Karma Catches up with Dr. Graham Emslie

Disgraced Psychiatrist, Dr. Graham Emslie

It's no secret several unethical doctors pretended to write the Paxil 329 Study. Adding their names to the shady ghostwritten article was sequentially responsible for persuading doctors to prescribe Paxil off-label to children and adolescents despite that the drug is dangerous and ineffective.

One of these despicable 'experts' was Dr. Graham Emslie (67), a psychiatrist based in Dallas, Texas. Emslie received research support and consultant money from several drug companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, the company for whom he agreed to add his name to the ghostwritten 329 Study. Emslie's dishonesty participation in the 329 Study put children at risk of harm and death despite that Emslie claims his clinical expertise is in child and adolescent depression.

In 2009, Emslie was investigated by the US Senate Finance Committee, led by Senator Chuck Grassley, as one of many medical academics with serious conflicts of interest and financial ties to Big Pharma. The Senate committee was concerned these conflicts resulted in fraudulent research that promoted prescriptions of harmful and ineffective drugs to unsuspecting consumers and without adequate safety warnings. (Source)

Today Karma Catches up with Emslie

Recently Emslie has been reprimanded by the Texas Medical Board after it learned one of Emslie's patients, an unnamed male, died by suicide whilst under the "care" of Emslie. The doctor demonstrated a lack of due care in several areas. Emslie's punishment was far lighter than he should have received for likely contributing to the suffering and death of his patient, but at least the Texas Medical Board took some action regarding Emslie's careless remote prescribing.

On the 25th August 2017, the Texas Medical Board heard evidence surrounding Emslie's conduct and charged Emslie with breaching the medical standard of care. It was learned Emslie prescribed stimulant and sedative medications to the patient for several years without appropriate evaluation, monitoring, and medical record-keeping. The patient went on to kill himself. Emslie claimed he knew the patient who was the brother of an acquaintance of Emslie's daughter.

When asked for the 17-year medical records of the now-dead patient, Emslie told the Texas Medical Board the records could not be produced. Emslie claims he only kept "scant" records scribbled on a notepad. The board was also told that Emslie regularly prescribed benzodiazepines and amphetamines over the telephone without physically examining his patient. (remote prescribing)

Further, Emslie also assisted the patient in "pharmacy shopping" to ensure drug refills could easily be obtained at various pharmacies. Despite that the patient's history included a "drinking problem," Emslie did not refer his patient to an addiction specialist for alcohol dependence nor does it appear Emslie adequately informed the patient regarding the possible ADRs associated with Emslie's prescriptions and alcohol consumption.

Despite all of the above conduct, Emslie does not think he erred in the care of his patient.

The Texas Medical Board imposed a range of disciplinary actions against Emslie, none of which, in my opinion, fit Emslie's crime.

Emslie received a "public reprimand" (whoopy-doo) and 8 consecutive monitoring cycles of his clinical practice. The board also imposed 24-hours of  "continuing medical education" for Emslie. Emslie was ordered to pay costs to the Texas Medical Board. However, no costs for the funeral of his deceased patient were imposed.

The agreed order, signed by the disgraced Emslie, can be obtained by contacting me via email.

Special thanks to Jan Eastgate of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights for alerting me to Emslie's latest scandal.

Bob Fiddaman

ILL-INFORMED CONSENT - A child Psychiatrist's Perspective

Dr Laura Davis:  "The pills do not change who people are. And there is no way to become addicted to these pills."
Pic savodnik.com

A recent article by Dr. Laura Davies was recently sent to me via the medium of Facebook.

More about her article in a bit.

First off,  the author, Dr. Laura Davies, is a child psychiatrist who, it seems, is either totally misguided or just plain ignorant. Either way, her stance may be putting the children, adolescents and adults she treats in serious danger.

I felt so angry at this article which lacked any scientific facts that I felt the need to subscribe to Dr Laura Davies' Facebook page. Others followed suit but, along with myself, were all removed from her page for asking a series of questions. I'd asked her if the article was ghostwritten... okay slightly tongue in cheek but I was astounded that there are still doctor's out there promoting the use of these drugs, especially child psychiatrists!

In fact browsing her Facebook page one is greeted with messages of self-indulgence, just a few included below:

"I am the expert"

If you say so Laura.

Just a few things about her article, 'Antidepressants often needlessly avoided'

First off, Laura Davies claims that antidepressants [pills] do not cause addiction or do they change people's personalities. That's quite a broad statement for an expert to make. Sadly, she offers no scientific data to support her claims.

Depression, she claims, "does not mean that one is crying all the time", she adds, "sometimes it can be a withdrawal from friends and family, irritability, difficulty sleeping, a change in appetite, thoughts of death or even suicide, a loss of hope for the future, anxious thoughts and lowered self-confidence."


So the definition of depression, according to Dr Laura Davies, being separated from friends or family, being irritable, having difficulty sleeping, not feeling hungry, being low in confidence and feeling suicidal.

I wouldn't call actual suicide, depression... I'd much prefer to call it death than give it one of Davies' psychiatric labels, but hey, she's the expert.

Her definition of depression must cater for anyone that she sees.

Who hasn't felt sad when being separated from family of friends?

Who hasn't felt irritable or had difficulty sleeping?

Not feeling hungry and feeling low in confidence are pretty normal but, then again, I'm not the expert.

Her one-sided article continues with, "Children of a depressed parent generally do worse in school and are more likely to be abused." and "Antidepressant medications have helped millions of Americans regain their interest in life and relationships. They do this in part by rebalancing serotonin, a chemical in the brain that helps relay messages from one part of the brain to another and also affects mood."

Once more Davies offers no scientific data for her claims.

The chemical imbalance theory has been debunked so many times that even the manufacturers of antidepressants have conceded this marketing spin by now adding the words, "It is thought", in front of, 'your depression is caused by a chemical imbalance.'


In fact, it could be argued that treading in a dog turd could cause a chemical imbalance. There's as much science attached to doggy-doo mishaps as there is Davies' claims about rebalancing serotonin.


Her claim of children doing in worse in school and being more likely to be abused because their parents are depressed defies all logic. It does, however, mean that this belief, however incredulous, gives carte blanche to psychiatrists to treat whole families when only one has a diagnosable 'illness'. "Hey, if mom is depressed then lets get the kids in to treat, we wouldn't want them doing bad at school or suffering abuse."


It's quite a scare tactic and one that Davies actually tries to sell in her article.

Her article finishes with, "The pills do not change who people are. And there is no way to become addicted to these pills. If you have any concerns that you may be depressed, talk to your doctor."

Well, I've seen evidence of addiction in antidepressant medication, I've also seen evidence of both doctors and psychiatrists prescribing more because they see the addiction as a return of the original 'illness'.

For a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco to write such an ill-informed article smacks of irresponsibility of the highest order. It also highlights how the belief system ingrained into psychiatry is unscientific, ignorant and dangerous.

I wanted to debate with Laura Davies on her Facebook page. I, along with others, wished to discuss the above points with her. She opted to block anyone from entering into such a debate. She may, if she so desires, wish to debate her claims via the comment section of this blog, let's see shall we.

Davies is a Qualified Medical Examiner who was once a Faculty Member of REACH (Recommendations for Employing Antipsychotics in Children and Adolescents)


“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done.”  ― Peter Ustinov






Fid

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Guest Post: 17 Year Old Caught in the Psych Drug Trap

In the past I have urged readers to send me in their stories about their time on Seroxat [Paxil in US]

A reader recently sent me a story that is all too familiar to me and, I'm sure, many other parents out there. It is the story of a 17 year old girl who has had a drastic personality change due to psychiatric drugs given to her by professionals who think they know what they are doing. In truth, they don't. Julie's story is evidence of that.

**Both the names of the grandmother and granddaughter have been changed.

17 Year Old Caught in the Psych Drug Trap

Paula is my 17 year old granddaughter and I have custody of her. She had attitude and behavioral problems due to substance abuse. She also had an eating disorder due to self-esteem issues.

When I found out that on the street she had inhaled a chemical computer keyboard cleaner, they call "duster", and that it could cause death, I instituted drastic measures and placed her in a Wilderness Camp. She had home visits and I am sure she was using on these visits even though she was drug tested on return.

There are two problems here. 1. From reading her Facebook correspondence, I ascertained the kids have some pill, (which, by the way they say it makes them feel is probably worse than the marijuana they are trying to hide,) that enables them to pass a drug test even if they've used. 2. "Huffing” doesn't show up on the drug tests they give.

Paula got kicked out of Wilderness Camp because she kept "running". Not to run away, but just to get away for a time, and then for a joke. She never went alone, and on more than one occasion she had several cohorts, both male and female. This disrupted the camp dreadfully; the director described a night in which he and several staff members spent hours chasing kids, so they kicked  Paula  out.

I placed  Paula  at this center where they have a restricted unit. (It wasn't long until she was in it.) After  Paula  was there a few days, I received a call from a nurse. She very lightly and casually said, " Paula  is anxious and a little depressed." the doctor recommends that she be given Zyprexa for anxiety, Paxil for depression and some Trazodone to help her sleep”. (I had heard of Paxil being related to suicide, but  Paula  was not suicidal, so that didn’t register at the time, (I am now aware that it could have made her suicidal,) nor did it register that the nurse failed to mention the connection.) “I do have to tell you that Zyprexa can cause diabetes, but we monitor very closely here for that so you don't have to worry. These meds will just lift her spirits a little bit and help take the edge off so she'll be more receptive to treatment”. I said "OK, give her whatever she needs".

I now realize how incredibly stupid this was of me. The nurse said nothing about them being addictive or anything about the myriad, horrendous, life threatening, debilitating, and life-long side effects. And I did not ask. I had lived my life making a distinction between street drugs and those prescribed for a patient “in a doctor's care”. I had even told  Paula there was a difference. I also had blind faith in doctors. I had never questioned a prescription recommended for myself, my two daughters, when they were young, or any of my five grandchildren. I had never had a problem from any medications prescribed for us. Most importantly, I never dreamed a doctor would prescribe something deadly.

A day or so after that, a nurse called me and said, “ Paula  messed up her hand pretty bad”. I asked what happened and she said  Paula  repeatedly punched a wall with her fist. I was shocked;  Paula  had never done anything like that. The nurse assured me they would take x-rays. When I asked  Paula  why, she said, “I don’t know, I just got SO MAD”. At some point in the midst of all this, a nurse called me and told me that  Paula  was complaining about not being able to concentrate and that the doctor had ordered some Concerta for her. I gave my consent. (I did not know that Concerta was Ritalin, which I know to be Cocaine.)

After a couple of calls about  Paula having to be “restrained”,  Paula  kept telling me she didn’t know why she was doing these things, finally, she said “I don’t know, I just “flipped out”. This is a term my family has used in regard to  Paula's mother, (who is 37 years old and has been addicted to prescription Ritalin for years,) when she has “psychotic breaks”. I then realized that the drugs were making  Paula violent.

I called the nurses’ station and said that the medications were making  Paula violent and I wanted them to take  Paula off of them. The nurse said I would have to talk to the doctor. She said she would leave a message for her to call me. I had nurses leave messages for the doctor to call me a couple of more times. Then I left a voicemail for  Paula's counselor to have the doctor call me and the reason why. The nurses all assured me they had left messages and when I spoke to the counselor, she said she had received my voicemail and she had indeed left a message for the doctor to call me, stating the reason why I wanted to speak with her. It seems like it had been a couple of weeks since I wanted her taken off those medications, when a nurse called me and said Paula had severely scratched a girl’s face. I told her I wanted Paula off those drugs immediately, Dr. or no, the drugs were making Paula violent. She assured me that Paula would not be given any more.

I belatedly looked these drugs up on the internet to see the hazards of stopping them abruptly. This is when I saw the long list of side effects. I considered  Paula's being “impulsively aggressive” as life threatening. The side effects of stopping abruptly were the same as using the “tapering regimen”, with added effects that could be excruciating, but were not deadly. A lot of the side effects of staying on the drugs WERE, deadly, debilitating, and lifelong. The next morning I missed a call from the doctor and received this voicemail that I still have on my phone:

Transcript of the doctor's voice mail message on 12/23/2011 @ 11:04am (03:41)

from ___-___-2904 Hi, this is Dr. ________ calling from __________ for Julie -------, Miss -------, I’m the psychiatrist at __________ for Paula and I’d like to talk with you about her medication, I understand that you were concerned, are concerned, about her psychiatric medication and stopped her psychiatric medication last night, and I met with Paula this morning, and she had a very difficult evening and morning, very abruptly stopping both Paxil and Zyprexa is dangerous, she became very labile and got into a fight and not to say there wasn’t some antagonism on the other girls part, however Paula scratched the child’s face quite severely she’s somewhat better this morning however very agitated, very …. very labile, she does feel much better on her medication on the Zyprexa and the Paxil, and she, well I saw her yesterday afternoon, she was calm, she was much better and she really does need to be on the Paxil and the Zyprexa, not on the Concerta, we took her off the Concerta because that was causing her to be irritable and she and I both realized that she did not need that medication, she asked me to put her back on it because she thought she needed it for concentration but she actually had side effects when I put her back on it so we took it away and she felt much better so she really does need to be on the Zyprexa, 10mgs at bedtime the Paxil, 40mgs at bedtime for depression, and the Trazodone for sleep so I really do want you to be aware and consent for her to take those medications or she’s really going to have significant problems and not be able to progress here in the program. She did cause some significant scratches on this other young woman’s face and I’m very concerned about that, I know Paula wants to progress in the program and transition out of the girls more restrictive ________ House and I’m concerned that she may not be able to do that if she remains so “labile” and “impulsively aggressive”. So if you wouldn't mind calling the nurse’s station, I’m gonna be leaving not too long from now the nurses’ station, you might know the number.. ___-___-____ and I’ll be happy to talk with to you on Tuesday when I’m back in the office.

This message infers that the reason Paula scratched the girls face was because I stopped her meds. When in fact, I stopped her meds because, she scratched the girls face.

After hearing this voicemail, I wrote a “To Whom It May Concern”, letter stating that these drugs were making Paula violent and she was not to be given any medications. I also pointed out that  Paula  has an addictive personality and I did not want  Paula  to become a "Rageaholic", a person that, as I understand it, can become addicted to the chemical changes in the brain with rage, and is full of rage at all times with frequent outbursts. I reiterated what I had told the nurses and the counselor before, that  Paula  had never been violent, that  Paula  and I had “butted heads” a few times since she started using drugs and that I had been “in her face”, I have seen  Paula  angry and there was never even a “hint” of violence in her. In her seventeen years she had never been close to being in a fight. After being reassured by the nurses that Paula  would not be given any more “meds”, I did not fax this letter.

On Christmas Day, I arrived at the Camp to visit  Paula . I arrived at 8:30am. I got an audience with the doctor, who again said that  Paula needs these medications; I said they were making  Paula violent, and I don’t want  Paula to take them. The doctor said the side effects of abruptly stopping these medications can be dangerous, I said headaches, nausea, and dizziness, nothing as life-threatening as being impulsively aggressive, right? I took her non response as affirming. She said "we “can absolutely” stop all meds, we can absolutely do that".

After leaving the premises,  Paula said that after I had told them no more meds, the doctor had made her take the Trazodone.  Paula said that the doctor did not make her take the Paxil, but she did make her take the Trazodone. I had the letter that I had typed on the 23rd of December with me, so when I returned  Paula at 9:00pm, on Christmas, I took the letter in, signed it, put the present date, December 25, 2011 by my name, had the nurse make a copy, gave one to the nurse and the other to  Paula with the instructions that if anyone tries to give her drugs, she was to hand the letter to them.

----

My comment

As I said in my opening ramble, stories like this are becoming more common. Here we have a 17 year old girl with behavioral problems. Her grandmother, like many people, put her faith in the medical profession. She was thrown a lifeline that, in essence, had sharks on one end and Hades on the other.

Paula was given drugs for no other reason than to calm her down, chemical babysitters, if you will. What followed was a complete change in personality which included fits of rage and acts of voilence.

For a quack to prescribe someone so young 40mg of Paxil was, at best, sheer incompetence. Firstly, Paxil is not recommended for  17 year-olds, in fact no child or teen beyond the age of 24. Secondly, the recommended daily dose is 20mg. I'm also left wondering how Paula's doctor diagnosed her with depression that warranted an all out assault on her brain with such a concoction of medication. Did her doctor merely guess that Paula had depression or did he carry out extensive brain scans? I think we already know the answer to that question, don't we?

To prescribe Trazodone on top of Paxil was utter lunacy too. The 'Drug Information Online' is a database used by many healthcare professionals. It flags Paxil and Trazodone use as a major contraindication. The use of Paxil and Zyprexa has also been flagged on the database as has Trazodone and Zyprexa.

More importantly, and what the prescribing quack failed to understand, is the 'street drugs' that Paula had been taking prior to her admission into the centre. Did he ask her what street drugs she had used, did he check to see if it was safe to administer Paxil, Zyprexa and Trazodone on top of what she had already allegedly taken? Judging by the doctor's reluctance to check if the three aforementioned drugs were contraindicated it would appear that no history check of substance abuse was carried out by the prescribing physician. That's deeply worrying and highlights the incompetence and lack of knowledge these quacks have.

It's fair to say that Julie was at her wits end with her granddaughter, Paula. A profession [ahem] offered Julie a solution but those responsible became irresponsible the minute they started administering a cocktail of mind-altering drugs that interacted with each other and were not recommended for use.

They may as well have given  Paula a spoon, a lighter and a syringe.

Paula has an astute grandmother who has read about the dangers of psychiatric drugs. Julie has done her homework, unlike the quack that prescribed her granddaughter a dangerous concoction of toxic medication.

Paula should thank her grandmother for being so astute. There are others, many others, that have been less fortunate because back in the day when pharmaceutical companies and the medical profession had no opposition they were duping parents with their hard sell. They were trusted, they failed, they harmed, they killed. Had those left behind known about the dangers of psychiatric medication, had they have been given the chance to read what Julie had read then those featured in the video [below] would probably still be here today. It is in their deaths that folk like Julie have learned. It is they who are the voices, the regulators...the way to the truth.

It is they who should be respected.

Bob Fiddaman

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GlaxoSmithKline - Dollars For Docs

GSK's payments to speakers and doctors.

Look at the millions they have spent on the promotion of their wares. Does the tax man know? What about their share holders?

Special thanks to ProPublica for getting these into the public domain.

See All of GSK's payments HERE









Fid 


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UK Tax Office Turn Their Attention To Payments Made By the Pharmaceutical Industry

Not before time too!

It appears HM Revenue & Customs [HMRC] are seeking information from pharmaceutical companies regarding payments made to doctors, psychiatrists, key opinion leaders etc. Finally, it appears, this 'dine and dash' world that exists between pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals is being probed by the relevant authority.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry [ABPI] has sent out a letter warning its members that the HMRC are making enquiries into payments made by the pharmaceutical industry [Fig 1]

It is my opinion that the ABPI do everything to protect the pharmaceutical industry. Earlier this year I highlighted how Britain's biggest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, seem to hide behind the ABPI Code of Practice with regard to answering patient queries about medication. In typical fashion, Glaxo, tell concerned patients who write to them about Seroxat withdrawal problems, to "talk to their doctor" - thus putting the onus of blame on someone else's shoulders. [Back Story]

The ABPI letter, which is publicly available, sees the association tell its members that statutory requests have been sent out to ABPI member companies by the HMRC who are asking for details of "gross payments to any medical professional [including dentists] for any type of service from which Pay As You Earn [PAYE] tax has been deducted."


The letter continues with:

According to HMRC "this may include [but is not limited to] assistance with clinical trials of new drugs, clinical investigations, consultancy, speaking at conferences and Honoria."


Way to go.

Fig 1

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