Letter from David Healy, MD to Peter J. Pitts Executive Summary of suicidal evidence not addressed by FDA In the light of Traci Johnson’s death on February 7th 2004, will FDA obtain Pfizer’s entire folder on the 1982 Hindmarch study in which healthy volunteers were given Zoloft, and make a…
THE IMPACT OF THE FDA MODERNIZATION ACT ON THE RECRUITMENT OF CHILDREN FOR RESEARCH Vera Hassner Sharav Published in ETHICAL HUMAN SCIENCES & SERVICES Summer 2003, vol. 5 pp. 83-108 Abstract This paper argues that contrary to the claims made by the research stakeholders in industry, academia and government, the…
NIH Conflict of Interest Rules_”Option of Corruption”_ children victimized Tue, 18 May 2004 Lawmakers accused leaders of the National Institutes of Health of encouraging “the option of corruption.” NIH medical researchers, who receive the highest salaries in government, think they, unlike others, are entitled to moonlight while employed at taxpayers…
Protecting Human Subjects in Research: Are Current Safeguards Adequate? AHRP Testimony submitted to Congressional Committee April 23, 2002 Vera Hassner Sharav, President, and John H. Noble, Jr., Ph.D., steering committee member, The Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP), before the Subcommittee on Public Health, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, &…
NY Times Whitewashes Ritalin Experiment in Preschool Kids Sat, 16 Nov 2002 A story in The New York Times magazine about a controversial government sponsored drug experiment avoids examining the tough issues. Instead, it describes the growing pains of an apparently normal 4 year old boy, Sam, whose parents enrolled…
Researcher To Be Sacked After Reporting High Rates of ADHD – BMJ Sun, 10 Apr 2005 The BMJ reports that Dr. Gretchen LeFever, a clinical psychologist and professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, whose published reports (since 1995) have raised the alarm about a spiraling increase in elementary school children…
Antidepressant Ban for Kids Puts Pressure On U.S. / Canada Mon, 15 Dec 2003 The British government ban for use of all but one SSRI antidepressant drug in children and teens (Dec 10, 2003) is reverberating wherever these drugs are widely prescribed. The action was taken after an independent committee…
Psychiatry and Preschoolers Tue, 1 Jul 2003 There was a time that doctors followed the precautionary “do no harm” principle when prescribing drugs. But the practice of medicine has changed radically as physicians have increasingly become financially tied to the pharmaceutical industry. Among psychiatrists it is difficult to find one…
Psychopharmacology in Turmoil: David Healy, MD Presentation Columbia + Debate Dr. Joseph Coyne, Ph.D Fri, 9 Dec 2005 Recent reports describing a determined effort to pathologize US infants and toddlers who are being declared to suffer from “severe mental disorders”–the latest, most aggressively marketed diagnosis for children is Bipolar disorder,…
Babies given mind altering drugs in Florida / 68 Paxil Withdrawal Victims File Lawsuit Wed, 24 Sep 2003 The serious problems that children in foster care have, are compounded by the scourge of psychotropic drugs which they are forced to take. The Miami Herald reports that the Florida Statewide Advocacy…
AHRP Position Statement on Mental Health Screening – FDA Hearing Re: Drug Advertising Wed, 02 Nov 2005 FDA is holding public hearings (Nov 1, 2) Re:Â Direct-to-Consumer Promotion of Medical Products at: National Transportation Safety Board Boardroom and Conference Center 429 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 2 Time: 9:00 –5:00….
SAMHSA Backs Away From TeenScreen & TMAP Mon, 24 Oct 2005 On October 17, a meeting took place with Charles Currie in Washington DC – with some in attendance by conference call. Currie is the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the federal agency charged…
