ADD- Good Science or Good Marketing?

This is the beggining of an article for Dr. Leo Jonathan who wrote "Rethinking ADHD; International Perspective, Edited by Sami Timimi :


Attention Deficit Disorder - Good Science or Good Marketing?

Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 142
Default Attention Deficit Disorder - Good Science or Good Marketing?
I'm going to post an article written by the Dean of Student Affairs at my medical school. His name is Dr. Jonathan Leo and he's one of the MANY dissenters of the whole ADHD/Ritalin case. He also publishes regarding SSRIs.
Please forgive any typos and I've left the notations out for convenience.

The article was originally published in SKEPTIC, Vol.8, no. 1, 2000.


In the 1960s, Americans discovered illegal mind-altering drugs for themselves. In the 1990s, Americans discovered a legal mind-altering drug for their children. Although it is illegal drugs that draw the attention of the media and law enforcement agencies, over the past decade there has been a meteoric rise int he number of children, under the guidance of a physician, taking mind-altering drugs.

The drug? Ritalin. The most recent estimate is that somewhere between 3-5 million children in this country are taking Ritalin or a similar type of drug. Furthermore, American children consume 90% of all the Ritalin produced worldwide, making this a unique spect of American cultire. Ritaline is the drug of choice for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD. It has now become acceptable to give children a drug to alter their personality and behavioral patterns in a specific situation, usually school. The acceptance of this practice, however, has more to do with marketing than science. In the past 10 years, millions of dollars have been spent by scientists to investigate the biological basis of ADHD. Likewise, millions of dollars habe been spent by the marketing departments of pharmaceutical companies to promote the use of drugs such as Ritalin. ...

By comparing the success rate of the scientists on one hand and the marketing departments on the other, it is clear why medicating children has more to do with marketing than science. The scientific basis of ADHD is on shaky ground and very little progress has been made in the last decade. It is hard to pin down the ADHD experts on what they think is the most convincing scientific proof of this disorder. Instead of one very good study that proves their case, ther are numerous marginal studies that individually have little significance. However, when these little pieces are piled high it appearts to some that significant understanding is at hand. continues...

ADHD diagnoses tendence in Brazil

I've talked to a Brazilian psychologist today and he told me that he went to see a 2 years old child who was diagnosed ADHD. He was appalled for the child is from a upper class family and behave as any normal children of his age.
The worse of all is that the parents are physicians.
I'll talk to him latter and he'll tell me some of his stories. He uses to ask psychiatrist to low doses of some meds for he cannot work with a patient that is unresponsive because of drugs.
He is trying hard to give a good assistance and is even starting studying neurology in order to understand the drugs.
There has been a lot of articles on mags and newspapers about ADHD and, of course, millions of patients that should be taking meds are without care.

science 3

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."
Albert Einstein

glimpses

Sometimes it seems that life presents you nothing but glimpses. Someone talks to you but it’s not a conversation; you shake hands but the hand is weak; go to the movies but see different aspects from what your friend has noticed; look into someone’s eyes but there’s nobody there.
These are the daily glimpses, no harm done.
However there are things in life that are not meant to be given as glimpses:
a glimpse of real friendship; a glimpse of inner-peace; a glimpse of desire; of family; kindness; revolt; love; tenderness; smile; tears; God…
Some people after being exposed to so many glimpses of these really valuable stuffs give up and even stop questioning “when will my life really begin?” a common expression of hope.
Others stay in the lighthouse and there are those who pass a long time in towels.
Perhaps happiness and sadness are among the things that can be presented as glimpses.

arriving home after hairstylist

-Much better! Now I'll deliver it.

cats and dogs

• "-I need a haircut! she said." He said "-It smells funny!"

He is watching you

Science?

"Let me tell you, sitting in a clinical neuroscience lab at Vanderbilt and working with people who do some of this kind of research, the technology isn't there right now. Nor do I think it ever will be, not as a limitation of the technology, but as a limitation of the assumptions one must make.
Firstly, the strength of association between a single gene and any mental illness (barring Huntington's disease) is weak at best. Secondly, the presence of a "defective" gene linked to mental illness does NOT imply the gene is being expressed. Thirdly, even if it is being expressed, there is no way to know how that one protein is interacting with other proteins, organ systems, and/or hormones."

Posted by: NAP at June 24, 2008 08:33 AM

I took this comment from Philip Dawdy FS.

I'm appalled by this post:he wrote today. I've searched on the Psynova Neurotech and could not believe what I saw:

Commercial Opportunities

Business model and commercial strategy

"Psynova Neurotech will be the vehicle for commercial exploitation of IP generated by CCNR in the field of pharmacogenomics. Value will be created by validation of key biomarkers and through the Company’s drug discovery and development programmes. In addition, the Company will exploit relevant IP created by Prof Lowe’s research into diagnostics for biomarkers identified by CCNR.
Psynova Neurotech may also act as a conduit through which pharmaceutical companies can access the PsyData database which comprises results from the unique collection of clinical samples assembled by Dr Bahn and her collaborators."

Commercial Opportunities - Marketing Opportunities

Psynova Neurotech is seeking to exploit its portfolio of proprietary biomarkers to address the following market opportunities in Neuropsychiatric disorders:

• Tests for diagnosis of patients for a pre-disposition to or with an early form of these disorders;


• Prognostic tests for assessing the likely outcome of a therapeutic intervention;


• Diagnostic tests for identifying responders to particular treatment regimes and also for stratifying patients into sub-groups for clinical studies;


• Tools to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of clinical development programmes;


• Re-profiling of current drugs for new uses with Neuropsychiatric disorders; and


• Identification of novel targets for new drug discovery programmes and the development of new classes of drugs for effective treatment of Neuropsychiatric disorders

Let's hope they will really help! Good Luck!

untitled

I'm collecting some pieces. No words. Soon.....

Brazil condemned by OAS for crime against psychiatric patient

After fighting for justice under Brazilian laws Damião Ximenes family was advice by humans right advocates to search for justice elsewhere.

Here you can find the summary off the case:

"On October 1, 1999, Albertina Ximenes placed her son, Damião Ximenes Lopes, in the care of the Casa de Repouso Guarapes, the only psychiatric clinic in the Sobral region. Three days later on October 4, Albertina returned to the clinic to visit Damião, who was suffering from a psychiatric disorder, but was informed that he "was not in a state to receive visits." Dissatisfied, Albertina entered the clinic shouting Damião's name. Damião came to meet her, but was in a deplorable state, bleeding, with various wounds, hematomas and his hands tied. She asked a staff person at the clinic to take him for a bath, and afterwards sought the doctor in charge, Dr. Francisco Ivo de Vasconcelos, Clinical Director of the Casa de Repouso Guararapes, and forensic medical examiner in Sobral. The doctor merely prescribed some medicines, without examining Damião.

When Albertina returned to look for her son again, a cleaner at the clinic told her that a fight had taken place between Damião and the nurses, and as a result of this Damião ended up badly hurt. Albertina found him beside a bed, completely naked with his hands tied. Unable to take Damião away, Albertina returned home. By the time she had returned home, the Casa de Repouso Guararapes had already rung informing her of the death of her son."

After a long process under the OAS the sentence:

"During the 119 th Session of the IACHR in October 2003, the IACHR concluded that the Brazilian State was responsible for violating rights with respect to personal integrity, life, judicial protection and judicial guarantees, foreseen by articles 5, 4, 8 and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights. These violations resulted from the cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of Damião and the torture and subsequent murder within the Casa de Repouso Guararapes. The violation of the obligation to investigate the crimes, of the right to appeal and judicial guarantees were linked to the investigation of the events and the Brazilian judicial system."

"Late last night, 17th August 2006, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, the highest tribunal within the OAS, condemned Brazil for the death of Damião Ximenes Lopes, which occurred on the 4th of October 1999 in the Clínica de Repouso Guararapes, in Sobral, in the state of Ceará."

"The Inter-American Court of Human Rights' sentence in the Damião Ximenes case is the first to deal with the cruel and discriminatory treatment of people suffering from psychological disorders. The acknowledgement by the Court of the vulnerable situation to which these people are subjected widens international jurisprudence, and strengthens the denunciations of organizations working against internment of psychiatric patients, particularly with respect to human rights violations perpetrated within psychiatric institutions."

The Damião Ximenes case should be a lesson for all of those families who want to find justice when there are human rights violations against psychiatric patients.
It's not only in Brazil that there are these violations.
Take a look at OAS 's work.

want to loose weight? Acomplia!

Acomplia the diet pill drug that Gives Weight Loss Patients Depression and have other side effects such as suicidal ideation and can promote the development of neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cardiovascular problems has not yet been approved in US but it's on the market in UE as well as in Brazil.
Some people claim:
"There are known benefits to taking Acomplia, and this study does not address whether the benefits of taking Acomplia outweigh the risk. Plus it is still not proven whether or not Acomplia does actually cause mood disorders."
"The FDA has still not approved Acomplia for use in the US, but it is being prescribed across the EU. Presumably the FDA will be able to look at the European data to decide whether or not the benefits of taking Acomplia outweigh the risks, when deciding whether or not to approve Acomplia for the US market."

However US citizens and people from all over the world can buy it on numerous sites that sells the drug online. This is one of these sites.
Dieting and exercising seems to be the last resource for those who want to loose wait. Cocaine is known to suppress appetite and has the benefit of making you happy for a while.
Gee! How thin top models are.

The woman in the mirror is at US-Canada border.

Diagnosing ADHD in Brazil - (post under construction)

It seems that Brazil is following US parameters to diagnose ADHD. According to this review -it's an English version - the Rio Grande do Sul Psychiatry Magazine:

"For the diagnosis of the adult, it is necessary to evaluate whether there are comorbidities that may justify the reported symptoms and impairment. The presence of psychiatric comorbidities is extremely common in ADHD, in children and adolescents and in adults as well, and significantly changes the clinical presentation of the prognosis.⁷³ In the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication,⁷¹ the diagnosis of other psychiatric disorders in adults with ADHD was significantly higher than what is expected by the respective prevalence in the general population.⁷⁴ In our country, a study with children and adolescents showed that the profile of comorbidities in the ADHD is similar even in different sociocultural contexts.⁷⁵ Many symptoms of the DMS-IV listed for the ADHD are identical or similar to symptoms listed in the diagnosis of other disorders, and the differential diagnosis demands a specialized evaluation.⁶⁵ Inattention, for example, is one of the symptoms listed for the diagnosis of mood disorder in the DSM-IV system.

65. Milberger S, Biederman J, Faraone SV, Chen L, Jones J. ADHD is associated with early initiation of cigarette smoking in children and adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1997;36(1):37-44. [ Links ]

71. Biederman J, Kwon A, Aleardi M, Chouinard VA, Marino T, Cole H, et al. Absence of gender effects on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: findings in nonreferred subjects Am J Psychiatry. 2005;162(6):1083-9. [ Links ]

72. Grevet EH, Bau CH, Salgado CAI, Fischer AG, Kalil K, Victor MV, et al. Lack of gender effects on subtype outcomes in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: support for the validity of subtypes. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. In press. [ Links ]

73. Biederman J. Impact of comorbidity in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2004;65 Suppl 3:3-7. [ Links ]

74. Biederman J, Faraone SV, Monuteaux MC, Bober M, Cadogen E. Gender effects on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults, revisited. Biol Psychiatry. 2004;55(7):692-700. [ Links ]

The review has the following footnote:

* Some authors are part of the consulting board, are lecturers or received research funds from the following laboratories: Biosintética, Bristol-Meyers-Squibb, Glaxo, Janssen-Cilag, Lilly, Lundbeck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Wyeth.

"What Dick Cheney is to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, psychiatrist Joseph Biederman is to the explosion of psychiatric medications in American children."
Bruce Levine said.

I just hope that all criticism of Mr. Biederman's work in US is spread all over the world for the drugs that are used in these diseases are global.

memories

we have memories so we can have flowers in the winter

thank you blog buddies

It has been a long journey. Since I've started visiting blogs on mental health I felt sad and angry, I've cried a lot, got angry and even started blogging. One of the blog buddies said that it's therapeutic writing on all of this and I told myself that I was not finding therapeutic reading so many sad stories, crying till one day I was so desperate because of all of you and me that I started crying so much with such anguish, sorrow, anger and a mix of strong terrible feeling.
I didn't know I was that angry about what happened to me. Wrong. I've remembered all my story...
Yesterday I felt happy and alive again for no reason. It was when I've realized that reading all your stories and felling empathy with you I felt understood and were among people who suffered the same as me and are conscious and quite aware of the origin of the harm that was inflicted by the bad medicine that is being practiced.
Yes Jane. You were right. It's therapeutic blogging because we get in touch with others.
I want to thank you all for telling your stories and letting me see that I'm not alone.
Thank you very very much.

PS I only regret not understanding what bipolar depression is by the time a very close person needed more help than I was giving.

Sarah Finkel's method

A woman, calling Mount Sinai Hospital said, "Hello, I want to know if the patient is getting better." The voice on the other end of the line said, "What is the patient's name and room number?" She said, "Yes, darling! She's Sarah Finkel, in Room 302." He said, "Oh, yes. Mrs. Finkel is doing very well. In fact, she's had two full meals, her blood pressure is fine, she's going to be taken off the heart monitor in a couple of hours and if she continues this improvement, Dr. Cohen is going to send her home on Tuesday." The woman said, "Thank God! That's wonderful! Oh! That's fantastic! That's wonderful news!" The man on the phone said, "From your enthusiasm, I take it you must be a close family member or a very close friend!" She said, "I'm Sarah Finkel in 302! Cohen, my doctor, doesn't tell me a word!"

Courtesy:
US Magazine - The News.
Issue: Feb 1, 2008.

Clinical trials 2

This is from "The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry":

39. Many large-scale Phase II and III trials are currently being carried out in Eastern Europe and elsewhere as a result of high costs imposed here.36 Dr Malcolm Boyce, who runs a London-based Contract Research Organisation (CRO), stressed:
A strong pound sterling makes matters worse for overseas companies. For those reasons, companies are increasingly placing their Phase II and III trials outside the UK, in low cost areas such as Eastern Europe, Russia and India.37 p. 18

I'll write about it later.

is it worthwhile?

When I read "My withdrawal hell" and withdrawal hell - 2 I don't believe that it's my story. I don't remember feeling all of these. It seems to be someone else's story.
After reaching the end of the withdrawal process I kept on feeling terrible in a way that life was impossible and I had to take Effexor again to stop all the strange feelings that were in my mind and my body.
No! I was not put on antidepressants or all the other drugs I took because I was depressed. I went to a psychiatrist to help me get off of clonazepam and he put me on Tofranil. All side effects promoted by this drug were seen as a mental disorder.
Now I'm fine although I'll have to be on Effexor and clonazepam and Seroquel for the rest of my life.
I could keep on with my life and forget about it all. Why am I so sad lately not because of me for I have crossed over all of that at a point that I read these stories not remembering I was there but because of so many people being on hell? For the last two months I've cried a lot visiting blogs.
Why on earth I'm concerned about it all? I'm fine, not depressed, not anything but broken because I've not worked due to withdrawal not only of Effexor but the huge amount of drugs I was put. So why, repeat, why am I writing on this subject instead of all the stuff I love to write or just keep on researching on mental health to finish my book?
Is it worthwhile? Does anybody care if I blog or not? Will it prevent others from being prescribed wrongly? Does it make any difference?

excerpts of the UK Parliament review

From the review "The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry":

Professional and patients Education p.25

74. Education for patients is provided in a variety of ways, including disease awareness campaigns, which are discussed in detail in Part 8.Such campaigns are designed to increase awareness among the general public of particular conditions that may be under-reported or under-diagnosed and to encourage people to seek treatment. Often, such campaigns are sponsored by a drug company and may bear a company ’s logo they may be also endorsed by a charity or patient organization and/or supported by a celebrity. P. 27

The promotion of Drugs

77. Prescription-only medicines may be promoted only to healthcare professionals, except in very specific cases such as Government-endorsed vaccination programmes. Promotion to prescribers may take many forms:

a) Drug company representatives. Approximately 8,000 drug company representatives operate in the UK and play an important role in information provision and. Many doctors cite them as one of the main sources of information on the use of new drugs.56 p.27/28

79. A critical element of the work of medical communications companies is the recruitment and training of key opinion leaders (KOLs), who are usually ‘authoritative third parties ’ such as physicians at the top of their field. These individuals may be paid to speak and write on behalf of the sponsoring pharmaceutical company. They attend medical conferences, for example, and may present research papers, take part in panel debates or field questions in oral sessions. The ' development' of KOLs, we were told, is a well-worked process involving all types of doctors (hospital consultants, clinical academics and GPs). P. 29

84. The direct advertising of prescription drugs to patients is prohibited. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription-only medicines is permitted only in the US and New Zealand. p. 29

248…Dr Spence was especially concerned about the ‘Defeat Depression Campaign ’ and its effect on prescribing patterns and the public ’s perception of depression: [That campaign ] led to us being told that a third of people were depressed, that we should screen for it, that we should start using antidepressants early, and we did. If I think back five or ten years ago, we were diagnosing large numbers of people with depression, and we were prescribing many antidepressants. As time has gone on, I have certainly begun to realize that in some ways yes, there are many people who do have depression, but lots of people are just unhappy and that is a part of life. So there is a whole generation of people coming up who almost feel that being unhappy is and abnormal state, which, of course, it is not.210 p. 71/72

249.The ‘Defeat Depression Campaign ’ ((1992 –1997),which was run through the RCGP and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and sponsored by the manufacturers of antidepressants (who provided approximately one-third of the funding)targeted doctors as well as patients, in particular to emphasize that these drugs did not cause addiction or dependence. These claims have since been disputed and a warning about withdrawal symptoms is now included in the SPC. The Royal College of Psychiatrists provided supplementary evidence emphasizing that the Defeat depression Campaign had been intended to make it clear “that antidepressant treatment was not appropriate for mild to moderate depression, but effective only for severe or clinical depression ”.211 This important message evidently got lost; indeed there remains much confusion on this point today.212

The Royal College also told us it had recently reviewed its policies on accepting commercial sponsorship, and now aims to keep total income from these sources at around 5%of the College's annual turnover. Commercial sponsorship accounted for under £500,000 (5.5% on turnover of £9m) in 2003. p. 72

The concept of ‘genetic predisposition to disease’ is therefore one that has gained widespread acceptance in recent years. However, being genetically predisposed to a disease does not mean that it will actually develop – there is an environmental component that interacts with other biological factors, such as the presence of particular disease antibodies.

According to GeneWatch:

Increasingly, medication is now prescribed to reduce risk of future illness. Selling medication to treat risk factors rather than diseases is immensely profitable for the pharmaceutical industry: or example, statins (to lower cholesterol levels) are now the biggest selling prescription drugs in the world [and are also now available over the counter ]220 p. 75

My SSRI withdrawal hell - 2

This is another comment that I left on SocialAudit during the 19 months I was tapering off Effexor.
It was written on July 29, 2005:

Just to give you an idea that there's an end after this long and winding road that leads to Our door.Today I'm feeling fine. Now I have to taper the last 3/4 of 75 mg last pill. I cannot believe.
After 1 year and four months tapering 225 mg I have overcome the hell I was. For the first time I can believe I'll reach the end of the process. If everything goes right I hope next week I'll be able to taper another tiny little bit. So, I will finally be tapering half the pill.
The funny thing is that ours lives became this fight against this drug. My parameters are totally different from other people at the moment. When someone says to me that is tired I feel like laughing. I remember the days while on Effexor and when the tiredness was not because I had worked a lot or played a lot or anything a lot.
I could not wake up from bed. When someone says that is sad I also want to laugh for after being on chemical sadness that let me in total despair, the chemical suicidal ideation and all the sorrow, pain and strange feelings I felt and perhaps will still feel, everything connected to feelings that has a reason, that is part off living became almost irrelevant. Of course I suffer from my own problems but the priority is side effects, withdrawal symptoms when will I have my mind and body back, how many time will I have to wait after the last day off Effexor and so on…
Guess I’m getting after all…. crazy. I feel like asking: “ – Do you really know what sadness is?”
“ – Do you really know what tiredness is?” “ – Do you really know what it means the world is falling apart?”
Let me give you an address where you will find out: www.socialaudit.org.uk . There are others but here you will have a large number off testimonies.
I believe that maybe we get traumatized by all these. I keep on wondering when my life will start again. As if we could divide before SSRIs/after SSRIs. Only those who are here or somewhere else trying to get help knows what I’m talking about.
Everybody think that we are doing nothing. They have no idea what kind of work we are doing to save ourselves. Searching the Internet, having to find a way to get out off the drug for most off us had no help from physicians. Suffering the hell under the drug and the hell off side effects and withdrawal symptoms.
I started to write a message of optimism but it turned out into something else. But I guess it is important to realize that this struggle made us a little bit apart from the world.
But I believe that human beings are at the same time very fragile and very strong.
Now I was watching the news and the financial market reported that GlaxosSmith shareholders can sleep in peace for they are selling a lot. And ironically it appears these pills, millions of pills being manufactured.
And I keep on wondering when will it stop? Still naïve. But the question is still in my head: “All this suffering because others have to make profit?” Maybe the Pope could help. Perhaps he is also a shareholder. Surely he is.

For no one -- Lennon

Your day breaks, your mind aches
You find that all the words of kindness linger on
When she no longer needs you

She wakes up, she makes up
She takes her time and doesn't feel she has to hurry
She no longer needs you

And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years!............

SocialAudit - Charles Medawar

You all must know about Charles Medawar's work. It was on his site where I found support to taper Effexor. As I already said I used to write online and now I don't have access to the messages I wrote because the discussion board is unavailable.
I've just found one comment.
It was written on August 5, 2005 and it's a response for a journalist who asked why people were put on SSRIs. The journalist was from BBC and he was collecting data for the second Panorama on Paxil/Seroxat.
This is the only answer I've saved:

"The report "The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry" is something that should be recognized by all citizens in UK as something of great value in promoting health and stopping the abuse of drugs for any problem. Drugs that are sometimes very harmful like the SSRIs and this report has important views on this problem.
At page 6 it's reported:

Inappropriate prescription of medicines by GPs is of particular concern. Some have prescribed SSRIs, for instance, on a grand scale.

But I defy you to go to a psychiatrist reporting anxiety or some problem and not to be put on any drug whether a benzodiazepine or a SSRI. It’s a problem that although, “About 650 million prescriptions are written each year by GPs alone.” is beyond specialization."
We, patients, should put it aside and focus on the side effects, withdrawal symptoms, permanent neurological problems.
Been a specialist does not mean that he or she is able to understand the problem. Psychiatrists, that were supposed to know everything that is at stake when they prescribe SSRIs, still do not know either how to cope with side effects or help patients to withdraw the drug. They say we have to stand side effects.
They do not rely on our reports, don't know how to recognize withdrawal symptoms, do not know that you can have withdrawal symptom after months out off the SSRI and prescribe these drugs that causes serious harm as if it was a painkiller.
Here is an issue very important (p. 7):
"The Government should, as a matter of urgency, fund research into the costs of drug-induced illness."
Sometimes I get a little afraid that the industry starts creating highly amount of drugs to treat the problems they created the iatrogenic diseases. Will we have to pay more expensive drugs?
This is terrifying:
“The drugs are produced by a very large and successful industry. It employs 83,000 people directly and many more indirectly, and makes a huge contribution to the balance of trade each year. Overall, the industry represents the country ’s third most profitable economic activity, after tourism and finance. It is of great importance to the UK economy.” p.9
And: p. 10
“7.The timing of this Inquiry coincided with an investigation by the medicines regulator into the safety of the newer ‘SSRI ’ antidepressant drugs, and we refer to these drugs to illustrate some concerns. Depression can be a severely disabling and life-threatening condition, when urgent treatment is needed, but only about 5% of all prescriptions are written for ‘severe ’ depression, and about two-thirds are for forms of depression classified as ‘mild depression"– i.e. mainly for people who are unhappy and distressed by difficult situations and circumstances. Although it is often suggested that antidepressant drugs will help these people, there is no good evidence that they will. Most people prescribed SSRIs in such circumstances can expect modest benefits, but are exposed to substantial risks of harm.”
I will keep on reading and believe that any person who is really concerned about this problem, especially physicians and patients, should read this report.
That’s why I say that everything is out in the open. The important is to have the courage to explain the truth.
If a report like this cannot make a difference, and surely will not, for as mentioned above “Overall, the industry represents the country’s third most profitable economic activity”.
Nobody, nothing can stop it.
But let’s wait that everything that is proposed in this important document such as in the part of what are the actions Government can take p.95:
325.Government has a number of areas of responsibility for medicines. It must act as sponsor for UK-based drug companies to encourage a thriving and competitive industry, it must maintain oversight of the regulatory system and ensure that mechanisms and incentives are in place so that the industry acts in a way that is consonant with the Government ’s public health aims.
“327.Government has been slow to see the importance of these areas, perhaps because the pharmaceutical industry funds such a great proportion of other medical research. The industry cannot be expected to fully fund areas of research that are not directly in its interest, however, and so it falls to Government to address areas of need such as non-drug treatments, combination studies and iatrogenic illness.” p. (95)
347. Although the case of Seroxat has been described in greater detail elsewhere in this report,it is worth noting here that,in additional information provided to the Committee on the basis of the EWG ’s report on SSRIs,it has been shown that suicidal thoughts and hostility are twice as common in patients receiving Seroxat in the month following drug withdrawal as in those receiving placebo. Data contained in the licence application itself cited studies in which withdrawal symptoms were common. Yet for years the MHRA maintained that withdrawal symptoms were rare, affecting of the order of 0.1 –0.2% of patients. The Agency now acknowledges that 20 –30%of patients might experience withdrawal symptoms when stopping SSRIs.
351. "The belief that every problem may be solved with medication seems particularly relevant in the context of antidepressants. While we readily accept that antidepressants can be effective medicines and have been successfully used by many patients, it is also clear that SSRIs, in particular, have been over-prescribed to individuals, often with mild forms of depression, who may be distressed by difficult life circumstances. Unhappiness is part of the spectrum of human experience, not a medical condition."
You all in UK have this powerful weapon on your hands.
Everyone who is concerned with the SSRIs problems should make an effort to remember your politicians and regulators to make it all work as soon as possible.
I would like to stress that Mr. Charles Medawar has a great deal of influence on this for as you can see at page 12:
14 .We are also very grateful for the expert guidance we received from our specialist advisers. They were: Professor John Abraham, Department of Sociology, University of Sussex; Professor Joe Collier of St George’s Medical School; Professor Gerard Hastings, University of Stirling; Charles Medawar, Executive Director of Social Audit Ltd; and Dr Harriet Scorer, an independent consultant to the pharmaceutical industry.
I do not know him, I live In Rio de Janeiro, knew all about him here in this site and became aware about this report here.
I admire all the effort he is doing in creating Socialaudit, and above all, he was the one who gave us a place to share all these hideous problems we are facing and to exchange our experiences giving advices to each other in order to heal ourselves an effort physicians has failed and did not even pay any attention to our words. In doing that it is impossible to say that nothing is happening.
All the testimonies here are off inestimable value to assure that SSRIs are not what the Pharmaceutical Industry claim they are.
Because of all this testimonies it became impossible to keep on denying that these drugs are not harmful.
Now it is about time to help him making pressure in order the solutions that are proposed can get out of the paper.