VA Still Using Benzos for PTSD Despite Warnings
Military.com reports that doctors from the Department of Veterans' Affairs are continuing to prescribe tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax despite the VA's guidelines...
Antipsychotics and Drug Addiction
Dopamine supersensitivity as a result of sustained antipsychotic treatment can lead to compulsive drug seeking and drug-taking behavior, according to the theory offered by...
Self-regulation of Pharma Drug Advertising Failing in UK and Sweden
Pharmaceutical companies are regularly breaching industry codes of conduct in their promotion and advertising of their drugs in Europe.
Psychiatrist Asks Field to Drop Schizophrenia Classification
Dutch psychiatrist and epidemiologist, Jim van Os, has renewed his call to drop schizophrenia as a disease classification. “Several recent papers by different authors...
University of Minnesota Suspends Enrollment in Psychiatric Drug Trials
After a second critical report this month about its psychiatry department's ethical practices and conflicts of interest, the University of Minnesota has temporarily suspended enrollment in its psychiatric drug trials.
5,012 Englishwomen Poisoned Last Year by Benzos, 8,501 by SSRIs
Addiction Today reports "Attention on illicit drugs has deflected focus from the gigantic scale of harms by legal, prescribed drugs. We give you the...
NY Times: A.D.H.D. Experts Re-Evaluate Zeal for Drugs
Authors of a 1999 paper that promoted medication over behavioral therapy for A.D.H.D., in fact dismissing behavioral therapy as unnecessary in light of the apparent...
Previous Experiences with Treatments Influence Effectiveness of New Treatments
Previous experiences of treatments working or not working significantly influence the effectiveness of new treatments on clinical trial participants and patients, even in relation...
Eli Lilly Defeats “Bellwether” Cymbalta Withdrawal Lawsuit
The Federal jury hearing the first of 5000 claims against Eli Lilly for hiding the risks of withdrawal symptoms associated with Cymbalta found that Lilly did not...
Antipsychotics Triple the Risk of Diabetes in Children and Youth
Researchers from Vanderbilt and Columbia Universities and the FDA find that, through a retrospective cohort study of 28,858 patients of the Tennessee Medicaid program...
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...
Antidepressants Linked to Increased Risk of Preeclampsia in Pregnancy
Pregnant women taking antidepressant medications, especially during the second trimester, have an increased risk of preeclampsia, a potentially serious or even fatal condition.
Global Pharmaceutical Industry Fined $11 Billion in Three Years
Although the global pharmaceutical industry racked up $11 billion in fines in the last three years, "Companies might well view such fines as a...
Lawyers Review Claims for SSRI Birth Defects
As the number of SSRI birth defect lawsuits climbs to the point that hundreds are being consolidated in a massive class action in the...
Alberta Long-term Care Homes Reduce Antipsychotic Use by 50%
The provincial government health service of Alberta, Canada recently concluded a successful pilot project that reduced the use of antipsychotic medications for patients with...
White House Blocks Petition Seeking Investigation into Psychiatric Drugs and Violence
A petition on the White House web site which calls for an investigation into the link between psychiatric medication and violence has been blocked...
J&J Will Share Research Data, Yale University to Oversee Access
Yale University has agreed to screen access - with Johnson & Johnson's input - to detailed clinical trial data on the pharmaceutical giant's products. ...
Long-Term Social Supports Needed After Onset of Psychosis
New data on the effects of social support after early onset of psychosis suggests that patients with intense social support function better than those without such help, but than once supports are removed the effects diminish.
Non-English Language Journals: Unrecognized Contributors
A review in BMC Psychiatry concludes that "Non-English language general psychiatry journals contribute substantially to the body of research. However, recognition, and in particular...
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.
U.K. Antidepressant Prescriptions Rise 9% in 2011
Almost 50 million prescriptions for antidepressants were issued in the U.K. in 2011, a rise of 9% over 2010. The increase is attributed, at...
Supreme Court Blocks Generic Drug Liability Lawsuits
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that drug makers cannot be sued under state law for adverse reactions to...
Child Abuse/Psychosis Link Not Genetic
Although psychosis is more common in the parents of people with psychosis than those without, the difference cannot be attributed to genetics, research from...
Military Court Hears Arguments Re: Chantix-Related Murder Defense
Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces heard arguments on Tuesday for the defense of former Army paratrooper George D.B....
Strong Placebo Response to Antidepressants Forms Even Before Drug Trials Start
A strong placebo response is apparently more often caused by people's expectations coming into a randomized, blinded clinical trial, than it is caused by...
