TIME – Medicating Young Minds with Mood / Behavior Altering Drugs Sat, 1 Nov 2003 A TIME magazine cover story (excerpt below) looks at the inordinate popularity of prescribing mood altering psychotropic drugs for children begins to raise troubling questions about the specter of doing long-term harm to children. Doctors…
Researchers Chastise Am J Psychiatry Over Skewed Celexa Study Thu, 31 Mar 2005 A letter by eight medical scientists (most from India, possibly all psychiatrists) have seriously challenged the scientific validity of an article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The lead author of the challenged study is one…
AHRP Press Briefing Scientists Will Analyze SSRI Data – Families Will Tell Their Tragedies THE ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP) 142 West End Ave. Suite 28P New York, NY 10023 January 27, 2004 Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav President, AHRP Tel. No: 212-595-8974 E-mail: Contact: Lisa Van Syckel Family Liaison…
Excerpt: The British drug authority has banned the use of most SSRI antidepressant drugs for the treatment of depression in children under 18, citing a two-to-threefold increased risk of suicidal behavior and lack of evidence of a benefit for depressed children. Two SSRIs – Paxil and Effexor – are no longer recommended by their manufacturer for use in children. Prozac is no longer recommended by Eli Lilly for children in the U.K.
In contrast to the British medicines authority review of the evidence, the FDA has refused to allow independent scientists to present documented evidence related to these drugs’ hazards and their failure to demonstrate a benefit for depressed children.
A Psychiatrist’s Toxic Shock to Antidepressant – NYT Mon, 5 Jan 2004 Buried on the last page of the New York Times magazine, is personal account by a seasoned psychiatrist who describes her own toxic shock after taking bupropion (a.k.a. welbutrin, zyban) an antidepressant she had often prescribed to patients….
NAMI & Eli Lilly partners in bankrupting state Medicaid budgets – NYT Sat, 20 Dec 2003 The New York Times reports that Medicaid expenditure for prescription drugs has escalated to $27.5 billion. These costs are up 19% from last year. Antipsychotic drugs, such as Eli Lilly’s Zyprexa, eat up more…
Dr. Carl Elliott's insightful essay in SLATE:: Why do drug companies want to give money to bioethicists in the first place? In the public relations business, this approach is called "third-party strategy."
Prozac in Drinking Water / Prozac in Streams Hurt Frogs fish / Newborns suffer Withdrawal Tue, 10 Aug 2004 An article in the UK Observer–“Stay calm everyone, there’s Prozac in the drinking water” (below) — reports that British environmentalists are calling for an “urgent investigation into the revelations, describing the…
Debate: Ethics of Surgically Implanting Drug Device in psychiatric patients Wed, 5 Nov 2003 An AHRP Infomail (October 7, 2003) criticizing the ethics of University of Pennsylvania’s planned surgical “drug implant” experiment in psychiatric patients, prompted a debate between AHRP president, Vera Sharav, and bioethicist, Paul Root Wolpe, Ph.D., University…
A growing Crisis: Aggressive Marketing of drugs for children_Lou Dobbs-CNN Fri, 3 Oct 2003 CNN’s anchor Lou Dobbs, an astute business journalist whose program Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN examines politics, the economy and a broad range of issues that affect the quality of life and standard of living of…
Fast for Freedom: A debate (of sorts) about scientific evidence Sat, 23 Aug 2003 The Medical Director of the APA was unable to cite a single scientific study proving an underlying biochemical basis for any mental illness. An amazing exchange between Dr. James Scully and a panel of experts lays…
Comments submitted by The Alliance for Human Research Protection Re: Best Pharmaceuticals for Children’s Act of 2002 The National Academy of Sciences Committee of the Institute of Medicine on Clinical Research Involving Children August 18, 2003 Vera Hassner Sharav, President John H. Noble, Jr., Ph.D, Treasurer David Cohen, Ph.D, Secretary…
