Experts Call on Presidential Candidates to Improve Study Transparency
In an open letter to all US presidential candidates published Thursday in the BMJ, a group of global health care experts assert that current research regulations allow drug companies to publish incomplete and misleading results. They ask the candidates to declare whether they support improved transparency measures that would make data on drug studies publically available and open to scrutiny.
More Evidence That Antipsychotics Shrink the Brain
European researchers who reviewed 43 imaging studies of first-episode psychosis found evidence that antipsychotics cause a decrease in gray matter volumes in the brain....
Why Most Biomedical Findings Echoed by Newspapers Turn Out to be False
Researches in France and the United States found that seven of the top ten most reported-upon studies on ADHD in newspapers in the 1990s...
Pfizer Settles First of 2,600 Claims Regarding Chantix and Suicide
After failing to win a postponement earlier this week, Pfizer settled with the widow of Minnesota man who suicided while using the stop-smoking drug...
Top Docs Call Psych Diagnoses by Brain Scans “Modern Phrenology”
The Washington Post profiles Daniel Amen, "the most popular psychiatrist in America," who claims in copious books, DVDs, television and speaking engagements to be...
Janssen to Pay $11M for Failure to Warn of Topamax Birth Defects
A Philadelphia jury yesterday ordered Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen to pay $11 million to the parents of a five-year-old boy for failure to warn...
Antipsychotic Drug Use Among ADHD-Diagnosed Foster Care Youth Is Increasing
Research in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology finds that "Over the last two decades, the increased use of atypical antipsychotic medications, often...
One-quarter of Ohio-area Children With Down Syndrome Are Being Prescribed Psychotropics
The odds of a child with Downs Syndrome being on a psychotropic medication increase steadily with age.
Completely New Naming System for Psychotropic Drugs Proposed
A group of influential organizations are beginning an effort to change the entire way that psychiatric medications are named, according to a press release...
Connectedness at School Related to Students’ Emotional Health
New research highlights differences in levels of school connectedness among students diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders,
Pharma Execs Consider Fleeing China’s Corruption Crackdown
Business Week has run a Reuters Shanghai article recounting how increasing numbers of senior drug company executives are considering leaving China due to the...
Antipsychotics Not Helpful for Anorexia
A review of all research on the use of antipsychotics for the treatment of anorexia nervosa found no demonstrable efficacy in terms of body...
The Changing Face of NAMI
Pete Early, author of Crazy, traces the history of NAMI, including its "complicated love-hate relationship with Dr. E. Fuller Torrey" and shift from his...
Paternal Age Associated With Children’s Mental Health
A study in JAMA Psychiatry finds that the association between advanced paternal age and psychiatric and academic morbidity is stronger than previously estimated, and...
Australian Medical Journal Editor Fired, Others Resign Over Independence Concerns
The editor of the Australian Medical Association's journal was fired after he voiced concerns about changes that he felt endangered the journal's independence.
Antipsychotics Increase Mortality Risk in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease
A new study in JAMA Neurology finds that the use of antipsychotic drugs more than doubled the risk of death in patients with Parkinson’s...
Forest Labs’ Antidepressant Marketing Woes Continue
Forest Labs has been hit with a new lawsuit in Massachusetts, over misleading marketing of its antidepressant drugs Celexa and Lexapro to adolescents, even...
Osteoporosis Associated with Antipsychotic Treatment
Chinese researchers find, in a literature review for the International Journal of Endocrinology find an increased rate of osteoporosis among people with a schizophrenia...
The Coming Tsunami of Mental Health Care for ‘Boomers
A report released yesterday by the Institute of Medicine, at the request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says "at least...
Sudden Death of a Relative in Early Childhood Increases Risk of Psychotic Disorder
A team from Ireland, Finland and Sweden found, in a study of all those born in Helsinki in a 30-year period (1960 to 1990)...
Despite Official Recommendations, Young Children Are Still Receiving Drugs Instead of Therapy for ‘ADHD’
In 2011 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued guidelines recommending therapy over stimulant drugs as the primary treatment for children diagnosed with ‘ADHD.’ New research from the CDC reveals, however, that children between ages 2 and 5 are still being prescribed medications before receiving the recommended therapy or psychological services. Overall, the researchers found that 75% of these children are being prescribed “ADHD’ drugs while no more than 55% receive psychological treatments. Incredibly, among children on private insurances, the percentage of children receiving psychological services for ‘ADHD’ showed no increase following the 2011 recommendations.
All Charges Dropped Against Mom Who Refused to Allow Her Daughter to Be Taken,...
When police came to enforce a 2011 court order to remove her 13-year-old daughter Arianna, and medicate her, Maryann Golboldo stood her ground -...
FDA to Review Chantix’ Psychiatric Side Effects
The Food & Drug Administration announced today it will convene a public meeting in October to review the psychiatric and behavioral side effects of...
No Proven Treatments of Any Kind for Psychosis or Schizophrenia in Children or Youth
There are no proven treatments of any kind for children or adolescents experiencing psychosis or schizophrenia, according to a meta-analysis of randomized comparison trials published in PLOS One.
System Change Webinars: Promoting Radical Change
Starting on September 17, Mad in America will be offering a series of monthly webinars how to make changes in real-world programs that reflect the progressive reform agendas that embody a "green" revolution in mental health care. Enroll now!
