Prescription Drugs in Great Lakes Don’t Dilute as Expected

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Concentrations of pharmaceuticals in Lake Michigan are undiluted two miles from treated sewage outfalls, according to research published in Chemosphere. Research has linked pharmaceuticals...

Psychiatrists Argue For More Attention to Iatrogenic Harms

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Psychiatrists argue that current practice fails to account for the interaction of biological, psychosocial and iatrogenic factors.

Positive Antidepressant Study “Misleading” and “Erroneous”

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An analysis of last year’s positive finding in The Lancet about antidepressant efficacy shows errors, obfuscations, and misrepresentations.
Picture of distressed man facing pills

What Helps Long-Term Users of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs Discontinue?

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Current long-term users of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs identify barriers and facilitators for discontinuation.

Cognitive Impairment from Long-Term Benzodiazepine Use Remains Even After Drug Withdrawal

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Long-term benzodiazepine use shown to effect cognitive function during current use and for years after drug discontinuation.

New FDA Study Shows Benzodiazepines Can Cause Long-Term Injury

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The FDA has finally acknowledged the adverse effects of benzodiazepines, the dangers of withdrawal, and that the current packaging does not sufficiently warn of these harms.

Researchers: Antidepressant Withdrawal, Not “Discontinuation Syndrome”

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Researchers suggest that the pharmaceutical industry had a vested interest in using the term “discontinuation” in order to hide the severity of physical dependence and withdrawal reactions many people experience from antidepressants.

Pentagon Was Warned Off Antipsychotic for PTSD

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Despite 2004 clinical guidelines issued by the Veterans' Administration that "there is insufficient evidence to recommend atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of PTSD,"  ...

Effects of Psychotropic Drugs on Developing Brains: Protocol

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Animal studies have raised concerns about SSRIs and ADHD stimulants inducing lasting abnormalities in the developing brain. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam are...

Reanalysis of STAR*D Study Suggests Overestimation of Antidepressant Efficacy

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Reanalysis of the original primary outcome measure in the STAR*D study suggests STAR*D findings inflate improvement on antidepressant medication and exclusion criteria in conventional clinical trials results in overestimation of antidepressant efficacy.

Withdrawal Symptoms Cloud Findings of Antidepressant “Relapse” Trial

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Leading researchers point out that a new antidepressant study in NEJM failed to account for withdrawal symptoms, casting doubt on the results.

Review Links Antipsychotics with Risk for Heart Attacks

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A systematic review published this week in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that patients taking antipsychotic drugs were at nearly twice the risk...

Antipsychotics Triple the Risk of Diabetes in Children and Youth

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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...

Reanalysis of Data Shows Antidepressant Impacts on Depression “Not Clinically Significant”

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Irving Kirsch and Joanna Moncrieff have reanalyzed the clinical trial data on antidepressants.

Pervasive Industry Influence in Healthcare Sector Harms Patients

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Experts across the globe point to the harms of drug companies’ influence on research, practice, and education in healthcare noting that it compromises patient care.

Antipsychotic Trials Show Increasing Placebo Response and Declining Drug Response

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A new review of antipsychotic trials conducted over the last 24 years finds that the placebo response rate is steadily increasing, and drug response is decreasing.

Are Antidepressants Weakening Women’s Bones?

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A study spanning two decades finds that antidepressant use is associated with a 44% increase in osteoporosis risk and a 62% higher chance of fractures.

Negative Antidepressant Trials Still Unlikely to Be Published

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Antidepressant trials with negative results are still more likely than not to either be misleadingly spun as positive or unpublished.

Prenatal Exposure to SSRIs Significantly Increases Autism & Developmental Delays

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Research on 966 mother-child pairs from the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study finds that prenatal SSRI exposure was nearly 3...

Animals Exposed to Antidepressants in Utero Are Worse at Taking Care of Their Own...

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A new study in rats found that those exposed to antidepressants in utero had an impaired ability to nurture their own children in later life.

Inappropriate Use of Antipsychotics on Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

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One-third of adults with an intellectual or developmental disability are dispensed antipsychotics, despite having no existing psychiatric diagnosis.

Interview: Researchers Deconstruct Ghostwritten Industry Trial for Antidepressant

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Researchers, Jon Jureidini, Jay Amsterdam and Leemon McHenry, have taken a closer look at the data from a randomized control trial of citalopram (Celexa) that was ghostwritten and then used by the manufacturers to support claims of the drug’s efficacy and safety in the treatment of child and adolescent depression. To get the background on this story, we connected with Dr. Leemon McHenry, an investigator in this study and a lecturer in philosophy at California State University, Northridge.
veteran suicides

Screening + Drug Treatment = Increase in Veteran Suicides

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For the past 15 years, the VA's suicide prevention efforts have focused on getting veterans screened and treated for psychiatric disorders, with antidepressants a first-line therapy. This effort has caused veteran suicide rates to steadily rise.

Flibanserin’s ‘Effects’ Do Not Outweigh Harms, Review Finds

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Despite concerns about the risk to benefit ratio, the FDA approved flibanserin (Addyi) to treat low female sexual desire in August. In a new...
Question mark inside a maze in the shape of human head.

New Study: The Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) Model Is Flawed

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The CHR-P model focuses on “attenuated psychosis” to predict “transition” to schizophrenia and ignores other factors. But new research shows that the model is a poor predictor.