āReport Finds Florida Foster Kids Put on Psychotropic Drugs Without Following Proper Proceduresā
After the 2009 suicide of a seven-year-old foster kid who had been on two āblack boxā medications intended for adults, Florida updated its policies to protect vulnerable children from over-prescription. Unfortunately, according to a report by Orlando Weekly, āfoster children are still being put on psychotropic medications without caregivers following proper procedures.ā
We Need to Stop Prescribing Antidepressants in Primary Care
In this op-ed forĀ Pulse, Des Spence argues the case for dramatically reducing antidepressant prescriptions, as antidepressants are often completely ineffective and unnecessary.
"Clearly psychological pain,...
The Road to Perdition
The recent research scandals out of the University of Minnesotaās Department of Psychiatry may be alarming, but they are not new. Back in the 1990s, when the university was working its way towards a crippling probation by the National Institutes of Health (for yet another episode of misconduct (this time in the Department of Surgery), the Department of Psychiatry hosted two spectacular cases of research wrongdoing, both of which resulted in faculty members being disqualified from conducting research by the FDA.
SSRI Does Not Improve Outcomes or Mood for Patients with Heart Failure
A study released this week in JAMA examined whether giving patients with chronic heart failure and depression the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram (Lexapro) for two...
Have Antidepressants Made Kids Emotionally Illiterate?
An article in the Wall Street Journal today explores the phenomenon of children growing up on antidepressants.
Article āĀ
Pathologising Infancy
I had an epiphany the day I first saw my son in a coffin after his suicide. The moments following his hanging himself were...
Psychotropics Contribute to Suicides Among Military Children
The Marine Corps Times writes of a dramatic increase in prescriptions of psychiatric medication for children of active-duty military personnell during their parents' deployment...
Are Antidepressants Enabling the Population to Tolerate the Intolerable?
Just how sad is our current state of affairs that it causes so much of the population to feel depressed and/or anxious? Just how much are these drugs changing the state ofĀ our society as a whole? Are the drugs desensitizing the population to the point that it will tolerate social conditions it would otherwise find intolerable?
Is Increasing Antidepressant Use Contributing to the Obesity Epidemic?
Since the 1980s, antidepressant use has risen by at least four-hundred percent and obesity rates have climbed to include thirty percent of the population....
Turmeric as Effective as Prozac, With no Side-Effects
A randomized, controlled study by the Department of Pharmacology of Government Medical College in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India found that in a study of 60...
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...
āFor One Condition, the Drugs Came Before the Disorderā
An investigative report in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel explores the pharmaceutical industries involvement in theĀ creation of the āmental illnessā known as Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder...
“What’s it Really Like to Take Antidepressants?”
Britain's HealthTalkOnline.org offers videotaped interviews with 36 people in their homes, talking about their decision to take antidepressants and the impact of that decision...
Winging it: Antidepressants and Plane Crashes
The crash last week of the Germanwings plane has shocked many. In view of the apparent mental health record of the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, questions have been asked about the screening policies of airlines. The focus has generally been on the conditions pilots may have or the arguments they might be having with partners or other situational factors that might make them unstable. Even when the issue of the medication a pilot may be taking is raised, it is in the context of policies that permit pilots to continue on drugs like antidepressants to ensure any underlying conditions are effectively treated. But fewer treatments in medicine are effective in this sense than people might think and even when effective they come with effects that need to be balanced against the likely effects of the underlying condition.
“The Rise of All-Purpose Antidepressants”
A short article in Scientific American Mind reviews the rapidly expanding array of diverse ailments and conditions for which antidepressant drugs are being prescribed.
"As...
Study 329: The Timelines
In addition to hosting the Panorama programs and The Famous Grouse history of Study 329,Ā Study329.orgĀ has a comprehensive timeline on the origins of concerns about the SSRIs and the risk of suicide, initially with Prozac and subsequently with Paxil/Seroxat. The hope is to provide a comprehensive repository for anyone who wants to study SSRIs, RCTs, and Study 329 in particular.
When the Cure is the Cause
FromĀ Undark Magazine: In late 1970, a pharmacologist discovered that an antibiotic drug designed to cureĀ a disease called SMON (subacute myelo-optic neuropathy) was actually causing...
Living Alone Nearly Doubles Antidepressant Use
Finnish researchers found that in a study of 3471 men and women, those living alone were almost twice as likely to use an antidepressant....
The Sedated Society: the Real Story of our Prescribing Epidemic
BBC 5 live ran a recent piece that aimed to explore why antidepressant prescriptions have doubled in the last ten years. Unfortunately, it failed to address the drivers of this epidemic ā industry-backed diagnostic inflation and the lax regulation of medicines.
The Most Promoted Drugs are Those with Little Therapeutic Value, Study Finds
Majority of top-selling and most promoted drugs in Canada are rated as having very limited safety and efficacy.
Exposure to Antidepressants in the Womb Linked to Autism
Researchers, publishing in Toxicology Research, review the evidence that antidepressant exposure in the womb is linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in humans.
Study Investigates Physicians’ Beliefs About Placebo and Nocebo Effects of Antidepressants
Surveyed doctors overestimate pharmacological effects of antidepressants and underestimate placebo effects.
Study Finds the Spice Curcumin Fights Depression
The study finds that curcumin may be as efficacious as antidepressant medications, particularly for atypical depression
āRisk of Off-Label Uses for Prescription Drugsā
The Wall Street Journal highlights a new study that found that off-label medications represent about 12% of drug prescriptions and are resulting in negative...
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...