Yearly Archives: 2012
Increased Competition Drives Falsified Research
A ten-fold rise in retractions of scientific (in particular biomedical) papers over the past decade reflects a massive increase in competition for scarce funding...
Most Cases of Tardive Dyskinesia are Permanent
Only one out eight patients, out of 108 with tardive dyskinesia, recovered from the disorder in an Emory University Movement Disorders Clinic study. The...
Long-Term Benzos Worsen Anxiety
Long-term use of benzodiazepines for anxiety remains a widespread, despite guidelines that recommend against it, according to a roundtable discussionĀ at the annual conference of...
Intact Facial Affect Processing in Schizophrenia
In two separate studies (one replicating the other) of 102 people with schizophrenia diagnoses researchers from McGill, UCLA, CSU, UNC, Columbia and the VA...
Prescription Drugs May Cause One Third of All Birth Defects
Up to a third of all birth defects may be linked to prescription drugs, according to a review of the evidence published in The...
National Peer Certification
Health disparities between the seriously persistent mentally ill (SPMI) population and general population exist which are alarming (MHA, 2008).Ā A report issued by the...
Is the FDA violating its own mandate to approve safe drugs?
Is the Food and Drug Administration violating its own mandate to approve safe drugs? That was the question that Donald Light, co-author of The...
Jung’s First Dream, The Mad God Dionysus and a Madness Sanctuary called Diabasis
With a loud piercing cry, the bare chested Native American warrior hurled his tomahawk at John Weir Perry with full force. John told me...
Questions About Childhood Trauma And Schizophrenia Settled
In the first analysis of 30 years of studies, including 46 studies (selected from 27,000) involving 80,000 subjects, researchers in the U.K. and Australia...
Benzos Fail to Prevent, May Increase PTSD
In a review of the evidence regarding benzodiazepines, researchers from the University of Michigan find that benzodiazepines used in the treatment of PTSD are...
Army Surgeon General’s Office Warns Against Benzodiazepines and Antipsychotics
The Army Medical Command has determined that benzodiazepines could worsen rather than reduce PTSD and lead to addiction. The April 10 policy memo also...
It’s Not Going To Get Better Soon
Iāve been thinking a lot about George Saslow since I came south to take a timeout and think. I miss him. A lot. Dr....
Does Conflict of Interest Disclosure Worsen Bias?
The editors of PLoS Medicine examine the question of whether financial conflict of interest disclosures increase or decrease the problem of bias. Although "disclosure...
Little Lasting Benefit From ECT
The relapse rate after short-term ECT is high, according to a study in the Journal of ECT, "owing to resistance to medication in these...
Why I don’t do “med checks”
I don't do "med checks". What do I do?
The Pipeline
Iām overwhelmed by the complicated multi-issue medical reform legislation being batted about. I feel hopeless that any such massive reform bill can survive the...
The New York Times Magazine Article on Antidepressants
In the Sunday New York Times Magazine, an article by Siddhartha Mukherjee entitled āPost-Prozac Nationā appeared. I eagerly read this article, wondering what position...
SSRIs: More Harm Than Good
Beginning with an "evolutionary analysis" and a review of serotonin's role in the body, researchers from Canada and the U.S. conduct a thorough review...
Exposure to Violence Alters Children’s DNA, Life-Long Health
In a sample of 236 children recruited from the Environmental-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, researchers from Duke University and King's College London found that children...
The “I Am Not The Butcher” Speech
On Thursday I had an interaction with a psychologist where I basically said, "I am not sure I want to attend a workshop you...
Fewer Antipsychotics, More Nurses Will Improve Care and Save Money in Nursing Homes
The Center for Medicare Advocacy advised yesterday that nursing facilities could realize huge savings by eliminating "inappropriate and life-threatening" antipsychotic drugs. The statement added...
Life for Psychiatrists after Reading Bob Whitaker: Let’s Take Back Substance Abuse Treatment
An astounding development is the explosion in the numbers of substance abusers being diagnosed with Bipolar. I teach a class in Substance Abuse at...
Compulsory Hospitalization Does Not Improve Outcomes
Researchers in Israel followed 320 patients who had been admitted involuntarily with schizophrenia diagnoses. Ā 157 (49%) left the hospital against medical advice (AMA), and...
The Celebrated Cell Phones of Calaveras County
Calaveras County, CA is being honored for a novel hospital diversion program. By giving cell phones programmed to reach key supporters to repeat users...
Troubling Times
These are troubling times for me as a physician and as a psychiatrist. They were even more so before I ran awayā¦ excuse meā¦...
