Chantix, including suicidal thoughts and ideation, homicidal ideations, and hallucinations. The FDA received reports of 37 suicides and 491 cases in which people had suicidal thoughts. If history is any guide, the actual incidences are often more than 10 times what the FDA reports. In other words, these numbers are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Still, there is no indication from Pfizer that there will be a recall of Chantix.
Pfizer released the drug without any warning regarding these potential side effects. By January of 2008, the reports of psychological side effects, most notably suicidal actions and ideations, reached a critical mass and Pfizer added a warning to the label of Chantix about the potential risks of suicidal behavior and depression. This warning followed a November 2007 update to Chantix's "post-marketing experience" section which stated that there had been reports of depression, agitation, and suicidal behavior and ideation in patients on Chantix. The FDA now says it is "increasingly likely" that there is an association between Chantix and suicidal thoughts, actual suicide, depression and other psychiatric symptoms.

Diet's role in treating ADHD debated

2011-03-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is a reprint of the recent LA Times article reiterating what we have been saying.
By Jill U. Adams Los Angeles Times

A new study appears to lend credence to the belief that restricting certain foods could ease kids' symptoms. But question are raised about the validity of the research and the ability to follow a draconian diet.

Kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, are normally treated with behavioral therapy and stimulant medications. A new study suggests that a highly restricted diet can be just as effective at reducing symptoms in a majority of children with ADHD.

Diet is not a routine consideration in diagnosing and treating ADHD in the U.S. or in Europe, where the study was done. Many doctors are open to the idea that certain foods might trigger ADHD symptoms in some kids, though they believe it's a relatively minor factor in most cases.

"There's no question that foods have effects on people's mood, sleep and energy," says Dr. David Schab, a psychiatrist at Columbia University in New York. However, he adds, the current state of knowledge about what foods are problematic and which kids are susceptible is still too limited to be of much use for doctors or their patients.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) estimates that 9.5% of school-age children in the U.S. have ADHD. That adds up to more than 5 million kids who could potentially benefit from a symptom-reducing diet.

Here's a closer look at how dietary changes may — or may not — help kids with ADHD.

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder exhibit a range of symptoms. Many have trouble staying focused on a single task and become bored or distracted quite easily. Others are unable to sit still, stay quiet or be patient. Some kids have a combination of these symptoms, plus others, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

In the study, published last month in the Lancet, 100 children with ADHD symptoms who were 4 to 8 years old were divided into two groups. Half were allowed to eat only a small number of foods for five weeks; their diets were customized from a short list of ingredients that included water, rice, turkey, lamb, lettuce, carrots, pears and other hypoallergenic foods. The rest of the kids were counseled (along with their parents) about healthful eating but allowed to eat whatever they wanted.

At the end of the study, 64% of the kids on the limited diet showed significant improvement on a variety of standard rating scales. Though the initial scores for all of the kids in this group put their ADHD symptoms in the moderate-to-severe range, after the diet intervention their symptoms were classified as either mild or nonclinical.

"It's shocking to most people," says psychologist Lidy Pelsser of the ADHD Research Center in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. "The parents were shocked. The children said they felt so different, as if some mad thing in their head wasn't there anymore."

Previous studies have found similar effects, but, like this one, they all had fundamental problems that made it easy for doctors to dismiss them.

For example, it's impossible to implement such a radical diet without kids and their parents realizing they're in the treatment group. That can affect the results because parents who know their child is receiving treatment may look harder for improvements. Their heightened expectations, in turn, may affect their kids' behavior. Children with the disorder often improve with regular, focused attention.

"These are not easy things to tease out," says Dr. Jaswinder Ghuman, a child psychiatrist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who treats ADHD.

Some experts question whether all the children in the Lancet study actually had ADHD. Making a diagnosis in 4- and 5-year-olds is tricky, since the ability to sustain focused attention doesn't usually show up until age 6 or 7, says Robert Myers, a psychologist at UC Irvine who has worked with ADHD patients for 30 years.

One way the new study differed from the preceding ones is that it didn't select only kids who had an allergy related condition, such as asthma or eczema, but rather enrolled anyone with an ADHD diagnosis. That suggests food triggers may be important in a broader population of patients than previously thought. Until now, the consensus has been that food sensitivities play a role in only a small subset of ADHD cases.

Whether the Lancet study will change many doctors' minds remains to be seen. In a commentary that accompanied the Lancet study, Ghuman wrote that, while the diet's benefits were impressive, following it for more than five weeks could have detrimental health consequences.

Pelsser is the first to admit that no one can follow such a severe diet for very long. The children in her study have been gradually adding foods back to their diet. "We've followed all these children for about a year, and each child reacts to different foods," she says. For one child, triggers included beets, tomatoes, wheat and bananas; for another, it was fish, pork, eggs and oranges.

The idea of treating ADHD through diet modification goes back to at least the 1970s, when researchers began experimenting with a regimen called the Feingold diet that eliminated food additives and foods containing natural salicylates, such as apples, strawberries, almonds and tomatoes. Though the diet achieved only modest results, it is still used in some circles, Myers says.

Other researchers have charged that food additives — such as artificial colors, flavors and preservatives — are likely triggers for hyperactive behavior. A 2007 Lancet study of 297 children who did not have ADHD found that drinks laced with artificial colors and the preservative sodium benzoate increased activity to levels that were between one-half and two-thirds as high as seen in kids with ADHD who are not on medication. "Relatively modest amounts of food additives caused hyperactive symptoms in kids," says Schab, the Columbia psychiatrist.

To be sure, the prospect of treating ADHD with diet instead of drugs would appeal to many parents, Ghuman says. But parents who want to give it a try should be sure to consult their child's physician first, she warned: "It's not that simple to do appropriately."

The Enemy Can’t Kill the US Soldier, but the Enemy within Psychiatry and the Pharmaceutical Industry has Racked Upped Casualties

2011-03-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Excerpt of article by Jennifer Senior-New York Magazine Feb. 6, 2011

“I feel like people with my symptoms are becoming the majority of the Army,” says a major from the New York area who recently started taking Effexor, an antidepressant, and a variety of sleep meds after a second tour in Iraq. “Feeling anxious when you don’t have a reason to, being a little depressed, having low grade anhedonia(inability to experience pleasure), not sleeping well this is the new normal for those of us who’ve been repeatedly deployed.”
The Army’s own research confirms that drug and alcohol abuse, disciplinary infractions, and criminal activity are increasing among active-duty service members. Most ominously, a growing number of soldiers can’t handle the strains of war at all. Until three years ago, the suicide rate of the Army, the branch with by far the most men and women in this war, was actually lower than the American population’s a testament to the hardiness of our troops, given that young men with weapons are, at least as a statistical matter, disproportionately prone to suicide. But in 2008, the Army suicide rate surpassed that of the civilian population’s, and the Marines’ surpassed it shortly thereafter. So grim is the problem that this summer, the Army released a remarkably candid suicide report. “If we include accidental death, which frequently is the result of high-risk behavior (e.g., drinking and driving, drug overdose),” it concluded, “we find that less young men and women die in combat than die by their own actions. Simply stated, we are often more dangerous to ourselves than the enemy.” End article

In other words, nearly as many soldiers are dying at home today as are dying abroad.

What are the drugs the army psychiatrists and doctors are prescribing to our soldiers? Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Effexor, Valium, Klonopin, Ativan, Restoril, Xanax, Adderall, Ritalin, Haldol, Risperdal, Seroquel, Ambien, Lunesta, Elavil, Trazodone War. The mainstream media will not report this, as it reflects badly on their pharmaceutical sponsors.

Getting Rich Exposing Pharma Fraud

2011-02-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

(imageFlckrbxwrtr)
Eamon Javers of CNBC reported recently that A Florida Company called Ven-A-Care has become a profitable whistle blower against Pharmaceutical fraud.
Javers reported that in one case Ven-A-Care found that there appears to be a pattern of overbilling by some Pharmaceutical companies. These pharma firms are selling drugs to patients (mainly elderly) for a set amount and the pharmaceutical company would bill the US Government via Medicare and Medicaid 500 to 2000% markup.

In Dec. 2010 the US Justice Department announced that Dey Inc. Dey Pharma L.P. and Dey L.P. Inc. had agreed to pay $280 million to settle False Claims Act allegations, the Department of Justice disclosed via their website. The United States alleged that Dey reported false prices for the following drugs Albuterol Sulfate, Albuterol MDI, Cromolyn Sodium and Ipratropium Bromide. The Justice department indicated that the Dey Pharma inflated government payments where they charge the Medicare and Medicaid a higher amount over actual price paid by health care providers. This discovery was related by Ven-A-Care.

The Los Angeles times reports that a Texas jury ordered two subsidiaries of Icelandic pharmaceuticals company Actavis to pay $170 million for overcharging the Texas Medicaid program. This was also relayed by Ven-A-Care and they will be rewarded as a “relator”

Ven-A-Care filed whistleblower suits against drug companies in 18 cases thus far since 2001 with settlements to date according to the Los Angeles Times are at least $2.2 billion for state and federal governments and at least $380 million in whistle blower fees for the four partners involved in Ven-A-Care's litigation. Some other big named pharmaceutical companies have settled or were fined such as Bayer Inc., Abbott Laboratories Inc., B. Braun Medical Inc., Roxane Laboratories Inc.,and GlaxoSmithKline to name a few.

These are the kinds of wiki leaks the government likes as all injured benefit, especially the taxpayer and government. It also shows a pattern of immoral and unethical behavior of the pharmaceutical industry by overbilling, overprescribing, and erroneous positive tests of their drugs against placebos.

A Tampa Florida Mother Has Been Charged for Killing Her Son and Daughter

2011-02-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

(AP-photo)
A Tampa Florida Mother Julie Powers Schenecker informed police detectives that she shot her daughter and son twice for "talking back". According to MSNBC news and AP wire.

The teenagers were killed with a .38-caliber pistol, which authorities say Schenecker bought five days earlier. Police found bullets, medication and a Smith & Wesson instruction manual among the items found in the upstairs bed and bath MSNBC news indicated. Police and news reports did not specify what type of medication found.

We have a hunch the type of medication that may have been involved. If and when details are divulged then we will update that information her.

California State Auditor finds $600,000 Lost to incompetent and Negligent Psychiatrist Over Three Years

2011-01-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

From Wyatt Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
An incompetent prison psychiatrist was kept on the state payroll at a cost to taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars according to a semi-annual report released by the California State Auditor on Tuesday.
The audit, the result of tips to a state whistle-blower hot line, found eight instances of what Auditor Elaine Howle called substantiated allegations of improper governmental activities. Instances of improper spending and incompetence by workers created costs of just over half a million dollars in the report.
The highest dollar figure cited in the report is that of a psychiatrist overseeing parolees for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The psychiatrist who is not identified by name or location was accused of negligently under prescribing, overprescribing and inappropriately prescribing medications.
Those accusations were made in June 2006, and the psychiatrist was reassigned to an administrative job in October of that year. The internal investigation was not completed until two years later, and the psychiatrist was not terminated until May 2009.
All the while, the psychiatrist received a normal salary, along with two merit-based salary increases, and accrued 226 hours of leave worth more than $29,000 that was paid out when the psychiatrist left, according to the auditor.
"According to our calculations, the amount of salary (the corrections department) paid the psychiatrist during this period exceeded the value of the administrative duties he performed by $366,656," the audit states. During the period, the psychiatrist earned more than $600,000.
Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the corrections department, said the situation was, "A very complex, resource-intensive situation and we completed it within three years as prescribed by law," adding that, "every investigation is different and I don't think you can just broad-brush them."
The auditor found that the department treated the investigation as a low priority, but Thornton challenged that assertion.

Does the Arizona Shooter Jared Loughner’s Violence Stem from Psychotropic Drugs like the Ft. Hood Shooter?

2011-01-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

(photoAP)
The Arizona Shooter Jared Loughner killed 6 people and wounded 14 including Congress woman Giffords, but he targeted senior citizens and a juvenile girl in a indiscriminant rampage.
The news media and government officials have talked about hate as the primary reason of this heinous crime. Sheriff Dupnik blames the vitriolic political rhetoric, but is Loughner’s aggressive behavior a result of something else? He was expelled from Pima Community College because his mental state was in question. News reports also indicate classmates and teachers felt he was capable of this type of criminal act. It is publically unknown at this time if Loughner had taken antidepressants, but aggressive behavior is a side effect of many of the psychotropic drugs on the market today. If he sought advice or assistance from a mental health department then the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or psychiatrist handbook prescribes psychotropic drugs as the solution to mental disorders. The DSM is the psychiatrist’s bible and psych drugs are their only solution. Basically a mental disorder equals a drug solution. If Loughner was on psych drugs then that will be found in the ensuing investigation. There are similarities with this mass murder and that of the Ft. Hood shooter.

The Fort Hood shooter sole suspect is Nidal Malik Hasan who was a U.S. Army major serving as a psychiatrist. He actually prescribed himself antidepressants, and is now in custody and paralyzed from the chest down. He killed 13 people and wounded 30 and is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. He was shot by Army Civilian officers. Hasan’s act was widely considered an act of hate or terror as Hasan is a Muslim and the Army was apparently aware of Hasan's tendencies toward radical Islam since 2005.

Both of these acts appear to be premeditated and involving inner mental turmoil, so all you need is a weapon and a prescription to act out the rage. The Ft. Hood shooting was the media’s story for weeks upon the event, but has now faded as will this recent crime.
The volatility of psychotropic drugs has not become part of the national debate. Attacking pharmaceutical companies doesn’t appear interesting enough to media outlets or government regulators. They are more interested in the political narrative than the real truth. Maybe they are in each others pockets. The government and the FDA doesn’t want to confront the common denominator to mass murder (Virginia Tech, Columbine) the past 30 years.

Stanford Doctors On the Take from BigPharma in Violation of University Policy

2011-01-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

(image StanfordMed)

Artical By Lisa M. Krieger
MercuryNews Dec. 20, 2010 article

A dozen physicians at Stanford University's School of Medicine are under investigation by the school's disciplinary board for their too-cozy relationships with drug companies.
These physicians delivered speeches paid for by drug companies, in violation of school policy, according to a public database reported by the nonprofit online investigative website ProPublica.
"A review is under way," said Stanford School of Medicine Dean Phil Pizzo, who in 2009 created a policy prohibiting such behavior among the university's 1,500 physicians.
"They now recognize what they did was wrong," he said. "If we find someone who continues to violate policy, we will consider disciplinary action."
Violators include Alan Yeung, Stanford's chief of cardiovascular medicine, who was paid $53,000 from Eli Lilly & Co. to speak at a "Healthcare Professional Education Program" in an appearance that included another $1,463 for travel and a $375 consulting fee. He reportedly quit speaking for the company last fall.
Also named in the ProPublica reporting was child psychiatrist Hans Steiner, now retired, who was paid $109,000 by Eli Lilly to talk about Strattera, a drug that treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In a response to the ProPublica report, he said he assumed the policy didn't apply to him once he became an emeritus professor, but he will now comply.
They were among 17,000 doctors nationwide who were paid a total of $257.8
million by seven companies in 2009 and the first two quarters of 2010, according the ProPublica database. In California, about 3,000 doctors received an estimated $28.6 million in payments from pharmaceutical companies for speeches promoting brand-label drugs to fellow doctors, the report said.
"The vast majority (of Stanford faculty) are paying attention to our guidelines," said Pizzo.
The violators have been referred to the senior associate dean for academic affairs at the medical school.
Many Stanford physicians are paid consulting fees by drug companies, which are disclosed to the university and not prohibited, because they improve companies' ability to design and test drugs, ultimately helping human health. For instance, Kiki Chang, director of the Pediatric Bipolar Disorder Program, was paid $5,936 to consult for Eli Lilly; oncologist Robert Carlson was paid $4,665 to consult for Pfizer.
The Mercury News tried to contact some Stanford doctors, but calls were not returned by deadline.
The names of doctors moonlighting for drugmakers were private until last year. So far, seven drugmakers have started disclosing payments. All will be required to disclose the information by 2013 as part of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.
The practice is legal, but it creates the perception of conflict-of-interest because doctors promote certain drugs to peers and get paid by drug companies to do it.
The drug company representatives say the speaking engagements are designed to supply doctors with the most up-to-date information about new drugs, or new data about older drugs, so doctors have a better sense of their effectiveness, interactions and side effects. They also say the practice is designed to better serve patients by educating doctors about illnesses and the drugs available to combat them.
But there is widespread concern that the payments may induce doctors to advocate for the companies' brand-name drugs, rather than lesser-priced generic alternatives.
Stanford's Pizzo first issued guidelines governing physician behavior in 2006, and clarified them in 2009. These policies have been publicized 17 times in the dean's online newsletter.
When alerted to the ProPublica database, Pizzo conducted a preliminary investigation, which suggested that "some individuals "... had understandable reasons for confusion. Others, though, offered explanations why their activities continued that are difficult if not impossible to reconcile with our policy, and here we have concerns," said Pizzo.
"This is unacceptable, certainly for anyone with a Stanford title," he said.
Stanford's medical community is large and diverse, with 1,500 physicians playing different roles, Pizzo said. There are decade-long relationships with drug companies that "don't unravel with the stroke of a pen. They take time."
Moreover, the school must rely on the honor system for compliance. It does not inspect personal tax returns, for instance.
"At the end of the day, we are involved in a trusting relationship with our faculty. And we expect them to be straight and honest with us in their disclosures," said Pizzo. "We count on an honest interpretation by them of what we do."

Please Donate and Help US Today

2010-12-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

(Image flickr-tntgla)

Dear Potential Donor,
I'm sure you are aware of the important role that Stop Foundation Inc. plays in helping people whose lives are impacted by Antidepressants. Our important work is supported largely by the support of generous donors who contribute to our annual capital campaign. This year’s goal is $50,000 which will allow Stoprx.org to continue providing much needed help to those in around the world who are in need of assistance, and to be aware of the deathly effects of psychotropic drugs. Without the continued support of generous donors like you, these needs will likely not be met.
In order to continue making a difference in the lives of individuals affected by the work of Stop Foundation Inc. it is vital for this year's capital campaign to be a success. Can we count on you to make a donation to this important cause? By making a tax deductible donation to our campaign, you'll be directly contributing to helping people struggling to cope with thoughts of suicide, and BigPharma drug induced aggressive behavior.
Stop Foundation Inc. (stoprx.org) is depending on your assistance and generosity. Please visit www.stoprx.org to pledge your support by using the Paypal Donate button on the contact us donate page, or mail a check to Stop Foundation Inc. 1450 Sutter Street San Francisco, Ca. 94109. Your donation is fully tax deductable in the US as we are a 501(C) 3. We are happy to accept even small donations of $10, $15, $20 and more, which helps our mailing campaigns. Larger donations will help us expand and spread the word about the true effects of antidepressants.

Thank you for your consideration and continued support.
Stop Foundation Inc

Some Global Reports of Suicide Just The Last Few Months Directly Attributed to Anti-depressants

2010-12-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

(photobyJackaroid)

New Zealand
New Zealand man 26, was found dead on Mount Victoria in March 2008 a month after leaving his home without his wallet or shoes.
He had been suffering depression after a he had diagnosed himself as having Aspergers syndrome, a form of autism. His father told the coroner he believed that the initial mental health intervention of a prescription for an anti-depressant, Citalopram (celexa) maybe the cause for his son to effectively committing suicide by fire. His family is now taking up their case with the New Zealand Health Minister. According to reports from (voxy.co.nz).

UK
In Bristol England the news site thisisbristol.co.uk A twenty year old woman who had to move out of home because of the destructive impact she was having on her family killed herself by taking a huge drug overdose. A toxicology report showed that she had 21.4mg of Clozapine a powerful anti-psychotic drug which she had not been prescribed in her system. Assistant deputy coroner Terry Moore said: "The quantity she took satisfies me she knew what she was doing." He recorded a verdict of suicide.

A court inquest determined that an Ipswich England man jumped to his death from a bridge. The Greater Suffolk Coroner, Dr Peter Dean recorded the verdict that he took his own life. EADT.co.uk indicated that on June 25, it was reported he appeared to be a “lot calmer” and was put on anti-depressants. He was also advised to contact the doctor if he had any thoughts of self-harming. He committed suicide on Sept 30th.

Walesonline.co.uk reported Oct. 12th that a Wales teenager was found hanging in a sports club in December of 2008. The inquest results show he was on medication for depression.

USA
Washington: King5.com news reported that a twenty year old University of Washington women death was ruled a suicide by hanging by the medical examiner. She was found dead near a fraternity house on October 6th. Reports indicate she was prescribed Zoloft.

Pennsylvania: (goerie.com) A teenagers family remembers and Walks for Depressed Teens. Their daughter in April died of an overdose of anti-depressants.
Ohio: News reports indicate the Carroll County Coroner Mandal Haas in northeast Ohio found that a woman suspected of killing her two young children before taking her own life had been taking medication for depression.
Unfortunately there were likely more and more will be reported until this madness is stopped!

Love (Sex) and Other Drugs The Movie and Medicaid Fraud

2010-11-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

The new movie Love & Other Drugs depics the unethical and illegal marketing activities of BigPharma. It shows mainly how Pfizer and Lilly pharmacuetical agents bribe doctors and medical practices with trips, money, alcohol and orgies all for thier products that don't work. It should be more of an eye opener to the general populace about fraud and pharma drug pushing for increased quotas and pharma agent perks. It is sick to see that Zoloft and Prozac have been marketed just like soup, or telecom services. It is all marketing for shelf space and personal income. This goes along with massive prescriptions by doctors across the US in an ongoing medicaid fraud investigation.

The following is a recent article from Lincoln Journal Star regarding massive prescriptions from doctors in Nebraska
The Cost of Mental Health? Pricey
November 24, 2010
By Mark Andersen
Lincoln Journal Star

Excerpt:
One Lincoln psychiatrist. Six mental health medications prescribed to Medicaid patients over two years. Cost to taxpayers: $2,927,872.
Newspapers around the country have picked up on the lists of Medicaid providers requested last April by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who suggested large numbers should spark official inquiries… In May, state Medicaid Director Vivianne Chaumont reported which Nebraska Medicaid providers wrote the most prescriptions for 11 types of medications during 2008 and 2009. Six of the drugs -- Abilify, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Geodon, Risperdal and Risperidone -- accounted for the bulk of the costs on Nebraska's lists.

Four Lincoln mental health providers were among the top 10 for those six drugs:

* Dr. Walter Duffy, a Lincoln psychiatrist, $2,927,872 (9,010 prescriptions), including more than $1.5 million for Abilify alone.

* Dr. Rafael Tatay, a Lincoln psychiatrist, $1,503,998 (3,998 prescriptions), including $473,700 for Abilify.

* Dr. Stephen Paden, a Lincoln psychiatrist, $587,917 (1,695 prescriptions), including $426,257 for Abilify.

* Dr. Pratap Pothuloori, a Lincoln psychiatrist, $545,487 (1,751 prescriptions), including $192,277 for Abilify.

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Grassley cited the example of a Florida doctor who wrote 96,685 prescriptions for mental health drugs in 21 months.

"This trend is found again and again across the states," Grassley wrote, "suggesting that top prescribers stand out not only against other providers in their state, but against the very top prescribers in those states."

Pharmaceutical Companies and the FDA Fraudulently Conducting Clinical Trials

2010-11-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

The FDA attacks homeopathic treatments as they push for scientific evidence of these natural ingredient remedies. Yet BigPharma and the FDA are fraught with fraud in their own “scientific studies” which are far from using science. It is more payoffs to academic researchers and choreographed drugs trials versus placebo results.

Firstly, Bigpharma endows Universities to perform their “independent studies”, yet they pay enormous amounts of grants to complete these so called “independent” studies. Most would call that unethical. Pay a University to do a study, and if they came up with bad results would BigPharma use that University again? We think not.
That is outright fraud and coercion, and totally allowed by the FDA. Drugging a population keeps the population dumped down. It is a classic government conspiracy.

Clearly, these clinical trials are rife with fraud. Most of the clinical trials used by Pharmaceutical Companies to win FDA approval are funded by pharmaceutical Companies. It has been verified that most clinical trials tend to find results that favor the financial interests of whatever organization paid for them.

Secondly, these trials are typically preformed with pharma’s drugs versus a placebo. Yet, placebos are provided by the same company that funded the clinical trial. This provides the perfect scheme to supply the weakest placebo versus pharma’s drug. Can you see the clear room for unethical behavior and outright fraud? In our opinion when large amounts of money is involved then fraud is not far behind.

Thirdly, there are no standards for placebos as recently reported by Mike Adams of Natural News. A placebo is the “sugar pill” but could the trial use real sugar versus a diabetic drug in a trial. Yes they can, since there are no regulations on which type of sugar pill to use. The diabetes drug would clearly win against a real sugar pill. But, these trials don’t always use sugar in other cases they use olive oil which may actually improve heart health in a trial versus a cholesterol drug. Other placebo pills could use partially-hydrogenated oils which harm a hearts health. Yet less than 10 percent of the clinical trials list the placebo ingredients at all, Natural News reports. That doesn’t sound like scientific detail to us. Wouldn’t a pharmaceutical company want to boast if their trial drug beat olive oil in a head to head test? Or are they hiding something?

Natural News article also indicated that placebo performance strongly influences whether drugs are approved by the FDA. As the key piece of information on its regulatory approval decisions, the FDA wants to know whether a drug works better than placebo. That's the primary requirement. If they work even 5% better than a placebo, they are said to be "efficacious" (meaning they "work"). This is true even if the placebo was selected and used specifically to make the drug look good by comparison. As Natural News states, if there are no regulations or rules regarding the placebo, then none of the placebo controlled clinical trials are scientifically valid.

Yet homeopathic remedies have more stringent requirements for scientific evidence. Can you believe the irony here? The FDA in essence pushes away natural remedies, and embraces pharmaceutical drugs. Is the FDA really protecting you?

Contact your Congressional representative today and demand that these pharmaceutical companies at the least disclose which placebo they used in a test. Would you race a Porsche against a Pinto? Clearly that is not a true comparison, so the consumer should know how a drug preformed against a natural alternative. Go to stoprx.org site to contact Congress to address this blatantly obvious issue that the FDA should have a remedied already. Please feel free to also donate, so we can continue to keep you informed.

Almost $Billion Fine in DOJ GlaxoSmithKline Fraud Case, Whistle Blower Gets $96 Million

2010-10-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Bloomberg News By Justin Blum, David Voreacos and Andrew Harris Oct 26,2010
This is the complete Bloomberg article
GlaxoSmithKline Plc agreed to pay $750 million to settle a U.S. government false-claims lawsuit over the sale of defective drugs.

Glaxo, the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, and the U.S. Justice Department announced the accord today, resolving a lawsuit first filed in 2004 by Cheryl D. Eckard, a former global quality assurance manager for the London-based company.

“This is not something I wanted to do, but because of patient safety it was necessary,” Eckard, 51, told reporters following a Justice Department press conference in Boston. As a whistleblower, she will receive $96 million from the settlement money.

Glaxo was accused in court papers of selling tainted drugs under false pretenses. The medicines, made at a Glaxo plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico, were misidentified as a result of product mix-ups, according to papers filed in federal court in Boston. The affected drugs included the antidepressant Paxil CR and the diabetes treatment Avandamet.

The settlement includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $150 million and a $600 million civil settlement under the False Claims Act and related state claims, the Justice Department said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate corporate attempts to profit at the expense of the ill and needy in our society -- or those who cut corners that result in potentially dangerous consequences to consumers,” Carmen M. Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney in Boston, said at today’s news conference.

Guilty Plea

SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc., a Glaxo unit, agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to the manufacture and distribution of adulterated drugs made at the now-shuttered plant, the Justice Department said. Glaxo said in July it had agreed in principle with the U.S. to pay 500 million pounds ($791 million) to resolve the investigation.

“We regret that we operated the Cidra facility in a manner that was inconsistent with current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements and with GSK’s commitment to manufacturing quality,” PD Villarreal, a Glaxo senior vice president, said in an e-mailed statement.

Eckard’s take is the largest ever for a single whistleblower, said Patrick Burns, spokesman for Taxpayers Against Fraud, a nonprofit Washington group that publicizes the use of legal means to combat fraud against the U.S. The federal government will receive $436.4 million from the settlement and participating states will split as much as $163.6 million, the Justice Department said.

‘Serious Deficiencies’

Other drugs made at the plant include Kytril, an anti- nausea medication, and Bactroban, an ointment used to treat skin infections, the Justice Department said.

“The false claims arose out of chronic, serious deficiencies in the quality assurance function at the Cidra plant and the defendants’ ongoing serious violations of the laws and regulations designed to ensure the fitness of drug products for use,” the government said in court papers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2005 seized some Paxil CR lots after it was discovered that the pills sometimes split inappropriately, according to court papers. Some of the pills lacked an active ingredient.

“We did not uncover any evidence that patients were harmed from these adulterated batches,” Ortiz said today. “It is critical we keep pressure on companies to follow FDA standards and play by the rules.”

Eckard’s complaint was joined by the states of California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia, Chicago and New York City.

The case is U.S. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 04-10375, U.S. District Court for Massachusetts (Boston)

To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net; Andrew M. Harris in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net; David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey, at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net.

Who has the Number One U.S. Ranking in Criminal Fraud Cases? BigPharma of Course

2010-10-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

This is a portion of the New York Times article Oct. 2nd 2010 by Duff Wilson “Side Effect may include Lawsuits”.

The new generation of antipsychotics has also become the single biggest target of the False Claims Act, a federal law once largely aimed at fraud among military contractors. Every major company selling the drugs Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson has either settled recent government cases for hundreds of millions of dollars or is currently under investigation for possible health care fraud.
Two of the settlements, involving charges of illegal marketing, set records last year for the largest criminal fines ever imposed on corporations. One involved Eli Lilly’s antipsychotic, Zyprexa; the other involved a guilty plea for Pfizer’s marketing of a pain pill, Bextra. In the Bextra case, the government also charged Pfizer with illegally marketing another antipsychotic, Geodon; Pfizer settled that part of the claim for $301 million, without admitting any wrongdoing.
The companies all say their antipsychotics are safe and effective in treating the conditions for which the Food and Drug Administration has approved them — mostly, schizophrenia and bipolar mania and say they adhere to tight ethical guidelines in sales practices. The drug makers also say that there is a large population of patients who still haven’t taken the drugs but could benefit from them.
AstraZeneca, which markets Seroquel, the top-selling antipsychotic since 2005, says it developed such drugs because they have fewer side effects than older versions.
“It’s a drug that’s been studied in multiple clinical trials in various indications,” says Dr. Howard Hutchinson, AstraZeneca’s chief medical officer. “Getting these patients to be functioning members of society has a tremendous benefit in terms of their overall well-being and how they look at themselves, and to get that benefit, the patients are willing to accept some level of side effects.”
The industry continues to market antipsychotics aggressively, leading analysts to question how drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for about 1 percent of the population have become the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest sellers despite recent crackdowns.

“It’s the money,” says Dr. Jerome L. Avorn, a Harvard medical professor and researcher. “When you’re selling $1 billion a year or more of a drug, it’s very tempting for a company to just ignore the traffic ticket and keep speeding.”

Contentions that the new drugs are superior have been “greatly exaggerated,” says Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman, chairman of the psychiatry department at Columbia University. Such assertions, he says, “may have been encouraged by an overly expectant community of clinicians and patients eager to believe in the power of new medications.”
“At the same time,” he adds, “the aggressive marketing of these drugs may have contributed to this enhanced perception of their effectiveness in the absence of empirical evidence.”
Others agree. “They sold the story they’re more safe, when they aren’t,” says Robert Whitaker, a journalist who has written two books about psychiatric medicines. “They had to cover up the problems. Right from the start, we got this false story.” End of NYTimes exerpt.

The antidepressant pharmaceutical industry takes in $14.6 Billion in revenue selling these drugs that don’t work. If a firm is taking in this type of money it is easy to settle multi-million dollar fraud lawsuits. The media, government, and medical industry are all working together to cover up the facts that antidepressants don’t work at all so the public is just dumbed down and uninformed on the subject. We commend the NYTimes for doing the research for this article. A truely ethical and independent FDA could stop this madness.

Bad Science: Antidepressants Found to Lower Serotonin Levels and Increases Suicide Rates, Yet they are Marketed to Increase “The Feel Good Chemical"

2010-10-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Dr. Rene Hen is a professor of pharmacology at the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Columbia University. She conducted a study on serotonin in mice earlier this year and it appeared in the January 15 issue of the journal Neuron.
One of her major conclusions was "The more antidepressants try to increase serotonin production, the less serotonin the neurons actually produce, and behavior in mice does not change," Dr. Hen was quoted.
Other studies have shown antidepressant drugs have been connected with an increased suicide risk and aggressive behavior. Natural News reported that Dr. Hen’s study found that antidepressants decrease the amount of serotonin in many patients' brains, instead of increasing it as they are meant to. Pharmaceutical Companies feel that serotonin in the brain makes a person feel good. So BigPharma’s drugs “supposably” increases serotonin levels in a patient so they are less depressed. According to Dr. Rene Hen’s study antidepressants have the opposite effect on about half the patients. Her findings indicate that half the patients who take antidepressants produce less serotonin. So, for half of the population, these drugs would actually be making the condition worse.

So the premise for these pharmaceutical companies drug approval was to increase this feel good chemical, but it now lowers serotonin in many patients. Lower serotonin according to BigPharma results in increased suicide rates. Hence, BigPharma is responsible for suicides in potentially fifty percent of the cases. 164 million antidepressant prescriptions were distributed in 2008.

It seems very strange to us why this study was not major news. Many studies have shown that antidepressants are no better than a placebo, but this study is even more alarming. It shows that Pharmaceutical companies and the FDA have blood on their hands. Their research is inadequate, rushed, or perhaps suppressed. There is an enormous population of lab humans taking drugs that show they cause far more harm than assistance. Recent news reports shows recalls of eggs, chicken, tomato’s and spinach because of signs of salmonella and e-coli. Car companies institute recalls for brake failures and many safety issues. Drugs companies don’t appear to be held to the same standard, and the FDA can’t enforce recalls. Hence, the J&J public relations debacle on their Tylenol recall, which gets broadly publicized, but not this alarming discovery regarding suicide and antidepressants.

World Suicide Prevention Day, What Was Said and What Wasn’t

2010-09-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

There were a number of speeches made around the world during Suicide Prevention Day, but not many indicating a connection with suicide and psychotropic drugs. This past year over eight million Americans 18 or older thought seriously about committing suicide, more than two million had a plan to commit suicide, and more than one million attempted to take their own lives. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (pictured)spoke out on World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), which was Sept. 10th. She of many items discussed the abominal Mental Health Parity Act, but what we couldn’t locate in her speech was that psychotropic drugs were a direct cause of suicides. According to reports on WSPD, suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people age 15 to 24, and suicide rates among young American Indians and Alaska Natives are double that. Young Latinas and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youths also have alarming rates of attempted suicide. Other reports indicate that those bereaved by suicide are seven times more likely to themselves commit suicide, as well as facing other possible negative health outcomes including substance abuse or depression.
In her speech Secretary Sebelius indicated roughly 90 percent of people who die by suicide suffered from depression or another diagnosable condition at the time of their death. Other reports indicate suicide rates are climbing in the military ranks. What was not said was any connection with suicides and psychotropic drugs.
Does the world want to prevent suicides? Why is there not a worldwide outrage with the connection of suicides and psychotropic drugs? Why is there not an outrage to the increase in distribution of antidepressants and suicide rates? It looks like black box warnings and stump speeches by government health secretaries are the extent to which they will go to investigating the connection of psychotropic drugs and increased suicide rates. Does the world really want to prevent suicides? Well start truly investigating the connection with psychotropic drugs!! If a placebo works the same or better than a drug then why use the drug, and if suicide rates have increased with antidepressants distribution then isn’t there a simple connection?

The FDA Says Walnuts are a Drug?

2010-09-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt of an original article by Heidi Stevenson at gaia-health.com

Diamond Foods' Walnut Claims regarding Omega-3 Fatty Acid

Based on claims made on your firm's website, we have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease. The following are examples of the claims made on your firm's website under the heading of a web page stating "OMEGA-3s ... Every time you munch a few walnuts, you're doing your body a big favor.":

"Studies indicate that the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts may help lower cholesterol; protect against heart disease, stroke and some cancers; ease arthritis and other inflammatory diseases; and even fight depression and other mental illnesses."

"[O]mega-3 fatty acids inhibit the tumor growth that is promoted by the acids found in other fats ... "

"[I]n treating major depression, for example, omega-3s seem to work by making it easier for brain cell receptors to process mood-related signals from neighboring neurons." "The omega-3s found in fish oil are thought to be responsible for the significantly lower incidence of breast cancer in Japanese women as compared to women in the United States."

Because of these intended uses, your walnut products are drugs. (end of letter)

The FDA has been sending these letters to numerous food manufacturers who make healthy food claims. Maybe they should change their name from the FDA to the DA (Drug Administration) since they are so often favorable to drug companies. It is bizarre but consistent by the FDA. This enables the FDA to control herbal remedies and other alternative medicines. There has been a plan to label vitamins also as a drug, so in order to distribute walnuts and vitamins then you would have to be a licensed drug company. Or you would have to be managed by a Pharmaceutical company. Once BigPharma has the control then they would eliminate all alternative medicines in favor pharmaceuticals.

If you find this FDA police control overbearing then please help promote the bill H.R. 4913 by getting your Congress Person to co-sponsor the Free Speech about Science Act (H.R. 4913)go to this link. This is the Free Speech about Science Act http://www.capwiz.com/lef/issues/alert/?alertid=14923316&type=CO It is sponsored by
Rep Jason Chaffetz of Utah

DOJ Targets Pharmaceutical Companies Globally in Corruption Probe

2010-08-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Financial Times FT.com
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner
August 12, 2010

The US Department of Justice is scrutinising payments by leading pharmaceuticals companies for hospitality, consultants, licensing agreements and charitable donations in markets around the world as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe.

GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly, among others, have disclosed being contacted by the DoJ and Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the investigation. Merck, the US drugs group, announced last week that it had also been contacted and was co-operating with investigators.

An industry attorney familiar with the probe said that the DoJ was looking at whether pharma companies had ignored a “systematic risk” inherent in the global drugs business and ignored obligations under local and US anti-bribery law.

The highly regulated nature of the business, combined with the fact that healthcare officials in many non-US markets were government funded, made the industry a natural target for such a probe, the person added.

The investigation is at a relatively early stage but is considered a priority for the DoJ.

While hospitality – including meals and all expenses-paid travel for conferences – has long been considered a potential risk for pharma groups, the DoJ’s probe is looking at all aspects of companies’ dealings in non-US markets, people familiar with the matter say. That includes the recruitment of physicians for clinical trials. In some markets, the same physicians may serve on regulatory boards that approve or deny drugs.

The DoJ declined to comment. But last November, Lanny Breuer, head of the DoJ’s criminal division, announced that investigators would be focusing on international corruption in the pharmaceuticals industry for “years”.

Mr Breuer warned a conference of pharmaceutical industry lawyers that prosecutors were gearing up for an investigation of international corruption in the sector. The drugs companies took notice.

That threat has now become a reality. Merck, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Baxter, SciClone, and Bristol-Myers Squibb have in recent months received inquiries from the DoJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with an industry-wide bribery investigation.

GlaxoSmithKline, the UK drugmaker, told the Financial Times on Thursday that it too had received “inquiries” from US authorities, but that it disclosed the issue “reactively” only to selected reporters in April.

Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical group, said in February that it had voluntarily provided the DoJ and SEC with information concerning potentially improper payments outside the US and was exploring resolution of the matter.

There is perhaps no industry that is as vulnerable to violations of US anti-bribery laws as the pharmaceutical industry. In markets round the world, the companies deal, sometimes thousands of times in a single day, with doctors, clinicians, hospital operators and regulators who are considered under US law to be government officials, because they are employed by state-owned facilities.

Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the US anti-bribery law, companies may not offer items of value to foreign government officials for profit. One industry lawyer involved in the matter said global pharmaceutical companies operating in countries with state-run medical institutions deal with government officials at every turn of their business: whether it is seeking the go-ahead for a manufacturing site; obtaining drug licences; conducting clinical trials; importing drugs; selling and marketing drugs to physicians; or getting a product on to a hospital’s approved list.

“What most companies will find is that all of these areas are risky and, if they don’t train and educate their people, they are going to find themselves with issues. For example, if you have hired customs brokers, how do you know they aren’t bribing officials?” the attorney said.

According to the law firm Arnold & Porter, the DoJ is particularly interested in corrupt payments that may have influenced the reliability or integrity of data in clinical trials performed outside the US. A recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services found 80 per cent of marketing applications for drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US had relied on at least one foreign trial.

“Companies may find themselves facing critical legal issues if approval of products rested on the results of studies the DoJ deems corrupt,” Arnold & Porter said in an advisory letter to clients last month.

A person familiar with the investigation confirmed that clinical trials were one of several areas the DoJ was examining.

Alexandra Wrage, the president of Trace, a non-profit organisation that helps companies establish anti-corruption practices, said that alleged wrongdoing at pharmaceutical companies could often centre on inappropriately lavish hospitality, such as wining and dining doctors from state-run hospitals at conferences in Bali or Monaco.

Copy and paste link here (free FT.com Reg.):http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9a8e8f90-a63e-11df-8767-00144feabdc0.html

I Am Feeling Gloomy, Can You Pass the Saffron?

2010-07-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

An article from Health Science Institute discloses that research has shown saffron works as effectively as Prozac in treating mild to moderate depression. Besides saffron being a flavor spice from the East, it has been used for many years to heal melancholia, liver and spleen enlargement, kidney stones, menstrual disorders, colds, insomnia, asthma, atherosclerosis, and as an anti-inflammatory. Chinese and Tibetan people have used it to cure arthritis, impotence and infertility. Additionally, animal research indicates that saffron may inhibit cancer formation and shrink existing tumors, and can enhance effectiveness of chemotherapy. It is a miracle spice! And now it is also more effective in combating depression then Prozac, and most certainly other antidepressants.

The University of Medical Services in Tehran, Iran conducted the study on forty patients with mild depression without the use of a placebo. They received 30mgs of saffron a day, while others received 20mgs of Prozac for the six week study. If was found that both saffron and Prozac relieved depression. Saffron doesn’t create jarring deadly side effects, (listed below) which Prozac is known to cause.

This fantastic discovery adds saffron to the other natural remedies like omega 3 fatty acid, vitamins B and D, and St. John’s Wort, which alleviate depression. Many of these expensive overprescribed and ineffective antidepressants have proven to be a disaster versus placebos, and natural remedies in numerous studies. This will come as a relief to many parents, and young adults who require natural remedies to life’s challenges.

So curtailing depressed feelings, or melancholy moods can be eliminated simply by adding saffron to one’s diet. A simple everyday solution can truly be life saving. While the full list of side effects of Prozac via drugs.com are severe allergic reactions (rash, hives, switching, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue, unusual hoarseness), bizarre behavior, black or bloody stools, chest pain, confusion, decreased concentration, decreased coordination, exaggerated reflexes, excessive sweating, fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat, fever, chills, or sore throat, hallucinations, increased hunger, thirst, or urination, joint or wrist aches or pain, memory loss, new or worsening agitation, panic attacks, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irritability, hostility, exaggerated feeling of well-being, restlessness, or inability to sit still, persistent or severe ringing in the ears, persistent, painful erection, red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; seizures, severe or persistent anxiety, trouble sleeping, or weakness, severe or persistent nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or headache, significant weight loss, stomach pain, suicidal thoughts or attempts, tremor, unusual bruising or bleeding, unusual or severe mental or mood changes, unusual swelling, unusual weakness, vision changes, worsening of depression.
No thank’s, Saffron is a far better solution

Another LA Starlet on a Crash Course and with a long list of Prescription Drugs

2010-07-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

There is a recently released probation report which shows all the prescription drugs that Lindsay Lohan has been taking. News sources indicate the report discloses Adderall for ADD, Zoloft for anxiety, Dilaudid a pain killer, Trazadone an antidepressant, and Nexium for heartburn.
There is no wonder why Ms. Lohan finds her self in trouble. Antidepressant don't lead to relief, they lead to trouble. Just simply do the research

Psychiatrist in Conflict of Interest with GlaxoSmitKline and Academic Research

2010-07-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Image of Psychiatrist Charles Nemeroff

Pharmalot recently released
Senator Grassley Probes Nemeroff and University of Miami
By Ed Silverman

The Charles Nemeroff affair encompasses more people all the time. Now, the University of Miami Medical School has become ensnared in the ongoing probe launched by US Senator Chuck Grassley, who investigated Nemeroff as part of an inquiry into undisclosed financial conflicts of interest among academic researchers who receive federal grants.
You may recall Nemeroff, who was recently hired by the University of Miami, had departed Emory University after the Senate probe disclosed he was accepting sizeable consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKline at the same time he was the primary investigator on an NIH-funded grant for research into a Glaxo drug. Before his departure, Emory imposed a two-year ban on grants for Nemeroff. In June, however, the U of Miami med school head, Pascal Goldschmidt, was quoted as saying the ban was “an immediate reaction to political pressure”.
Angered at the remark, Grassley has sent a letter to Donna Shalala, the University of Miami president and a former US Secretary of Health and Human Services to say “I hope that you would agree - contrary to Dr. Goldschmidt’s views that disciplining researchers for failing to disclose conflicts of interest is merely a political issue - that enforcing federal conflict of interest policy involves ethical and legal issues that ensure taxpayer trust.” Grassley wants Shalala to provide all conflict of interest forms filed by Nemeroff, as well as all e-mails and communications by Goldschmidt and Nemeroff’ about conflicts and NIH grants.
But there’s more. Grassley also wrote a letter to HHS Office of Inspector General Dan Levinson to examine the ties between Nemeroff and NIHM director Tom Insel. Insel apparently helped Nemeroff win his job at the University of Miami and Levinson is already investigating Nemeroff. Ironically, the NIH has just proposed new rules on conflicts, although Insel is one of Nemeroff’s long-standing allies and he was on the panel that reviewed the new rules .

The History of the FDA Commissioners and Their Ties to Pharmaceutical Companies

2010-06-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

The overall view is that FDA appears to have too many direct links to Pharmaceutical companies, and most directly with recent Commissioners. Lester Mills Crawford was one of the most controversial appointees to the FDA. He was a veterinarian by trade and he was the Commissioner of Food and Drugs for two months in 2005. His appointment was originally held up because of an affair with an FDA employee, but that was later unfounded. He resigned and later pleaded guilty to a conflict of interest in not reporting information regarding his stock holdings in food and beverage, and medical device companies. His prior background was in veterinary medicine at Auburn with a PHD in Pharmacology at the University of Georgia. A Pharmacology background directly connects the research of pharmaceutical drugs and academia, as Universities get research funds from pharmaceutical companies. This symbiotic relationship is not in the best interest of the public.
The FDA Commissioner after Lester Crawford was Andrew von Eschenbach who also had a conflict of interest. He served simultaneously as the FDA Commissioner and as a Director of the National Cancer Institute. Serving a dual role with NCI and the FDA in our view should not be allowed.
A prior Commissioner Jane Ellen Henney 1999-2001 is currently on the board of directors of the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca. It is not unlawful but certainly shows the connection between BigPharma and the FDA.
The acting FDA Commissioner is Margaret Ann Hamburg who is also a physician by trade, as the FDA has a long history of MD’s. She also served at the US Department of Health and Human Services, and as part of the New York City Commissioner of Health. Her father has ties to the pharmaceutical industry as he has had a career in academic medicine and mental illness research where again Universities get funds to do BigPharma’s research on new drugs.
We feel these types of connections with Pharmaceutical companies create an unhealthy bias and relationship that isn’t in the best interest of the public. It shows the governments connection with drug manufacturers is not only allowed but part of the requirement to serve on the FDA. The FDA commissioner is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs, and other roles.
Would it be so out of the question to simply have a director from the Food Manufacturing Industry instead of the long list of MD’s with direct pharmaceutical connections? Having the same commissioner with the same background produces the same drug pushing results, and the same unhealthy drug induced society. We believe that is known as insanity.

Dumbest Study of the Month: Men Showing Signs of PostPartum Depression? Please!!!

2010-05-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is all a plan to get men to take psychotropic drugs. It is obvious that a new baby will make a family worried, sleep deprived, irritable, and even overwhelmed. This is not a mental health issue. This is normal. Pharmaceutical companies and psychiatry has been successfully in diagnosing and including all normal life behaviors as a syndrome, or disorder. The entire plan has been to have all humans on one or more of their pills throughout their lifetime. If you see a psychiatrist then within fifteen minutes you will be prescribed a pharma drug. It is all about money. It has nothing to do with care or research, or knowledge. If you give into this non-sense then they win. Many of the side effects of their Mr. Hyde chemicals will kill you. They also have unknown long term side effects. Putting so many chemicals in your body over a life-time will most certainly cause unintended or intended consequences.

Unfortunately, Western medicine thinks life’s issues are solved with a pill. Nothing can be further from the truth. Life issues are solved with directly addressing the problem not adding a new instant cure drug.

Stoprx.org

This is the complete article By Shari Roan, of the Los Angeles Times

They might relish becoming parents, but they can also be unprepared for the infant in their lives. They're sleep-deprived, confused and irritable. They're the fathers.

Discussions of the connection between mental health and childbirth have long focused on women, but a sizeable portion of men experience prenatal and postpartum depression too, according to research released Tuesday.

The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., found that 10.4% of men experienced serious depression at some point between his partner's first trimester and one year after childbirth, more than double the depression rate for men in general. American men were more likely to experience prenatal or postpartum depression compared with men in other countries, 14.1% in the U.S. compared with 8.2% internationally.

"It's viewed as a disorder of motherhood. It's not viewed by health professionals and the public as a problem in fathers," said James F. Paulson, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.

But depression in either parent can affect both the couple's relationship and the child's development, Paulson said, adding that further study is needed.

"There have been a few very good studies documenting negative child outcomes when fathers are depressed," he said. "That alone makes this a significant public health concern and something we need to pay more attention to."

Paulson analyzed the findings of 43 studies involving 28,004 participants. The men were from the United States, China, Ireland, Britain, Australia and several other developed nations.

The most vulnerable period for depression in men was three to six months postpartum, he found, with a quarter of the men who experienced depression afflicted during this time period.

An estimated 14% to 23% of women experience depression during pregnancy and 5% to 25% have postpartum depression, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Paternal depression has not been well documented historically, and many of the studies in the meta-analysis were conducted only in the last five to 10 years, Paulson said. The contemporary father may be more vulnerable to this malady than previous generations of fathers because of the increasing number of women in the workplace and the corresponding expectations that he shoulder more responsibilities at home.

"We are expecting dads to be more involved in parenting than we ever have before," said Will Courtenay, a psychotherapist and researcher on paternal depression in Berkeley who was not involved in the study. "Most dads are welcoming of that, but they don't have any models about what a dad is supposed to do. That creates uncertainty, and that uncertainty can lead to anxiety and depression."

Further, paternal depression symptoms are much less likely to be recognized than maternal depression, Paulson said. A woman may be sad, withdrawn and weepy while depressed; men may appear more irritable or angry and become detached from the family.

In women, the condition is often linked to biological and hormonal changes associated with pregnancy and birth. But hormones are not the sole cause of pregnancy-related depression even in women.

"This narrow focus really makes it difficult to understand depression in men," Paulson said. "We know, in fact, there are many factors, hormonal and other, related to depression in women."

The depression of either parent can include how one partner's depression affects the other and how intimacy, conflict management and division of responsibilities change after having a baby. In the meta-analysis, men had a higher risk of depression if their partner also had depression.

"If we see depression in one partner that should prompt us to screen for depression in the other partner," he said.

Marital dissatisfaction, financial stress and having a sick or colicky baby could increase the risk of depression in one or both partners, said Courtenay, who is conducting a study on new fathers in collaboration with the Center for Men at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass.

" Sleep deprivation likely plays one of the biggest roles for men and women," he said. "We know that if normal, healthy adults go without good sleep for just one month, they begin to show signs of clinical depression."

A Snapshot of the Malfunction Nature of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology

2010-05-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

There was a recent article in the New York Times Magazine in the April 2010 issue written by Daniel Carlat that tells a very revealing story regarding psychiatry and psychopharmacology. He appears to have an epiphany on psychiatry and psychotherapy. We would like to give him credit for realizing where psychiatry has been going, in addition, Daniel Carlat’s article is a precursor to his book “Unhinged: the Trouble With Psychiatry,” He explains how today’s psychiatry works, or in our view doesn’t.
Patients are evaluated based on the DSM-IV, psychiatry’s diagnostic manual which breaks down a patient’s disorder in several categories such as mood, anxiety, and several eating disorders, anxiety nightmares or flashbacks etc. Based on the patient’s answers to the questions a drug’s is then prescribed. This is based on Leon Eisenberg (a pioneer of psychopharmacology) as Carlat notes that in the beginning of the past century psychiatry was brainless, or mainly interested in psychoanalysis, while the second half of the 20th century psychiatry has been mindless or infatuated with pills. This has been the emphasis of the new generation of psychiatrists.
Carlat also notes what we suspected that insurance companies have pushed for medication visits, so the psychiatrist’s simply sees the patient for fifteen minutes to fill out a prescription. Longer hourly therapies are discouraged as it is less profitable for the insurance carrier. With this method the psychiatrist actually never knows his patient, and if any therapy is warranted then a lower ranking psychologist is referred. The end result is that the profession simply diagnoses disorders and medicates the patient.
He concludes in his article that psychopharmacology is doing damage to psychiatry, and we will add that it is damaging the patient. We encourage you to take a look at the article and potentially his book “Unhinged: the Trouble With Psychiatry,” which will be published in May 2010.

The Police State has arrived and BigPharma will continue to Administer the Control Drugs

2010-05-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

Ironically there was an online ad during Obama’s early campaign for president in 2008 that indicated his potential administration would save us from George Orwell’s 1984. Well this administration looks to be the puppet master of the police state. There are many events that are taking place right before your eyes, which everyone is allowing. One of George Lucas’s early films in 1971 was Thx 1138 which portrayed a future of population control with special drugs to suppress emotion, and sexual desire. The Obama Administrations Science Czar John Holdren has said that forced abortions and mass sterilizations are needed to save the planet from overpopulation. Pharmaceutical emotion suppressing drugs are on the market today as psychotropic antidepressants. They don’t make you happy they make you apathetic, depressed, suicidal, and anything but cured or relieved. BigPharma’s control drug has its genesis in the Nazi police state. Population control drugs, death camps, electric shock were all Nazi originations. We have all but the death camps in the West now. Presently, we have chemical straightjackets forced on children who can’t control themselves which are supposed to prevent the whole class from erupting into chaos. These children are considered to have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These are all made up terms in order to drug control a child who has difficulty studying. Antidepressants are cross prescribed to curtail smoking, post natal depression, Bi-polar, ADHD and you can name it and your doctor or psychiatrist will push it.
Pharmaceutical companies use psychotropic’s to subdue the public, but they need legal protection by the government as the drugs are a complete failure and they have no science to back up their assertions. The exchange other than money for BigPharma to help control the masses requires a government shield. One cover for BigPharma’s mind altering drugs has been the FDA and now with the additional help from the Supreme Court. It is called pre-emption where by the FDA has approved a drugs use, so it absolves the pharmaceutical company from legal issues based on pre-approval by the FDA. The Supreme Court has already ruled that medical device makers are immune from state lawsuits if their device has previous FDA approval. Pharma is attempting to get the same pre-emption for their drugs. In addition, Congress has attempted several times to pass the Mothers Act, which will compel all pregnant women to see the psychiatric department of their hospital. A Psychiatrist’s only solution is to prescribe drugs, so every US child will be on a psychotropic drug from cradle to grave. It is broadly known that all psychotropic drugs don’t work, so the side effects cause the need for another drug which creates a lifetime patient. A perfect drug controlled police state in the making.
In the United Kingdom there is a proposal to place a chip in pets to track “dangerous animals” from the public. This can be the first test to placing chips in children, so they can be monitored and “protected” from abduction. It could also be used to track ex-cons, and then anyone. We are not their just yet, but technology has created such a scenario. Technology currently tracks your location and activity by cell phone, internet searches, GPS, virtually all your activity can be tracked. Companies know your habits by your credit card, and the products you buy by zebra code. Security cameras are in every major city and especially the United Kingdom today. There are also plans in place to monitor a person’s behavior in airports. Cameras will capture a person’s mood like anger and aggression, maybe even frustration, and security will remove that passenger from entering a plane. This is only the beginning of what the future holds.
There is a new Senate Bill 3081 called The “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010.” This new bill is intended to handle potential terrorist, but it has a very broad application. It will allow a suspect to be detained without Miranda rights which is the right to remain silent, and to request an attorney. It will allow for detention without criminal charges, and allows a citizen to be designated a suspect based on what the president considers appropriate. Well the president will not weigh in on every arrest, but he could when martial law is imposed, or pass those powers to Homeland Security. The Obama Administration just recently pressed the police in Chicago to use S.W.A.T Teams and snipers to oversea a Tea Party protest comprised of older law abiding Americans bereft of any crimes.

So you should be able to see that a police state is well on its way to becoming reality. It has arrived subtly and will likely continue to slowly become the norm. Eventually it will become law “for your protection”. Much like detaining mentally ill patients in the 1950’s by men in white coats. Personally liberties are being violated all of the time, and may vanish if most of the population remains asleep to what is going on with BigPharma’s cradle to grave drug efforts and the government’s intrusion. The least you can do is to say no to pharmaceutical drugs when offered. Stand up for you rights to be Pharma-drug free while you still can, and vote with a conscience.

Why would a 7 year old Foster Child Commit Suicide by Hanging? The Number One Culprit Today is BigPharma and Psychiatry

2010-04-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Senator Rhonda Storms is forwarding a Florida Senate Bill 2718 through the legislator that can prevent similar unfortunate deaths. From CBSnews Edicio Martinez-The apparent suicide of 7-year old Gabriel Myers, who was taking several psychiatric medications, has led to the introduction of a bill in the Florida legislature. It would assure that powerful mental health drugs dispensed to Florida foster care children would be more closely monitored. It is now moving through the Florida legislature.
The proposal is largely based on the findings of a task force formed after Gabriel locked himself in a bathroom and hung himself with a shower cord last April. Gabriel at the time of his death was on Seroquel "Quetapine Fumerate" made by Astra Zenaca which is too commonly prescribed by psychiatrists to treat bipolar disorder. Seroquel and other psychiatric drugs have been linked by federal regulators for their potentially dangerous side effects, including suicide, but the side effects and risks have not been communicated to foster parents. There has been an enormous amount of foster kid’s overprescribed psychotropic drugs particularly in Florida, but also across the US. The measure would require an independent review before psychotropic drugs can be administered to children under ten. Senator Storms is pushing for more “talk therapy”, because of the over prescription of antidepressants by psychiatry.
Senator Storms has also asked the Florida Board of Medicine and the Agency for
Health Care Administration to investigate the Broward County psychiatrists who prescribed the drugs to little Gabriel. The Miami Herald reports that one doctor has been red flagged by the Board of Medicine, but no disciplinary action thus far.

It is all about the money. Psychiatrist’s see a patient in less than fifteen minutes and prescribed a drug with fatal side effects. They simply have no care for the patient. This unnecessary death shows the heartless and disaffected indifference for young children caught in the system. Without a parent to defend them they are left to disinterested doctors to just prescribe a drug that they know doesn’t work. When will it end? It will only end when mother and fathers wake up and smell what is brewing.

FAA is Planning to Approve Antidepressant Popping Pilots and their Lethal Side Effects

2010-04-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

We have always wondered what government agency would be most likely to put a person in harms way. If you join the military then you volunteer to be placed in the line of fire when under enemy attack. The antidepressant use can also kill you on the base just like it did at Ft. Hood several months ago. The IRS will use fear instead of death, and they can certainly incarcerate you which can be a slow death. The FDA has been approving psychotropic drugs, heart medications, birth control pills et al, which have horrendous track records and mortal consequences. Some of those drugs have been taken off the market, but most like antidepressants are still available even though it is widely known that they are not effective. Now we have the latest US government agency the FAA, which will now allow pilots to medicate and fly.
Some of the side effects of these allowable medication drugs (Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro) are suicide, mania, agitation, dizziness, fatigue, insomnia, tremors, muscle aches, diarrhea, fast heartbeat, fever chills, fainting, bizarre behavior, aggressiveness, joint or wrist aches and pain, ringing in the ears, confusion, decreased concentration, decreased coordination, exaggerated feeling of well being, irritability, hostility, memory loss, vomiting, mood changes, unusual weakness, vision changes, hallucinations, and worsening of depression. Why would anyone fly in a tin can at 35,000 feet when the driver may have one or more of these side effects? It seems clear the FAA is looking at only one head in the head count. Based on these side effects you could have a maniac flying the plane! You should get thrown off the plane for bizarre behavior, but now you get to be the captain.
According to news reports the FAA will seek to evaluate the pilots on antidepressants while the pilot is grounded for approximately six months and ongoing through their careers. They also imply pilots could be using antidepressants now without disclosing that information. If so those pilots will be barred from flying, and would undergo a longer evaluation.
Foxnews quotes FAA administrator Randy Babbit "We know more today about the science of the medications being given and we know a lot more about depression itself," Babbitt said. "The policy is changing I mean our number one priority is safety, and the public certainly has the right to know that everybody in the cockpit is healthy, both mentally and physically." End quote. If they truly knew more about these medications they would know they do not work at all, and that the side effects are lethal.
Foxnews also reports Babbitt saying the new rule is aimed, in part, at removing the stigma of mental illness, much as the FAA began to deal with drug abuse and alcoholism in the cockpit with the establishment 40 years ago of its Human Intervention and Motivation Study, end quote. Does the FAA have more concern about the stigma of mental illness or passenger safety? It appears to us that this is a social experiment, so mentally ill pilots retain their jobs regardless of the consequences. We can’t discriminate, so we need to allow depressed pilots to fly with lethal medications. It is not about safety, but political correctness.
It is now up to passengers to express their concerns with this experiment, and for Airlines to form their own rules regarding potentially lethal medicated pilots. I believe the mass majority will want a healthy pilot free of mind altering drugs or medication. Antidepressants clearly alter the mind.

Major Drug Stores and Fish Oil Manufactures sued over PCB’s. It begs Another Question, What is in your Prescription?

2010-03-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

A lawsuit was filed in San Francisco earlier this month against several Omega-3 Fish oil manufacturers, drugstores and vitamin producers. Reuters news reported that two plaintiffs and Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation are suing several fish oil manufacturers and pharmacies that sell the supplements over their purported PCB toxicity. They claim that their tests found high levels of PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls which are synthetic (human-made) chemicals produced initially over 90 years ago). They have been banned since 1979. PCBs were used so much that they are found unnaturally in the environment. All fish either in oceans, rivers or fish oil supplements contain at least trace amounts of PCBs. The EPA lists PCBs as a probable human carcinogen. PCBs have a similar chemical structure to PBDE’s, which are currently used as flame retardants in electronics, furniture, and other consumer goods, and PCBs have been found to cause tumors in laboratory animals. The chemical was designed to last a long time without breaking down, which it has accomplished. Essentially mankind has contaminated its own food supply.

According to news reports the lawsuit is based on California’s Prop. 65 which requires manufactures to inform consumers of their right to know the contents and ingredients of the products they consume. The main reason we site this news is that Omega-3 fish oil has been a natural antidepressant, and should remain to be so as with adding fresh fish to ones diet. It also is also an eye opener for consumers to know the ingredients in over the counter and especially prescription medications. Consumers need to be fully aware of the products that they buy and the side effects that they cause. More will be known as this lawsuit progresses.

As far as, prescription antidepressants more has been found out about the long-term side effects of the most common SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitors) antidepressants. The long-term effects include sexual dysfunction, weight gain 18-50% of the time, sleep disturbance, vivid dreams and nightmares, insomnia 18-20% of the time, lethargy and fatigue, decreased libido, tardive dyskinesia dystonia (severe body movement disorder, which is mostly permanent according to a report from Antidepressant facts. They also report possible neurological driven severe mania agitation which can lead to suicide attempts, self-harm and suicide.

Reading and learning about what’s in your pill will provide a better life. Unfortunately, the long term side effects of SSRI’s bring more pharmaceutical drug solutions to alleviate those effects, and connecting the consumer from cradle to grave to pharmaceuticals and an unhappy life. There are many alternatives to pharma drugs we urge you to take a look at those alternatives.

Why Have Antidepressants Been the Drug Pushed the Last 50 years even Though They are Ineffective?

2010-03-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

In more rural areas access to doctors and thankfully lack of access to psychiatry is more difficult then in larger urban cities. So the opportunity to mass market drugs allows general practitioners in these remote areas to distribute antidepressants for the monetary benefit of pharmaceutical companies. It is far easier and cost effective to push a drug then to tend to a persons needs one on one. The normal medical doctor becomes the drug pusher, since he is not equipped to be a therapist. Hence, mass marketing of an ineffective drug like an antidepressant passes the responsibility to the MD and away from the manufacturer. It all comes down to money and marketing.

Pharmaceutical Companies simply use television, magazines and a willing media to promote drugs that do not work. This is one more reason why our health system fails, when antidepressants that are less effective than a tic tac (placebo) are pushed everywhere. It is also another validation of psychiatric fraud where their origins have been straitjackets and electric shock treatment. Clearly everyone understands that their archaic technology doesn’t work, so it should be easy to understand why antidepressants don’t work either. Their techniques historically are barbaric and fraudulent. The scam that is psychiatry has been proven to make up disorders and syndromes so they can attach a drug to it. Antidepressants are used for Bipolar disorder, smoking cessation, ADHD and you can almost name the malady and psychiatry and Pharma will create a drug for it. It is also clear in their advertising that pharmaceutical companies state that they don’t know what causes depression, but their drug apparently addresses a chemical imbalance. There own advertising tells you the answer which you need to know. How does a company get away with promoting a drug which they know doesn’t work, and they don't know what causes depression. So why would you promote that a non-working drug is the solution? They don't even know if it is a lack of seratonin or too much seratonin or seratonin at all. It really is insane that they have gotten away with this for so long. Well the FDA is part of this scam, since a number of psychiatrists and pharmaceutical executives have also been FDA executives. Hmm, seems like a glaring conflict of interest there. You have to ask the question why has this fraud gone on for decades without being exposed for what it is. Well too many groups and organizations have too much to money to lose. So hence we have doctors, the government, and the media all in on the fraud then it is simply up to the individual to deduce the unworkability of psychiatry and drug therapy (narcotherapy). The information is out there you just have to look for it.

What are the alternatives to the western pills solution? The east has long used herbal remedies as a viable alternative. St. John’s Wort, (Kava Kava) can be used for people suffering from anxiety and depression, Noni which is often called Morinda, and Schisandra are also well used natural antidepressants. Ginkgo Biloba has also been recommended for older people undergoing medical treatment since it helps to regulate blood pressure. Many have also found Lemon Balm used for digestive disorders which can be connected to depression and stress. Rhodiola has been found to improve mood and combat depressive disorders by normalizing serotonin and dopamine levels. Psychiatric drugs clearly do not work, and we urge all undergoing depression to seek the alternatives like these herbal remedies. Don’t continue the fraud and pay for something that doesn’t work.

Possible Fraud by Pharmaceutical Companies as Placebo Confirmed as more Effective and Safer than Antidepressants

2010-02-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

A recently article reported in Newsweek Magazine, of a study by (The Journal of the American Medical Association) and other studies have shown that the effectiveness of antidepressants is almost entirely due to the hope and aspirations that the drug will be effective and not the drug at all. Hence, a placebo is more effective than antidepressants, and there are no side effects from placebos. The side effects from antidepressants alone can kill you. According to the FDA the use of antidepressants can cause anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia (severe restlessness), hypomania, mania and suicide. They have also been attributed to mass murder (Columbine, Virginia Tech) to list a couple. Newsweek reports regarding a study by Irving Kirsch and Guy Sapirstein of the University of Connecticut. Patients on a placebo improved about 75 percent as much as those on the drugs. Essentially you positive mind will cure your depression.

Many may ask how is it possible that these drugs could get approved by the FDA for decades if they are proven to be ineffective. Well the early failed results appear to have been suppressed. Thomas Moore of George Washington University used the freedom of information act to analyze the FDA earlier studies of antidepressants. There were numerous company sponsored studies by the makers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor and others. Many of these studies were unpublished, and over 50% more unpublished studies than other classes of drugs. Apparently 40% of the all clinical trials had never been published, and most of those unpublished trials according to Newsweek's article were the trials that proved antidepressants were a failure. The damaging results indicate pharmaceutical companies may be fraudulent in their studies and disclosures, and we ask why companies are allowed to sponsor trials. In addition, the FDA appears to have allowed it. Who is watching the store? Why wouldn’t the government at minimum only allow independent studies? But even that could be problem. Scientists at Universities who have questioned antidepressant results and who have cited Irvin Kirsch’s results have been reprimanded and their future grants have been threatened. These University grants are typically funded by large pharmaceutical companies. Looks like for our own safety we need to find another independent study group, and perhaps the Department of Justice can look into the FDA and pharmaceutical studies for authenticity.

Newsweek’s article also points out the relationship of the chemical imbalance theory causing depression. Pharmaceutical companies have claimed for decades that this chemical imbalance is the cause of depression. The typical SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor) is supposed to raise the serotonin level of the patient. This is the basis of all their research. Well a new drug study indicates that lowering serotonin is as effective as raising serotonin on depression. The new drug tianeptine made in France lowers serotonin. Now the American and UK pharmaceutical companies’ main argument is gone, but they never really had an argument. In actuality, there is no scientific evidence at all that demonstrates antidepressants alleviate depression. The hope and expectation that a pill “sugar pill” will be effective recently has shown to alleviate depression.

When Bristol Myers Squibb’s advertises Abilify as an add-on to one’s current antidepressant because of it’s ineffectiveness on depression, it is an indication from the industry that their products have failed. In addition, many of these drugs are marketed for Bi-Polar Disorder, ADHD, and even non-smoking. ADHD has also been found to be fraudulent (see the book ADHDFraud by Fred Baughman Jr.). Will it be found that antidepressants are ineffective with these maladies also? There is certain to be more investigation into these past unpublished results, and we hope the justice department will look into fraud and misrepresentation. Like the Real Estate bubble the pharmaceutical house of cards is coming down, and we are sure there are many lawsuits to come with this disturbing information.

New Study further Confirms Mental Health Benefits from Fish Oil

2010-02-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

Just last week we blogged about the benefits of fish oil alleviating depression. Here is a report this week from the Associated Press

Fish oil pills may be able to spare some young people with signs of mental illness from a progression into fully developed schizophrenia, according to a preliminary study of 81 patients in Austria.

The study adds to evidence suggesting that severe mental illness may be prevented with intervention. The researchers are starting a larger study in eight cities, hoping to replicate the findings, which appear in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, released Monday.

A severe mental illness, schizophrenia affects adolescents and young adults. Some 2.4 million Americans have the disorder, which is treated with antipsychotic medication.

"Schizophrenia is among the most mysterious and costliest diseases in terms of human suffering, so anything that gives some hope to avoid this is great,'' said lead author Dr. G. Paul Amminger, formerly in Vienna and now at the Orygen Youth Health Research Center at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Researchers have wondered if the disease could be stopped before it overpowers a person's grip on reality. Studies have tried antipsychotics in select young people, but side effects pose ethical questions, and results have been mixed.

Researchers in the new study identified 81 people, ages 13 to 25, with warning signs of psychosis, including sleeping much more or less than usual, growing suspicious of others, believing someone is putting thoughts in their head or believing they have magical powers. Forty-one were randomly assigned to take four fish oil pills a day for three months. The other patients took dummy pills.

After a year of monitoring, 2 of the 41 patients in the fish oil group, or about 5%, had become psychotic, or completely out of touch with reality. In the placebo group, 11 of 40 became psychotic, about 28%.

No one knows what causes schizophrenia but one hypothesis is that people with the disease don't process fatty acids correctly, leading to damaged brain cells. Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil could help brain cells repair and stabilize, the researchers speculate.

Dr. Janet Wozniak of Harvard Medical School said the findings might reasonably cause psychiatrists to recommend fish oil to some patients because there are known benefits and little risk.

Omega-3 Fish Oil Remains One of the Best Natural Alternatives to Anti-Depressants

2010-01-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

Scientists initially became interested in Omega-3 oil and its effect on depression when it was found that countries which consumed more fish had lower rates of depression. They also found that pregnant mothers in England who ate very little fish doubled their risk of developing postpartum depression compared to women who ate fish regularly. So scientists began a series of studies to see why. In a report from ABCNews, At Sheffield University in England, Dr. Malcolm Peet gave omega-3 fatty acids to 70 depressed patients who had not been helped by drugs such as Prozac. After 12 weeks, 69 percent of the patients showed marked improvement compared with 25 percent given placebos.

These researchers found that omega-3 fatty acids, when fed to piglets, had the same effect on the brain as the antidepressant Prozac: The Omega-3 raised levels of a critical neurotransmitter, serotonin. Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated oils, which are found abundantly in seafood and especially salmon. This fish oil contains a fatty acid (DHA docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid EPA) with the most direct influence on brain development and function.

"The DHA is highly concentrated in the brain," Hibbeln told ABCNEWS, "and it's concentrated in the brain right where the neurons communicate with each other and all the signals pass back and forth." The DHA from omega-3 makes up the walls of neurons, Hibbeln said. "The body cannot manufacture DHA so it has to get it from our diet."

Omega 3 has also been found to fight and prevent heart disease, cancer, arthritis, alzheimer's disease, ulcers, diabetes, hyperactivity and other diseases. It also can increase your ability to concentrate as well as your energy level. Other forms of Omega-3 can be found in flaxseed, walnuts and a few other foods, but the most helpful form is found in fish. Omega-3 is natural and can be easily incorporated in your daily diet. It not only can relieve you of depression but can prevent heart disease, and a host of other ailments. This is a simply solution to depression and it is far less expensive then seeing a doctor, and far less hazardous to the massive side effects that you find in antidepressants.

A New Study Shows Antidepressant Drugs Are Only as Effective as a Placebo

2010-01-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

Antidepressants may only provide relief in extreme cases a recent study indicates, and they are no more effective for most patients than placebo pills according to a new study released this week by New York Times reporter Benedict Carey. Prior studies have painted a conflicting picture, since most studies have been pharmaceutical industry supported which have found the drugs reduced depression symptoms. A number of unpublished or buried studies show that antidepressants show no significant benefits over a placebo. This recent study also evaluated people who were considered to be more moderately depressed. The conflict in results with industry supported studies and unpublished studies may also indicate pharmaceutical industry tampering with the results from prior studies. Since these buried studies show antidepressants have no more effectiveness then a placebo then industry trial studies could be viewed as fraudulent.
The recent study was performed with government grants by a team of researchers, and psychologists. These psychologists also consult widely with drug makers. Media reports that the researchers were from the University of Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Colorado and Vanderbilt Universities. The group evaluated six large drug trials, including 728 men and women, about half of them with severe depression and half with more moderate symptoms. Three of the trials were of the SSRI Paxil by GlaxoSmithKline, and the other three were of imipramine a generic tricyclic classed drug. The researchers indicate that similar SSRI drugs like Prozac, and Lexapro would show similar results.
All the advertising in the world can’t beat a real study of a drug’s effectiveness. It is also possible that the prior studies were rigged to show antidepressants were effective. If this is the case then that is criminally fraudulent by pharmaceutical industry supported researchers and drug companies. These prior trials need to be investigated by State Attorney Generals for integrity and authenticity. There also needs to be more independent studies and no industry supported studies. There is clearly a conflict of interest with industry sponsored studies. Patients need to look at the many alternatives to antidepressants and we can add a placebo as a new alternative.

Finally some Government Sanity IowaPolitics.com Reports-Grassley Works for Disclosure of Drug Company Payments to Medical Groups Regardin Teen Screen

2009-12-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

Senator Grassley has asked 33 medical groups for information about the financial backing they get from the pharmaceutical, medical device and insurance industries.

“These organizations have a lot of influence over public policy, and people rely on their leadership. There’s a strong case for disclosure and the accountability that results,” Grassley said.

Grassley said his inquiry follows a review of industry support for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where he questioned the organization’s national office and state chapters. The Alliance subsequently adopted a new policy of publicly releasing industry support over $5,000. “It’d be good for the system if other organizations would follow NAMI’s lead in this area,” Grassley said.

For several years, Grassley has conducted extensive oversight and sought disclosure of financial ties with industry from research physicians, medical schools, medical journals, continuing medical education, and the patient advocacy community. He has worked to expose cases where there was vast disparity between drug-company payments received and reported by leading medical researchers. In response to Grassley’s work, the National Institutes of Health is working on new disclosure guidelines for federal grant recipients.

Grassley is also working for congressional passage of reform legislation he has sponsored with Senator Herb Kohl. Their bipartisan Physician Payments Sunshine Act would require annual public reporting by drug, device and biologic manufacturers of payments made to physicians nationwide.

“I’m interested in transparency,” Grassley said. “Letting the sun shine in and making information public is basic to building people’s confidence in medical research, education and the practice of medicine,” Grassley said.

This week, t he senator’s letters of inquiry were sent to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, the American Academy of Dermatology, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Surgeons, the American Dental Association, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association, the American Heart Association, the American Hospital Association Inc., the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, the American Society of Health–System Pharmacists, the American Society of Hypertension, Inc., the American Society of Nephrology, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, the Heart Rhythm Society, Mental Health America, NARSAD, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the North American Spine Society, Screening for Mental Health Inc., the National Center for Mental Checkups at Columbia University (TeenScreen), The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the American Cancer Society.

See here for the text of Sen. Grassley’s letter: http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=179090

Florida Psychiatrist Loses License for Having Sex With His Patient

2009-12-05T16:21:00.000-08:00

The Florida State Prison's former psychiatrist Emanuel John Falcone loses his medical license after having sex with a mentally ill patient in New York State. The former Dr. Falcone had supporters at the hearing, but the board unanimously voted to revoke his license. His license was revoked earlier in New York for having sex with the patient, but was hired by Florida Prisons at a salary of $188k even though he admitted to his interviewer of the New York case. His supporters spoke on his behalf that he should be able to practice seeing male patients only in a prison environment, and that his crime was not attributed to his BiPolar disorder. Apparently, this psychiatrist felt he could commit the offense in one State and then pick up and restart his practice in another.

Falcone told the New York bureau of prisons he never considered his interactions with the woman to be treatment or therapy. But the panel rejected that argument in permanently revoking his license in September 2008 for professional misconduct, gross and repeated incompetence and negligence and failing to maintain medical records. The
The Panel wrote: “He was too selfishly motivated and lost sight of his oath,” the panel said. “We saw no remorse, no humility, no sign that he understood the great harm that he caused despite his attempt to present a speech that was supposed to convince us otherwise.” The bureau found his actions toward the patient “predatory” and said he knew her illness left her vulnerable. “He eventually exploited that vulnerability for his own purpose and satisfaction.”

Here is a link to the Youtube Video of the Florida hearing from FloridaPsychNews: http://tinyurl.com/licenserevoked

Lack of Vitamin D Linked to Depression and Diseases of the Arteries

2009-11-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

The “sunshine vitamin” has been discussed before as a solution for better health, but it appears that heart disease and depression are now both linked to a lack of vitamin D. People with heart disease who don't have enough vitamin D are more likely to be depressed than their counterparts with adequate levels of the vitamin according to the American Heart Association. It appears to be even more apparent in the winter months. Vitamin D is produced by the body with just fifteen minutes of daily sunshine. It can also be found in fish, milk, and vitamin supplements.

In the first study reported by Reuters new service, Dr. Heidi May, PhD and her colleagues measured blood levels of vitamin D in 8,680 people age 50 or older who had been diagnosed with heart disease, stroke, or another type of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D levels above 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL) were considered normal, levels between 15 and 30 ng/mL were low, and those 15 ng/mL and below were deemed very low.
Among those with very low levels of vitamin D, 32 percent were depressed, as were 25 percent of the people with low levels, and 21 percent of those with normal levels. This trend was seen even among individuals with no history of depression with winter creating more pronounced results.

A second study by the same team of researchers found that people age 50 or older who lack vitamin D are at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke, and are more likely to die earlier than people the same age who get adequate amounts of the vitamin.
These studies add to the mounting evidence about the dangers of vitamin D deficiency and may also shed light on the connection between depression and cardiovascular disease.

We have indicated throughout that depression can be managed by natural cures and this helps validate it with scientific studies by the American Heart Association. Adequate exercise and sunshine alone can make dramatic changes to ones mood. The need for pharmaceutical drugs diminishes widely. These would be typical cures used in third world countries who survive more stressful lives of survival with natural cures and remedies. The western world idea of cures seems to always include a pill, which is more of a George Orwell 1984 solution. A pill remedy is not the green solution.

One Found Guilty and One a Suspect for Murder and both under Psychiatric Care and on Psychotropic Medication

2009-11-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

The Orlando Shooter Jason Rodriguez was on psychotropic medication, and Michele Kehoe found guilty of first degree murder for killing her son and has been on Paxil and other medications since 1996.
Jason Rodriguez was the gunman who killed one and injured five, police said, in a shooting this week in an Orlando Florida engineering office, where he was laid off two years ago. The shooting set off an intense manhunt Friday afternoon until the alleged gunman, Jason Rodriguez, 40, was arrested without incident at his mother’s Florida apartment building, police said.
Foxnews reported that Jason Rodriguez’s former mother-in-law told them that he was on medication that affected his mind. She said he acted paranoid, thinking people were out to get him. “He would imagine things sometimes,” his former mother-in-law said. “From what I understand they had him in a mental institution six months ago.”
In court testimony from The Gazette, Cedar Rapids Iowa, a psychiatrist Dr. William Logan testified last week that Michelle Kehoe suffered from major depression and post traumatic stress disorder, was obsessive compulsive and had suicidal tendencies. Kehoe was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and child endangerment causing serious injury, and was accused of slashing the throats of her sons Seth and Sean. Seth died from his injuries and Sean was injured but survived
Dr. Logan said in his opinion, Kehoe didn’t understand right and wrong when she killed son Seth, 2, and injured her other son Sean, 7, on Oct. 26, 2008. The jury felt otherwise. In 1996, Logan said. Kehoe had her first major experience with depression. She was prescribed Paxil for her symptoms. "She has been more or less under treatment since that episode," he said. Kehoe also attempted suicide in February 1999, when she went to a hotel and tried to cut her femoral artery in a bathtub. The wound clotted up and she sought treatment for her depression. She had a series of up to 44 electro-shock therapy treatments and went back on medication, Logan told jurors.
Logan said the post traumatic stress disorder developed after she drove her car off the road into the Iowa River with Seth and Sean. She told police and doctors she reached down to get a pacifier and went off the road, but admitted to Logan it was a suicide attempt, according to testimony. Logan, a defense witness, also admitted under cross-examination that Kehoe told other doctors that when her car went into the Iowa River in December 2007, it was an accident, not a suicide attempt. The jury this week found Michelle Kehoe guilty of murder, and that she new right from wrong.
This is another example of psychiatrists for the defense with one analysis and others for the prosecution having an opposite analysis on the same case. It is evidence that Psychiatry is not a science but opinion, and lack of consensus on how the mind works. The only idea they appear to agree on is to push psychotropic drugs and take no responsibility for the disastrous results. Every time you hear of news reports of mass killings or suicide you will find psychotropic drugs involved. The psychotropic drug aspects of these murders will not be broadcast by the media, and the government and FDA will take no action. The media needs the pharmaceutical advertising, so they will find other reasons for these murders and suicides except the obvious. The FDA is run by psychiatry and the pharmaceutical companies, and they are not even embarrassed by the results. The public needs to wake up and said enough is enough. There is an enormous amount of evidence which indicates that psychotropic drugs are directly related to aggressive behavior, and cause more depression then they will ever relieve.

Foster kids, psychotropic prescriptions- finally alarm

2009-10-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Foster Kids have been continually drugged by the social services system in Florida. There have been many articles highlighting this desperate saga where neglected kids get drugged and some have committed suicide while under the guidance of Florida Government Services. The Florida governments only solution is drugs, drugs, drugs…

This is a recent article by Fred Grimm of the MiamiHerald
Foster kids, prescriptions -- finally alarm

Gabriel Myers finally matters.

Too late for him -- the foster kid we addled with anti-depressants and anti-psychotics without quite knowing the effects drug cocktails might have on a 7-year-old.
One potential side effect of feeding Lexapro, Zyprexa and Symbyax to a 67-pound child became grotesquely obvious. Young Gabriel coiled a shower hose around his neck and hanged himself in the bathroom of his Miramar foster home.
Gabriel's death on April 15 roiled child advocates, critics of the pharmaceutical industry, the media. But this week, a child's suicide finally elicited a reaction where it matters.
``I tell you, we're going to do something. We're going to do a full-court press,'' said State Sen. Tony Hill, a Jacksonville Democrat, still shocked after members of the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee were briefed Wednesday by the Gabriel Myers Task Force.
UNACCEPTABLE
Committee Chair Rhonda Storms, a Valrico Republican, told reporters, ``I cannot accept or believe that a little child cannot be reached except by drugging him and drugging him and drugging him.''
The task force catalogued drug regimens for foster children that the FDA never approved for children. It described a system blighted by haphazard oversight. No one within the child-care bureaucracy took direct responsibility for the child's complex psychological needs. No one was looking out for a profoundly troubled child's best interest.
Hill railed that Gabriel's foster parents, schools, case workers and doctors hardly spoke to one another as his problems escalated. ``No communication,'' he said, his voice rising in anger.
No one acted as a parent. A vigilant, caring parent would have questioned a pharmaceutical solution to the little boy's behavior. Child advocate Andrea Moore read the task force report and worried that the doctors had responded more to bureaucratic needs of the system than the therapeutic needs of children. About 22 percent of the foster children aged 6 to 12, and a third of foster kids 13 to 17, are on psychiatric drugs. Such numbers, utterly out of whack with the general population, defy any explanation other than foster kids were to be transformed into compliant little zombies.
``We're going to find out,'' Hill promised, describing a bipartisan fury. ``We're going to find out why doctors are writing these prescriptions, and we're going to find out about the relationship between the doctors and drug companies.''
`MAJOR CHANGE'
Advocates like Moore have long complained that state foster care facilities administered psychotropics in lieu of providing real therapy. Five years ago, the Legislature passed supposed safeguards to rein in the pill madness. Obviously, they didn't work.
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies have been encouraging doctors to prescribe unapproved, off-label uses for their expensive, profitable drugs.
DCF has promised to revisit psychotropics regulations. Hill promised tough legislation. ``Major, major change is coming. The whole committee is behind this.'' He said drug companies ``can lobby all they want. They can't stop this.''
It took the death of a child to arouse the legislators. ``I admit, I didn't know this was going on before Gabriel,'' Hill said, using the boy's name to describe a tragic event. ``That should never have happened to a child.''
But now, hopefully, it matters.

Is Your Child Genius an ADHD Ritalin Candidate Also?

2009-10-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

Einstein, Newton, Edison, Beethoven, Caruso, and Churchill were all ADHD candidates. What would the world be like without them? Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and he didn’t read until he was seven. The instructors described him as mentally slow, unsociable and a dreamer. He was later expelled from school.
Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. Isaac Newton did very poorly in grade school while singer Enrico Caruso’s was informed he had no voice and couldn’t sing. Winston Churchill failed sixth grade, and Beethoven was awkward with the violin and preferred to compose instead of play. His instructor called him hopeless as a composer. If these world changing men were boys today they would be evaluated as ADHD candidates and subscribed Ritalin a schedule 2 drug similar to cocaine. Our pharmaceutically drug induced children have no chance to become the likes of these great men.

There is no single test for ADHD. In fact there is no scientific test at all for ADHD. It is entirely made up, by taking the most annoying habits of children and calling it a disease. It creates a market for pharmaceutical companies, and invoices for psychiatry. Please see adhdfraud.org and the book ADHD Fraud by Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD. Here are the symptoms of ADHD according to the drug pushers. ADHD is diagnosed after a child has shown six or more specific symptoms of inactivity and or hyperactivity on a regular basis for more than six months in more than two settings. The symptoms that can get your child diagnosed as ADHD are constant motion, fidgeting, not listening, difficulty paying attention, excessive talking, easily distracted, and not completing tasks. Virtually all children demonstrate behavior like these while growing up. Most Ritalin and ADHD diagnosis is prescribed to children 6 to 12 years.

The side effects of Ritalin according to the DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders,(Psychiatry’s owners manual) include stunting of growth, depression, insomnia, nervousness, skin rash, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, headaches, abdominal pain, blood pressure and pulse changes, and Tourette’s Syndrome which is a permanent and irreversible condition characterized by body tics, spasms, screaming obscenities, and barking sounds. The drug is under the same federal category as cocaine, opium and morphine, since it is such an addictive and dangerous drug. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe and include depression, fatigue, paranoia, increased dreaming, irritability, bedwetting and suicide. How could a mother provide a drug with these side effects to their child? How can the FDA approve of such a drug for children for a disease that is completely made up?

Where would we be without the Einstein’s, Newton’s, and Beethoven’s of the world and where is the world going today by subscribing so many as ADHD candidates? It is estimated that 90 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD will be prescribed Ritalin as part of their treatment. Prescriptions increased 450 percent from 1991 to 1995, climbing from a nationwide consumption of 4,000 pounds to 18,000 pounds annually, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This is a DEA statistic not an FDA statistic. That should tell you something alone. Why because it is a schedule 2 drug like cocaine and opium. Ritalin is made by the pharmaceutical company Novartis and it is the brand name for the drug methylphenidate. It's taken as tablets and takes effect after about four hours and a second dose and third dose maybe necessary every four hours throughout the day. As we have noted it is an addictive drug. Other similarly prescribed ADHD drugs are Dexedrine (dextro-amphetamine), Adderall (mixed dextro- and levo-amphetamine) and, Gradumet, and Desoxyn (which are methamphetamine which is basically speed or commonly called ‘ice”').

Since ADHD is simply fraud and the drug given to your child is simply “speed or ice” then the alternative is easy, don’t agree to the diagnosis. You’re the parent your in charge of your child’s health and welfare. The home remedy alternative is to reduce the sugar intake for your children and put them on a better protein and vegetable diet. You can assist them by getting them a tutor for school when they are having difficulty, or adding extra school time so they get the subject matter better. Children also need to be more active in sports or athletics which teaches concentration and team work. It also burns calories, and they can win at games which improves their well being. These simple steps alone can correct your child’s behavior. Drugs are not the answer and they will never be the answer.

Stop Foundation Inc. www.stoprx.org Stop Foundation Inc. was formed to make the public aware of the effects of psychotropic drugs. We have a wealth of information including books and many alternative remedies you can pursue. Please visit the website and donate today.

BigPharma’s Deceptive Plan to Include Everyone as a Antidepressant Candidate-Our Case study is Cymbalta by Eli Lilly

2009-09-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Firstly you need to know that Pharmaceutical company’s assessment is only a theory. They have no idea what causes depression. They have no scientific study or evidence that drugging someone will alleviate depression. Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) is FDA approved for depression and also for general anxiety disorder and management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. This is from a Cymbalta Ad “There are many theories about the cause of depression. One common theory is that depression is caused by an imbalance of naturally occurring substances in the brain and spinal cord”.
(that is correct it is FDA approved drug based on a theory).

A typical Ad for Cymbalta try’s to include anyone with any malady as a possible effect of depression. Here is a synopsis of how Cymbalta categorizes depression.
Major depressive disorder "depression" is a serious medical condition with a variety of symptoms (they are trying to generalize). Emotional symptoms can include sadness, loss of interest in things you once enjoyed, feelings of guilt or worthlessness, restlessness, and trouble concentrating or making decisions (this can include virtually anyone). Physical symptoms can include fatigue, lack of energy, and changes in weight (all humans) or sleep patterns (again any active person can get fatigued and lack energy). Additional symptoms of depression may include vague aches and pains (vague pains come on be serious, again generalizing), irritability, anxiety, and thoughts of death or suicide. Suicide is a known risk of depression and some other psychiatric disorders. (Here they indicate thoughts of suicide is a sign of depression, and also taking their drugs can cause suicide)
People with a family history of depression (They don’t know the cause or depressions but here they indicate depression can be genetic) may be more likely to get the disease, but anyone (including everyone here) can become depressed. Sometimes the triggers are external — for example, relationship troubles or financial problems (the planet is in a recession, that’s everyone here). At other times the disease may begin with physical illness or hormonal shifts (a normal woman’s hormonal change is depression according to Eli Lilly, how did the human race evolve). Depression also may occur without any identifiable trigger at all. (they admit here again they don’t know the cause)
The point we are trying to make is pharmaceutical companies in this case Eli Lilly-drug Cymbalta describes everyone as a candidate for their drug. Their entire plan is to put the human race on an antidepressant. Yet they have no scientific evidence for the cause of depression. Does that sound like a good plan for the human race? A placebo has been found to be as effective as antidepressants. Research the studies for yourself. In addition their drug can give children and young adults suicidal thoughts and actions.

Anti-Smoking Drugs Can Create Suicidal Thoughts and Aggressive Behavior

2009-09-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

In January of this year, David Collins killed himself with a shotgun just three months after he began taking Chantix (varenicline) a smoking cessation drug made by Pfizer. Linda Collins who is David Collins widow has filed a lawsuit in Indianapolis against Pfizer over Chantix (Champix in other countries) its side effects and its possible failure to provide warnings to users. Mr. Collins had no prior history of mental illness, but before his suicide Mr. Collins exhibited aggression and strange behavior. More details will be divulged once the lawsuit progresses and apparently increases in size (chantixsuicidelawsuits.com). The FDA had reported thirty nine suicides and nearly five hundred cases of suicide behavior or thoughts of suicide from the use of Chantix. These suicide behaviors regarding Chantix are similar to the black box warnings that all drug companies are compelled to divulge on their antidepressant labels. Just two months ago, the FDA required Chantix (varenicline) and Zyban to carry a black box warning due to side effects including depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal actions.
Zyban made by GlaxoSmithKline involves bupropion an antidepressant drug which acts as a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor and nicotinic antagonist. This drug is cross marketed as an antidepressant and smoking cessation drug. To our knowledge Chantix is not cross marketed as an antidepressant. But apparently Pfizer likes to cross market drugs legally or not. This week Pfizer settled with the Department of Justice for $2.3 billion, the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the DOJ. It resolved their criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of certain pharmaceutical products. Pfizer “off labeled” drugs for uses the FDA didn’t previously approve of. $1 billion was allocated to resolve allegations under the civil False Claims Act that Pfizer illegally promoted the drugs Bextra, Geodon an anti-psychotic drug, Zyvox, an antibiotic, and Lyrica, an anti-epileptic drug. What is worse is that Pfizer is a habitual criminal company since they have been found guilty before in a similar case.
Tony West the DOJ Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division was quoted by news releases, “Illegal conduct and fraud by pharmaceutical companies puts the public health at risk, corrupts medical decisions by health care providers, and costs the government billions of dollars”. Perhaps this massive fine will curtail Pfizer to some degree, but they will likely need at least three strikes. We think this is the beginning of more and more lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for cross labeling, inadequate tests and warnings, and drugs that create suicidal thoughts, and aggressive behavior. Consumers need to fully perform their due diligence before taking drugs which have clear controversial effects. Chantix and Zyban have a new warning that the drug can produce suicidal thoughts and behavior. Do you want to stop smoking or stop life?

The Orwellian Healthy Americans Act to Usher in New Police State in America

2009-08-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

The current Health Bill (House bill H.R. 3200) has mental health parity as part of its Health Plan. This parity is set to provide equal opportunity for non-science psychiatry to be equivalent to a medical doctor’s scientific opinion on health. Psychiatric patients are traditionally considered “cured” when their insurance benefits run out. In the upcoming bill “Healthy Americans Act, the compensation to psychiatry will not run out. All the psychiatrist has to do is forward their unscientific opinion on whether a patient is cured or not. The legislation is essentially a multi billion dollar taxpayer fund to psychiatrists. Psychiatry’s only remedy is mass psychotropic drugging. It used to be electric shock treatment, lobotomies, and straitjackets, but they found big allies with Pharmaceutical companies, the FDA and now Congress.
The Senate bill includes an early identification of development and behavior problems of children at risk. There are billions allocated for “treatment”, screening, crisis prevention, and counseling for psychiatric care. Most people will not visit a psychiatrist today, but in the future it could be mandatory for Americans starting with your child, who will then be lifetime clients of psychiatry and BigPharma. There is also funding for “interventions” for seniors. The days (1950’s) of the men in the white coats in an unmarked truck picking up your family member have returned. Grandma will return a month later all drugged up and “cured”.
Also, a new “paraprofessional child and adolescent mental health worker” is in the proposal. The legislation states that this is an individual who is not a mental or behavioral health service professional, but who works at the first stage of contact with children and families who are seeking mental or behavioral health services.” This would be known in the 40’s as Hitler youth informants for the psychiatric SS.
The House bill (H.R. 3200) includes an establishment of School Based Health Clinics for mental health assessment for teen screening, “treatment” (drugging), counseling, and emergency psychiatric care. The school psychiatrist treats, and drugs your child, and the parent has no say in the matter. Every parent should be mortified if this were to occur. It also includes all 374 diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). The originator of the DSM has confirmed that psychiatry has no effective treatment or cure for psychiatric disorders. Psychiatrists have been interviewed and have said the DSM is non-science without any scientific background to justify or validate such disorders as ADHD, sibling rivalry disorder, sexual orientation disturbance, and borderline personality disorder, Bi-Polar, mathematics disorder and other nonsense syndromes and disorders.
The bill essentially provides for unlimited mental health benefits. As there is no objective or medical test for psychiatric disorders, this is a virtual blank check to the mental health industry. It’s a bill so psychiatry can bill. These bills have George Orwell 1984 written all over them. There are enough made up syndromes and disorders to put all Americans on a drug, or an invoice. There is no wonder why Americans are angry over this proposal. Congress loves to include all pet projects, and assist campaign donors in their bills. These bills are a special interest bonanza.
We urge you to contact your congressperson (house.gov) and Senator (senate.gov) and ask that they remove all Mental Health Parity and Mental Health aspects from the bill. This is your time to act and stop a potential police state before it is too late.

Increase in Fatal Heart Attacks Found with use of Antidepressants, Creating a Lethal Pharmadrug Cocktail

2009-08-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

A recent study in Finland indicates fatal cardiac arrest was more likely attributed to antidepressants. Just this past May 2009 a study at the University of Oulu, Finland Jussi Honkola MD concluded that people who suffered fatal cardiac arrest were more likely to have taken antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs than those who survived.
The study shows that antidepressants adversely impact the survival of people with coronary heart disease. This can severely impact older people on heart medication and antidepressants. It creates a potential lethal prescription cocktail of multiple drugs with a fatal counter reaction.
Some high profile celebrities have shown a penchant for such a cocktail. Michael Jackson may be a victim of the deadly combination of heart medication and psychotropic drugs. The coroners report is still under review. Police found Xanax, Vicodin, Oxycontin, Valium and other medications in a raid on Jackson’s home. The same drugs as well as Restoril were found at Heath Ledger's hotel room. Anna Nicole Smith was found with over ten different combinations of prescription pills.
In a report from AARP in 2003 the average senior pays $1400/year in prescription drug costs with the drugs ranging from $570-$2200 per year depending on the drug and its use. In a separate report, the average number of prescriptions per person in the US in 1993 was seven. It has increased every year to fourteen prescriptions per person per year as of 2004. The US has clearly become a pill dependent society with the design that a drug cures all. A book by Greg Critser: Generation RX “How Prescription Drugs are Altering American lives, Minds and Bodies” outlines more on this story.
Prescriptions for seniors have been an enormous cash cow for the Pharmaceutical industry with hundreds of billions of dollars being spent annually. The Obama administration is pushing more psychotropic drugs in the upcoming health care bill. Most of this information you have not and will not hear via the media. President Obama has voted in favor of the pharmaceutical lobby in virtually all bills since he was a senator. If this health bill passes with the potential of increasing the insurance cost allowances of prescription drugs then more pharmdrug cocktails are in America’s future. The hope of the Health Care Bill “Healthy Americans Act” can shorten the life for many seniors, and could have a sobering effect on one's lifespan. Be careful what you vote for.

If Water-boarding is Perceived to be Torture then, What About The Current Use of Electric Shock Treatment?

2009-07-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

The U.S. prosecutor is considering torture investigation against the prior US Administration. There has been much debate and discourse regarding water-boarding as a possible means of torture, since it simulates drowning. Well, what about electric shock treatment? You may ask is electric shock treatment FDA approved, yes it is. It is called Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and currently in use for patients with severe depression among other uses, and it’s considered safe and effective by WebMD. In last years best picture Slumdog Millionaire, electric shock treatment was used as torture. But today ECT is in practice in the US, UK, Australia, and numerous other nations as a “medical treatment”.

The FDA is now looking at the manufacturers of the electric devises, since there is no current safety and efficacy data from manufacturers. This data they are now requesting would be the equivalent to the information the FDA requires for medical devices and drugs. Electric shock treatment has been in use since the 1930’s, but there isn’t any FDA oversight regarding the equipment which is appalling.

How is ECT applied? The patient is given a relaxant and put to sleep under an anesthesia. Electrodes are then placed on the scalp and an electric current is applied. It then causes a seizure (artificial epilepsy) to the brain. Proponents indicate it is misunderstood, and problems occur because of misuse of the equipment or training. According to reports the main side effect is memory loss. Psychiatrists indicate it is best used with antidepressants, but they contradict themselves since they indicate ECT should be used because of the lack of effects of antidepressants. ECT.org reported in 2000 in a leaked Scottish study that in addition to memory loss, other side effects are impaired speech and a potential vegetative coma. Of the 1300 patients in the study there was one that committed murder, one suicide, two died, and one is incontinent and paralyzed. Initial animal tests have suggested electric shocks could cause irreversible genetic changes. This is just a snapshot of the problems with electric shock treatment and the FDA hasn’t evaluated the manufacturers?

Electric shock appears to be in wide use at The Judge Rotenberg Center “School of Shock” a special needs school in Massachusetts. Their target market is the mentally disabled. It currently takes in children with dow syndrome, autism, bipolar disorder and those labeled emotionally disturbed. They attempt to alter their behavior with electric shock treatment to the body and limbs. There are no studies and none expected that the treatment has any positive effects. It is also a cash cow since the school charges $220,000 per student with the expense being picked up by States and school districts. The school has been under well deserved scrutiny for its use in electric shock, but it is still operating.

Back In 2005 The FDA approved another device that is surgically implanted into a patient’s body to treat depression. It was initially designed to treat epilepsy. It has been approved without data that it actually works at all for depression. The devise, VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulator) is implanted into the patient’s chest. Wires then pass up through the neck to the vagus nerve, and the device then delivers an electric shock through the nerve which in turn sends the electric shock to the base of the brain. And this is FDA approved! Over half of the patients in a VNS depression study have experienced hoarseness, difficulty breathing, nausea, excessive coughing and difficulty swallowing. In addition deaths have been reported in epileptic patients. Estimates indicate approximately 8000 patients have this VNS devise implanted.

If ECT and Vagus Nerve implants were given the attention of water-boarding then these procedures “torture” treatments would be outlawed on the public outcry alone. Most of the people we speak to believe electric shock treatment was a “treatment” of the past. It is currently in use to address depression and alcoholism. Many survivors has spoken out and written books stating they are lucky to be alive after ECT treatments. The memory loss can be very extreme with dementia like symptoms and people unable to work or maintain a simple normal life. If you feel ECT (electric shock) should be outlawed please sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/endecttorturenow and contact your Federal and State representative and express your views. They can be located via our site www.stoprx.org

Increased Suicide Rates in Military Personnel

2009-07-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

According to the Armed Service Reports, there was an average of five suicides attempts per day in 2008 or 2,100 attempted suicides, versus 350 suicide attempts in 2002. Most of these were failed suicides with 128 soldiers taking their own lives. In 2007 the Army listed 89 soldier deaths as suicides and this number will likely increase once all the data is in. The suicide rates in 2006 were 102, compared to 87 deaths in 2005. At the same time the Army indicates that in 2007 there was a seventeen percent increase in antidepressant and sleeping pill prescriptions for military personnel in combat.
The Army has indicated via news sources that longer tours of duty, estrangement from family, and their stressful situation play a role. We will not argue with the fact combat life is very difficult, but if you combine these factors with a fully trained soldier and the side effects of antidepressants such as: "anxiety, agitation, aggressiveness, hostility, insomnia, irritability, impulsivity, panic attacks, thoughts of suicide and mania" then the situation compounds itself. The Armed Services has created this new policy of prescribing antidepressants as a less expensive means to treat stressed out combat troops. It is far cheaper then to send troops home for R&R, shorter tours, and longer term counseling. The policy change is costing self inflicted losses.
There is certainly a direct connection between antidepressants and suicide. It is clearly written as the FDA “Black Box” warning on all of these psychotropic drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Effexor, and Lexapro have a suicide risk. There appears to be no connection that these drugs prevent suicide or relieve depression. Studies have shown that a placebo has the same effect as these medications. The drug companies advertise that depression is a chemical imbalance, yet that is exactly what these drugs do to the victim users. They alter the natural chemical balance of the person and the true long term effects of this alteration are unknown.
Based on the recent statistics the military suicide rates will increase if the policy remains the same. The Defense Department spends billions on equipment and technology perhaps it can spend a little more quality time with its troops and address their internal enemy within, the mind altering psychotropic drugs.

Legalized Drug Abuse-The Subscription Prescription

2009-06-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

If you visit a hospital psychiatrist invariable after a fifteen minute visit and answering a few questions you will be prescribed Zoloft or another brand name antidepressant. You will get a hefty bill for no effort and an ever increasing need for more of Bigpharma’s pills that kill. You will not even get counseling since that takes time and effort. Prescribing a pill is far less labor intensive and a greater bang for a hospitals buck. This is the new mainstream health care system run by pharmaceutical companies as the drug pusher. It's a system that will get you in and out fast and taking an expensive pill, which you will need daily or weekly. It's convenient, and a "subscription prescription" (like phone service or magazines). You will have to resubscribe your prescription. The pharmaceutical drug may not be addictive, but it has side effects, so you will need another drug. The whole drug scheme feeds itself.

There are millions of U.S. seniors taking psychotropic drugs, antidepressants, and Alzheimer's medicines. The number of seniors taking these drugs like Zyprexa has doubled since 1996. There has been an almost 75% increase for seniors and 50% for children during this period. It is more and more because doctors prescribe psychotropic drugs as the first and often only treatment, even when they're not the optimum solution (Read On the Take by Jerome P. Kassirer M.D). Increasingly, when you see your doctor and tell them that you are suffering stress related anxiety they will hand you a prescription of Prozac, Zyprexa, Effexor or whatever the drug the pharmaceutical representative is pushing that month. You would be better off opting instead to exercise and change your diet. Diet and exercise will improve depression naturally. In addition, the side effects of these drugs are appalling.

Typically side effects for the duration of your diagnosis from your fifteen minute visit are suicide, aggressive thoughts, erectile dysfunction, lactating breasts on men, insomnia, anxiety, nightmares, panic attacks, loss of taste and feel, feeling foggy or drugged out, more depressed, bleeding from the nose, nausea, headaches, weight gain just to name a few.

Now would you prefer diet and exercise instead? Stop and think about it. Your great grandparents and grandparents survived both World Wars, and provided a future for you and without taking one pill.

Just say No to Risperdal, It Causes Deformities

2009-06-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

Let’s take a look at one psychotropic drug and it’s side effects. Risperdal (risperidone) is an atypical antipsychotic, which may have contributed to the deaths of 31 children since its 1993 approval, according a New York Times article earlier this year. Of the 31 deaths 11 were treated for unapproved uses.
Risperdal is diagnosed for Schizophrenia, ADD and bi-polar disorder, Risperdal is used for “treatment”, but the side effects are putting people at serious risk. The major warning for elderly adults is increased mortality in elderly patients with dementia related psychosis. Hmm, Increased mortality now that is something that should indicate an alarm for the user. Some of the other side effects of this drug are anxiety somnolence, extrapyramidal symptoms(what?), dizziness, constipation, nausea, abdominal pain, rhinitis (nose irritation), rash, anxiety, diarrhea, weight gain, erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction, diabetes, obesity, lactation in women, and breasts in men and boys.
Now nobody wants any of these side effects for any pill for treatment, but for a man and boy to get breasts must be confusing and quite mortifying. A report from CBS news indicates a four year old boy using risperdal grew one breast which lactated, and the breasts had to be surgically removed. I think we would all experience a psychological disorder if we had a breast forming on our chest.
The more and more patients become aware of these drugs and effects and that the drugs cause the more we expect them to be considered ancient technology. Doctors used leeching and blistering to “heal” patients hundreds of years ago. We know the true knowledge and effects of these drugs will be known, and their so called “treatment” will be exposed. Making the choice to not take these dangerous these psychotropic drugs and to embrace natural remedies will prove to be the best choice. Patients need to know what you are putting in your body. Just say no to psychotropic RX

Florida-Court Case Regarding Psychiatrist Overmedicating a Disabled Boy

2009-05-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

CAROL MARBIN MILLER of the Miami-Herald reported recently that the mother of a disabled boy who died in 2007 has filed a wrongful death suit in Miami-Dade County against Dr. Steven Kaplin for overmedicating Denis Maltez, 12. The mother is outraged after her son committed suicide after taking a lethal cocktail of four mental health drugs: Seroquel and Zyprexa, both anti-psychotic medications; Depakote, an anti-seizure drug sometimes , which is used to stabilize moods, and Clonazepam, a tranquilizer.

We at Stoprx.org recognize this as another case of psychiatrists only solution to control a teenager is drugs. They add one drug after another to hopefully control or restrain the teenager. The continued overmedication of teens in the US is astounding. The psychiatric community should be embarrassed that more and more of these wrongful death, suicides, and mass murders are all taking place while they are assisting these teens to improve. It's a case of the insane helping the depressed.

We don’t see the improvement coming anytime soon. We see teens being perscribed more and more drugs, and needing more and more assistance with no solution or end in sight. When do you think BigPharma, and psychiatry will get the message that they have no idea what they are doing? Unfortunately it will be never. These Psychiatrists are the same doctors who used electric shock treatment, straight jackets, and lobotomies. Today they use pills, which have side effects causing suicide, mass murder or at best a need for another pill. Now they have President Obama and the US Congress working more on their behalf. The Mothers Act has been introduced three times already and has failed twice. The Mothers Act will enforce all pregnant mothers to see a psychiatrist during her pregnancy, which will be administered by her hospital. This will essentially place all infant Americans on antidepressants. This is George Orwell’s 1984 worst nightmare coming true. All Americans are under threat to be on BigPharma’s drugs from cradle to grave. These drugs don’t do anything but put someone into apathy, or on the front page as a campus mass murderer. The next generation of Americans has become a “new normal” a medicated generation.

We applaud Martha Quesada, the mother of 12-year-old Denis Maltez, filing of the wrongful death suit. We hope more and more of these lawsuits come to light, and more and more of the West become aware of just what these drugs are and are not.

FDA Should Recall all Antidepressants for their Hand in Deaths to Users

2009-05-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

"The FDA urges consumers to discontinue use of Hydroxycut products in order to avoid any undue risk. Adverse events are rare, but exist," said Dr. Linda Katz, interim chief medical officer in the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The FDA has received 23 reports of liver problems ranging from jaundice to damage that required a liver transplant, Katz said. One person died.
Hydroxycut is a diet supplement used by many to cut appetite and lose weight. Now the FDA recalls Hydroycut products because of one death from the product, yet thousands died from suicide and mass murder from the use of psychotropic antidepressants like Prozac, Paxal, Zoloft, and Exfexor yet these drugs are not recalled.
Perhaps cases like the probe in Plymouth County will shed more light the effects of these drugs. Lane Lambert of the Patriot Ledger wrote on Friday May, 1, 2009. The Plymouth County grand jury probe of Dr. Kayoko Kifuji came to light on Thursday, in court documents from the Suffolk County civil case. This is the case in the death of Rebecca Riley.
It’s not clear how long the grand jury has been examining Kifuji’s action. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Tim Cruz declined to confirm or deny whether a grand jury is investigating Kifuji. The former Tufts-New England Medical Center psychiatrist criminally liable for Rebecca Riley’s death, she could face involuntary-manslaughter charges. Rebecca’s parents, Michael and Carolyn Riley, will go on trial later this year on first-degree murder charges in the little girl’s overdose death at their Hull home in December 2006.
Conviction for involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, though Massachusetts sentences typically are 3 to 5 years. But legal experts say a criminal conviction would be highly unlikely for Kifuji. They indicate it will be a very hard case to make. Kifuji diagnosed Rebecca as bipolar with attention deficit disorder when she was 2½. Kifuji prescribed the powerful blood pressure medication Clonidine and anti-seizure drug Depakote. A medical examiner ruled that Rebecca died from an overdose of those drugs and over-the-counter cold medicine. Carolyn Riley says her daughter died of pneumonia, not the drugs. Kifuji voluntarily gave up her medical license in February 2007, after Rebecca’s parents were charged.
Court evidence of the grand jury investigation surfaced amid fresh legal action in both the civil and criminal cases. Recently, Kifuji’s lawyers asked a Suffolk County judge to postpone her deposition in the civil case indefinitely, and close the entire court record to the public. Kifuji’s attorney, Bruce Singal, said a deposition would force the doctor to claim her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself while the grand jury was looking at the case. But the judge denied both motions.
Ben Novotny, an attorney for Rebecca Riley’s estate, says Kifuji is scheduled to give her deposition on July 6, after the grand jury is finished. She was to have given the deposition May 1, 2009. For the deposition Novotny said Kifuji will be asked about “pretty much all her (medical) conduct,” starting with explaining the bipolar diagnosis. In the court document that mentions the grand jury, Singal says Kifuji “strenuously denies any allegations that her treatment of Rebecca was negligent, let alone criminal.”
We at Stop Foundation Inc are perplexed to find how any parent can condone the use of psychotropic drugs on a child who is 21/2 years old. It is also a wonder how the FDA chooses to recall Hydroxycut for one death when there are numerous deaths like that of Rebecca Riley for malpractice, and FDA malpractice in keeping dangerous drugs out of circulation. The three headed monster of BigPharma, the FDA and Psychiatry continues to march down Main Street like Godzilla reeking havoc wherever they roam.

An Alternative to Psychotropic Drugs

2009-04-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

Virtually every campus or company mass shooting involves the shooter taking an SSRI(selective re-uptake inhibitor) like Prozac, Zoloft, Exfexor, and Paxal among others. A lot of these shooters report that they feel like zombies and they want to get "off their meds". There is a book Prozac Backlash by Joseph Glenmullen which he talks about an aggressive effect when a person is taken "off their meds" abruptly. But the Columbine killers Klebold and Harris were clearly on medication.
These drugs, the huge pharmaceutical companies that make them, the doctor who prescribe them, and the government agencies who support questionable research but are suppose to be the "watchdog" are all guilty of creating a health and legal menace.
The effects of these drugs are well chronicled and are advertised as potentially causing adverse effects such as anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, hypomania, mania, and thoughts of suicide. We are certain nobody wishes to feel any of these effects, and what mother wishes to have their child feel this way.
Chiropractors have been studying and addressing the neurotransmitters of the body since the 50's when Dr. Palmer discovered that Chiropractors can correct abnormalities of the intellect as well as the body. During that period Judges would commit mental patients to Chiropractic Sanitarium, and they produces and much higher cure and discharge rate of release then their rival sanitariums.
Chiropractor practice is a drug free alternative solution to the mass murder effects of pharmaceutical. Before you even think of putting your child on a mind altering drug you should take the safe step and see a chiropractor and exercise a natural cure

To Move More Prescription Drugs, Sales Reps Sling Swag

2009-04-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

This is an article from the St. Petersburg Times which says it all. Doctors continually on the BigPharma take, and unethical sales representatives risking other peoples lives for a dollar. The end result is push the drugs and dosage even if the patient doesn’t need it. Do you still trust your doctor?

By Kris Hundley
St. Petersburg Times Sunday, April 5, 2009

A busy Panama City Fla. Physician had no problem leaving patients to stew in the waiting room while he listened to a pitch about Seroquel from a persistent saleswoman.
"Dr had 3 pat (patients) waiting and did sit down w (with) me," the rep wrote after a series of snubs at the front desk. "You never know what you will get w/dr b."
Every day, legions of drug reps troop into doctors' offices, then scoot back to their cars and enter notes about their encounters onto laptops or handheld devices. They include reminders about everything from medical questions to the doctor's new Nissan 350Z or his kid's Eagle Scout badge.
The notes are uploaded to a secure database at company headquarters and used by the drug rep, her partners and managers as the company refines its sales spiel.
Thanks to thousands of lawsuits pending against Seroquel, AstraZeneca's best-selling antipsychotic, hundreds of pages of call notes concerning several Florida doctors recently were made public. Though specific to Seroquel, the salespeople's notes reflect industry-wide practices. They give insights into what happens behind closed doors while patients cool their heels.
It's not a pretty picture, with sales reps laying on the swag and doctors complaining about late honoraria and angling to get on the AstraZeneca's "advisory board."
Company spokesman Tony Jewell said the drug maker's philosophy is that "any interaction with health care providers should be about providing information that helps them decide on the right medicines, for the right patients, at the right time."
But notes from pharma's emissaries reflect two different goals: Get the doctor to prescribe the drug. Then push him to boost the dosage.
A sales rep in Jacksonville was ecstatic when a nurse practitioner prescribed Seroquel at twice the dosage used by the psychiatrist in the same practice.
"Gave him goodies," the rep wrote. "Biggest user of Seroquel in the office!"
•
AstraZeneca's sales reps have worked wonders. Though approved only for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, relatively rare mental illnesses, Seroquel has been one of the world's best sellers. Last year sales reached $4.5 billion.
But Seroquel's widespread use for everything from insomnia to anxiety has also triggered lawsuits alleging the drug caused weight gain, diabetes and other health problems. AstraZeneca, a U.K.-based company, denies the charges, noting that the FDA has repeatedly upheld the safety of Seroquel.
It also has denied that its salespeople illegally promoted unapproved, or off-label, uses of the drugs to doctors. Reps "are trained to ensure that every product promotion discussion with (a) health care provider conforms to the FDA-approved prescribing information," Jewell said.
Company lawyers vigorously opposed unsealing sales reps' notes, saying they contained confidential, proprietary information. But at a recent hearing in Orlando's federal court, AstraZeneca agreed to release call notes from before January 2004, when Seroquel received FDA approval for bipolar mania.
Heavily redacted, the notes comprise what the company's commercial brand leader, Alfred Paulson, described as sales reps' "continuous conversation" with a half-dozen Florida health care providers who prescribed Seroquel to plaintiffs in pending lawsuits.
Depicting sales pitches, on which millions of dollars of revenue hinge, as simple "conversations" is an apt description for what, in the end, comes down to the chemistry between two people. Shahram Ahari, a drug rep for competitor Eli Lilly & Co. in 1999 and 2000, now lectures physicians on how to avoid being manipulated by well-trained marketing reps.
"As much as doctors want to think the relationship with a sales person is about the transfer of knowledge, it's the affinity between two people that's the big money-maker for the drug company," said Ahari, who is part of Pharmedout.org, a physician-education group in Washington, D.C. "That's why drug companies hire former cheerleaders and athletes as drug reps instead of scientists. It's a question of how gregarious and engaging you can be."
While AstraZeneca declined to comment on its employees' compensation, industry data shows drug reps earn an average of nearly $100,000 a year, including bonuses based on sales.
They learn sales techniques more often associated with door-to-door soliciting than medical offices. Doc too busy to see you? Send in several sales people, daily if necessary, until you get a sit-down. Show up on rainy days when patients cancel. And even highly paid physicians find it hard to resist a free lunch.
In 1999, Seroquel reps tried to waylay Dr. Maria Carmen Wilson, the Tampa neurologist, four times before hitting gold.
"We were able to speak to her at lunch that we brought for the office," a rep wrote.
Wilson moved from free food to free trips to medical meetings in Spain and Scotland. By early 2002, a drug rep noted that Wilson was using a "ton of Seroquel" for patients with migraines.
Wilson, who says she was surprised to learn that drug reps recorded their interactions with her, denies that she was ever a big Seroquel prescriber. Despite her initial hopes, she says the drug did not turn out to be effective against chronic headaches.
"I still use it in low doses for people with intractable insomnia," said Wilson, an associate professor at the University of South Florida. "But I make sure patients are acutely aware of the potential for weight gain, especially if they have a predisposition to diabetes."
Wilson says the industry-funded jaunts to Europe did not unduly influence her.
"I went because I want to be up-to-date and learn," she said of the seminars, which she did not report, as required, to USF officials. "But frankly, I'd prefer they were in Orlando."
•
The call notes show that massaging doctors' egos consumed an inordinate amount of a drug rep's time.
Saleswomen in Miami quickly honed in on psychiatrist Dr. Heriberto Cabada's need for extra schmoozing. "Would not pay attention, all about him," wrote one frustrated sales rep in 2001. So the line worker pulled in a "customer solutions" specialist who offered to redo the doc's patient history forms with a personalized logo.
She agreed to Cabada's demands for multiple revisions, "one side only and ... marbled type paper." More attention was funneled his way through a "preceptorship," in which a sales rep shadows the doctor for the day and pays for the honor.
In a few months, Cabada went from prescribing what he called "chicken dosages" of Seroquel to higher doses. Soon after his conversion, however, Cabada closed his practice and moved to Spain, where he now lives. He did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Drug reps are taught to use free samples as a strategic weapon: Parcel them out sparingly, even if there are box loads in the trunk.
"It makes the doctor even more grateful," said former Lilly rep Ahari. "And when he gives a freebie to the patient, the doctor feels like a hero."
Dribbling samples out in small caches, and requiring the doctor's signature each time, also gives the rep another chance at valuable face time.
"Samples are key to access," wrote a sales rep who was routinely brushed off by Dr. John Roy Billingsley in Panama City.
AstraZeneca said it has voluntarily banned many of its "reminder" giveaways to docs — free pens, pads and hand wash emblazoned with drug names. But the company declined to say how such changes have affected its spending on physicians.
Ahari said he doubts drug companies have pared back their marketing budgets. "The money going to influence physicians is exactly the same,'' he said.
"There's absolutely no enforcement of these voluntary guidelines. All the incentives are still in place to wine and dine doctors at Hooters if he needs to."
The reason: it works.
Case in point: Dr. Mohamed O. Saleh, a Jacksonville psychiatrist who was involved in early clinical studies of Seroquel. In 1998, he was telling AstraZeneca reps that their product wasn't effective and two years later he was still dodging salesmen.
By 2003, however, the rep was crowing that Saleh "really loves seroquel for elderly... said that he would — dose of 800 (mg) and even higher if necessary!"
Saleh and his nurse practitioner, Richard Daniel Malcolm, were wooed with everything from holiday treats ("Left pumpkin candy baskets ... put seroquel labels on them") to a video of Saleh for his use during a visit to Africa in 2002.
AstraZeneca also furnished Saleh with freebies for the trip. The payoff: the doctor told the drug rep he would put a picture on his Web site showing "African healthcare workers holding the Seroquel bags filled with (a text book) and pens/etc. Appreciated our support."
Saleh, who said in July that he is still receiving $10,000 to $15,000 a year as a speaker for Seroquel, seemed aware of the persuasive power of drug company payola. In October 2003, he told AstraZeneca reps that he was concerned about his nurse practitioner, who had taken a fishing trip with the Seroquel rep and was pushing for his own speaking gigs.
"Concerned about payments to Dan (Malcolm) and can be inducement for scripts b/c paying so much," wrote one of the two reps assigned to Saleh's office.
Malcolm joined Saleh's office in June 2001, four months after he was disciplined by the Florida Board of Medicine for pleading guilty to charges of domestic battery, driving with a suspended license and fraud in obtaining a medicinal drug.
Neither Saleh nor Malcolm returned calls or e-mails seeking comment.
•
When doctors complained that patients were ballooning up on Seroquel, sales reps often handed them a study by Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Michael J. Reinstein. Its startling message: "Use of S (Seroquel) to reduce weight and reduce risk," according to a salesman who visited Panama City's Billingsley.
Back at headquarters, however, company executives had serious questions about the validity of Reinstein's findings. "Our clinical colleagues have significant and numerous issues in the past with the quality of research that this group has produced," a note from Seroquel's brand manager said in 2001.
While sales reps were not allowed to explicitly promote Seroquel for anything other than schizophrenia prior to 2004, the notes reflect a not-so-subtle, broad-based push.
In early 2000, Billingsley's sales rep wrote, "S best in new Schizo's, kids, adolescents, bi-pols, blacks and asians."
Dr. Guido Nodal, Jr., a psychiatrist in Hialeah, at first was cautious about Seroquel, fearing potential links to cataracts. In late 2001, he told a male sales rep he would keep the drug in mind only for "smoking sciz pts."
Two months later, however, a female rep wrote that Nodal "LOVES SER. FOR ELDERLY." By year's end he had 15 nursing home patients on the drug. (Later the FDA made all antipsychotics warn that use in elderly with dementia could cause death.)
"Claims that he is switching patients from Risperdal to Seroquel at the nursing homes," a sales rep wrote in 2003. "Writing as much as he can to all patients."
Notes show that in the interim, Nodal received a textbook, mug, penlights ("Using lots"), payment for a preceptorship and dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. He denies the giveaways influenced his prescribing.
"If drug companies stopped marketing, I think prescribing (patterns) would be more or less the same as they are now,'' said Nodal, who said he tried to become a Seroquel speaker but was not accepted. "It didn't affect me at all."
Nodal closed his private practice last year and now works for the state's Department of Corrections in Florida City. The agency does not allow drug reps to lobby its physicians.

Harvard Psychiatrist thinks his senior is God

2009-03-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Harvard professor Joseph Biederman an apparently deranged Psychiatrist, among other coacademics are part of a lawsuit in New Jersey for failing to report consulting fees. He allegedly failed to fully report approximately $1.6 million in fees from a number of drugmakers from 2000 and 2007. The litigation in the Superior Court of New Jersey involves three drugmakers AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Johnson and Johnson's who are being sued in connection with risks associated with their antipsychotic medications.

"Full Professor" Beiderman's deposition contained a bizarre exchange. (From Informed Consent newsrelease)On page 47 of the deposition , Biederman is quizzed about his professional ranking at Harvard. He notes that his resume is used for academic promotions.

Lawyer: "What does that mean?"

Biederman: "To move in the ranks from one rank, for example, at Harvard, there is instructor, from instructor you move to assistant professor, from assistant professor you move to associate professor, from associate professsor you move to full professor."

Lawyer: "Full professor?"

Biederman: "Hm...mmm."

Lawyer: "What rank are you?"

Biederman: "Full professor."

Lawyer: "What's after that?"

Biederman: "God"

Lawyer: "Did you say God?"

Biederman: "Yeah."

It appears full professors of psychiatry at Harvard are next to God? According to Joseph Biederman he gets his orders from God and God is in agreement of drugging children with psychotropics? Hmm, What ever happened to we are made pure in God image? Then why would a child need a drug? We think "Full Professor" Joseph Biederman is more like "Son of Sam" and he is talking to the devil.

German Teen Prescribed Antidepressants Kills Fifteen in a Drug Rage

2009-03-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press confirms that Tim Kretschmer, 17 killed 16 people in Germany last week. In a story published across the Internet. Police investigator Siegfried Mahler states on the record that the shooter (Tim Kretschmer) "underwent several treatment sessions for depression at a psychiatric clinic" and was "prescribed a session of outpatient therapy, which he never began." Once again Antidepressants are at the base of a school shooting.

Thus, the shooter was on psychiatric medications and then quit using them. This created a classic antidepressant withdrawal crisis which is exactly what leads to extreme acts of violence against self or others. As Stoprx.org has reported in a previous story, virtually every school shooter that has taken place in the last two decades was carried out by those who either take psychiatric medications or are attempting to quit them. The deaths of the people killed in these school shootings rests solely on the shoulders of psychiatry, and the drug pushers of BigPharma.

"If we had known this in advance, we would have called him a prototype of a rampager," said Erwin Hetger, the chief of police in Baden-Württemberg, the southwestern German state where the crimes took place.

The fact of the matter is that psychotropic drugs create a prototype for mass murder. This is clearly evident from past cases where Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of Columbine High School killed 12, Cho Seung-Hui of Virginia Tech University killed 32 fellow students and faculty, Jeffrey Weise of Red lake Minnesota, and Pekka-Eric Auvinen of Finland both killed nine classmates.

Do you see a pattern here? While many in the media do not? The media will not report this since they are complicit in the crime of the murderous effects of these drugs, or they are benefiting in advertising revenue and sales. You will hear the guns are to blame, or parents, or video games. The truth is that antidepressants are the cause of these violent rampages, and suicide that occur worldwide. How many more of these incidents need to occur until people wake up to what is widely known about these deadly drugs. You can find more information on the effects of antidepressants at stoprx.org.

Suicide and Antidepressants, what is the connection?

2009-01-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

This subject has been debated over the last 10 yrs. or more, but we feel we need to keep the awareness of the effects of antidepressants alive. There have been recent suicides like that of Abraham Biggs using the Internet last November. The FDA has issued a Black box warning in 2004 for Pediatric Patients that are being treated with Antidepressant Medications. These were for prescriptions that they label as Major Depressive Disorders (MDD), although doctors can prescribe these drugs for other reasons outside of depression. The FDA black box warning is strictly for children, yet suicide thoughts have been found in adults also.

The FDA has noted, that the data does not clearly establish an association between the use of these drugs and increased suicidal thoughts or actions by pediatric patients. But it is not possible at this point to rule out that antidepressant don’t cause suicide.

Other independent studies found relative risks of suicidal behavior were highest among youths taking Luvox, Effexor and Paxil and lower risks among youths taking Celexa, Zoloft and Prozac. There are two FDA advisory panels who are considering whether the FDA should take action to include stronger warning labels on nine antidepressants linked to heightened suicidal tendencies among children.

There was an astounding study recently released in Sweden from 2006 where they found 52 percent of all suicides among women eighteen to eighty four were using antidepressants. The study of 377 women had filled a prescription for antidepressants within six months of their death. This is one of the most expansive studies regarding the span of age and suicides. We believe these numbers to be more reflective of the side effects of antidepressants. There are many desperate families at a loss to the reason they have lost their child to suicide. The focus should remain on these lethal psychotropic drugs. The more scrutiny, consternation, and attention paid to the effects of these drugs the more the truth become self evident.

Teenager commits suicide online with an overdose of antidepressants

2008-11-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

News organizations are reporting that Abraham Biggs committed suicide with an overdose of Benzodiazepine an antidepressant along with other drugs used to treat depression. According to sources Benzodiazepine can cause aggression and violent outbursts, particularly when they are combined with alcohol. Paradoxical reactions may occur in any individual on commencement of therapy and initial monitoring should take into account the risk of increases in anxiety or suicidal thoughts. Unfortunately, this drug did what it is prescribed to do “suicide thoughts”.

This global broadcast is an example of the effects of these mind altering drugs. It is an outrage that these drugs continually get prescribed and the results continually are the same, mass murder and suicide. You will probably get excuses from the three headed monster the FDA, Psychiatrists, and BigPharma that antidepressants should be accompanied by counseling. You will not get any of these three taking responsibility for the lethal nature of these drugs. These SSRI’s and antidepressants are over prescribed to children and young adults, and they are the cause many mass murders (Virginia Tech and Columbine), and numerous suicides.

This young man's life was abruptly ended by a lethal dose of drugs he should have never taken and never needed. There are endless natural options to depression. A simply organic diet and exercise will improve your health and outlook at the least. Once these drugs are approved by the FDA then physicians and psychiatrist's can prescribed them for almost any malady (ADHD, Bi-Polar, Depression etc.). There are numerous books which outline the gravity of this issue. You can read ADHD Fraud by Dr. Fred Baughman Jr., America Fooled by Timothy Scott, or On The Take by Jerome Kassirer. The more you are informed the better the judgments you can make for yourself and children.

National awareness of the effects of these drugs can bring change and save lives. Hopefully the shorten life of Abraham Biggs can provide a big impression to the awareness of these drugs effects and maybe save lives of future children and young adults.

Doctors on the Take

2008-11-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

Bigpharma is after big money, and they fund millions in grants to academia to do research and development of their drugs. Well do they pay your doctor too? There are a number of states and the District of Columbia which have disclosure laws for payments from drug companies to doctors. Those states are Minnesota, Vermont, West Virginia and Maine. A report by the New York Times "Psychiatrists earn more money from drug makers than doctors in any other specialty. For instance, the more psychiatrists have earned from drug makers, the more they have prescribed a new class of powerful medicines known as atypical anti-psychotics to children, for whom the drugs are especially risky and mostly unapproved." – From New York Times, June 27, 2007, Psychiatrists Top List in Drug Maker Gifts

A recent report by the Orlando Sentinel, Beginning in 2009, Eli Lilly will disclose payments of more than $500 to doctors for their roles as advisers and for speaking at educational seminars. In the future years, the company indicates they will expand the types of payments disclosed to include such things as travel, entertainment and gifts. Eli Lilly doesn’t intend to report payments in 2008 or earlier. A number of states were considering that drug companies should report payments and gift from $25 and above, but many drug companies were reluctant to comply. It is feared that Eli Lilly and other drug companies will still not comply with the compensation disclosure guidelines. There appears to be no government department willing or able to enforce it. This could be an attempt to prevent state and federal legislators to not pass a bill. Eli Lilly and other pharmaceutical companies can simply say they we are monitoring themselves. I believe they call that the fox minding the hen house. Supplying doctors with meals, hotels and travel expenses will not be part of this disclosure. It will be simply fees paid for speaking events and advisory roles.

Drug maker Schering-Plough, one of the largest drug companies in the world, has been outright bribing physicians to prescribe drugs and operate sham clinical trials. The doctors were paid” consulting fees” if the physician avoids using a competing drug. Doctors who prescribed the drug company's products and avoided competing drugs were paid "consulting fees" of tens of thousands of dollars. There was no real consulting, it just a fee paid to doctors to prescribe that companies drug. You the patient are getting scammed. What can you do about it? Well you can ask your doctor if they get paid to prescribe certain drugs for certain companies. Patients needs to be proactive in their care, and not be shy about why they of there child is being prescribed any drug.

Yesterday Tobacco companies were under scrutiny for their despicable practices, today its Banks and Wall Street who are under review for creating the current recession mess, and tomorrow maybe someone your government will look at BigPharma and their crimes to humanity. Someone has to report it since your media will not. There is a suitable book on this subject called On the Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health -by Jerome Kassirer

My sons story by Glenna Todovich

2008-10-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

Letter From Aaron's Mother - Glenna L. Todovich.
January 24, 2005

Aaron began on antidepressants at age 15 under the "care" of a pediatric psychiatrist. It's been so long ago, I can't remember the first SSRI he received. Over the course of ten (10) years and approximately
four (4) different psychiatrists, none of whom had the time to "TALK" to my son,
they would only see him for about ten (10) minutes and hand him anotherprescription.
Here is a list of antidepressants that I KNOW Aaron was on at one timeor another from age fifteen (15) until his death at the age of twenty-five (25).
There are also some meds I didn't know the name of, I just know that he carried
a backpack at one point, full of medications....HOW SAD IS THAT! The List:Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Luvox,Buspar,Serzone, Remeron (I think). He was also diagnosed with OCD at some point and put on RITALIN.The last one he was on EFFEXOR, the supposed "miracle" drug put him inthe hospital for two (2) weeks with:

Liver Dysfunction Aplastic Anemia Enlarged heart. My son was quite an intelligent young man, he graduated from YouthPerforming Arts School, a musician, he played piano, guitar, and saxophone. He attended Bellarmine College (now University) and graduated in 2000 with a BA degree; all the while working two part-time jobs and playing music. Over the years I saw his demeanor go on a roller coaster
ride depending on the Doctor's antidepressant of choice. Aaron told me finally that these medicines were destroying his brain (how strangely accurate was this). During about the last three (3) years of his life, he suffered several episodes where he would get totally off the meds and he even admitted himself to the psych ward of a local hospital at one point, he was there for a week (being treated with what else, more SSRI's). He went through an episode of "anorexia" quit eating and lost 60 lbs in two(2) months. The final straw was the Effexor episode, when he came out of the hospital and told me he was not going to take another anti-depressant.

Aaron had been off EFFEXOR for about six (6) months, but he complained that
he could no longer "think", carry on a conversation or enjoy himself with his friends.
He suffered paranoia episodes and he used to hold his head and plead,
please make the voices STOP.
He was obsessed with thoughts of suicide and on more than one occasion, he tried to off himself – HE TOLD ME. I tried to help him. I would talk to him every night on the phone, I didn't know what to do, where to go.
Then on Saturday November 7, 2003, we had lunch together and he had a strange FLAT, sad appearance on his face. He hugged me and I told him I loved him so much. On Sunday November 8, 2003, he tried to call me on my cell phone, I never got the call. My son disappeared. I searched for him for one (1) week. I prayed, I begged GOD to let me find him.
On Sunday, November 14, 2003 – I did find him. He had pulled his car into
a garage at some rental property we own and had gone to SLEEP.
He finally found his peace.

By Glenna L. Todovich Proud, Loving Mother of Aaron David Todovich

Mother’s Act could put all Americans on Antidepressants

2008-08-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

The MOTHER’S Act is named for Melanie Stokes, who committed suicide in 2001. She was undergoing postpartum psychiatric treatment with a myriad of drugs in addition to electroshock therapy. Apparently they still use electroshock treatment. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) brought this bill called the Mothers Act “Advancing America Priorities Act (S.3297) up before the recess in late July as part of the Coburn Omnibus Package. The bill’s lead sponsor is Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who has accepted more than $300,000 from pharmaceutical donors during the last election cycle. It is also co-sponsored by Senator Barak Obama (D-ILL), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) among others. The bill is designed to screen and treat pregnant and new mothers across the U.S. at risk for mental disorders. This could put virtually every mother and every child on anti-depressants (SSRI’s) in America (also see ssristories.com). Many of the groups backing the bill also receive funds from or have members working for pharmaceutical companies. The bill indicates the mothers must be “screened” for mental disorders during pregnancy. This ultimately could mean every mother would essentially have to see the “Psych” at a hospital during her pregnancy. The “Psych’s” who are fully backed by BigPharma could recommend every pregnant mother to take an antidepressant (SSRI) such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft etc. Presently almost 50% of all American’s are using some kind of prescription drug, and the most of these prescription drugs are antidepressants according to a recent report by the CDC (Center for Disease Control). BigPharma could have every American on one of their drugs.
According to Uniteforlife.org in January 2008, the New England Journal of Medicine published suppressed data from drug companies that proved antidepressants work no better than a placebo. Also data from the FDA MedWatch system, from 2004-2007, show an estimated 2,900 babies have died via spontaneous abortion because of SSRI antidepressants given to pregnant women. Studies demonstrate that antidepressants double spontaneous abortions and stillbirths and quintuple preterm births. Babies exposed to SSRIs in pregnancy have a six-fold increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), a potentially fatal lung problem. Nearly one third of women who take SSRIs during pregnancy have a baby who dies, is premature, or who has seizures. Your government is force feeding this atrocious bill to mothers and babies. Is this change you can believe in? This bill forebodes disaster to future generations. Please take action now and sign the petition below to stop this insanity. Humankind has had babies for 100’s of thousands of years without the need for drugs. Join us Stoprx.org and take action against the drug monopoly of your human rights.
Stop Foundation Inc. was formed to make the public aware of the effects of psychotropic drugs. We have a wealth of information including books and many alternative remedies you can pursue. Please review and sign the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act

Is Michael Savage right about autism diagnosis

2008-07-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

BigPharma the legal drug pusher

Michael Savage a popular national radio talk show host stood by his remarks saying that "there is no definitive medical diagnosis for autism” but it's an epidemic created by "greedy, corrupt medical/pharmaceutical establishment." It was during his July 16th broadcast that he stated “99 percent of the cases” were due to lax parenting and the kids needed to be told "don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot." Michael Savage remarks could be harsh, and many autistic parents differ in their opinion. Seems like the backlash is more towards Mr. Savage and conservatism and not about autism, the alarming increasing diagnosis, and BigPharma’s role.
Pharmaceutical companies have been increasing their market share in many areas. According to, Health, United States 2004 Almost half the U.S population uses some kind of subscription drug. The recent health data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics and dozens of other Federal health agencies, academic and professional health associations, and international health organizations. Another study by CNS Drugs has done a survey of doctors office visits and found the use of antidepressant pharmacotherapy had increased 147% (16 million to 40 million) from 1990-1998.
A recent article from CNN July 2007, According to a (CDC) government study antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. They're prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches. In its study, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at 2.4 billion drugs prescribed in visits to doctors and hospitals in 2005. Of those, 118 million were for antidepressants. High blood pressure drugs were the next most-common with 113 million prescriptions. Dr. Robert Goodman, an internist in New York City, says the real force behind skyrocketing antidepressant prescription rates is pharmaceutical marketing to doctors and to consumers. "You put those two together and you get a lot of prescriptions for antidepressants," he said. These are alarming numbers of people being diagnosed antidepressants.
Are Americans that depressed? Is the only remedy a pill? Has BigPharma found another means to diagnose and drug with autism? Certainly more research is necessary, but why are drugs the American solution? Drugging a child has got to be the last option for a parent There are many questions we should all be asking long before taking a prescribed drug. It should not be the quick and easy solution. It is not the solution in other countries like India, and China, where homeopathies are the prevailing solution. Is this nation depressed, with rising diabetes and heart disease? Is this is part of the American dream? Now doctors are increasingly subscribing drugs for autism. Department of Education annual reports to the US Congress from 1992-2000 Autism diagnosis increased 435% BigPharma, big money, and bye, bye America. Welcome to America the drug capital of the world.
Stop Foundation Inc. is a non profit organization and it was formed to inform people of better solutions to antidepressants, and the alarming effects of these drugs. The company can be reached on the web at www.stoprx.org

Resolution 2008-Internally Green

2007-12-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

You may think this title may be regarding an organic diet. It is much broader than that. There have been a number of recent murders linking antidepressants use in US and abroad in 2007. Many recall the mass murder at Virginia Tech where Cho Seung Hsi killed 32 fellow students and faculty in April. Media reports indicate he was using antidepressants. There is the Mall Shooter, Steve Hawkins who killed 8 and wounded 5 just before Christmas. It was reported by a number of news organizations that he was suicidal before the mass murder and he had been prescribed antidepressants. In November there was a rare school massacre in Finland where Pekka-Eric Auvinen was reportly on an SSRI seroxat More and more vivid evidence of the potential danger of these antidepressants as a cause of suicides, and mass murder. These incidents certainly terrorize the nation and the world, but the attention is on international terrorism and not pharmaceutical drug influenced terror. Is it not terror or just a teenager gone bad? Don't you think more scrutiny should be pointed at these drugs? Our political leaders are concentrated on world and state issues that will get votes, and the nation's attention passes quickly after a mall or school killing. I believe the most overlooked domestic and global issue of 2007 has been the link of mass murder, suicides, and antidepressants. The pharmaceutical ads always show a happy demeanor and smile of their (actor) users, but the victims parents of child suicide and murder victims are certainly not smiling. This is the time of year for personal change. I think we all should resolve to look closely at this link in 2008, and highlight the scrutiny of these drugs effects. There are many natural alternatives to antidepressants so one can resolve to be "internally green". You can find more information on this subject at www.stoprx.org and additional links via my site.