Rate of Antipsychotics in Foster Care Climbs
One in six adolescents were taking antipsychotic medications by the end of a five-year study of 686,000 children in foster care in 48 states....
Nursing Homes Shift Tactics on Dementia
As part of a series on the inappropriate use of antipsychotics in nursing homes, the Boston Globe explores alternative approaches, such as llama therapy,...
Pandora’s Box
This morning I remind myself to point my eyes forward. I tend to want to re-do the past and try to make bad things...
Most Cases of Tardive Dyskinesia are Permanent
Only one out eight patients, out of 108 with tardive dyskinesia, recovered from the disorder in an Emory University Movement Disorders Clinic study. The...
Long-Term Benzos Worsen Anxiety
Long-term use of benzodiazepines for anxiety remains a widespread, despite guidelines that recommend against it, according to a roundtable discussionĀ at the annual conference of...
Prescription Drugs May Cause One Third of All Birth Defects
Up to a third of all birth defects may be linked to prescription drugs, according to a review of the evidence published in The...
Benzos Fail to Prevent, May Increase PTSD
In a review of the evidence regarding benzodiazepines, researchers from the University of Michigan find that benzodiazepines used in the treatment of PTSD are...
Army Surgeon General’s Office Warns Against Benzodiazepines and Antipsychotics
The Army Medical Command has determined that benzodiazepines could worsen rather than reduce PTSD and lead to addiction. The April 10 policy memo also...
It’s Not Going To Get Better Soon
Iāve been thinking a lot about George Saslow since I came south to take a timeout and think. I miss him. A lot. Dr....
The Pipeline
Iām overwhelmed by the complicated multi-issue medical reform legislation being batted about. I feel hopeless that any such massive reform bill can survive the...
The New York Times Magazine Article on Antidepressants
In the Sunday New York Times Magazine, an article by Siddhartha Mukherjee entitled āPost-Prozac Nationā appeared. I eagerly read this article, wondering what position...
SSRIs: More Harm Than Good
Beginning with an "evolutionary analysis" and a review of serotonin's role in the body, researchers from Canada and the U.S. conduct a thorough review...
Fewer Antipsychotics, More Nurses Will Improve Care and Save Money in Nursing Homes
The Center for Medicare Advocacy advised yesterday that nursing facilities could realize huge savings by eliminating "inappropriate and life-threatening" antipsychotic drugs. The statement added...
Life for Psychiatrists after Reading Bob Whitaker: Let’s Take Back Substance Abuse Treatment
An astounding development is the explosion in the numbers of substance abusers being diagnosed with Bipolar. I teach a class in Substance Abuse at...
Publication Bias in Literature on Antidepressants for Autism
Researchers at the University of Michigan reviewed published and unpublished trials of serotonin receptor inhibitors (SRI) for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD)....
Schizophrenia Prevents Cancer; Antipsychotics May Cause It
In a review of all 59,233 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia in Sweden between 1965 and 2008, researchers from Sweden and the U.S. identified 6137...
Do Benzos Deserve a Major Role in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders?
Researchers at the University of Milan and King's College, London thoroughly reviewed the literature available on Medline and Cochrane regarding the use of benzodiazepines...
Antidepressants Keep GIs Fighting
MIA Blogger Bruce Levine talks with American Free Press about the increasing use of psychotropic medications in today's military.
ArticleĀ āĀ
Are ADHD Drugs Causing PTSD?
In an opinion piece in today's New York Times, Richard A. Friedman notes the increase of PTSD in the miliatary from .2% in 2002...
Post-Prozac Nation: The Science and History of Treating Depression
TheĀ Sunday New York Times MagazineĀ traces the history and controversy around serotonin, "imbalance theory," deep-brain stimulation and more; including references to Irving Kirsch and placebos,...
Blood Test for Depression Announced
Researchers testing the blood of 14 teenage subjects with major depressive disorder and 14 with no disorder for a set of candidate biomarkers from...
Sexual Side Effects of Medications in Young People
The effects of antidepressants and mood stabilizers on young people's psychosexual development receive little attention or research, says Kaitlin Bell Barnett (author of "Dosed:...
Federal Regulators Urge Cuts in Antipsychotics for Seniors
An Office of the Inspector General reportĀ says that nearly nine out of 10 prescriptions for antipsychotics given to Medicare beneficiaries are for unapproved uses....
American Woman
On Thursday, May 31, 2001, a woman whose name is known only to GlaxoSmithKline emailed the company:
"My name is... I was diagnosed with panic...
The Rotted Fruit
In the law if one falsehood is uncovered in sworn testimony, all of the statements made and the actions that follow are suspect. If...
