Consumer Reports: Antipsychotics “Last Resort” for Anxiety, ADHD, Depression, Insomnia, and PTSD
Consumer Reports affirms that, though the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat conditions not approved by the Food and Drug Administration has increased significantly in the...
Custody of Justina Pelletier to Be Decided Tomorrow
The custody of Justina Pelletier, a Connecticut 15-year-old whose odyssey of diagnosis with "Somatoform Disorder" has trapped her in Boston Children's Hospital since last February, will...
Marijuana Causes “Schizophrenia-Like” Brain & Behavior Changes
Heavy pot users were found to have working-memory deficits and associated changes in brain morphology that were consistent with changes found in persons with...
ADHD Drugs Linked to Prolonged, Painful Erections
FDA regulators have updated the warning labels on methylphenidate products such as Ritalin, Focalin and Concerta to reflect reports of prolonged, painful erections (priapism)...
Childhood Bullying Linked to Psychosis
Research from the U.K. shows that involvement in bullying between the ages of 8 and 11, whether as victim or perpetrator, is linked to...
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Will Stop Paying Doctors to Promote Drugs
In a first for a major drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharma that was fined $3 billion for illegal marketing of Paxil and Wellbutrin,...
New Zealand Judge Rules That Abuse Can Cause Schizophrenia
A New Zealand judge has upheld the appeal of a sexual abuse survivor against a decision that sexual abuse cannot cause schizophrenia. Â The judge...
SSRIs Cause Epilepsy in Rats
Researchers from Australia find that chronic treatment with SSRIs significantly increases the rate of epileptogenesis in rats. Â Although SSRIs are commonly prescribed to people...
Risperdal Plaintiffs Ask Judge to Unseal Clinical Studies Data
Attorneys representing about 300 lawsuits alleging that Risperdal causes enlargement of breast tissue in men have asked a Pennsylvania judge to unseal relevant clinical...
ADHD Advocate Says ADHD Diagnosis Rates are a “Disaster”
The New York Times quotes Keith Connors, an early advocate to legitimize Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as saying that current rates of diagnosis and...
Mental Health Advocates Protest Congressional Mental Health Bill
Rep. Tim Murphy, a former psychologist, introduced the "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act" to congress today, a bill aimed at stopping violence...
Consumer Reports: Antipsychotics in Children Rises Despite Questions of Safety & Efficacy
Consumer Reports writes that the number of children prescribed antipsychotics has tripled over the last 10 to 15 years, despite a lack of evidence...
Pfizer Loses Appeal of Neurontin
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Pfizer's appeal of a $142 million award to the Kaiser Foundation for illegal marketing of Neurontin. Â The...
Sandra Steingard Article Questioning Psych Meds Published in WaPo
The Washington Post yesterday published an article by MIA blogger Sandra Steingard, titled "A Psychiatrist Thinks Some Patients are Better off Without Antipsychotic Drugs." In...
FDA Investigator: “The Clinical Trial System is Broken”
A featured article in the British Medical Journal relates the perspective of FDA investigator Thomas Marciniak, who says âDrug companies have turned into marketing machines. Theyâve kind of...
PsychRights Dismisses Watson v. King-Vassel, Medicaid Fraud Case
Counsel for ex rel Watson v. King-Vassel - Psychrights' latest effort to show that prescribing medication for children that is not supported by scientific evidence constitutes fraud...
Canadian Study Links Cannabis and Psychosis in Youth
The Cannabis and Psychosis Awareness Project, a four-year study from Canada that was released on Tuesday, finds that smoking marijuana - particularly heavy use in...
PA Court Affirms Dismissal of Paxil Wrongful Death Suit
A Pennsylvania Superior Court has affirmed a lower court's ruling that GlaxoSmithKline is not responsible for the congenital heart defect that lead Joanne Thomas...
Abilify Lawsuit Dismissed
LAW360 reports that a Pennsylvania federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit over a movement disorder attributed to Bristol-Myers' drug Abilify. Â The judge held that...
Childhood Stress Subtypes Predict Adult Psychiatric Subtypes
A review of the literature from 2001 to 2011 on child abuse, neglect, and psychiatric disorders finds that early life stress subtypes can predict...
J&J Asks to Keep Risperdal Studies Under Seal
Law 360 reports that Johnson & Johnson asked a Pennsylvania judge to keep a series of clinical studies related to the drug Risperdal under...
Murder/Suicide Lawsuit Blames Chantix
The widow of  Darwin Stout - who murdered their son and took his own life while taking the nicotine-cessation drug Chantix - has filed...
Leader in World Psychiatry Calls for Radical Change
- Incoming president of WPA questions medical model
- Focus should be on functioning, not symptoms
- Says psychiatry has much to apologize for
Increasing Mental Health Diagnoses of Youth, by Non-Psychiatrist MDs
The mental health care of young people has increased more rapidly than that of adults, and has coincided with increased psychotropic medication use, according...
Chairman of DSM-5 Task Force & Others Belatedly Admit Conflict of Interest Related to...
The authors of a paper that endorses a computerized test for depression have acknowledged failure to disclose joint ownership of a company formed to bring the test to...
