Benzodiazepine Use of 50% of Elderly Patients is Not Monitored
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) publication Psychiatric News has released an article about the recent British Medical Journal study finding strong links between long-term...
Consumer Reports Recommends Against Antipsychotics for Depression
Consumer Reports recommends against antipsychotic "augmentation therapy" for depression. The consumer watchdog magazine finds that the unproven efficacy, harmful side effects, availability of alternatives,...
“Special K” as Antidepressant: Short-term Gain; Long-term ?
Ketamine (known in social circles as "Special K") has been touted as a rapid-acting and "profound" treatment for depression. The Journal of Psychosocial Nursing...
Increased Risk of Preterm Birth in Women Taking Antidepressants
A detailed meta-analysis of the published research on women taking antidepressants during pregnancy finds that the rate of preterm birth is nearly doubled in the third...
Maternal Skin-to Skin Contact Affects Long-Term Development
Israeli researchers find that maternal skin-to-skin contact with pre-term infants are related to "dynamic cascades of child physiological regulation and parental provisions in shaping...
Not an Onion Study: Underpowered Analysis Of Poor Quality Data Finds Antipsychotics Actually Aren’t...
University of Groningen researchers analyzed only small, short-term clinical trials of generally poor quality to determine that antipsychotics are not linked to increased risk of death in elderly people with dementia.
Government Calls US Benzodiazepine Prescription Levels “Worrisome”
Despite the well-known risks of the drugs, especially for the elderly, prescription use of addictive benzodiazepine sedatives in the United States increases steadily with age, according to a large-scale study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Overall, as of 2008, 5.2% of American adults were taking the drugs. The study also showed that women were twice as likely to be taking benzodiazepines as men. National Institute of Mental Health director Thomas Insel called the findings "worrisome."
Risk of Cardiovascular Death Increased After Psychiatric Hospitalization
The rate of death due to heart-related problems is more than double the rate in the general population after psychiatric hospitalization.
Int’l Task Force Doesn’t Endorse Antidepressants for Bipolar
Noting a "striking incongruity between the wide use of and the weak evidence base for the efficacy and safety of antidepressant drugs in bipolar,"...
Antidepressants Not More Effective Than Therapy for Major Depression
A new study, published this week in BMJ, found no major differences in the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and antidepressants. When the researchers compared previous studies, they found no major differences in relapse rates or level of treatment response between those taking antidepressants and those undergoing CBT.
Appeals Court States Psychiatrists May Commit Medicaid Fraud by Prescribing Drugs Off-Label
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday rejected a lower court's dismissal of Watson v. King-Vassel, saying that a jury is in fact sufficiently able...
Public Citizen Criticizes FDA’s Draft Guidelines on Drug Risk Disclosures
In the wake of a major court decision, the US Food and Drug Administration has issued new guidelines for public comment, covering how pharmaceutical...
Antipsychotics are Common for the Mechanically Ventilated
Annals of Pharmacotherapy reports in a study of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation that 39% were given antipsychotic medication to prevent or treat delirium despite...
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 “Drug companies have turned into marketing machines. They’ve kind of...
“Global Pandemic” of Fake Medicines, Say Researchers
Teams of researchers from around the world, including from the US government, tested 17,000 drug samples and found that up to 41% failed to meet quality standards.
Elderly With Dementia can be Withdrawn From Antipsychotics
The Cochrane Library reports that "many older people with Alzheimer's dementia and NPS (neuropsychiatric symptoms) can be withdrawn from chronic antipsychotic medication without detrimental effects...
Shire Seeks to Overcome European Resistance to ADHD Medication
Bloomberg reports that "The European debut of a pill to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder faces a major hurdle: convincing people the...
“Janssen Accused of Withholding Data on Risperdal Side Effect in Autism”
MedPageToday reports that Janssen Pharmaceuticals omitted data from a 2003 study that connected Risperdal with serious side effects. Janssen was previously sued by the FDA for marketing Risperdal for off-label uses and settled for $2.2 billion in 2013. Earlier this year, a man with autism was awarded $2.5 million after growing breasts while on Risperdal. According to MedPage, documents from this latest case reveal missing data tables from a 2003 study “designed to ferret out potential adverse effects of long-term risperidone use.” The missing tables were related to elevated prolactin levels and side effects, including gynecomastia in men.
Louisiana Sues Pfizer Over Fraudulent Zoloft Marketing
The Attorney General of Louisiana has filed suit against Pfizer, Inc. for concealing "serious issues" regarding Zoloft's efficacy. Citing a "deliberate, systematic practice" of...
Antipsychotics Given to 68.3% of British With Learning Disabilities
Analysis of a survey of 104 provider organizations - representing 3,250 service users in September of 2013 - finds that over two-thirds of British...
J&J CEO Avoids Testimony in Philadelphia Risperdal Case
Chief executive Alex Gorsky was once proud enough of Risperdal to put its sales numbers on his resume, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer today,...
Members of FDA Advisory Committee Offer Perspectives on Flibanserin Approval in JAMA
In the September issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) three FDA advisory committee members describe the convergence of factors that made the committee’s recommendation to approve flibanserin especially challenging and politically charged.
Depression Screening Lacks Strong Evidence, Say Canadians
The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care has reversed its 2005 recommendations, finding methodological flaws, possible bias, and uncertain generalizability in a review...
Less-impaired Youth Using Antipsychotics with Other Medications More Often
Use of second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) alongside other medications is growing rapidly among youth who are less impaired, according to a study published online in...
Antidepressants Linked to Heart Arrhythmias
Researchers from the Mass General and Brigham & Women's Hospitals and the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine find, using data from electronic health records...
