A blog by Bob Fiddaman, award winning writer from Birmingham. Covering the dangers of antidepressant medication, the pharmaceutical industry and medicine regulators.
The Guardian ran an article at the start of February regarding the push for doctor's in the UK to spot mental health problems in patients. The doctors, writes Randeep Ramesh and Sarah Boseley, will be in for a cash windfall if they can detect the "disease" early and nip it in the bud.
A pot of £150m has been set aside for docs to reduce the risk of depression in children and adults. The scheme is being backed by UK health ministers who claim that a new approach is needed that tackles the underlying causes of the illness which represents a third of GP cases.
Mental health costs the NHS £10bn a year. Do ministers think by offering docs to diagnose an illness that is undiagnosable will reduce this bill?
The article goes on to say, "There is a particular focus on children as half of mental health problems start before the age of 14."
The psychopharma monopoly are at it again folks and we are going the way of America.
This is dine and dash by proxy. It's the UK government doing the job of the drug rep.
The article continues:
Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said there would be an additional investment of £400m to "improve access to modern, evidence-based psychological therapies over the next four years".
Yeh right!
And we can believe Nick Clegg, right?
The only reason psychiatric drugs are handed out is because there are no alternatives. Sure we have counsellors in the UK but the waiting list can be up to three months. What better way to treat the patient with a course of mind altering drugs until they can get an appointment with a counsellor. By then it will be too late, another statistic will be hooked on medication, another statistic will fall foul to the poison that is prescribed for an "illness" that makes the pharmacuetical industry billions of pounds.
Yeh, I'm a cynic. One only has to look at the United States to see the statistics of children doped up to the eyeballs on psychiatric medication. Jeez, if a kid farts in the classroom in the States he/she is either carted off to a mental health holding unit for 72 hours or told they cannot return to school unless they agree to take a course of medication.
The Guardian article continues with:
"Professor David Richards of Exeter University, national adviser to IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), the programme set up to increase the number of therapists and ensure more patients get access to talking therapies, said any suggestion that the £400m was new money was "a lie".
"He said it had been explained at a meeting of the IAPT group two weeks ago that the money would have to come from the existing NHS budget. "We were very disturbed when we found this out," said Richards.
"I personally feel very aggrieved that mental health is being used by this government to shore up its very poor opinion poll ratings and I don't want to be part of it."
I doubt very much if this cash bonus for docs is aimed at getting patients on talk therapy. With 15 minute slots for each patient becoming more like 5 minutes these days, docs will merely reach for the prescription pad before the patient has time to sit down.
Job losses, peer pressure and debt are sending thousands of patients to doctor's surgeries on a daily basis - these are people who are suffering pressure and NOT a mental illness.
As for targeting children under 14 because "...mental health problems start before the age of 14." - complete and utter bullshit.
If Clegg and Cameron think a cash incentive for docs to diagnose a mental illness will see thousands flock to counsellors to 'talk' then they are very much mistaken.
Sir Winston Churchill ran a country through a World War. Millions of children were left without fathers...but they 'got on with it' without the need for psychiatric drugs.
Churchill once said, "If you're going through hell, keep going", a rousing rally to the brave who put their lives on the line for us all and the country, as a whole, who were left behind to pick up the pieces.
It appears that modern day politicians would prefer the term, "If you're going through hell, take a pill"
Tossers.
Rant over.
Fid
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
First off, I'd like you to read the first few paragraphs...then close your eyes and take in what you have just read.
Your life is pretty good, you have a nice house, a car and a great job, you aren't rich but you get by. Your only child is a teenager, he's having a bit of trouble at school but hey ho didn't we all.
You are out shopping in a supermarket, the groceries from your cart are bagged and loaded into your car for your drive home, a 20 minute drive.
You call your only child and ask if he needs anything. "No Mom, I'm okay thanks"
As you pull up to your driveway to park your car into your garage something seems wrong. Why is the garage door open, what is that shadow in the middle?
You get closer and you see a garden hose, someone is hanging from it.
It's your son.
Now close your eyes...
What would you do in this situation? What would your instinct be?
For Maria Bradshaw this was a reality. Her 17 year old son, Toran, was that shadow.
Toran Henry's mother, Maria Bradshaw
Maria screamed and ran to Toran, he was already dead but she didn't know it. She flung her arms around his body and tried lifting him to take the pressure off the noose that was wrapped around his neck. With all her strength she screamed for help and tried desperately to lift her son until eventually the strength left her. Toran's neck met the noose once again with a thud, a thud that will live long in the memory for Maria.
Why am I writing about suicide in such a graphic manner? Because I have sat for hours with Maria Bradshaw and listened to her story. I have sat and watched tears flow and her whole body shake as she relived the moment we, as parents, all dread.
This is part I of Maria's story...
Part I - Toran Henry
Toran was born at born at 11.54am on 13 May 1990, from the age of just 14 months, Maria, his mom, seperated from her partner and raised Toran single handedly.
A young Toran Henry
It became apparent early on in Toran's life that he was gifted and had an interest in all things mechanical. By the age of 14 he was building computer servers and studied quantum mechanics and astrophysics in his spare time.
It wasn't all work and studying for Toran, he had a large group of friends that he socialised with and his charm made him one of the popular teens within his circle of friends.
Toran enjoys a day at the zoo
At 16, like most boys of his age, Toran became interested in girls and was devastated at the break up of his first serious relationship. A cry for help saw Toran inflict cuts on himself. Concerned, his mom took him to the emergency department of a local hospital where she was told that the self inflicted cuts were mere “scratches” by the registrar who attended him. The registrar added that Toran was a high functioning teenager who was experiencing an ‘expected and transient response to a stressful life event.’ He referred Toran to youth mental health services for a fuller assessment and counselling.
The adolescent psychiatrist, Kaye Brightly, who was assigned to Toran, couldn't wait, it appears, getting Toran on to psychiatric medication.
His records, shown to me by his mother, show that Brightly:
Medicated him immediately without conducting a thorough assessment
Made no diagnosis of depression or any other mental disorder
Failed to monitor his reaction to medication
Ignored Toran and Maria’s repeated reports that he was suffering the sideeffects of medication which are known pre-cursors of suicide
Failed to treat general medical conditions revealed in blood tests undertaken by his GP at his mother’s request
Failed to check that concurrent use of an SSRI and Toran’s migraine medication was safe (it is not, and can cause potentially fatal serotonin syndrome).
Provided Toran with a pamphlet advising that SSRIs protect against suicide and that it is safe to overdose on Prozac. (This pamphlet has been withdrawn after the Ministry of Health advised Waitemata District Health Board [WDHB] that overdosing on Prozac can be fatal).
Took no action when she discovered Toran had used fluoxetine as a recreational drug and self harmed several hours later.
In error provided Toran with prescriptions for 6 months worth of Prozac in a 24 day period.
Increased his dose of medication in response to Toran’s worsening moods and behaviours.
During his period of 'care', Toran showed increasing signs of aggression, anger and agitation and engaged in high risk behaviours. He dropped out of school and began drinking heavily. His relationships with his mother and friends deteriorated significantly.
In June 2007, Toran severed ties with the psychiatrist and mental health services. Within a month he was back at school, he took this time to apologise to his mother and friends for his abusive behaviour and became free from the fatigue, agitation, anger and aggression he had experienced whilst under the influence of Prozac.
A year or so later Toran wanted to enroll in University but because of the time he missed from school [the period of "illness"] he was told that he would have to gain the credits to enroll in University, which meant he had to return to school.
Aeriel view of Takapuna Grammar School
Image: lernerlebnis.com
The Head of Takapuna Grammar, Toran's school, told him he was not welcome back due to Toran's previous behviour, absenteeism and lateness.
Now, for a head of a Grammar school to not fully understand the implications of taking psychiatric medication smacks of complete ignorance. Anyone will tell you that drugs such as SSRi's can make the patient tired and drowsy. Had the head have contacted the family GP he would have been told that Toran was sleeping for up to 18 hours a day! When Toran did make it to school, he was often late, for this he was punished with detention
His form tutor, Nick McMaster, also refused him access to his migraine medication despite his GP's requirement that he keep it at school and take it immediately should the onset of a migraine start.
Frustrated, Toran experienced a low mood but hope was at hand...or so he thought.
Amazingly, he and his mom were advised that there was a way for Toran to gain the credits needed for enrollment in University. What can only be described as sheer madness, both Toran and his mom were told that re-engagement with mental health services was the only option for Toran to receive teacher support by correspondence.
He decided that University was his goal so agreed to return to the mental health services for an assessment. Toran made it clear he did not want his former psychiatrist involved in his care.
The registrar who made the assessment recorded that Toran did not exhibit any indicators of depression but went ahead and prescribed him Prozac.
His mother, who by now had researched Prozac and had witnessed Toran's previous adverse reaction, objected vehemently but was told to to "stop reading research and trust his [psychiatrist's] professional judgement." The psychiatrist also refused to enter into any debate with Maria about talk therapy.
Toran was back under the influence of Prozac, the anger, agitation returned soon after he started ingesting it. Toran began drinking again and informed his psychiatrist whereupon he was told that it was okay to drink up to 6 bottles of beer on weekends provided he stop taking his Prozac on the Friday. The psychiatrist added that he could return to taking his Prozac once the weekend was over.
It should be mentioned at this point that Toran's psychiatrist, Zoran Simovik, was not fully qualified, he was, at the time, a psychiatric registrar.
I'm browsing through Prozac literature as I write this article and cannot see anything that states that it is okay to stop taking this medication abruptly... nor can I see any literature where it suggests that it is perfectly okay to consume alcohol. Quite what Simovik was thinking of here has me baffled. Surely even a psychiatric registrar would know the dangers of stopping an SSRi abruptly? It's basically cold turkey and although Prozac has a longer half life than most SSRi's, more than 48 hours without it could push even the mildest mannered of people over the edge.
Where did Simovik get his guidance from?
Why was Toran Henry assigned to an unqualified psychiatrist?
Speaking with Maria, here's what I learned:
Simovik’s psychiatric assessment of Toran was conducted in a busy public café with no privacy. It lasted 15 minutes.
In 2007 Toran had met with the cultural advisers from the unit where he was being seen. He told them he wanted them to set up a meeting with his dad who he hadn’t seen since he was 14 months old. The cultural advisers were male and female. The female cultural adviser, Rima Tiller, said that she knew Toran’s dad personally as her niece was pregnant to him. She promised to set up the meeting.
Let me get this straight. An employee from the unit had a niece who was pregnant by Toran's father,[now married] she then gave Toran assurances that she would set up a meeting between Toran and his father. Excuse me but isn't this a blatant conflict of interests?
So, Toran was left excited at the prospect of meeting with his father, a father whom he could not remember and one that he hadn't seen since he was 14 months old.
Toran's father, upon learning that his son and staff at the unit knew of his extra-marital affair, never showed up.
Toran was very angry and distressed that the promise to him had been broken and when he returned to mental health services in 2008 said that he wanted no contact with cultural services.
Maria told me:
"He was promised he would not have to see them. His first meeting there however, he walked out into the hall and the male cultural services worker, Sam Masui, was there. He tried to speak to Toran and when Toran ignored him, he began to yell at him and follow him as he tried to leave the building. I got in between them and told him to leave my son alone and when I got out to the car park, Toran was slumped over the bonnet of the car crying. His case worker, Tracy Reid, told me to get him in the car and get him out of there as the cultural services worker had followed us out to the car park and was still yelling at him. As a result of this, a decision was made that it was not safe for Toran to attend the mental health clinic (the cultural services worker was never disciplined or any action taken against him) and meetings should occur off site. This is why his psychiatric assessment was conducted in a café – a totally inappropriate venue for such an event."
With such a see-saw of emotions caused, in the main, by the very same people who were supposed to be caring for him and the medication he was taking, Toran began to distance himself from his mother and friends. He became lack-lustre, withdrawn - remember, all this whilst being on a medication that was supposed to help him not feel depressed.
Maria recounts a conversation with Toran in which he said he felt he had ‘super-adrenaline’ and had a sense he could achieve ‘superman-running.’ She believes this was Toran’s way of describing akathisia.
**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. [1]
This was one of the last 'sit down' conversations Maria Bradshaw had with her son.
Coming soon: Part II - The Loss
It is hoped that by telling Maria's story that other parents will come to realise the dangers of SSRi type medication.
Psychiatry: Gambling with our children
Image: almightydad.com
With so many advocates working hard to stop the drugging of children it comes as no surprise that the American Association for the Advancement of Science are rolling out "the importance of callous-unemotional traits (CU) in identifying children at risk of antisocial behavior and other adjustment problems."
Research, writes Medical News Today, presented by Indiana University Bloomington faculty member Nathalie M.G. Fontaine, finds that the emergence of CU traits in childhood is in most cases influenced by genetic factors, especially in boys. However, environmental factors appear to be more significant for the small number of girls who exhibit high levels of CU traits.
The research apparently showed that 5 to 10 percent of children showed CU traits, such as a lack of emotion and a lack of empathy or guilt.
Nathalie M.G. Fontaine, who presented the research, said; ""If we could identify those children early enough, we could help them as well as their families."
The 2010 study also appears in the Journal of American Academy of Child and Asolescent Psychiatry. The study included 9,462 youths from the Twins Early Development Study, a population-based sample of twins from the United Kingdom.
You thought it was just America these morons were targeting?
Think again.
Last year I wrote about Australia's "Man of the Year" Patrick McGorry. He has basically come up with the same idea, to catch mental health disorders in children early. More on McGorry at CCHR
Unbelievable - A child can walk into a surgery in the UK today and can be diagnosed with one of the many lists of apparent psychiatric disorders invented by the DSM, it can take as little as 15 minutes to diagnose a child based on a series of questions and answers.
Fuck it, let's cut out the middle man and tell the child years before hand that he/she is going to get some sort of psychiatric disorder later in life.
Complete and utter psycho babble and designed to make the pharmaceutical industry lots of money and build a nation full of drug induced zombies.
What on earth is going on here, why are adult human beings predicting whether or not a child will fall foul of a mental disorder?
With the use of psychiatric drugs in children in America already apparent, Australia and the UK seem to be following suit. We are slowly becoming a nation with a 'couldn't care less' attitude.
Lay down and let this happen and there is going to be a lot of heartache in the years ahead.
Don't label children with disorders that they may get in future years, in fact don't label them at all.
I foresee a future where you are asked if you are getting your 5 a day won't mean fruits and vegetables, it will mean your 5 medications that you have become hooked on because of some predisposed illness you were told you may get.
Maria Bradshaw's life was turned upside down when she arrived home on March 20, 2008 to find her 17 year old son, Toran, hanging from a noose in the garage of her family home in Auckland, New Zealand.
Toran had been prescribed the generic form of Prozac and had gone from a happy-going young male to one suffering in a world of confusion due to a Prozac induced state of mind.
Since his untimely death his mother has sought justice in a country that seems heartless and powerless to acknowledge the danger of psychiatric drugs. Seeking the truth can be costly, in Maria's case she has lost her job, her home, her car and her life savings to fight through the courts for the truth, to tell of her ordeal about the killing of her son and to hold her government, the pharmaceutical companies and psychiatry accountable for his death.
An inquest into the death of Toran saw Maria cross-examined by not one but seven different lawyers, all of whom showed a complete lack of empathy and disdain, all of whom suppressed Toran's voice. [More on these insidious characters over the coming weeks]
On a personal front, I spent many hours with Maria in Los Angeles. She opened up to me and many of the mother's present. Her story pulls at the heart strings yet emanates a very strong willed woman with bags of courage, her cup overflows with humanity.
Maria had travelled to Los Angeles to meet up with the many mothers who have endured the loss of a child due to psychiatric medication. Her journey to LA was hampered by a 9 hour delay at Sydney airport and a 3 hour queue at LAX. She had planned to stay for 2 weeks, with no plans after the CCHR Annual Awards Event.
What the event did was bring people together. Maria introduced herself to many and this led to a friendship being struck with Sheila Matthews. Sheila is the co-founder of Ablechild, [1] an organization created to bring vital information to parents prior to their decision to place their children on psychiatric drugs. There was an instant connection and Sheila realised that no words could comfort Maria. The only way forward was to tell her story to as many mothers as they possibly could.
An invite to spend time in Connecticut with Sheila was offered to Maria, an offer she accepted and one that opened a door into the seedy world of psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.
The Husky Plan, affordable drugs for children and expectant mothers
It was perfect timing for the pair as a key meeting was being held in Connecticut on Husky Behavioral Health Pharmacy Data. Notice the wording? "Behavioral Health" - You have to give it kudos don't you, it's perfectly crafted psycho babble. The Husky Plan apparently offers a full health insurance package for children and teenagers up to age 19, regardless of family income. It offers the same to expectant mothers. In other words, if you can't afford the drugs, Husky is here to help you.
Early last year [2010] state legislators threatened to make cuts to Connecticut's Medicaid Program and Husky Healthcare. What better way of increasing revenue then to promote psychiatric drugs, eh?
Maria Bradshaw and Sheila Matthews attend Connecticut 'Behavioral Health Partnership' meeting
Sheila holds a seat on the Oversight Committee in which the data was being presented and asked Maria to attend.
Ironically, the photo [above] was taken by one of the board members prior to the meeting, he was a psychiatrist. Maria cheekily told him that he should take up photography as a profession, you just gotta love that New Zealand wit.
The purpose of the meeting was to show data regarding the number of children in Connecticut that were on psychiatric medication. Don't be fooled into thinking that this was an advocacy meeting, it wasn't, in fact, it appeared to be a marketing strategy of how to get more kids taking medication rather than reduce the numbers.
Throughout the meeting Maria and Sheila raised the issue of informed consent and questioned the data that illustrated a focus on a system built to process children into the usage of psychiatric drugs but failed to measure outcomes. Informed consent, for those that don't know, is access to the whole truth about these drugs. Dizziness, nausea and headaches on patient information leaflets just doesn't wash any more. If a child, or even an adult, is going to take a course of medication then they should be supplied with ALL the facts and not just those the pharmaceutical companies tout to sell their wares to an unsuspecting public.
The meeting was revealing to both Maria and Sheila as they both learned that the Husky Plan[2] measured the success by how many new people were enrolled and the data showed if you were enrolled you were more likely to be placed on psychiatric drugs. Over half the children enrolled are on stimulants, a quarter are on antidepressants and almost a third on anti psychotics. The data showed that over a 12 month period the rate of medicating Husky clients rose by 12%. One would have thought that this would raise alarm bells but it seemed 12% is clearly not enough for this sick industry.
The meeting, however, did give Maria the chance to tell the Connecticut Oversight Committee about her son's tragic death, neither Maria or Toran were given informed consent regarding the dangers of Prozac and/or its generic form. In fact Toran was let down by a system that suppresses information and offer only biased opinions into the safety and efficacy of these drugs. The Connecticut Oversight Committee did not expect to hear such a story, their reaction was one of a false empathy, faces showing apparent concern when really stories like these does nothing to help promote the use of psychiatric medication in children. It's a hindrance to those pill pushers who make decisions without having to face grieving parents face to face. An annoyance that they could, quite frankly, do without as they continue to promote how important these drugs are and how children who have been labelled with fictional illnesses need medication.
Bullshit. It's advertising by proxy. Psychiatric committees, it appears, want more children on these drugs. It's only with head on confrontation from the likes of Maria Bradshaw and Sheila Matthews that this stupidity can be stopped in its tracks and those present have to listen to a grieving mother whose child was killed by the very same drugs they seek to increase prescribing and talk of "penetrating the market".
I have the utmost respect for Sheila Matthews and Maria Bradshaw. They are two wonderful human beings who are on a journey to bring about change. It is no coincidence that their paths crossed in Los Angeles last week... it was meant to be. I'm reminded of a Bob Dylan song title here, "The times, they are changing."
Maria heads off to Washington DC today to meet with yet another brave mother in Mathy Milling Downing. Mathy's 12 year old daughter, Candace, committed suicide because of an adverse reaction linked to the antidepressant Zoloft.
Over the coming weeks I am going to give Maria a platform on this blog. Her story is one of total devastation. Fighting a system that couldn't give a flying fuck about human life is only part of the story. Toran's story will shock you, his treatment by unregistered psychiatrists, his school failing him and the reluctance of a Coroner's inquest to even acknowledge that drugs such as Prozac are not recommended to children of his age group.
It is hoped that by telling Toran's story that other mothers will come forward and unite with the growing army of brave women who seek justice...who seek truth. This abhorrent use of children to make a fast buck has to stop.
Fid
[1] AbleChild: Parents for Label and Drug Free Education is a nationally recognized Non-Profit Organization dedicated to parents, caregivers, and children’s rights alike.
[2] The Husky Plan offers a full health insurance package for children, teenagers and expectant mothers, regardless of family income.
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
A show of solidarity in the fight against the drugging of children.
A feeling of an intense connection with those you meet.
That was the Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles on Saturday 12th February as the Citizens Commission on Human Rights [CCHR] hosted their 43rd annual award ceremony - count them folks, that's 43.
I learned last year that I had been chosen to receive an award at this years event, along with two far more worthy winners than I, in Amy Philo and Celeste Steubing.
It's pretty difficult, even for the likes of me, to put into words of how proud I was to be amongst such strong advocates. To have ones work recognized by the biggest bad ass movement out there is very humbling. Uplifting isn't a word I would normally use for an event that highlights death and family destruction, in this instance I can think of no better description.
I have met so many wonderful people, each with their own sad stories to tell, each with hearts full of kindness, love and camaraderie. CCHR are without a shadow of a doubt the masters of creating awareness. A room with 1200 people was evidence of that, as were the tears of finally realising that no parent has to suffer the death of their child to psychiatric drugs alone.
Here we have an organisation who pretty much grab this sick and twisted industry by the bollocks and don't let go until they get a result.
I'm scratching my head hard here to think of another organisation, that gives power to the people, who can boast the achievements that CCHR can.
Okay, I don't want to sound like I'm sticking my tongue down the back of their trousers or in the LA Hubs instance, skirts - they pretty much know how I feel about them. I love them to bits for what they have done...and what they continue to do.
I got to meet many familiar names I had only previously seen via the medium of blogs/websites, even met new faces whom are now firm friends.
Folk from all over the world attended this years event, Brits, Canadians, Americans, Japanese... many more.
You see, CCHR and I are alike in as much that we have a pretty 'bang on' sense of humour. What could piss off GlaxoSmithKline more than Bob Fiddaman getting an award for basically highlighting their dark history? With a wry smile someone at CCHR thought it would be highly entertaining to sit me around a table with the office of Baum Hedlund Attorneys. A classic two finger salute to the Paxil/Seroxat Pushers.
The event was a red carpet affair complete with tuxedos and stunning frocks, I opted for the tux before anyone shouts "Fid is a transvestite!"
I am deeply honoured to be recognised by the whoop ass machine that is CCHR. I am deeply humbled to share in the experiences of the mothers I met, Celeste, Maria, Sheila, Christian, Amy, Mathy, each with heart-wrenching stories, each with the courage and strength to keep on fighting against the very same people that caused them heartache.
I feel privileged to sit at the very same table as the Baum gang, even more privileged to visit their offices and to share lunch and dinner with them. Here we have a law firm that do what they do because they don't like what they see. It's not about money for Baum, it's about the victims.
I've been hugged by a zillion people, chaperoned around Hollywood, been treated like a movie star because there's a bunch of people across the pond who can actually see what I have been up against during my time writing this blog. Special thanks to the British actor, Hal Ozsan, who presented me with my award with a very touching introduction.
Watch this space folks - I'm about to embark on a journey that will see a whole bunch of us kick some New Zealand psych's ass into the middle of next week, a Prozac pusher with no empathy and one who has a complete disdain for human life. I'm with the sisterhood on this one.
Fid
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
I was utterly flabbergasted this morning when I learned that yet another "media doctor" was handing out stone-age advice regarding the safety and efficacy of antidepressants.
In an article by Julie Anne-Barnes that appeared in the Scottish Daily Mail, she quotes a certain Dr. Alex Yellowlees, who apparently 'specialises in the treatment of depression'
She writes:
"Consultant psychiatrist Dr Alex Yellowlees, who specialises in the treatment of depression, said that the number of prerscriptions for antidepressants had increased rapidly because of their effectiveness.
"He said: 'They work for quite a range of conditions, whether it is anxiety or depression, and there is good therapeutic evidence that they work.'
"'The fact they can deal with a number of issues and are so low on side effects means they are going to be popular.They are clinically effective.'
Yellowlees, according to his online biography, is much sought after by the media for comment on a wide range of psychological issues. His online biography also claims that he is a specialist in eating disorders and is a Medical Director of the Priory Hospital situated in Glasgow, Scotland.
Newspaper articles can often misquote and/or quotes can be taken out of context. If Yellowlees can show me where there is evidence that SSRi's are "so low on side effects" and that is the reason they are "popular".
The MHRA Yellow Card reporting system would suggest that Yellowlees has either been misquoted or he just doesn't know what he is talking about. Search the MHRA Print Outs for adverse reactions to SSRi's.
Early last year I wrote about another "media doctor", Dr Hilary Jones. Jones often gives advice on GMTV, a programme watched by many millions. Jones also gives advice online.
Here's an email he received and his subsequent 'advice'
Should I stop my antidepressants?
Q: After losing my job last year I was diagnosed with mild depression and prescribed Seroxat. I've been on the tablets for a few months and feel much better now. Is it OK to just stop taking them? Jemma, 29
A: The symptoms of depression vary but can include feeling exhausted, tearful, guilty, worthless, and being unable to sleep or eat. When you lost your job you probably experienced some of these symptoms.
It's great that you feel better now, but do you know what has brought about this change? Hopefully you have overcome the problems you suffered when you lost your job, but the Seroxat you've been taking will have boosted the serotonin levels in your brain, making you feel happier.
Your body is used to the effects of the pills, so if you stop taking them suddenly you can experience side effects such as disturbed sleep and flu-like symptoms. Talk to your GP - he may suggest you wean yourself off the pills gradually. Stop taking a tablet every third day for a fortnight, then every other day for a fortnight. Then you should be ready to stop altogether. If the depression returns, go back to your GP for guidance.
"Stop taking a tablet every third day for a fortnight, then every other day for a fortnight. Then you should be ready to stop altogether."
Bad advice Dr Jones.
Bad advice Dr Yellowlees.
Here's the article where Yellowlees is quoted:
Special thanks to Annie Bevan for sending the scanned article to me.
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
Well, it's been long enough coming but it looks as though my book will be available in print very shortly.
For the past 4 months or so I've been painstakingly working with my editor, Kathy Sharrad. We have chopped and changed and even stripped the original PDF file that has been available for download for the past year or so.
A foreword has been written for me, you will have to wait and see who it is that has wrote it.
I'd like to thank all of those who helped make this happen, all those who blog on a regular basis, all those that keep coming back to read my work, all those that have offered their support since the creation of this blog 5 years ago.
The encouragement offered when I wanted to throw the towel in on the whole project will never be forgotten.
I'm very proud of the book. I hope you all find it informative and I hope it gives a wake up call to those who think everything is peachy with the way SSRi's are regulated here in the UK, in particular, Seroxat.
From next week I will be taking a short break. I'll tell you all why upon my return.
Exciting times ahead it would appear.
Chapters for the book, The evidence, however, is clear...the Seroxat scandal, of which there are 21, are as follows:
Chapter 1: Highway to hell
Chapter 2: Cold turkey
Chapter 3: A chemical imbalance: the serotonin myth
Chapter 4: Meet with me Mr Woods, part I
Chapter 5: The Yellow Card Scheme
Chapter 6: GlaxoSmithKline
Chapter 7: When the rot set in at GlaxoSmithKline
Chapter 8: Remove your video ... or else!
Chapter 9: Sara and Sharise
Chapter 10: Meet with me Mr Woods, part II
Chapter 11: The meeting and the influence of blogs
Chapter 12: It’s one big game
Chapter 13: Rob Robinson
Chapter 14: Brand name confusion
Chapter 15: The kids are alright
Chapter 16: You scratch our backs and ... we won’t scratch yours!
Chapter 17: GlaxoSmithKline Guilty
Chapter 18: Is Seroxat a teratogen? Goodbye MHRA
Chapter 19: Show me the way to Puerto Rico: the Glaxo whistleblower
Chapter 20: Field of dreams: the SSRI scandal
Chapter 21: Only in America
Be back in a couple of weeks folks.
Thanks again for your continued support.
Fid
UPDATED:
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
It appears The World Health Organisation [WHO] are reviewing the GlaxoSmithKline pandemic vaccine over ties to narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes excessive sleepiness and frequent daytime sleep attacks.
WHO were alerted to a recent study ,"Increased risk of narcolepsy observed among children and adolescents vaccinated with Pandemrix", whereby the authors found that:
Among those 4-19 years of age who received Glaxo's Pandemrix vaccine had a manifold increased risk of falling ill with narcolepsy during the 8 months following vaccination in comparison to those unvaccinated in the same age group. Based on the evaluation done so far, the National Narcolepsy Task Force finds it probable that Pandemrix®-vaccination contributed to the observed increase in incidence of narcolepsy among those 4 -19 years of age.
The study, conducted in parts of Scandanavia, found that 60 children and adolescents aged 4-19 years fell ill with narcolepsy. The figures were based on data from hospitals and primary care, and the review of individual patient records by a panel of neurologists and sleep researchers. Of those fallen ill, 52 (almost 90 percent) had received Glaxo's Pandemrix vaccine.
The report concludes:
By January 24, 2011, 56 notifications of narcolepsy in association with Pandemrix vaccination have been received by the National Vaccine Adverse Events Register maintained at the National Institute of Health and Welfare in Finland. Of these, 54 cases belonged to the age group of 4–19 years. Among most of the notified cases, the onset of symptoms of narcolepsy had started approximately two months following Pandemrix vaccination.
Not to worry though. The pharma industry can control your narcolepsy with medication such as Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs]
Back in October 2010 I made a request under the freedom of information to the European Medicines Agency [EMEA]. My request was partly met by the EMEA but, as ever with these regulatory bodies, lacked transparency.
Yesterday they came through with that request.
I basically wanted a breakdown of adverse reactions caused by each of the SSRi class of drugs.
Instead, the EMEA collated all the adverse reactions stating:
"According to 'Eudravigilance Access Policy for Medicines for Human Use', no medicinal product name can be disclosed can be disclosed upon request..."
A search, they told me, was conducted in Eudravigilance, based on the following criteria:
1. Zimelidine [Brand names, Normud, Zelmid] has been banned worldwide due to serious, sometimes fatal, cases of central and/or peripheral neuropathy known as Guillain-Barré syndrome and due to a peculiar hypersensitivity reaction involving many organs including skin exanthema, flu-like symptoms, arthralgias, and sometimes eosinophilia. Additionally, zimelidine was charged to cause an increase in suicidal ideation and/or attempts among depressive patients.
2. Fluoxetine [Brand name Prozac, was introduced shortly after zimelidine was removed from the shelves]
3. Citalopram [Brand names Celexa, Cipramil] In the United States, citalopram, like other antidepressants, carries a black box warning stating that it may increase suicidal thinking and behavior in those under age 24. It is still prescribed to minors.
4. Paroxetine [Brand names Aropax, Paxil, Seroxat) - The most controversial of all SSRi's, classed as a teratogen in the United States but not in the UK
5. Sertraline [Brand names Zoloft, Lustral] In 1999, Zoloft came under great public scrutiny after it was discovered that Eric Harris, one of the two shooters involved in the Columbine High School massacre, had been taking the drug before taking Luvox. Many immediately pointed fingers at zoloft and fluvoxamine.
6. Alaproclate (GEA-654) is a psychoactive drug and research chemical derived from zimelidine (Normud, Zelmid) that was being developed as an antidepressant by the Swedish pharmaceutical company Astra AB (now AstraZeneca) in the 1970s. It acts as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and along with zimelidine and indalpine, was one of the first of its kind. Development was discontinued due to the observation of liver complications in rodent studies.
7. Fluvoxamine [brand name Luvox] At the end of 1995, more than 10 million patients worldwide had been treated with fluvoxamine.
8. Etoperidone [Discontinued]
9. Escitalopram [Brand names Lexapro, Cipralex, Seroplex, Lexamil, Lexam] According to The New York Times, aggressive pharmaceutical marketing of escitalopram by Forest Laboratories has been controversial: the generic alternatives to the drug are cheaper, but a substantial number of doctors continue to prescribe the more expensive proprietary drug. The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging has released portions of the "Lexapro Fiscal 2004 Marketing Plan" which gives some of the details of the plans to promote use of the drug by doctors.
The EMEA sent me a 57 page list of adverse reactions to the above drugs. Reactions which include; Blood and lymphatic system disorders, Cardiac disorders, Congenital, familial and genetic disorders, Ear and labyrinth disorders, Endocrine disorders, Eye disorders, Gastrointestinal disorders, General disorders and administration site conditions, Hepatobiliary disorders, Immune system disorders, Infections and infestations, Injury, poisoning and procedural complications, Metabolism and nutrition disorders, Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, Neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps), Nervous system disorders, Pregnancy, puerperium and perinatal conditions, Psychiatric disorders, Renal and urinary disorders, Reproductive system and breast disorders, Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders, Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders, and Vascular disorders.
The 57 page list of adverse drug reactions can be passed on to those of you wishing to view it.
It's further evidence that the regulators are monitoring reactions...but doing very little about the drugs that cause them.
Fid
ORDER THE PAPERBACK
'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
