Clozapine... agranulocytosis, cardiovascular, anticholinergic, and tardivedyskinesia) ... Use with caution in patients atrisk of seizures, including those with a history ...
www.metagenics.com/ADAM/41/030750.html
Medication Withdrawl and why you should never just stop your medication.
Neuroleptic use, parkinsonian symptoms, tardive dyskinesia, and associated factors in child and adolescent psychiatric patients. Richardson MA, et al.
Am J Psychiatry 1991 Oct;148(10):1322-8.
This study evaluated the rate of occurrence of drug-induced parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia in a cohort of 104 children and adolescents treated with antipsychotic drugs in a psychiatric hospital. Of the 104 children, 61 were found to have risk factors for the development of parkinsonism and 41 had risk factors for the development of tardive dyskinesia. Of the children with risk factors, 34% developed parkinsonism and 12% tardive dyskinesia. These data indicate a high rate of severe and disabling complications in neuroleptic-treated children and adolescents, indicating that these drugs should be given only when absolutely necessary and for the shortest period of time. http://www.garynull.com/Documents/Iatrogenic/latrogenic_psychiatry_children.htm
over Barack Obama's use of marijuana and cocaine as a teenager, a truly ... Letters Editor. The Globe and Mail. letters@globeandmail.ca. Dear Editor ...
London, Sunday 03.02.08 Danger drugs designed for schizophrenics used to calm children
Mischief making: But some GPs prescribe powerful tranquilisers (posed by model)
Thousands of children with behavioural problems are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs with dangerous side effects, doctors warn.
The powerful tranquillisers, designed to treat psychosis and schizophrenia in adults, are being used to calm children who are simply hyperactive.
Around 8,000 youngsters are taking anti- psychotics such as Risperdal and Zyprexa despite the fact that these have been linked to a host of health problems from diabetes to brain damage, BBC1's Panorama reports.
Although some are prescribed for schizophrenia and related conditions, many are given to children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioural problems.
Dr Tim Kendall, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said he knew of children as young as ten being given the schizophrenia drugs for unruly behaviour, sometimes for as long as five years.
He said that the drugs should be considered as a last resort in the treatment of hyperactivity.
And he added: "A generous understanding would be to say that doctors have reached a point where they don't know what else to offer and they haven't got the right supports to help parents in difficult circumstances.
"I think perhaps there is no real excuse for prescribing drugs which are associated with such severe side-effects."
The consultant psychiatrist, who is heading a team drawing up Government guidelines on the treatment of ADHD, said: "Everyone agrees that if there are alternatives we should be exploring these alternatives and looking at what psychological treatments can work and what helps the parents and the teachers."
The warnings come amid growing concern that ADHD is being diagnosed in children suffering from nothing more than natural boisterousness.
In March this year Dr Robert Spitzer, the U.S. psychiatrist who first identified the ADHD, admitted that up to a third of cases could have been misdiagnosed.
Tonight's Panorama also reveals disturbing evidence that other drugs, much more commonly used to treat ADHD, do not work in the long term.
A study in the U.S. suggests that while medication such as Ritalin and Concerta is effective initially, the effects wear off after three years of treatment.
The drugs, taken by around 55,000 British children at the cost to the NHS of £28million a year, stunt growth, the researchers discovered.
Many children take the controversial drugs for years at a time though they have also been linked to heart problems, dizziness and insomnia, and blamed for a string of deaths in the UK and abroad.
Researcher Professor William Pelham, of the University at Buffalo in New York state tracked the health and treatment of 600 children with ADHD for six years.
He warned: "They had a substantial decrease in their rate of growth, so they weren't growing as much as other kids in terms of their height and weight.
"In the short-run [medication] will help the child behave better, in the long-run, it won't. And that information should be made very clear to parents."
The makers of Concerta and Risperdal, Buckinghamshirebased Janssen-Cilag, said the drugs were "very valuable treatments".
Eli Lilly, the U.S.-based maker of Zyprexa, said it had never promoted the anti-psychotic for the treatment of ADHD and did not intend to do so.
The makers of Ritalin, Swissbased Novartis, were unable to comment last night. The Panorama programme will be shown on BBC1 at 8.30pm tonight.
Joshua Lourie was diagnosed at age 7 for ADHD, but his family believes the real problem was diabetes.
Janette at first refused to put her son on Ritalin, but that wasn't then end of the issue.
Sandra Fisman says 'There is a fashion around the diagnosis of ADHD. Sarah Stevens,
Sarah Stevens, W-FIVE
Updated: Sat. Mar. 17 2007 6:58 PM ET
When Joshua Lourie was seven, he started acting out in class. His school sent him for a psychological assessment and he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Not unusual, as estimates say that between 3 to 7 per cent of Canada's more than seven million children are diagnosed with ADHD.
Joshua's mother Janette says, "The school had suggested that I put him on Ritalin and this is when he was about the age of six, going on seven. They put a lot of pressure on me to take him to the doctor, get him on Ritalin." She refused, but that was not the end of it.
At 10, Joshua ended up being removed from her care and placed into a juvenile facility where he was given psychiatric medicines, not just ADHD medications but antidepressants, not approved by Health Canada for use in children under 18.
For the next 18 months he was bounced around from foster care to group homes, sometimes on as many as three different drugs at a time.
Joshua's grandfather, George Lourie, believes the reason for Joshua's problem behavior was not ADHD, but diabetes. Joshua's blood sugars were out of whack, and then he was prescribed Wellbutrin, a drug with potentially dangerous side-effects for diabetics and children. Joshua collapsed in a group home while he was on the drug.
Psychiatric diagnoses often lead to the prescription of medications, never tested in or approved for use by children. As children's bodies metabolize medication differently than adults, these off-label prescriptions can leave a child feeling, at best, like a zombie or at worst, lead to suicide.
Using data received from IMS Health Canada, an agency that tracks the use of prescription medications, W-FIVE discovered that in 2006, over one million prescriptions for ADHD medications, drugs like Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta, were written for children under the age of 18. And there were over 300,000 prescriptions filled for anti-depressants (SSRIs). Some people are increasingly worried about the sheer volume of these prescriptions.
Marty McKay, a psychologist who has treated and assessed children for over 30 years, believes that "Ninety per cent of children diagnosed as ADHD are misdiagnosed and drugged for no appropriate reason." She points the finger of misdiagnosis at the school system and the psychiatric industry.
Teachers, she believes, are not qualified to make these diagnoses, but do so regularly. They are in fact being asked to assess children through the use of psychiatric rating scales in which they check off behaviors. Check off too many behaviours and it can lead to a child being diagnosed as ADHD. The next step is to refer a child for psychological assessment, which McKay says, generally just rubber-stamps a teacher's diagnosis.
Ask Joshua Lourie who should take the blame and he will tell you it's the doctors and the psychiatrists who prescribe all that medication.
Dr. Sandra Fisman of the Ontario Psychiatric Association, surprisingly, doesn't disagree with Joshua's point of view. She says, "There is a fashion around the diagnosis of ADHD." In blaming careless diagnosis, Fisman explains, " What we may be looking at is a core group who actually have the disorder and then a halo around that." She believes it is a problem that the "halo", those who do not have the disorder, are diagnosed and in many cases medicated.FULL PAGE VIEW HOW PSYCHIATRY IS MAKING DRUG ADDICTS OUT OF AMERICA'S SCHOOL CHILDREN
CASE REPORTS
Adolescents on Neuroleptic Medication: Is This Population at Risk for Tardive Dyskinesia?
Stephanie A McDermid, HonBSc1, Jane Hood, PhD2, Sandra Bockus, RN3, Enzo D'Alessandro, MD, FRCPC4
Objective: To assess the incidence of tardive dyskinesia (TD) in a sample of adolescents treated with neuroleptic medication and to identify the presence of any risk factors for TD within the affected group.
Method: A retrospective chart review was conducted for 40 cases. The Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) was used to measure side effects from medication at 6-month intervals over 2 years. Drug exposure was converted to chlorpromazine (CPZ) equivalents and the presence of risk factors for TD, such as a diagnosis of affective disorder, medication noncompliance, early age of illness onset, and concomitant antiparkinsonian medication, was also noted.
Results: Of the 40 cases reviewed, 2 patients (5%) met diagnostic criteria for TD, and another 5 patients (12.5%) showed symptoms of TD.
Conclusions: TD is a serious risk at any age. Medication noncompliance, early age of illness onset, and concomitant use of antiparkinsonian medication may increase susceptibility to TD and should be carefully monitored.
Tardive dyskinesia (TD), a disorder of abnormal involuntary movements, is a rare but serious side effect of prolonged exposure to typical neuroleptic medication. Risk factors associated with TD include a diagnosis of affective disorder (1), an early age of onset of psychosis (1), medication noncompliance (2), and concomitant antiparkinsonian medication (3). The incidence of TD in adult samples is reported to be 5% after 1 year of neuroleptic treatment and increasing by 5% for each year of exposure (4). Relatively few studies have investigated the development of TD in children and adolescents. A prospective, longitudinal study of neuroleptic-related dyskinesias in children with autism estimated a 50% incidence of TD and withdrawal dyskinesias (WD) after 873 days (5). Additionally, Dorevitch and others reported a prevalence rate of 17.6% in their adolescent inpatient psychiatric ward (6). Given the increasing tendency to treat children and adolescents with neuroleptic medication as well as the paucity of research available for this group, it seems important to determine the incidence of TD in this younger population. C:\DocumentsandSettings\Main\Desktop\Aug2.htm
Is it a disease?
And what is the cause of the recent increase of senseless violence in our schools?
Who benefits from labeling kids with ADD? (Let's "follow the money"...)
We'd like you to watch a video by Dr. Fred Baughman. He will give you some very controversial information in this video. But first: Who is Dr. Fred Baughman?
Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD has been an adult & child neurologist, in private practice, for 35 years. Making "disease" diagnoses (real diseases like epilepsy, brain tumor, multiple sclerosis, etc.) or "no disease" diagnoses daily (emotional, psychological, psychiatric), he has discovered and described real, bona fide diseases.
Labels like ADHD, ADD, ODD, LD etc are in no sense true diseases. There are no reliable diagnostic methods. Psychiatrists cannot even agree among themselves about how to diagnose ADD/ ADHD. And your child needs to be put on a medication that is a close cousin to amphetamine because it is labeled with ADHD? Watch the video's by clicking on one of the links to the left.
WARNING: Below is a video that is not for the faint of heart or stomach.
The second video: "Psychiatry In Your Schools" contains footage and expert opinions by doctors and authorities on the cause of violence in our schools, if you have a child in a public school you need to spend the 12 minutes to watch the video. After you have seen the video, please read this incensed article by the Deputy Editorial Features Editor of The Wall Street Journal.
Psychiatry is in your childs School and its NOT in their best interest. Don't believe it? Watch this:
Although black box warnings weren't advised, FDA scrutiny of the safety of ADHD medications has raised alarms. William Barbaresi, M.D., answers questions about the safety of these commonly prescribed medications.
Before giving children neuroleptics, you should know of the serious side effects!! Neuroleptics WARNING!Growing evidence indicates that these drugs produce tardive psychoses that are irreversible and more severe than the patients' prior problems. In children, permanent behavioral or mental disorders frequently develop as a result of the drugs.
Shocking as it may seem, this brief review can only scratch the surface of neurological disorders associated with these drugs,
TD and its various related conditions are also known as "hyperkineticextrapyramidal syndromes" or EPS. The term EPS should be avoided, as it does not really "name" the disorder. Related conditions, which may also be caused by use of a DRA, include drug-induced parkinsonism; immediate reactions to DRAs, such as acute dystonia and acute akathisia; more delayed syndromes, including tardive dystonia and tardive akathisia; and either acute or tardive withdrawal "emergent syndromes" in which symptoms appear when treatment with the drug is stopped; and neuroleptic malignant syndrome.
Health News Archive 265 - ADHD <<back to structure/function indexFDA Panel Urges Hallucination and Death Warning for Children's ADHD Drugs
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended in March 2006 that the FDA require drug makers to add information about a possible risk of hallucinations in children to the labels of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drugs.
The committee also urged the FDA to develop a consumer-friendly medication guide explaining to parents that they should talk to their child's doctor about stopping the medication should hallucinations occur. The panel said the "MedGuide" also should note that ADHD drugs may increase the risk of aggressive behavior, although that can be a component of the disorder itself. And the guide should note that the drugs might increase the risk of heart attack, stroke or sudden death in patients who have undiagnosed heart problems.
Current labeling for the ADHD drugs does not mention the possibility of hallucinations in patients who had no history of them and had taken the usual dose.
The most popular ADHD drugs include Adderall, Focalin, Concerta, Metadate, Methylin, Ritalin and Dexedrine.
The recommendations of this committee are non-binding on the FDA. Should the FDA approve any of these recommendations, it may take years before implementation of a warning on the labels or in the literature package for Doctors.Psychdata - Dedicated to exposing the fraud of psychiatry: June 2007
Washington, DC: As result of the marketing power the pharmaceutical industry obtained by spending tens of billions of dollars to gain influence over politicians in power, the FDA and the medical profession, American kids are being pumped full of the most powerful and dangerous psychiatric medications on the market, in drug cocktails that are literally killing them.
Neurologist Dr Fred Baughman, author of "The ADHD Fraud," calls the leadership of the psycho-pharm-government cartel (FDA, NIMH, White House New Freedom Commission on Mental Health) the biggest, most evil drug cartel in history. "At least the pusher of 'crack' on inner city streets does not come in a white coat," he says.
According Dr Baughman, kids have become "for-profit receptacles" for psychiatric drugs which will forever alter their brains and bodies. And its happening all across America he says, not by thousands but by tens of thousands.
Experts say, the drugging regime usually begins by doctors convincing parents that their children have attention deficit disorder, and the medications prescribed are the exact same drugs that street addicts call "speed." They include the amphetamines Adderall, Dexedrine, and methylphenidates such as Ritalin and Concerta.
FDA records show that, between 1999 and 2003, seventy-eight million prescriptions were written for ADHD drugs for children ranging in age from one to 18. A review of adverse events posted on the FDA web site reveals that, between January 2000 and June 30, 2005, there were nearly 1,000 reports of psychosis or mania possibly linked to ADHD drugs, with psychosis characterized by the inability to distinguish real and imaginary events.
"The most important finding of this review is that signs of psychosis or mania, particularly hallucinations, can occur in patients with no identifiable risk factors, at usual doses of any of the drugs used to treat ADHD," according to a March 3, 2006, memo penned by two members of the agency's ADHD psychiatric review team.
FDA records also show reports of 25 deaths in children and adults between 1999 and 2003, and 54 cases of serious cardiovascular problems, including stokes, heart attacks, hypertension, palpitations and arrhythmia. But according to Dr Baughman, in addition to the deaths cited by the FDA, the MedWatch database also contains 186 more deaths of persons using ADHD drugs for the period between 1990 and 2000.
Dr Grace Jackson, author of "Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A Guide for Informed Consent," says that "whether by ignorance or design, the FDA remains oblivious to the evidence-based limitations of ADHD drugs."
She notes that at least 40% of children fail to respond or tolerate stimulant therapy, "and about twice as many respond at least as well to non-pharmacological interventions."
"The link between stimulants, cardiovascular disease, and death," Dr Jackson reports, "is well documented but doctors and government regulators have refused to acknowledge the dangers associated with the drugs."
The long-term outcomes for kids on ADHD drugs, she says, show diminishing effects over time, including "artificial behavioral improvements" which end when the medication is withdrawn.
Because stimulant drugs cause insomnia, sleeping pills are now being fed to children to counteract the insomnia side effect. Medco Health Solutions, a managed-care firm, found an 85% increase in the use of sleeping pills among children between 2002 and 2004.
One of the world's leading authorities on psychiatric drugs, Dr Peter Breggin, founder of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology and the journal Ethical Human Sciences and Services, warns that all ADHD drugs can cause "a continuum of stimulation, which includes agitation and irritability, anger, hostility, disinhibition, hypomania and mania."
The activation syndrome, he says, was observed decades ago with the amphetamines like Adderall and Dexedrine, and methylphenidates such as Ritalin and Concerta.
As an unrecognized side effect to most doctors, the syndrome more often than not results feeding the kids more drugs. As a child's emotional control breaks down due to the stimulant effects, Dr Breggin says, mood stabilizers such as antiseizure medications and antipsychotics may be added to the mix. "Eventually," he states, "these kids end up on four or five psychiatric drugs all at once and toddlers are even being diagnosed with bipolar disorder."
The new generation of "atypical" antipsychotics, originally approved only to treat adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which include Zyprexa (Eli Lilly), Risperdal (Johnson & Johnson), Seroquel (AstraZeneca), Abilify (Bristol-Myers Squibb), Clozaril (Novartis) and Geodon (Pfizer), were not approved for any condition in children, but studies of Medicaid records and HMO databases found an alarming increase in the use of these drugs by kids, particularly for behavioral disorders such as ADHD, according to the spring 2006 issue of the Journal of Ambulatory Pediatrics.
Researchers led by Dr William Cooper at Vanderbilt University analyzed data on health care services rendered in the US and found that between 1995 and 2002, there were 5,762,193 outpatient visits where children between the ages of 2 and 18 were prescribed an antipsychotic.
The researchers explained that there had been no increase in mental disorders and noted that, "schizophrenia and psychosis accounted for only 13.5% of the total antipsychotic visits during the study period, so this diagnosis alone could not explain the increase."
A USA TODAY analysis of the FDA's adverse event reporting system between 2000 and 2004 found at least 45 deaths of kids where the "primary suspect" was an atypical and more than 1,300 reports of other serious side effects.
Dr Breggin has served as an expert witness in several cases that resulted in favorable verdicts for the plaintiffs in which Risperdal caused a condition known as tardive dyskinesia in children, when it was prescribed in attempt to control behaviors that were in fact caused by ADHD drugs.
He explains that tardive dyskinesia is a neurological movement disorder that is often mistaken for a mental illness because the symptoms are so "strange" and "bizarre." The abnormal movements, he says, can affect any muscle group in the body and impair the ability to speak, walk, breathe and swallow.
According to Dr Breggin, this serious disorder occurs at a cumulative rate of between 4% and 7% in otherwise healthy patients taking antipsychotics each year and after only a few years, 20% or more of patients will be afflicted.
The drug makers have apparently found ways to influence the prescribing habits of Canadian doctors, because the new antipsychotics are now being doled out in record numbers to Canadian children for behavior and mood problems, with a significant proportion for children under nine, according to new research from Canada.
On June 18, 2007, Sharon Kirkey of CanWest News reported that ninety-four per cent of 176 child psychiatrists in Canada surveyed are prescribing the antipsychotics for a variety of disorders and symptoms, including anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and "poor frustration tolerance," citing a study in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
Risperdal was the most commonly prescribed, followed by Zyprexa and Seroquel. The report said that a "surprising" number of the prescriptions were for the very young, with 12% written for children aged eight or under, including three-year-olds, and noted that none of the drugs has been officially approved for use in children in Canada.
Lilly, J&J and AstraZeneca are currently named as defendants in Medicaid fraud lawsuits related to the illegal off-label marketing of Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel, filed to recover money paid for patients' use the drugs, as well as the costs of medical care for patients injured by them.
In addition, investigations in several states have recently started looking into the behind-the-scenes financial relationships between the drug makers and some of the doctors who have been heavily involved in promoting the prescribing of the drugs for off-label uses.
"Ritalin: Child Abuse on Prescription?" Vernon ColemanJanuary 27 2006 at 11:34 AM
Vernon Coleman was breakfast TV's first doctor, has worked as a GP and in hospitals, and is the author of 90 books and writes articles.
Family doctors are these days frequently under pressure (usually from teachers and social workers who know nothing about drug therapy and probably understand nothing about the way the international drug industry operates) to prescribe the drug called Ritalin for children who are accused of behaving badly behaved, reported as not doing well at school and `diagnosed' as suffering from something called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (known as ADHD).
For several decades now Ritalin, and other amphetamine type drugs, have been prescribed for children diagnosed as suffering from various types of brain dysfunction and hyperactivity. (Other psychostimulants which have, at one time or another, been regarded as competitors to Ritalin have included Dexedrine).
In my view the first problem is that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (and other variations on the hyperactivity theme) is a rather vague diagnosis which is often leapt upon by teachers, social workers and parents to excuse and explain any unacceptable or uncontrollable behaviour.
Parents of children whose behaviour is in any way regarded as different or unusual are often encouraged to believe that their child is suffering from a disease for two simple reasons. First, it is more socially acceptable to give a child a pseudoscientific label than to have to admit that he or she may simply be badly behaved.
Second, when a child has been given a label it is possible to offer a treatment. Commonly it will be one, such as a drug, which offers someone a profit.
ADHD, which is also known as Attention Deficit Disorder (or ADD), hyperkinetic child syndrome, minimal brain damage, minimal brain dysfunction in children, minimal cerebral dysfunction and psycho-organic syndrome in children, is a remarkably non specific disorder. The symptoms which characterise the disorder may include: a chronic history of a short attention span, distractibility, emotional lability, impulsivity, moderate to severe hyperactivity, minor neurological signs and abnormal EEG. Learning may or may not be impaired.
Read that rather nonsensical list of symptoms carefully and you'll find that just about any child alive could probably be described as suffering from ADHD.
What child isn't impulsive occasionally? What child doesn't cry and laugh (that's what emotional lability means)? What child cannot be distracted?
One big worry I have is that Ritalin could be recommended for any child who seemed bored and restless or who exhibited unusual signs of intelligence or skill. Read the biographies of geniuses and you may wonder what we are doing to our current generation of most talented individuals.
`Is Ritalin a drug in search of a disease?' wrote one author, and it isn't difficult to see why.
First Used In The 1960s
Ritalin has been recommended as a treatment for functional behaviour problems since the 1960s. When CIBA first suggested this in 1961 they were turned down by the FDA but in 1963 approval was given for this use of the drug.
By 1966 the `experts' had come up with a definition of the sort of child for whom Ritalin could useful be prescribed. Children suffering from Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD), the first syndrome for which Ritalin was recommended, were defined as `children of near average, average or above average general intelligence with certain learning or behavioural disabilities ranging from mild to severe, which are associated with deviations of function of the central nervous system. These deviations may manifest themselves by various combinations of impairment in perception, conceptualization, language, memory and control of attention, impulse or motor function'.
Other symptoms which children might exhibit and which could be ascribed to MBD included: being sweet and even tempered, being cooperative and friendly, being gullible and easily led, being a light sleeper, being a heavy sleeper and so on and on.
Given that sort of list to work with it is difficult to think of a child who wouldn't benefit from Ritalin - though the official estimate seemed to be that only around 1 in 20 children were real MBD sufferers.
A Convenient Diagnosis
The bottom line is that it has become easy for social workers and teachers to define any children who misbehaves or doesn't learn `properly' as suffering from MBD or ADHD. Its a convenient diagnosis which excuses parents, teachers and social workers from responsibility or any sense of guilt. How can the parents or the teacher be accused of failing when the child is ill?
The head of the task force which identified and labelled MBD allegedly subsequently joined the company making Ritalin and produced their handbook for doctors on the condition. Commercially Ritalin and MBD became a huge success. By 1975 around a million children in the U.S. were diagnosed as suffering from MBD. Half of these were being given drugs and half of those on drugs were on Ritalin.
For the sake of completeness I should point out that Ritalin has not always been used exclusively in the treatment of badly behaved children.
When Dr Andrew Malleson wrote his book `Need Your Doctor Be So Useless' in 1973 he reported that the CIBA Pharmaceutical Company had suggested `to doctors the use of their habit forming drug Ritalin for `environmental depression' caused by `NOISE: a new social problem'.
Does Ritalin Work?
The next question which has to be asked is: `Does Ritalin work?'
Well, I'm afraid that I can't answer that question. And I honestly don't think anyone else can either. Novartis, the drug company which is now responsible for Ritalin in the UK, admits that `data on...efficacy of long term use of Ritalin are not complete'.
With one in twenty children said to be suffering from MBD (or ADHD or ADD or whatever else anyone wants to call it), with Ritalin having been on the market and used for this condition for over three decades, and with some experts saying that a million children a year are given Ritalin in the U.S. alone you might find this a trifle disappointing.
Just how long does it take to find out whether or not a drug works? Am I being horribly cynical in suggesting that it might be against the drug company's interests to find out whether or not Ritalin really works? After all, if long term studies found that Ritalin didn't work a very profitable drug would, presumably, lose some of its appeal.
Some research has been done. One five year study of hyperactive children who were given Ritalin at Montreal Children's Hospital found that the children did not differ in the long term from hyperactive children who were not given the drug. At least one investigator has reported that drugs like Ritalin may produce a deterioration in learning new skills at school and parents have reported that the symptoms of MBD have miraculously disappeared during school holidays.
The picture is confused by the fact that there may be a short term improvement in behaviour among children given Ritalin. But is this a real improvement? Or is the child simply drugged? Amphetamine type drugs reduce the variety of behaviour exhibited by children. A child taking Ritalin might have more focused behaviour. But although that might mean less disruption in the classroom does it really help the child? And should we give a child a powerful and potentially hazardous drug because they it keeps him quiet?
There is evidence suggesting that children who are genuinely hyperactive may have been poisoned by food additives or by lead breathed in from air polluted by petrol fumes. If this is so then is giving another potentially toxic drug really the answer to this problem?
Potentially Toxic
The next problem is that I believe that Ritalin can reasonably be described as potentially toxic. Ritalin has been described as `very safe' but for the record here is a list of some of the possible side effects which may be associated with Ritalin: nervousness, insomnia, decreased appetite, headache, drowsiness, dizziness, dyskinesia, blurring of vision, convulsions, muscle cramps, tics, Tourette's syndrome, toxic psychosis (some with visual and tactile hallucinations), transient depressed mood, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, dry mouth, tachycardia, palpitations, arrhythmias, changes in blood pressure and heart rate, angina pectoris, rash, pruritus, urticaria, fever, arthralgia, alopecia, thrombocytopenia purpura, exfoliative dermatitis, erythema multiforme, leucopenia, anaemia and minor retardation of growth during prolonged therapy in children.
Doctors who prescribe Ritalin, and who have the time and the inclination to read the warnings issued with the drug, will discover that Ritalin should not be given to patients suffering from marked anxiety, agitation or tension since it may aggravate these symptoms.
Ritalin is contraindicated in patients with tics, tics in siblings or a family history or diagnosis of Tourette's syndrome. It is also contraindicated in patients with severe angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmias, glaucoma, thyrotoxicosis, or known sensitivity to methylphenidate and it should be used cautiously in patients with hypertension (blood pressure should be monitored at appropriate intervals).
Ritalin should not be used in children under six years of age, should not be used as treatment for severe depression of either exogenous or endogenous origin and may exacerbate symptoms of behavioural disturbance and thought disorder if given to psychotic children.
The company selling it claims that although available clinical evidence indicates that treatment with Ritalin during childhood does not increase the likelihood of addiction chronic abuse of Ritalin can lead to marked tolerance and psychic dependence with varying degrees of abnormal behaviour.
Ritalin, it is warned, should be employed with caution in emotionally unstable patients, such as those with a history of drug dependence or alcoholism, because such patients may increase the dosage on their own initiative.
Ritalin should also be used with caution in patients with epilepsy since there may be an increase in seizure frequency.
And height and weight should be carefully monitored in children as prolonged therapy may result in growth retardation. (A child might lose several inches in possible height - though if treatment is stopped there is a generally a growth spurt). It is perhaps worth mentioning here my view that if a drug is powerful enough to retard growth it does not seem entirely unreasonable to suspect that the chances are high that it may be having other powerful effects upon and within the body.
Doctors are also warned that careful supervision is required during drug withdrawal, since depression as well as renewed overactivity can be unmasked. Long term follow up may be needed for some patients.
There have also been reports that children have committed suicide after drug withdrawal. And one study has shown that children who are treated with stimulants alone had higher arrest records and were more likely to be institutionalised.
Long term use of Ritalin has been said to cause irritability and hyperactivity (these are, you may remember, the problems for which the drug is often prescribed). In a study published in Psychiatric Research and entitled Cortical Atrophy in Young Adults With A History of Hyperactivity brain atrophy was reported in more than half of 24 adults treated with psychostimulants (though I don't think anyone can say for sure whether or not the psychostimulants caused the brain atrophy the possible link should make prescribers, teachers and parents who are fans of Ritalin stop and think for a moment).
In Johannesburg a study of 14 children is said to have produced a response in only 2 children. One child showed some deterioration and another showed marked deterioration.
The final insult is, surely, the fact that the company selling Ritalin tells doctors that `Data on safety and efficacy of long term use of Ritalin are not complete.' For this reason they recommend that patients requiring long term therapy should be monitored carefully with periodic complete and differential blood counts, and platelet counts.
I regard this as an insult because Ritalin is not a new drug.
I have not, at the time of writing this, been able to find out exactly when it was first introduced but I have been able to trace it back to 1961.
Now, maybe I'm being rather demanding but it does seem to me that when a drug has been on the market for well over a quarter of a century it isn't entirely unreasonable for the drug company involved to have completed studying the data on whether or not it works and is safe.
Cancer In Mice
When early safety tests were done on mice researchers found that the drug caused an increased in hepatocellular adenomas and, in male mice only, an increase in hepatoblastomas (described as `a relatively rare rodent malignant tumour type').
`The significance of these results to humans is unknown' say Novartis, the company selling Ritalin.
Here, once again, is yet more proof of the total worthlessness of animal experiments and the ruthless and cynical attitude shown by drug companies and those government departments which allegedly exist to protect the public from unsafe drugs.
I have frequently argued that when drug companies perform pre clinical tests on animals they do so knowing that if the tests show that a drug doesn't cause any problems when given to animals they can use the results to help convince the authorities that the drug is safe.
On the other hand when a drug does cause a problem when given to animals the results can be ignored on the grounds that `the significance of these results to humans is unknown'.
The question here is a very simple one: if the experiments on mice which showed that Ritalin causes cancer were of value why is the drug still available on prescription for children? And if the experiments can safely be ignored (on the grounds that animals are so different to human beings that the results are irrelevant) why the hell were the tests done in the first place?
Ignorance And Misplaced Trust
My own feeling is that the people who told you that Ritalin is 'very safe' are either unable to read or too lazy to do any research into the safety of a product which they are recommending with such enthusiasm.
Years of experience mean that I am not in the slightest bit surprised to find such crass stupidity exhibited by social workers. I am, however, more surprised to find school teachers showing such a potent mixture of ignorance and misplaced trust. Some observers claim that Ritalin can be considered for a children when tests and clinical examinations have shown the existence of a clear neurological disorder - with abnormal brain wave patterns.
Psychiatrist, psychologist, health visitor, teachers, GP and parents should, it is said, all be considered before considering treatment.
Even the company selling Ritalin says that `Ritalin treatment is not indicated in all children with this syndrome and the decision to use the drug must be based on the physician's evaluation of the child's history and the duration and severity of symptoms'.
However, despite this, when a team of researchers from the United Nationals International Narcotics Control Board examined the records of nearly 400 paediatricians who had prescribed Ritalin they found that half the children who had been diagnosed as suffering from MBD (or ADD or whatever) had not been given psychological or educational testing before being given the drug. The United Nations concluded that frustrated parents, teachers and doctors were too quick to stick a label of ADD onto children with behavioural problems (or, to be more accurate, to children whose behaviour was annoying the parents, teachers and doctors).
Less Than Enthusiastic
I am less than enthusiastic about this drug. In my view, the world would be a healthier place if all supplies of this wretched drug were wrapped in concrete and buried in the rubble of the headquarters of the company making the damned stuff.
You might have guessed by now that I wouldn't prescribe Ritalin for anyone - for anything.
But other doctors clearly don't agree with me. Some observers have described Ritalin as a drug that can unlock a child's potential. And although estimates about the number of children taking Ritalin vary in the U.S. alone it has been claimed that up to 12 % of all American boys aged between 6 and 14 are being prescribed Ritalin to treat various behavioural disorders. In 1990 the world wide production of the drug was less than three tonnes. By 1994 production of the drug had virtually trebled. It is now not unknown for schools to arrange for children to be treated with Ritalin without obtaining parental permission.
It is worth remembering that although doctors, parents and teachers have for over thirty years now been enthusiastically recommending the use of Ritalin (and similar drugs) in the treatment of MBD there are still a number of unanswered questions.
We still do not know whether the drug works and nor do we know whether it causes any permanent long term damage. We do not know whether the listed potential side effects do more damage than any possible good the drug might do. And, perhaps most astonishing of all, despite the fact that millions of children have been diagnosed as suffering from ADHD, ADD or MBD, and treated with powerful drugs, we do not even know whether any of these conditions - or hyperactivity - really exist.
Back in 1970 the Committee on Government Operations of the U.S. House of Representatives studied the use of behaviour modification drugs on children. At that time around 200,000 to 300,000 children a year in the U.S. were being given these drugs and the point was then made that hyperactivity is considered a disease because it makes it difficult for schools to be run `like maximum security prisons, for the comfort and the convenience of the teachers and administrators who work in them...'.Since then the only thing that has changed is that the popularity of Ritalin has continued to rise and rise and rise inexorably.
Prescribing Ritalin is, in my view, authorised child abuse on a massive, global scale.
But it is clear that the prescribing of powerful mind altering drugs for small children is big business.
In the US the use of antidepressants and stimulants among toddlers aged between two and four tripled between 1991 and 1995. The period between birth and four years of age is a time of great change in the human body. Most importantly it is a time when the brain is maturing. Heaven knows what effect these drugs have on those tiny developing brains.
Ritalin is now widely prescribed for toddlers. So are many other antidepressants, stimulants and other powerful drugs. Remember: typical symptoms of this alleged disease include `restlessness' and `inattentiveness'.
I am delighted that my protests and complaints about these absurd and obscene prescribing habits have drawn a number of vicious complaints from doctors.
In my view every doctor who prescribes such drugs for children with alleged ADHD should be defrocked, given a good thrashing with genetically engineered stinging nettles and forced to emigrate to the USA.
"This article gives general material and opinions for information only and is not to be considered an alternative to professional medical advice. Readers should consult their family doctors or other qualified medical advisers on any matter relating to their health and wellbeing.
Evidence suggests that children living in single-parentor step-parent households are more likely than children in householdswith 2 biological parents to be prescribed methylphenidate.I conducted a study of prospective data to investigate parentaldivorce as a predictor of methylphenidate use. http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/176/12/1711
U.N. Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC) in Canada
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed that makers of all antidepressant medications update the existing black box warning on their products' labeling to include warnings about increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior, known as suicidality, in young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment (generally the first one to two months). Health Canada found that there were roughly 20 to 30 cases of strokes in young children, roughly 10 or 12 sudden deaths, heart abnormalities. Just before the Feb. 9 FDA hearing, there were 51 reported cases of complications, deaths, strokes and heart attacks reported to the FDA MedWatch program. I have written testimony on the record for the Feb. 9 FDA conference. In fact, back in the 1990s, I testified in a Kansas City case for Mr. Gary Bell on behalf of his daughter Stephanie. She underwent heart surgery for what I think was a complication of her long-term Ritalin use. At any rate, Gary Bell and I did a freedom of information request for all the deaths and injuries related to Ritalin or methylphenidate, and for 1990-1997 there were 160 deaths from methylphenidate Ritalin. There were another 26 deaths for 1998 to 2000, 186 deaths for the decade. READ THE WHOLE STORY!
There are voluntary reporting schemes to MedWatch, 1 percent of actual incidents the FDA says. That means there may have been 18,600 for that decade. I have personally been consulted in about a dozen death cases, including Matthew Smith of Royal Oak, Michigan, which is just outside of Detroit. He and his parents had been coerced to stay on Ritalin from first grade to age 13. He suddenly fell over while playing with friends and died. At autopsy, his heart muscle was diffusely enlarged, scarred and infiltrated with fat. The medical examiner, Dr. Drakovic, a highly experienced pathologist, said there was no doubt in his mind that Matthew Smith died of long-term chronic amphetamine methylphenidate Ritalin poisoning.
Ritalin from first grade to age 13. He suddenly fell over while playing with friends and died. At autopsy, his heart muscle was diffusely enlarged, scarred and infiltrated with fat. The medical examiner, Dr. Drakovic, a highly experienced pathologist, said there was no doubt in his mind that Matthew Smith died of long-term chronic amphetamine methylphenidate Ritalin poisoning.
Used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and mania.
Not approved by Health Canada for use with children.
Doctors in Canada recommended their use to treat children 17 and under an estimated 363,000 times in 2006.
SEROTONIN REUPTAKE INHIBITORS
Examples are Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Luvox and Anafranil.
Used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder and eating disorders.
Not approved by Health Canada for use with children.
Doctors in Canada recommended their use to treat children 17 and under an estimated 360,000 times in 2006.
Sources: IMS Health Canada, Health Canada
Ritalin's reign
Ritalin, the brand name for methylphenidate hydrochloride, has been the drug of choice to treat children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for nearly 40 years.
Developed by the pharmaceutical company Ciba in 1954, it was initially prescribed to adults as a treatment for depression, chronic fatigue and narcolepsy.
Beginning in the 1960s, the central-nervous-system stimulant began to be prescribed to hyperactive children for its calming effect. In particular, it increased the time children could stay focused on an activity.
During the 1980s, prescriptions in the United States for children really began to climb. Canada wasn't far behind, with the psychotropic drug's popularity soaring in the 1990s. Prescriptions were up 500 per cent from the previous decade.
Pediatricians began to take notice of the worrying trend and recommended in 2000 that Ritalin be prescribed only in very limited circumstances, and, even then, only for as long as necessary.
Worldwide, about 75 per cent of Ritalin prescriptions are for children, with four times as many boys on it as girls.
The Public Health Agency of Canada in 2004 reported that many adolescents were taking Ritalin as a recreational drug to stay awake, to increase attentiveness, to suppress appetite and to get high.
Research out of Atlantic Canada found that about 8.5 per cent of children in Grades 7 to 12 had taken Ritalin for non-medicinal purposes, compared with 5.3 per cent who were prescribed it.
The safety of Concerta (methylphenidate), a central nervous system stimulant commonly used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in young children, has recently been called into question after the FDA released data showing a link between ADHD medication use and a risk of sudden death.
On February 9, 2006, the FDA voted 8 to 7 in favor of requiring the most serious type of warning label for Concerta, Adderall, Ritalin and all other ADHD drugs. The black box warning is being added in response to the FDA findings that suggest there is a strong link between the use of ADHD medications and an increased risk of sudden death and serious cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks.
The FDA found more than 200 reports of psychotic behavior episodes and 16 deaths in children taking the drug since the medication was introduced to the public over five years ago. Other drugs in Concerta class, such as Ritalin, Adderall and Strattera, were found to cause similar effects.
Since being introduced to the market, Concerta has quickly become one of the most commonly prescribed medications used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. However, as more youngsters use Concerta, the number of adverse reactions continues to rise.
Drug-Induced Liver Toxicity Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. HHS Logo links to Department of Health and Human Services website Risperidone Product Information. To view the Risperdal prescribing information as an Adobe Portable Document Format
FDA warning - "misleading" material regarding Seroquel
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a letter to AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) stating that a piece of promotional material for Seroquel tablets is false or misleading and requesting that AstraZeneca "immediately cease the dissemination of violative promotional materials for Seroquel." According to the letter,
"This piece is false or misleading because it minimizes the risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus and fails to communicate important information regarding neuroleptic malignant syndrome, tardive dyskinesia, and the bolded cataracts precaution ... The promotional material raises significant public health and safety concerns through its minimization of the risks associated with Seroquel."
Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic medication that is FDA approved for the treatment of acute manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder and for the treatment of schizophrenia. It is sometimes prescribed off-label for headache and migraine prevention.
In 2003, following review of the data available regarding the use of atypical antipsychotic medications and diabetes adverse events, the FDA asked the manufacturers of these medications to include a warning in their patient information regarding the risk. AstraZeneca complied with that request. In question is information now being presented in promotional materials for Seroquel. AstraZeneca has until November 30 to comply with the conditions set forth in this warning letter.
Concerta is Schedule II controlled substance, meaning: 1) it has a high potential for abuse, 2) it is currently accepted as a medical treatment in the United States with severe restrictions, and 3) abuse of this drug may lead to severe psychological and physical dependence.
The selling of drug to old and young alike. What all people should know.
What is the most important information I should know about Concerta?
Do not use Concerta if you have used an MAO inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), tranylcypromine (Parnate), phenelzine (Nardil), rasagiline (Azilect), or selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam) within the past 14 days. Serious, life-threatening side effects can occur if you use Concerta before the MAO inhibitor has cleared from your body. Do not use Concerta if you are allergic to methylphenidate or if you have glaucoma, tics (muscle twitches) or Tourette's syndrome, depression, or severe anxiety, tension, or agitation (Concerta can make these symptoms worse). Concerta may be habit-forming and should be used only by the person it was prescribed for. Keep track of how many pills have been used from each new bottle you receive. Concerta is a drug of abuse and you should be aware if any person in the household is using this medicine improperly or without a prescriptionThink Ritalin Is Safe? - Read What Novartis Says About Its Own Product!
If your child's doctor or a child physiatrist diagnosis your child as suffering from ADD/ADHD - and recommends that you give your child Ritalin each morning before school in order to counter the negative effects of ADD/ADHD, then you should be aware of all the facts surrounding Ritalin. Instead of taking the advice of your doctor - or anyone else whether Ritalin is safe, simply read the packaging label Novartis puts inside each box of Ritalin. http://www.rense.com/general63/thin.htm
From the Editor’s Desk
Medicating Ourselves to Death
We received a great deal of supportive mail as a result of the March/April “Ask Natural” life column about the use of the drug Ritalin to control behavior in children who have been labeled as having ADHD.
An estimated 1.5 million people in Canada and at least 2.5 million in the U.S. are on Ritalin or similar drugs for the treatment of ADHD. Most of these are children, on whom there hasn’t been much safety research conducted. The use of these drugs has always been somewhat controversial, but since that issue went to print, health authorities in both the U.S. and Canada have indicated they will be requiring tougher warning labels for Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta and similar drugs prescribed for ADHD. The strengthened warnings come after regulators received reports of 25 sudden deaths in American children, as well as cases of heart attacks, strokes and psychosis among both children and adults using the drugs.
The news about increased warning labels is heartening, but I wish more could be done to unhook our society from its symptom-treating, pill popping, medicalizing normal life mania. We sedate kids whom we’ve labeled “hyperactive”. We treat depression with drugs that, in some people, increase depression and even create suicidal tendencies. We prescribe drug “therapy” to women of a certain age to ease “symptoms” of a perfectly normal life change. We air sunny television commercials for drugs with futuristic sounding names like Celebrex and Levitra, full of mysteriously grinning people magically set free from the miseries of arthritis and impotence.
Many, if not most, illnesses have lifestyle causes and, thus, lifestyle remedies. When we look at the whole person, not just a symptom, when we consider body, mind and spirit together, we are more apt to make sound choices for our health. And we are also more likely to accept ourselves and our children for the wondrous individuals we are, rather than as classroom disturbances that must be silenced with drugs.
blurts out answers before questions have been completed (h) often has difficulty awaiting turn (i) often interrupts or intrudes on others (eg, butts into conversations or games) B. Some hyperactive-impulsive or inattentive symptoms that caused impairment were present before age 7 years. C. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more - Page 128Appears in 197 books from 1995-2007
often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities (c) often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly (d) often does not - Page 128Appears in 159 books from 1990-2006
of inattention have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level: Inattention (a) often - Page 128Appears in 188 books from 1990-2007
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(eg, ,-.)( school [or work) and at home). D. There must be clear evidence of clinically significant impairment in social, academic or occupational functioning. - Page 128Appears in 167 books from 1995-2007
Stimulants are not intended for use in the child who exhibits symptoms secondary to environmental factors and/or primary psychiatric disorders, including psychosis. Appropriate educational placement is essential and psychosocial intervention is generally necessary. When remedial measures alone are insufficient, the decision to prescribe stimulant medication will depend upon the physician's assessment of the chronicity and severity of the child's symptoms. - Page 89Appears in 21 books from 1950-2004
to finish schoolwork, chores or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions) - Page 128Appears in 176 books from 1990-2007
Learning disorders are diagnosed when the individual's achievement on individually administered, standardized tests in reading, mathematics, or written expression is substantially below that expected for age, schooling, and level of intelligence. In other words, - Page 139Appears in 20 books from 1995-2005
Careful supervision is required during drug withdrawal, since severe depression as well as the effects of chronic overactivity can be unmasked. - Page 68Appears in 21 books from 1950-2005
Research reveals that methylphenidate stimulates daytime release of growth hormone, disrupting the usual nocturnal release. This is troublesome since disturbances in the normal release of growth hormone may not only influence height velocity but may also - Page 55Appears in 5 books from 1991-2002
Health authorities in Canada and the U.S. are split on how to warn users about the potential side effects of certain drugs prescribed for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD).
Health Canada has added tough new warnings to the labels of Ritalin and similar drugs used to treat ADHD.
By BAHA ABUSHAQRA Without any warning, on February 9 of last year, Health Canada yanked a medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Adderall XR was being used by about 11,000 Canadians at the time, most of them children. The safety of the drug came into question following a 2004 U.S. review that linked the stimulant drug to the sudden death of 25 people, including 19 children, between 1999 and 2003.
The FDA explains in a booklet about the mechanics of MedWatch and other similar voluntary reporting schemes. They confessed that such schemes ordinarily identify no more than one percent of actual occurrences. So at any rate, there we had that occurrence about a year ago with Health Canada taking Adderall off the market and our FDA not taking Adderall off the market. Subsequently, we learned our FDA lobbied Health Canada behind-the-scenes not to take it off the market.
The FDA applied pressure to foreign nations to protect dangerous drugs in our own market. Then Health Canada put Adderall back on the market. It wasn't because they had any good evidence of its safety or effectiveness. Adderall is a mixture of the two salts of amphetamine, so it's a pure amphetamine. The fascinating thing about Adderall is that it was a weight reduction drug for adults called Obetrol. It's was so extremely addictive that Obetrol was taken off the market for that reason. Now we have the FDA bringing this extraordinarily addictive drug to market for little children.
So it was too dangerous for adults but not unsafe for children.
So a school district that gets more of its children diagnosed with ADHD, it gets rewarded with more funds? There are even laws on the books that pay parents a stipend for every child they have who is diagnosed and thus considered disabled. So I think they get Social disability. I think the stipend, at least a few years ago, was $400 a month. Ninety-one percent. I would say that a third to a half of all the patients seen by a neurologist had no organic disease.
If you look at the big picture of what's happening here, what does this say about scientific integrity, if these well-educated people in this so-called scientific organization can invent such a widespread hoax? Does this have you questioning some of scientific truth today, or what's your view on it?
Psychiatry, pediatrics, neurologists, family practitioners, psychologists, school teachers across the country have become pawns and have not seen the evil of their ways by becoming pushers for the drugging establishment. This is the standard of practice across the board. The entire profession has been bought out. On average, every physician in the country gets $13,000 or more per year from the drug companies. They get free dinners, golf, free trips, but that money isn't spread around equally. It is spread strategically so that your top policy makers in medicine -- your top psychiatrists and your heads of departments -- get more money than anyone else. Some get about $500,000 a year, and it has been so successful that no one within academic medicine can speak out! If they were to stand up and say things that I they say, they would be out the next day. NYU has become a hive for disease-inventing psychiatry. The sad news is that the department received more funds to train more poisoners of normal children.
International Warnings on Psychiatric Drugs Since 2004
2004
February 2: FDA official Dr. Andrew D. Mosholder testified before the FDA’s Psychopharmacological Advisory Committee on the Office of Drug Safety Data Resources for the Study of Suicidal Events, warning that children being prescribed the newer antidepressants were at risk of suicide.
March 22: The FDA warned that Prozac-like antidepressants (called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs) could cause "anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia [severe restlessness], hypomania [abnormal excitement] and mania [psychosis characterized by exalted feelings, delusions of grandeur]."
June: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration published an Adverse Drug Reactions Bulletin reporting that the latest antipsychotics could increase the risk of diabetes.
June: The FDA ordered that the packaging for the stimulant Adderall include a warning about sudden cardiovascular deaths, especially in children with underlying heart disease.
August 20: A Columbia University review of the pediatric (child) clinical trials of Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Paxil and Prozac, found that young people who took them could experience suicidal thoughts or actions.
September 21: Following a BBC news report on antidepressants causing aggression and homicidal behavior, the British Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority advised that it had issued guidelines that children should not be given most SSRIs because clinical trial data showed an increased rate of harmful outcomes, including hostility.
October 15: The FDA ordered a "black box" warning for antidepressants that they could cause suicidal thoughts and actions in under 18 year olds taking them.
October 21: The New Zealand Medicines Adverse Reactions Committee recommended that old and new antidepressants not be administered to patients less than 18 years of age because of the potential risk of suicide.
December: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration children and adolescents prescribed SSRI antidepressants should be carefully monitored for the emergence of suicidal ideation. In a recent study involving Prozac, it said, there was an increase in adverse psychiatric events (acts and ideation [thoughts] of suicide, self-harm, aggression, violence.)
December 9: The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use confirmed that product information should be changed for antidepressants to warn of the risk of suicide-related behavior in children and adolescents and of withdrawal reactions on stopping treatment.
December 17: The FDA required that packaging for the "ADHD" drug Straterra carry a new warning advising, "Severe liver damage may progress to liver failure resulting in death or the need for a liver transplant in a small percentage of patients."
2005
February 9: Health Canada, the Canadian counterpart of the FDA, suspended marketing of Adderall XR (Extended Release, given once a day) due to reports of 20 sudden unexplained deaths (14 in children) and 12 strokes (2 in children) in patients taking Adderall or Adderall XR.
February 18: A study published in the British Medical Journal determined that adults taking SSRI antidepressants were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as patients given placebo.
April: The British House of Commons (Parliament) Health Committee issued a damning report that SSRI antidepressants had been "indiscriminately prescribed on a grand scale" and that drug companies have marketed the drugs without punishment to treat "unhappiness [that] is part of the spectrum of human experience, not a medical condition."
April 11: The FDA warned that antipsychotic drugs in elderly patients could increase the risk of death.
April 21: A national non-government organization, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, released its findings of a study that determined that 10% of teens (2.3 million) had abused the stimulants Ritalin and Adderall.
April 25: The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use reaffirmed that all the latest antidepressants could cause increased suicide-related behavior and hostility in young people.
June 28: The FDA announced its intention to make labeling changes to Concerta and other Ritalin products to include the side effects: "visual hallucinations, suicidal ideation [ideas], psychotic behavior, as well as aggression or violent behavior."
June 30: The FDA warned that the latest antidepressant Cymbalta could increase suicidal thinking or behavior in pediatric patients taking it.
June 30: The FDA also warned about a potential increased risk of suicidal behavior in adults taking antidepressants, broadening its earlier warning that related only to children and adolescents taking the drugs.
July 1: An FDA "Talk Paper" said that it had requested antidepressant manufacturers to provide all information from their clinical trials on possible increased suicidal behavior in adults taking the drugs.
July 7: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University issued a report called "Under the Counter: The Diversion and Abuse of Controlled Prescription Drugs in the U.S." that determined 15 million Americans were getting high on painkillers and psychiatric drugs such as the tranquilizer Xanax and the stimulants Ritalin and Adderall. Between 1992 and 2003, the number of 12 to 17 year olds abusing these drugs had risen 212%. Teens who abused prescription drugs were 12 times likelier to use heroin, 15 times likelier to use Ecstasy and 21 times likelier to use cocaine, compared to teens that did not abuse such drugs.
July 16: The British Medical Journal published a study, "Efficacy of antidepressants in adults," by Joanna Moncrieff, senior lecturer in psychiatry at University College London who found that antidepressants were no more effective than a placebo (fake pill) and do not reduce depression. In a media interview on the study, Dr. Moncrieff stated, "The bottom line is that we really don’t have any good evidence that these drugs work."
August: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration found a relationship between antidepressants and suicidality, akathisia (severe restlessness), agitation, nervousness and anxiety in adults. Similar symptoms could occur during withdrawal from the drugs, it determined.
August 19: The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use issued its strongest warning against child antidepressant use, stating that the drugs caused suicide attempts and thoughts, aggression, hostility, aggression, oppositional behavior and anger.
August 22: Norwegian researchers found that patients taking antidepressants were seven times more likely to experience suicide than those taking placebo.
September 7: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration warned that antidepressant use during pregnancy could cause "withdrawal effects that can be severe or life-threatening."
September 13: The Oregon Health & Science University, Evidence-Based Practice Center published the findings of its review of 2,287 studies—virtually every study ever conducted on "ADHD" drugs—and found that there were no trials showing the effectiveness of these drugs and that there was a lack of evidence that they could affect "academic performance, risky behaviors, social achievements, etc." Further, "We found no evidence on long-term safety of drugs used to treat ADHD in young children" or "adolescents."
September 22: Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman of Columbia University and other researchers published a federally funded study in the New England Journal of Medicine about the effectiveness of certain antipsychotic drugs, comparing an older generation of antipsychotics with several newer ones. Far from proving effectiveness, of the 1,493 patients who had participated, 74% discontinued their antipsychotic drugs before the end of their treatment due to inefficacy, intolerable side effects or other reasons. After 18 months of taking Zyprexa, 64% of the patients taking this stopped, most commonly because it caused sleepiness, weight gain or neurological symptoms like stiffness and tremors.
September 26: The Italian Gazette (official news agency of the Italian government) published a resolution of the Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (Italian Drug Agency, equivalent to the FDA) ordering a warning label for older (tricyclic) antidepressants that the drugs should not be prescribed for under 18 year olds. They also determined that they were associated with heart attacks in people of any age.
September 27: The FDA warned that Paxil and other antidepressants taken during the first trimester of pregnancy could cause increased risk of major birth defects, including heart malformations in newborn infants.
September 28: The British National Health Service’s Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence released a Clinical Guideline for treatment of "Depression in Children and Young People." It advised "all antidepressant drugs have significant risks when given to children and young people" and instead, they should be "offered advice on the benefits of regular exercise," "sleep hygiene," "nutrition and the benefits of a balanced diet."
September 29: The FDA directed Eli Lilly & Co. to revise Strattera labeling to include a boxed warning about the increased risk of suicidal thinking in children and adolescents taking it.
September 29: The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency issued a press release that it had begun a review of the risks of Strattera in light of the FDA’s direction.
October: The sales and marketing of the stimulant Cylert were stopped in the U.S. because of the risk of liver damage that could lead to death.
October 17: The FDA ordered Eli Lilly & Co. to add a warning to the packaging of its antidepressant Cymbalta, that it could cause liver damage.
October 19: A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that atypical (newer) antipsychotic drugs could increase the risk of death in elderly people.
October 24: The FDA withdrew Cylert from the market because of its "overall risk of liver toxicity" and liver failure.
November: The FDA approved updated labeling for the antidepressant Effexor XR which noted that this antidepressant can cause homicidal ideation.
December 1: Researchers found that 18% of nearly 23,000 elderly patients taking the older antipsychotics died within the first six months of taking them.
December 8: The FDA warned that Paxil taken by pregnant women in their first trimester may cause birth defects, including heart malformations.
2006
January 5: The FDA said it had received reports of sudden deaths, strokes, heart attacks and hypertension (high blood pressure) in both children and adults taking "ADHD" drugs and asked its Drug Safety and Risk Management advisory committee to examine the potential of cardiovascular (heart) risks of the drugs.
February 4: A University of Texas study published in Pediatric Neurology reported cardiovascular problems in people taking stimulants.
February 5: An analysis of World Health Organization medical records found that infants whose mothers took antidepressants while pregnant could suffer withdrawal effects.
February 6: A study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine determined that nearly one-third of newborn infants whose mothers took SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy experienced withdrawal symptoms that included high-pitched crying, tremors and disturbed sleep.
February 9: The FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee urged that the strongest "black box" warning be issued for stimulants, including Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta and that they may cause heart attacks, strokes and sudden death.
February 11: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration announced it would review the FDA advisory committee recommendation for stronger warnings against stimulants.
February 20: British authorities warned that the "ADHD" drug Strattera was associated with seizures and potentially lengthening period of the time between heartbeats.
February 25: A study in the journal, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and reported in The Washington Post revealed that seven million Americans were estimated to have abused stimulant drugs and a substantial amount of teenagers and young adults now appeared to show signs of addiction.
March 10: Health Canada issued a warning that pregnant women taking SSRIs and other newer antidepressants placed newborns at risk of developing a rare lung and heart condition.
March 22-23: Two FDA advisory panels held hearings into the risk of stimulants and another new "ADHD" drug called Sparlon. Between January 2000 and June 30, 2005, the FDA had received almost 1,000 reports of kids experiencing psychosis or mania while taking the drugs. The first panel recommended stronger warnings against stimulants, emphasizing these on special handouts called "Med Guides" that doctors must give to patients with each prescription. The second committee recommended not to approve Sparlon, which the manufacturer, Cephalon, estimated would lose them $100 million in drug sales.
March 28: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration announced its review of reports of 400 adverse reactions to stimulants in children taking them. CCHR had filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the TGA to obtain the reports and released this to the media that ran the story internationally.
May 1: An American Journal of Psychiatry study revealed that elderly people prescribed antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft are almost five times more likely to commit suicide during the first month on the drugs than those given other classes of antidepressants.
May 3: FDA adverse drug reaction reports linked 45 child deaths to new antipsychotic drugs. There were also more than 1,300 reports of other potentially life-threatening adverse reactions such as convulsions and low white blood cell count.
May 12: GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Paxil, sent a letter to doctors warning that its antidepressant increases the risk of suicide in adults. It was the first warning of its kind by a manufacturer.
July 19: The FDA said antidepressant packaging should carry warnings that they may cause a fatal lung condition in newborns whose mothers took SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy. Migraine sufferers also need to be warned that combining migraine drugs with SSRIs could result in a life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome.
August: In August, the Archives of General Psychiatry published a study by Mark Olfson, MD, MPH; Steven C. Marcus, PhD; David Shaffer, MD, on “Antidepressant Drug Therapy and Suicide in Severely Depressed Children and Adults.” The study determined that children taking antidepressants were 1.52 times more likely to attempt suicide and 15 times ore likely to succeed in the attempt than those not taking the drugs.
September: A study came out in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal. The study was done by psychiatrist David Healy and his team of researchers. The study found that the psychiatric drug Paxil raises the risk of severe violence in a small percentage of people. The researchers looked at clinical trial data from the manufacturer of the drug, GlaxoSmithKline, and found a higher rate of hostile behavior (0.38 percent to 0.66 percent) in patients taking Paxil than in patients taking other antidepressants.
October: A study was published in Behavioral Neuroscience entitled “Differential Responsiveness to Fluoxetine During Puberty,” which involved injecting "adolescent" and adult hamsters with varying doses of fluoxetine (Prozac), found that even on low doses, 40% more likely to become aggressive than those on placebo.
October: The journal Pharmacotherapy published a study entitled “Illicit Use of Specific Prescription Stimulants Among College Students: Prevalence, Motives, and Routes of Administration,” about illicit use of stimulants among college students. Researchers at Northeastern University, led by Northeastern University Pharmacy Professor Christian Teter, found that 8.3% of students had abused prescription stimulants sometime during their life and 5.9% within the last year. Nearly 40% of the students that abused stimulants reported they snorted prescription stimulants. About ¾ of the students who abused stimulants in the last year had abused Adderall while the rest had abused Ritalin or drugs in the same class as Ritalin. In the press release that ran in Newswise (news release website), Professor Teter stated that one “possibility for the overwhelming prevalence of illicit Adderall use may be the fact that it is the most commonly prescribed brand-name stimulant in the U.S.” Stories on this article ran in several news sources, including a United Press International wire.
October 12: The New England Journal of Medicine published study, “Effectiveness of Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease,” found that antipsychotic drugs used to control “agitation and aggression in people with Alzheimer’s disease are no more effective than placebos for most patients, and put them at risk of serious side effects, including confusion, sleepiness and Parkinson’s like symptoms.”
October 18: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (equivalent to the FDA) ordered manufacturers of “ADHD” drugs, Ritalin, Strattera and dexamphetamine to add stronger warnings to their information packaging, because of complaints that Ritalin caused headache, nausea, anorexia, somnolence and depression; Strattera caused aggression, and dexamphetamine caused agitation, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), hypertonia (abnormally tight muscles), hyperkinesia (muscle spasm) and insomnia.
October 23: Dr. Peter Schlegel presented a study at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in New Orleans that determined that while two men were taking antidepressants, their sperm counts dropped dramatically to almost zero, but recovered to healthy levels whenever their drugs were suspended.
October 25: The FDA and Wyeth, the manufacturer of the antidepressant Effexor, announced that doctors should limit the number of Effexor pills they prescribe patients to reduce the risk of overdose. Overdosing on any antidepressant can be fatal but there may be a greater risk of deadly overdose associated with Effexor than with other SSRI antidepressant.
November: The British Journal of Psychiatry published a new analysis of new antidepressant trials lasting 8 to 12 weeks involving children and adolescents suffering severe depression. Researchers found that 5% of children taking new-generation antidepressants were involved in self-harm or suicidal events, compared with 3% cent of those taking placebo. Dr. Bernadka Dubicka of the University Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and others conducted the study.
November: The journal Epidemiology, published a study entitled “Maternal Use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Risk of Congenital [defects from birth] Malformations.” Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark found that pregnant women who take the newer type of antidepressants, such as Prozac, are more likely to have babies with birth defects than mothers who don’t take these drugs.
November 6: The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, announced that it was updating the product information for methylphenidate (Ritalin to “advise about serious cardiovascular adverse effects” and to recommend that methylphenidate not be used in children or adolescents with known serious structural cardiac abnormalities.
November 27: The FDA has issued a public health advisory which warns that people receiving treatment with methadone have died and suffered life threatening side effects because of overdoses, including slow or shallow breathing and dangerous changes in heart beat that may not be felt by the patient.
November 30: The obstetric (Obstetrics is the branch of medicine which deals with pregnancy and child birth) practice committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (Gynecologists are doctors that specialize in the female reproductive system and disorders that can occur with it) issued a statement that pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking the antidepressant Paxil if possible because of the risk of birth defects.
December 13: The FDA held a hearing into the relationship between antidepressants and suicide in those 18-25 years of age (“young adults”). The FDA Psychopharmacological Committee heard testimony from about 75 people who slammed the FDA for having the information 15 years ago about suicide/violence risks and failed to act. The committee voted to extend the black box warning to ages 18 to 25
work with government agencies to force parents to drug their children, threatening those who refuse with the prospect of having their children taken from the home unless they cooperate
Not approved for children by the FDA and lack of supporting citations in drug compendiums, yet psychiatrists want the "option" of experimenting on children. This is Not approved for children by the FDA and lack of supporting citations in drug compendiums, yet psychiatrists want the "option" of experimenting on children. This is what TeenScreen wants for America's children.(more)(less)
they are being over-medicated and depleted of nutriets. An educational video exclusive on ihealthtube....Prescription Drugs Elderly Seniors Deplete Nutrients Children Kids Natural Health
2 Deaths Spur Bed-Wetting Drug Warning
FDA Warns That Some Patients Taking Desmopressin May Be at Risk of Seizure and Death
Danger drugs designed for schizophrenics used to calm children
By FIONA MACRAE
Thousands of children with behavioural problems are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs with dangerous side effects, doctors warn.
The powerful tranquillisers, designed to treat psychosis and schizophrenia in adults, are being used to calm children who are simply hyperactive.
Around 8,000 youngsters are taking anti- psychotics such as Risperdal and Zyprexa despite the fact that these have been linked to a host of health problems from diabetes to brain damage, BBC1's Panorama reports.
Although some are prescribed for schizophrenia and related conditions, many are given to children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioural problems.
Dr Tim Kendall, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said he knew of children as young as ten being given the schizophrenia drugs for unruly behaviour, sometimes for as long as five years.
He said that the drugs should be considered as a last resort in the treatment of hyperactivity.
And he added: "A generous understanding would be to say that doctors have reached a point where they don't know what else to offer and they haven't got the right supports to help parents in difficult circumstances.
"I think perhaps there is no real excuse for prescribing drugs which are associated with such severe side-effects."
The consultant psychiatrist, who is heading a team drawing up Government guidelines on the treatment of ADHD, said: "Everyone agrees that if there are alternatives we should be exploring these alternatives and looking at what psychological treatments can work and what helps the parents and the teachers."
The warnings come amid growing concern that ADHD is being diagnosed in children suffering from nothing more than natural boisterousness.
In March this year Dr Robert Spitzer, the U.S. psychiatrist who first identified the ADHD, admitted that up to a third of cases could have been misdiagnosed.
Tonight's Panorama also reveals disturbing evidence that other drugs, much more commonly used to treat ADHD, do not work in the long term.
A study in the U.S. suggests that while medication such as Ritalin and Concerta is effective initially, the effects wear off after three years of treatment.
The drugs, taken by around 55,000 British children at the cost to the NHS of £28million a year, stunt growth, the researchers discovered.
Many children take the controversial drugs for years at a time though they have also been linked to heart problems, dizziness and insomnia, and blamed for a string of deaths in the UK and abroad.
Researcher Professor William Pelham, of the University at Buffalo in New York state tracked the health and treatment of 600 children with ADHD for six years.
He warned: "They had a substantial decrease in their rate of growth, so they weren't growing as much as other kids in terms of their height and weight.
"In the short-run [medication] will help the child behave better, in the long-run, it won't. And that information should be made very clear to parents."
The makers of Concerta and Risperdal, Buckinghamshirebased Janssen-Cilag, said the drugs were "very valuable treatments".
Eli Lilly, the U.S.-based maker of Zyprexa, said it had never promoted the anti-psychotic for the treatment of ADHD and did not intend to do so.
The makers of Ritalin, Swissbased Novartis, were unable to comment last night. The Panorama programme will be shown on BBC1 at 8.30pm tonight.
Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A Guide for Informed Consent
Grace E. Jackson, MD
About the Book
-- Are patients aware of the fact that pharmacological therapies stress the brain in ways which may prevent or postpone symptomatic and functional recovery ?
Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A Guide for Informed Consent is a critical appraisal of the medications which an estimated 20% of Americans consume on a regular (and sometimes involuntary) basis.
It is the philosophically, epidemiologically, and scientifically supported revelation of how and why psychiatry’s drug therapies have contributed to a standard of care which frequently does more to harm than to cure.
Extensively researched and documented, the book addresses:
-- the process by which psychiatric drugs reach the market
-- the history and philosophy of Evidence Based Medicine
-- the common flaws in research methodologies which negate the validity of the psychiatric RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial)
-- the problem of allostatic load (how drugs stress the body)
-- the history, long term effects, and utility of the drugs used to suppress symptoms of depression, psychosis, inattention and hyperactivity
-- the effectiveness of alternatives to medication
WASHINGTON, June 26 — As states begin to require that drug companies disclose their payments to doctors for lectures and other services, a pattern has emerged: psychiatrists earn more money from drug makers than doctors in any other specialty.
How this money may be influencing psychiatrists and other doctors has become one of the most contentious issues in health care. For instance, the more psychiatrists have earned from drug makers, the more they have prescribed a new class of powerful medicines known as atypical antipsychotics to children, for whom the drugs are especially risky and mostly unapproved.
Vermont officials disclosed Tuesday that drug company payments to psychiatrists in the state more than doubled last year, to an average of $45,692 each from $20,835 in 2005. Antipsychotic medicines are among the largest expenses for the state’s Medicaid program.
Over all last year, drug makers spent $2.25 million on marketing payments, fees and travel expenses to Vermont doctors, hospitals and universities, a 2.3 percent increase over the prior year, the state said.
The number most likely represents a small fraction of drug makers’ total marketing expenditures to doctors since it does not include the costs of free drug samples or the salaries of sales representatives and their staff members. According to their income statements, drug makers generally spend twice as much to market drugs as they do to research them.
“For the fourth year in a row, our analysis shows that there is a great deal of money being spent in our small state on marketing pharmaceutical products,” said William H. Sorrell, the Vermont attorney general.
Endocrinologists received the second largest amount, according to the Vermont analysis, earning an average of $33,730. Since the state identified the specialties of only the top 100 earners, these averages represent the money earned by only some of the state’s specialists. There were 11 psychiatrists and 5 endocrinologists in that top group of 100.
Still, a similar pattern was evident in a Minnesota database that was the subject of a series of articles in The New York Times this year. As in Vermont, psychiatrists earned on aggregate the most in Minnesota, with payments ranging from $51 to $689,000. The Times found that psychiatrists who took the most money from makers of antipsychotic drugs tended to prescribe the drugs to children the most often.
These and other stories have helped to fuel a growing interest among state and federal officials to document and restrict payments to doctors from drug makers. At a gathering last month at Columbia Law School in New York, state attorneys general from across the country discussed ways to get similar data for their states.
And today, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, which is led by Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin, will hold the first of a series of hearings on the issue, which could lead to legislative proposals to restrict and require disclosure of payments and gifts to doctors from drug companies nationwide.
Several lawmakers on Capitol Hill have expressed interest in such legislation, including Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. “A federal law requiring public disclosure of payments to doctors could be very effective if it was carefully monitored and consistently applied,” Mr. Grassley said.
Efforts to require disclosure of payments to doctors began almost by happenstance in 1993, when The Minnesota Legislature passed a law that restricts drug companies from giving doctors gifts valued at more than $100 in any given year. The legislation also required companies to report and make public any consulting fees paid to doctors.
Lee Greenfield, a former state representative in Minnesota and one of the law’s authors, said it passed with little fanfare or debate after legislators heard stories about doctors accepting gifts of great value from drug makers.
“Why do we want them bribing doctors to use what may not be the best or most cost-effective drug for the patient purely to get some hand-held TV, we all asked,” Mr. Greenfield said.
Still, compliance with the law has been spotty. Some companies never responded to the board’s requests for disclosures. Others did so fitfully. A few sent letters saying they did not collect that information and thus could not provide it.
Minnesota officials never cracked down. Such reports were put in file drawers and largely forgotten until this past year, said Cody Wiberg, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy. Mr. Wiberg said he planned this year to pursue companies that fail to report.
Besides Vermont and Maine, more than a dozen other states have or are now considering similar legislation, said Sharon Anglin Treat, executive director of the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices.
Officials in Maine and Vermont said they would try to compare reports of payments to doctors with Medicaid records to explore how marketing practices might influence prescribing by doctors in ways that increased costs to taxpayers.
“What we want to be able to do is overlay the prescribing information that we have with the drug detailing information,” said Jude Walsh, special assistant to the governor of Maine, John E. Baldacci. “If we see that doctors in a certain southern county in the state are prescribing a lot of a drug and getting a lot of detailing for that drug, that could lead to some record reviews to see what’s happening.”
Correction: July 3, 2007
An article on Wednesday about an emerging pattern in health care, in which psychiatrists are earning more money from drug makers than doctors in any other specialty, referred imprecisely to a new report from Vermont, where drug companies’ payments to doctors for lectures and other services must now be reported to the state. As the article noted elsewhere, the figure $45,692 was an average for the psychiatrists with the highest drug-company earnings in 2006, not for all psychiatrists in Vermont.
This information summited by a foster parent.
http://www.adhdfraud.com/frameit.asp?src=commentary.htm --- Dr. Fred Baughman's address to the "Council of Europe" openly exposing the Fraud of ADHD by proffering "THE CASE AGAINST DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF ADHD AND RELATED DISORDERS AND THEIR TREATMENT WITH STIMULANTS" This document summarizes the 186+ deaths and 569 hospitalizations KNOWN by the FDA MedWatch group between 1990-2000. (estimated by FDA MedWatch to be only .1 - 1% of the total potential for harm).
http://www.ablechild.org --- Many options are discussed herein for parents and children and it also discusses the pending legislation to stop this travesty being visited upon our children thru coerced, covert Psychotropic Drugging of our children.
http://www.alternet.org/story/20594/ --- Leading ADHD researcher blows whistle on Concerta and CHADD. "Here, Kiddie, Kiddie". Read about the Front groups that mislead you about the drugging of your children, and what the ex director of the DEA says about this climate.
http://users.aol.com/vlntryst/wn59.html ---"Who controls the children". An eye opening read about parents and how their relationship with their children is subverted by Govt.
Information that every Parent should know! This is a Paramount Must Read Medication Information page. The risks of these medications are shocking. The Drugging of our Children (Gary Null) (...Click on picture to watch video.
How drug companies are pushing ADHD drugs for children by funding researchers and advocacy groups – and ignoring the studies which question their claims.
The Hidden Side of Psychiatry by Gary Null Sydney Smith, in a reporton "The Seduction of the Female Patient," reports that ... deep the deception ran when she awoke during a frequent drug-induced sleep ...
The very drugs (PDF) The first generation of antipsychotic drugs created a drug-induced ... Haldol have had quite a litany of harm with thetardive. dyskinesia and all. ... kids ...
Flimsy Sanity: Risperdal Approved for Children The first generation of antipsychotic drugs created a drug-induced brain ... drugs are thrown into the mix, and before you know it these kids are REALLY sick...
Medications often used to treat dementia-linked behavioral problems
Experts say, the drugging regime usually begins by doctors convincing parents that their children have attention deficit disorder, and the medications prescribed are the exact same drugs that street addicts call "speed." They include the amphetamines Adderall, Dexedrine, and methylphenidates such as Ritalin and Concerta. 
Toxicity, Medication-Induced Dystonic Reactions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a letter to AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) stating that a piece of promotional material for Seroquel tablets is false or misleading and requesting that AstraZeneca "immediately cease the dissemination of violative promotional materials for Seroquel." According to the letter, 
