Henry Waxman: "The pharmaceutical industry has systematically misled physicians and patients..."

Drs are pushing these drugs. I went to the dr because I was so tired. First thing he wanted to do is give me an antidepressant. I told him I wasn't depressed but tired and he still wanted me to take it.

I did not and wanted a blood test for my thyroid. Yep hypothyroid. Changed doctors got my thyroid pills and energy level back up.

The reps push this shit and some docs are all to happy to dole it out.

Maybe THIS is what's wrong with this country.

Drug peddlers!

It's bad enough in itself, but the long term effects of these drugs is not known, because the first SSRI drug Prozac was only introduced in 1987.

I'm glad you were able to refuse the drug pushers. They should be in jail.

for many people, antidepressants are literally lifesavers. And for many others, they make a big difference in the quality of life.

Too often the serious side effects of new drugs are not known - or not revealed - until they are out in circulation and are mass tested by the patients to whom they are prescribed.

In the case of SSRIs and suicidal thoughts, the drug companies denied this for many years, saying that it is to be expected that depressed people sometimes commit suicide.

There is no excuse for this continued denial. How many children died because the drug companies were being deliberately obtuse?

I've had to wait several times long after my appointment time because the doctor was talking to the "detailers," those drug company represenatives that go to doctors' offices and give them free samples and promote the new drugs. One time I felt really bad, but I still had to wait while he talked to them. Another time I took my 94-year-old Mom to the doctor but we waited more than 30 minutes past her appointment time and we had to leave because she felt sick. Yes, it's really the doctors' fault for not seeing the patients at the appointed times. But it's also the drug companies' fault for sending those people into doctors' offices in the first place and monopolizing their time when the doctors could be spending that same time seeing and treating patients.

They pay for lunches, trips, office parties, golf outings, etc

But you're right, they used to, and the FDA should have quashed the practice sooner

A prescriber now risks their license for accepting any monetary OR non-monetary compensation.

I'm sure they'll be along soon enough...

About 17 years ago, living in Albuquerque, NM, I was experiencing a lot of depression. I asked my internist about taking Prozac, which she prescribed. Don't remember how much I was taking, but about 2 weeks in, I was going to bed one night, and as I lay my head on my pillow I was suddenly overcome by very strong feelings of anxiety and agitation. The feelings were so strong I had to get out of bed. I felt as though I had to hurt myself, or someone else. I couldn't stop moving and I couldn't go back to bed.
I went to the kitchen and drank some milk. It wasn't enough to sooth me and I had to eventually drive myself to the nearest emergency room because I didn't know what I was going to do.
I explained how I was feeling to the doctor and that I was pretty certain it was the Prozac. He totally discounted me and said I was experiencing menopause. I knew that wasn't the case.
I went home and because I, at least, was aware that this wasn't a normal feeling state for me and was, I was certain, due to the Prozac, I felt more in control. I didn't sleep that night and eventually I calmed down. I never took the medication again. When I told my prescribing doctor of the incident, she said there was no mention of these side effects for Prozac, so it wasn't possible that they were the cause, though she had no other answer.
None of these stories surprises me. I still remember vividly the strength of the feelings I was experiencing. I have a masters degree in social work and did some work with the mentally ill and the meds they take. I knew enough to seek help immediately. These very young, kids and their parents don't have the same information and experience I did. So sad, and still so scary to me because I know there are many more out there.

what really struck me is that I also got the anxiety, agitation and feeling like I HAD TO hurt myself. Scary stuff indeed.

Everyone needs to hear it!

Please spread the word

BTW: Did you see this Michael Moore Video? It's not too popular around some parts...

Akathisia, or acathisia, is a syndrome characterized by unpleasant sensations of inner restlessness that manifests itself with an inability to sit still or remain motionless... It can be a side effect of medications...Akathisia may range in intensity from a sense of disquiet or anxiety, to severe discomfort, particularly in the knees. Patients typically pace for hours because the pressure on the knees reduces the discomfort somewhat; once their knees and legs become fatigued and they are unable to continue pacing, they sit or lie down, although this does not relieve the akathisia. At high doses or with potent drugs such as haloperidol (Haldol) or chlorpromazine (Thorazine/Largactil), the feeling can last all day from awakening to sleep...

When misdiagnosis occurs in antipsychotic neuroleptic-induced akathisia, more antipsychotic neuroleptics may be prescribed, potentially worsening the symptoms. High-functioning patients have described the feeling as a sense of inner tension and torment or chemical torture... Although these side effects disappear quickly and remarkably when the medication is stopped, tardive, or late-persisting akathisia may go on long after the offending drug is discontinued, sometimes for a period of years—unlike the related tardive dyskinesia, which can be permanent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akathisia

Jack Henry Abbot (1981), a convicted murderer and author, described the effects of akathisia produced by antipsychotic drugs when given without the necessary medication for side effects (e.g. procyclidine) as may occur in prison and even sometimes hospitals:

These drugs, in this family, do not calm or sedate the nerves. They attack. They attack from so deep inside you, you cannot locate the source of the pain ... The muscles of your jawbone go berserk, so that you bite the inside of your mouth and your jaw locks and the pain throbs. For hours every day this will occur. Your spinal column stiffens so that you can hardly move your head or your neck and sometimes your back bends like a bow and you cannot stand up. The pain grinds into your fiber ...

You ache with restlessness, so you feel you have to walk, to pace. And then as soon as you start pacing, the opposite occurs to you; you must sit and rest. Back and forth, up and down you go in pain you cannot locate, in such wretched anxiety you are overwhelmed, because you cannot get relief even in breathing.

—Jack Henry Abbot, In the Belly of the Beast (1981/1991). Vintage Books, 35–36. Quoted in Robert Whitaker, Mad in America (2002, ISBN 0-7382-0799-3), 187.

This side effect was widely noted with early anti-psychotics; SSRIs were supposed to have minimal risk, but as more research comes in, turns out it's not that minimal. If you go to chat boards on such topics you'll find people waist-deep talking about their experiences with it.

Personally, I think it's more widespread than reported in the literature.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=akathesia&oq=akathesia&gs_l=youtube-reduced.3..0i10l4.804.972.0.1985.2.2.0.0.0.0.971.1550.5-1j1.2.0...0.0...1ac.1.4jeCZ0iqdqY

A sane society would remove the profit motive from health care.

Even in our society, most real drug research is done by Federally supported laboratories - the drug companies do mostly product-related research aimed more at increasing profits than at promoting health.

We should really take the next step and evaluate what it would take to turn the pharmaceutical industry into a public utility and de-link it from the profit motive that seems so often at odds with the public's health.

what? That's right, the US Gov has patented the use of the main ingredient in Cannabis, Cannabinoids.

While they bust legal dispensaries.

But only a few people can grasp the deception.
This Oakland attorney gets it:

Oakland cites surprise medical pot backer
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Oakland-cites-surprise-medical-pot-backer-4113767.php

Cedric Chao, a lawyer for the city, cited a 2003 patent application

----(GFV: Note that the paper said "application" and not that it was granted)

by the U.S. government that said cannabis compounds are "useful in the treatment and prophylaxis (prevention) of a wide variety of oxidation-associated diseases," including certain types of strokes and immune-system disorders.

Chao quoted another patent application, by two government scientists in 2009, that referred to the "healing properties of Cannabis sativa," or marijuana, that have been "known throughout documented history."

"How can the government credibly deny the benefits of medical cannabis when the government itself is funding cutting-edge research proving the medical benefits of cannabis and seeking patents based on such research?" Chao wrote.

***

Feds close to granting medical marijuana patent to NY-based research company?

Update: KannaLife did receive exclusive rights to the US patent on marijuana, but CEO Dean Petkanas told our sister blog Toke of the Town last night that it only applies to a very specific medical condition and that they have no plans to expand their research. "We don't want to be involved in the production, growth or dispensing of marijuana at the retail level," Petkanas said.


For more of Steve Elliot's interview with Petkanas, click over to Toke of the Town.

Original post, 4:28 p.m., Dec. 19: The U.S Department of Health and Human Services is about to give exclusive rights to the government-owned patent on marijuana to a single pharmaceutical company based in New York -- a state that doesn't even recognize medical marijuana as a valid therapy.Think that's unfair, fellow Colorado medical marijuana patient? Well, you've still got a few hours left to write in and tell the government your thoughts....more

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/12/feds_close_to_granting_medical.php

Let me begin by saying I am not a depressed person by nature, and I am the person in my intimate circle to whom people reach out when they want a cheerleader (or a clown). Anytime I felt down it was always because something specifically in my life was making me depressed (e.g. layoffs at work) so I trusted whatever it was would be reconciled and that I wouldn't be feeling this way forever. Which was true for me. But I want to be clear; I know some people who are on antidepressants and its made their lives better. My personal experience was different however.

I was going through a divorce and although I was the one who initiated it (my ex-husband, a smart and capable man, decided 2 years into our 10 year marriage that it was easier to quit his job and live off me. We were NOT rich by any stretch, but my parents are loaded and he actually said to someone "my wife is an heiress, I don't need to work". WTF???), I was very very sad. I had been married briefly before and felt like a failure. Plus my ex had Narcissistic Personality Disorder and I felt like I was abandoning a sick person. Anyway, I asked my long-time psychiatrist to prescribe antidepressants and he did so. Forward three months, and I am sitting in a parking lot in my car several states away, I call my doctor and tell him I can't take anymore and I am going to kill myself. I'd NEVER even thought of suicide before but I felt so hopeless that I just couldn't see my way out of it any other way, and I wanted to do it NOW. "Dorky, you need to know that sometimes the antidepressant you are on causes suicidal thoughts in people who have had any sort of anxiety disorder", which freaked me out because he personally diagnosed me with that several years before and added "so we should get you off those things. Don't suddenly stop, we need to get you off of it slowly". I hung up the phone, threw the pills out the window and never looked back (nor have I returned to said doctor or any other psychiatrist). Please note that I am NOT advocating people do the same, I was only on it for a few months and suffered no adverse effects from doing this. The point that I am trying to make is that it turned a "normal" but going-through-a-hard-time woman into a suicidal ball of anxiety.

I'm so glad you were able to ditch the poisons.

Have a Happy New Year!

Here's some other real life stories, might be helpful if you have friends that want to know more
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/

He was on Prozac at the time. He had lost both legs in Vietnam, and had a horrible step-father...I guess we'll never know how the exact combination created that 'perfect storm' of his suicide...

The prozac pushers need to be held accountable.

"Eli Lilly has been involved in numerous controversies, including political and medical ethics controversies. Eli Lilly is now the sole manufacturer of BGH having purchased the rights to manufacture the drug from Monsanto....

In one of three cases to ever go to trial for SSRI indication in suicide, a Kentucky man, Joseph Wesbecker, who had been on Prozac, went to his workplace and opened fire, killing seven people and injuring 12 others before turning the gun on himself. The jury returned a 9-to-3 verdict in favor of Lilly. The case's judge, however, took the matter to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which found that "there was a serious lack of candor with the trial court and there may have been deception, bad faith conduct, abuse of judicial process and, perhaps even fraud." The judge later revoked the verdict and instead recorded the case as settled. The value of the secret settlement deal has never been disclosed.

Eli Lilly pleaded guilty to violating U.S. law in its marketing of its anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa (Olanzapine) and was ordered to pay $1.42billion to settle criminal and civil allegations in the fourth largest pharmaceutical settlement in U.S. history. Eli Lilly said it had entered a misdemeanor plea for violation of federal law in its off-label promotion of Zyprexa between September 1999 and March 2001 and agreed to pay $615 million

This is criminal behavior.

when are spell checkers going to check for context?

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

public high school to allow it to put their son on medication. He was "diagnosed" by teachers as ADHD and they wanted him on meds even though he never disturbed any classmate or teacher. The magic drug would "improve" his academics.

My friend was resistant but his wife, a nurse, was open to the idea as she entirely trusted the school and "medical authorities". They fought over it.

In the end, the child was not put on the medication as both parents had to agree to it.

The "kid" is fine now. Smart as in right-brain creativity and spacial problem-solver. Management for a decade.

I'm convinced that the pharmaceutical companies not only pressure doctors and pediatricians but schools as well to push their products.

Yes they do "pressure doctors and pediatricians but schools as well to push their products". They also pressure nurses and other care providers who are just as willing to play along because it makes the people and children they're working with more compliant.

He was 'diagnosed' and I put that in quotes because he was never professionally evaluated - his teacher suggested he was abnormally hyperactive and that maybe my parents should think about seeing a doctor for medication so he was less disruptive in class. So my parents - concerned, naturally - took him to a doctor - regular family doctor - that immediately put him on ritalin. My brother was on it for all of 5 days. He walked around like a zombie. Finally, this 8 year old boy confided in my parents that he felt dead inside, like he had no feelings, and that maybe it would be better if he was dead for REAL, and that he felt like committing suicide. My mom flushed those pills so fast...They eventually switched classrooms and the issue turned out to be that my brother was finishing his work super fast because it was too easy for him, and then he would get bored. The new teacher just kept giving him extra work. Voila - problem solved. Can you imagine if he'd have continued taking those pills? Who knows WHAT would've happened.

"The pharmaceutical industry has systematically misled physicians and patients..."

Sorry. I've seen the past participles of "to lead" and "to mislead" misspelled here on DU about 100 times for every time they are spelled correctly: "led" and "misled". I finally snapped.

And been blasted for it. These school shootings, these rampage killings, are directly linked to SSRI drugs. The pharmaceutical companies push them, the doctors prescribe them like candy, and no one monitors their effects. Then, it is too late. And, our mainstream press, which makes much of their profit off of running ads for the big pharmas, don't report that these killers were on these drugs.

I'm not saying that everyone who takes these drugs is going to become a rampage killer, but when 3.5% of those who take them have adverse effects, is it any wonder that we are seeing an explosion of rampage killings?

and spend that time helping people who are more receptive about ways to wean themselves from these chemical concoctions that try to rewire people's neurons with very dangerous risks.

Just last night my sister, a physician, and I were talking about how people are being over diagnosed and prescribed dangerous drugs as if they were aspirin. Worse, they're prescribed many of these drugs for unapproved, off-label uses. Even worse, they're giving them to kids whose brains are still developing. Wow, way to go.

Some of the drugs we hand out like candy in North America get rejected for European use because they have too many dangerous, unpredictable side effects.

The makers of Fanapt were *stunned* when it got FDA approval in the US. Now they're *stunned* the CHMP isn't as criminally complicit with corporate profit over people's well-being.

But there sure are a lot of people who want to shout down rational discussions.

that you were not, in that 250+ thread the other day.

It was unfair and disgusting.

I have a feeling you will, in the end, be proven correct.
And that is such sweet revenge...

the old "First they ignore" thing. You're at the fight stage. Keep on speaking out!

Real life stories of people trying to ditch the poisons:
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/

Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? the Rest of the Story on the New Class of Ssri Antidepressants Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lovan, Luvox & More Ann Blake Tracy
2001 UPDATE SPECIAL EDITION free here-(PDF)
http://famguardian.org/Subjects/Health/Articles/ProzacReport-DrTracy.pdf

DrugAwareness.Org Youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/icfda/videos

I think, sometimes, people just like to get angry at SOMEONE, even when even they can see that their anger is irrational. It surprises me that it would happen on DU, but then again, this IS the internet, after all.

What gets me is that this link between these drugs and violence is no longer being reported by mainstream media. Have you noticed that? The internet is rife with posters asking if these rampage killers were on SSRI drugs, and yet no one is answering this question.

No one is talking about it on cable news or otherwise. NO ONE. People are suing the makers of these drugs, left and right, and winning out of court settlements whose terms are hushed up, and admit no culpability by the pharmas. I've noticed, even on the SSRI Stories website, that they are no longer reporting exactly which drugs are involved--I don't think they can GET the names of the drugs anymore.

You notice that the Killeen killer at that army base in Texas hasn't been reported to have been on any of these drugs? And he was a psychiatrist! You know the chances of him being on an antidepressant are high, because of his profession, yet nothing is being reported. I think we're going to see the same thing with James Holmes, who was seeing a psychiatrist, and reportedly for depression!

I'm afraid that the truth of this is going to be put in front of us in a really terrible way, that puts many more than just movie-goers or school children at risk. The fact that Holmes could get thousands of dollars worth of weapons and rig his apartment so well, as a booby trap, tells me that these people are capable of much more than what we are seeing right now. How much more slaughter must there be before someone in the mainstream media sounds the alarm and these drugs are either pulled or some hard decisions are made about how they are administered?

that patients had to fight Big Pharma to get listed on insert in many cases
This paper calls for more clinical trial and epidemiological data to be made available and for good clinical descriptions of the adverse outcomes of treatment

"Legal systems are likely to continue to be faced with cases of violence associated with the use of psychotropic drugs, and it may fall to the courts to demand access to currently unavailable data."
As usual .....
It has been a fight with many differnt drugs including these to have seriuos side effects listed
They rather you not know!$$!

http://www.bad-drug.net/

We don't need a profit motive to drive the development of drugs. When money becomes the motivation, that's when the greedy people become in charge of our health and wellness, which are precisely the things they compromise to make a few extra bucks.

Patients don't have funds for the meds and the Pharma companies give samples to the physicians to "start" the medication regime.....then when the patient finds out the drug works...they will have to pay for it or pay a high co-pay. Kind of like a drug-heroin dealer business approach.