Drug Safety Issues: Psychotropic Drugs
An investigative report in The Hartford Courant will undoubtedly lead to a Congressional investigation.
The report reveals that mentally unstable soldiers are being deployed to the Iraq front in violation of federal law.
"I trusted the doctors, I trusted the FDA … and I feel betrayed by both," says Erin Evans, the mother of Rex who was prescribed the ‘atypical’ antipsychotic, Risperdal (risperidone) at age 8.
When the Times refers to an experiment as "bold and controversial" the reporter is sanitizing the fact that the experiment is UNETHICAL—it violates medicine’s cardinal rule "First, do no harm."
SAMHSA Director: “The New Freedom Commission (NFC) report is not official Bush Administration policy, but rather the unofficial recommendations of an appointed commission.”
In the U.S. the two populations at greatest risk of inappropriate, coercive, dangerous prescribing of highly toxic psychotropic drugs as chemical
restraints are the elderly and children.
A report in The New Scientist, "Prescribing of Hyperactivity Drugs is Out of Control," shows just how deviant U.S. prescribing of psychostimulants for
children is compared to the rest of the world.
Amphetamines work like Cocaine–first and foremost, they are addictive. The psychostimulant drugs prescribed for millions of American children labeled ADHD, are amphetamines and are, therefore, addictive.
“Medication-Free Research in Early Episode Schizophrenia: Evidence of Long-Term Harm?” An article in the Schizophrenia Bulletin, by Dr. John Bola that dares to question the validity of the unexamined treatment paradigm in schizophrenia:
A report by the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), reveals some sobering facts about teenage suicide attempts that involve drugs.
The focus of a recent FDA’s Psychopharmacology Advisory Committee meeting, was the drug, modafinil (as Sparlon), for ADHD and the risk of
Steven-Johnson’s, a rare but potentially fatal, skin condition.
"That thing I’m worried about…where the MedGuide would help, where it might even warrant a black box, if this is common, where somebody hallucinates and then gets put on an anti-psychotic drug. That would really be something worth making sure it doesn’t happen,"
AHRP Urges Actions to Minimize Risks for Children prescribed psychotropic drugs: Action is needed to protect children from widespread prescribing of psychoactive drugs for ill-defined behavioral symptoms.
