“Holding Big Pharma Accountable: Why Suing the Pharmaceutical Industry Isn’t Working”

3
Writing for the Huffington Post, Caroline Beaton looks into how drugs continue to make billions in sales even after they lose lawsuits for fraud and misconduct. “The persistence of Big Pharma's fraud despite ubiquitous legal action suggests that our present efforts to hold the industry accountable are ineffective,” Beaton writes. “New polices in motion will make potentially unsafe drugs even easier to bring to market and promote.”

SSRI Exposure in Pregnancy Alters Fetal Neurodevelopment

2
Alterations in gray matter and white matter development found in infants of mothers taking SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy.

British Medical Association Takes On Prescription Drug Dependence

4
Last year the British Medical Association (BMA) released a report on dependence and withdrawal from prescription drugs including benzodiazepines, z-drugs, opioids, and antidepressants. Now,...

Mental Health Treatments Top List of US Healthcare Spending

6
According to new research, the United States spends over 200 billion annually on treatment and hospitalization for mental health issues, exceeding spending on heart...

Mental Health Disability Claims Continue to Climb

17
According to new research by Joanna Moncrieff and Sebastião Viola, mental health problems have become the leading cause of disability claims in the UK. While the overall number of claims for other conditions has decreased by 35%, claims related to “mental disorders” have increased 103% since 1995.

Stimulant Medication Use Linked to Sharp Increase in BMI by Eighth Grade

17
New evidence suggests that children on ADHD medication may have stunted growth initially but more rapid increases in body mass over time.

Study Finds ADHD Drugs Alter Developing Brain

10
A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The...

“Why You Should Stop Taking Your Antidepressants”

0
The New York Post reprints an excerpt on antidepressants from the latest book by MIA contributor, Kelly Brogan, MD, “A Mind of Your Own:...

“Why We Shouldn’t Trade a Weakened FDA for More Medical Research Funds”

1
Ed Silverman at STAT reports that Congress has linked increased research funding to “fast-track” approval procedures. “By linking the extra funds to speedier approvals,...

Researcher Critiques Misleading Media Coverage of Lancet Antidepressant Meta-Analysis

17
The BMJ’s clinical editor takes issue with uncritical media coverage of antidepressant network meta-analysis, outlining reporting missteps.

Professionals Push Back on Psychiatric Diagnostic Manual, Propose Alternatives

30
Criticisms of the DSM-5 spark alternative proposals and calls to reform diagnostic systems in the mental health field.

Mindfulness Therapy May Be More Effective Without Antidepressants

7
While an estimated 74-percent of patients diagnosed with major depression receive a prescription for an antidepressant, new research reveals that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)...

How Do Clients Solicit Medication Changes With Psychiatrists?

19
Researchers examine psychiatrist-client interactions and find that clients are often left with few opportunities to make explicit requests to change their medication regimen.

Many Psychiatric Patients Sent Home With Multiple Antipsychotics Against Guidelines

11
Despite the fact that clinical practice guidelines specifically recommend against the use of more than one antipsychotic at once, new research reveals that as...

Anticholinergic Medications Linked to Dementia Similar to Early Alzheimer’s

19
A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, investigates the effects of anticholinergic medications, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, on cognition in older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Rates of ADHD Diagnosis and Prescription of Stimulants Continue to Rise

15
Two new articles find that rates of ADHD diagnosis and stimulant prescription continue to rise all over the world.

New Research on Prenatal SSRI Exposure and Autism

10
Does maternal SSRI exposure increase the chances that a child will develop characteristics associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?

Antidepressant use During Pregnancy may Increase Risk of Birth Defects

0
Use of antidepressants increased the risk of organ-specific malformations in women with depression

“Antipsychotic Medication for Children Could Have Lasting Effects, Research Suggests”

6
Neuroscientists have just released the results of a study on the long-term use of antipsychotic drugs in children. The growing brain adapts to the...

Race and Class Affect Teacher Perceptions of ADHD Medication Use

2
Study uncovers teachers’ attitudes surrounding ADHD medication use and examines the influence of race and social class on teacher beliefs.

Antidepressants During Pregnancy Do Not Appear To Reduce Relapses And Hospitalizations

5
Continuing to take antidepressants during pregnancy was associated with higher rates of depressive relapses and hospitalizations than discontinuing.

Antidepressant Use Does Not Prevent Suicide, Study Finds

6
A new study has found that antidepressants are ineffective for reducing suicide attempts. Researchers report that the risk of suicide is particularly high in the first month after starting an antidepressant.

Correction: No “Charges” Against Former FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg

0
Our headline on an Around the Web item posted on June 8 stating that the former head of the FDA, Margaret Hamburg, had been "charged"...

Still Mistreating the Elderly with Psychiatric Drugs: Antipsychotics

3
The percentage of seniors in the United States prescribed potentially deadly antipsychotic drugs increases with age. A new study reveals that in the face of serious risks of strokes, fractures, kidney injuries, and death, over seventy-five percent of seniors given antipsychotics do not have a diagnosis for a mental disorder.

Psychiatry’s Thalidomide Moment

11
The authors of Study 329 began recruiting adolescents for a comparative study of Paxil, imipramine and placebo in 1994 and finished their investigations in 1997. They dropped a large number of their original cohort, so the randomness element in the study must be open to question. Late in 1998, SmithKline Beecham, the marketers of Paxil, acknowledged in an internal document that the study had shown that Paxil didn’t work for adolescents in terms of the two primary and six secondary outcomes they had established at the start of the study. In a nutshell, Study 329 was negative for efficacy and positive for harm, contrary to their succinct upbeat conclusion.