Judge Allows Zoloft Defense in CA Rape Case
A former southern California police detective and Iraq war veteran charged with rape will be allowed to argue that an over-prescription of antidepressants for...
Consumer Reports: Long-Term Benefits of ADHD Drugs Uncertain
Consumer Reports, looking at an analysis of more than 400 studies of ADHD medications, concludes that the apparent benefits of the drugs wear off...
Pa. Court Hears Arguments in Dismissed Risperdal Case
A lawyer for Pennsylvania urged seven justices of the Pa. Commonwealth Court yesterday to allow the state's case against Johnson & Johnson's subsidiary Janssen...
Benzos May Increase Cancer Risk
Researchers in Taiwan found in a retrospective analysis of data from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance systemĀ concerning 59,647 patients from 1996 to 2000 that...
Pennsylvania Court to Hear Appeal of Dismissed Risperdal Lawsuit
In 2002, Pennsylvania state investigator Allen Jones discovered improprieties that lead to a succession of multi-billion dollar awards and settlements against Johnson & Johnson...
Nonwhites Twice as Likely to Receive Injectable Antipsychotics
Research published in the Journal of Clinical PsychiatryĀ shows that of all 901 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia from July 2009 to June 2010 at a...
Med reduction notes
Alt Therapies for Bipolar
Alternative to Meds (Safe Harbor)
BenzoBuddies ā Benzo Withdrawal
Med Free or Working on It
Paxil Progress (SSRI withdrawal forum)
Surviving Antidepressants (help withdrawing from...
Is Psychiatry “Salvageable”?
A reader in the commentary here asked me if I think āpsychiatry is salvageable.ā This is a timely question that requires careful consideration.
First, Iāll...
Lowering the Threshold for Bipolar: “More Harm Than Good”
Researchers publishing in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry argue that broadening the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder would result in a greater increase in...
Differentiation of SSRI and Benzo Dependence/Withdrawal “Not Rational”
Researchers from the Cochrane Center and University of Copenhagen in Denmark, publishing in the May issue of Addiction, "explore the rationale for claiming that...
Utah Supreme Court Allows Lawsuit for Psychotropic-Induced Murder
Ruling that health care providers, while important, "are not entitled to an elevated status in tort law that would categorically immunize them from liability...
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...
Disconnect Between Antipsychotic Prescribing and Metabolic Screening
Despite American Diabetes Association and APA recommendations of glucose and lipid testing for all patients started on antipsychotics, there is a disconnect between prescribing...
Army to Study Use of Off-Label Meds for PTSD
The Army will launch a major research initiative next year on the effectiveness of commonly prescribed medication for PTSD. Speaking at the APA meeting...
Abbott to Pay $1.6 Billion for “Elder Abuse”, Off-Label Marketing
Abbott Laboratories has pled guilty to civil and criminal charges of illegally marketing Depakote for the control of agitation and aggression in elderly patients...
Antipsychotic Drugs and Relapse
Researchers from Germany, Greece and the U.S. reviewed the literature on relapse at 7 to 12 months following initiation of antipsychotic treatment. They conclude...
Benzos Quadruple the Risk of Suicide in Schizophrenia
Finnish researchers found that among 2,588 patients hospitalized for the first time with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, benzodiazepine use predicted almost 4x the rate...
DSM-5 Retreats from Some Controversial Diagnoses
The APA DSM-5 Development website announced today that "Psychosis Risk" and "Mixed Anxiety Depression" will not be included in the DSM-5 (apart from recommendations...
Baseline Lipid Monitoring with Antipsychotics “Disappointingly Low”
"Even in an academic setting with active discussions among psychiatrists regarding issues of metabolic risk ... baseline lipid monitoring is disappointingly low" according to...
AARP Joins Antipsychotic Lawsuit Against CA Nursing Home
The AARP has joined an "unprecedented class-action lawsuit" against a California nursing home accused of using antipsychotics without informed consent from residents or family...
Zoloft Causes Cells to Eat Themselves
Researchers at Princeton found that Zoloft accumulates in yeast cells, leading to curvature of the cellular membrane that triggers "autophagy," wherein cells eat themselves...
Diagnosis and Treatment Have Changed: Depression and Anxiety Have Not
Researchers investigating the state of mental health in Canadians from 1994 to 2008 found no change over time, but "the frequency of diagnosis and...
Call Me “The Doctor”
I seem to have generated unexpected ire with my biographical information. This deserves more than just a few lines in the reply section. When...
Antidepressants and the Eyes
Antidepressants can affect neurotransmitters involved in regulation of the iris, say researchers in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. In a study of Ā acute angle-closure...
Antidepressant Use Associated With Menstruation Disorders
In a study of 793 women taking antidepressants and 639 not taking them, researchers in Turkey found that menstruation disorders were significantly associated with...
