Patrick McGorry: "Hey... Paddy... Leave Those Kids Alone"

"We don't need no education,
We don't need no thought control."
Pink Floyd - Another brick in the wall.


Former Australian of the year Patrick "DeLorean" McGorry has come back in time - to next week as it happens.

While he's speaking at the American Psychiatric Association annual conference blowing smoke about early psychosis, his British cohort British psychiatrist, Prof. Robin "Marty McFly" Murray, will be attending an "Infant Mental Health" Conference in Perth, W. Australia.

The infant mental health conference is part of the World Infant Mental Health Association whereby guest speakers talk about psychosis and things like cannabis increasing the risk of schizophrenia.

Murray and McGorry were co-authors of a psychosis study published last month. They claimed there are "brain structural abnormalities" in schizophrenics! They studied 102 people "at high risk of developing schizophrenia" (The DeLorean theory again) who were from the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation Clinic [PACEC] in Melbourne, Australia. The clinic is operated from the Orygen Youth mental health centre... which just happens to be run by McGorry, in fact he is the Director of the centre.

Murray [Marty McFly] has received honorariums for speaking at meetings organised by most major producers of antipsychotic drugs, and his research group has received funding from Eli Lilly and Astra Zeneca.

So, what is the infant mental health conference all about? Well, according to the conference organizers, Sapmea, it's this:

The theme of the conference ‘Growing up solid: Integrating emotional and mental health throughout infancy, childhood and adolescence’ has never been more relevant. Mental health disorders cause the highest burden of disease in the 0-18 years age group, yet services to this group remain underfunded, fractured and piecemeal. The AAIMHI and RANZCP Faculty of Child Psychiatry are delighted to host a joint conference, reflecting our commitment to the integration of understanding and treatment of mental illness from infancy to adulthood.

This event is being promoted with artwork of the aboriginal type, it depicts a baby dreaming. Nice touch you guys.

The conference program sees an array of sessions that will take place, they range from eating disorders in infancy to Cannabis and Schizophrenia and management of psychosis. The AAIMHI & FCAP Conference – Preliminary Program can be downloaded HERE.

I've written about Paddy 'DeLorean' McGorry and his early intervention program numerous times on this blog, a program that he wants to go global. So, why is a British Professor [Sir Robin Murray] attending the event? Well he is a firm believer that cannabis can cause the onset of schizophrenia:

"It is one of ten prospective studies all pointing in this same direction. In short, it adds a further brick to the wall of evidence showing that use of traditional cannabis is a contributory cause of psychoses like schizophrenia."

[SOURCE]

So, why attend an event in Western Australia? Well, the event, it could be said, is going to target the indigenous population, known to enjoy a reefer or two. Hey, first let's rape their land, second we will tell them that what they have been doing for thousands of years can give them a mental disorder!

I am particularly stupefied with the following quote from Murray, taken from the BBC news on April 30 2007. Here he was speaking of cannabis use:

"Proving a long-term effect was extremely difficult, as it was not ethical or feasible to stimulate long-term psychosis in volunteers. If something has an active effect in inducing the symptoms of psychosis after one dose, then it would not be at all surprising if repeated use induced the chronic condition."

"HELLO, MCFLY... ANYBODY AT HOME?"

So, cannabis can cause psychosis but don't worry it can be treated with anti-psychotic medication - no problem with meds of that nature causing psychosis, right?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of cannabis, the UK has a huge problem, many teenagers can't seem to get enough of the bud and regular morning trips on public transport sees school kids puffing away whilst talking like a gangster from a hip hop music video...and that's just the white British kids!

You cannot treat one brain fuck up chemical with another brain fuck up chemical. Hey, let's treat alcoholism with...ummmm... alcohol, while we're at it.

PATIENT: "Doctor, I am drinking a bottle of Vodka a night"

DOCTOR: "Here, take this" [Doctor hands patient bottle of Whiskey]

Yes, there is a huge cannabis problem here in Blighty but there is an even bigger problem in binge drinking and sniffing of powder [of the white variety] We also have a problem much bigger than booze and cocaine, we have doctors prescribing brain altering chemicals to children, a regulator [MHRA] who bury their heads in the sand citing "We told doctor's it's not recommended for children." Oh, thank you MHRA, thank you so much for sending out letters. You really do care doncha!

As comedian Chris Rock once said, the government don't want you to take YOUR drugs, they want you to take THEIR drugs.

So, while editor in chief of The official journal of the International Early Psychosis Association (IEPA) [Patrick McGorry] is giving it some in the US at the American Psychiatric Association annual conference, Prof Robin Murray, who just happens to be on the editorial board of the "official journal of IEPA", will be 'giving it large' in Perth from May 12 to 14th 2011.

These people see a social problem and they pounce on it. Before you know it there will be drugs given to football hooligans or people who express their freedom by protesting.

McGorry was voted Australian of the year in 2010.

Murray was knighted in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to medicine.

Thank you Maam.

Fid


Jimmy Barnes - We Could Be Gone (F and W)


You and me are from different tribes
Never learned to talk, so we learned to fight
Communication like water spilled
What we can't take in was lost or killed

We learned to live where we bore each child
Every step we took lost another mile
Came the day we were face to face
Didn't understand so our instincts raced

If we don't get together at all, we lose it
Get to the table and talk, we'll choose it
Forget what's been said before, confusing
Out of the heart of it all our future's born
If we don't look inside our souls, we could be gone

Forty thousand years underneath your belt
Now you have to pray where the white man knelt
You've been ridiculed because of what you felt
Tried to crucify you, but you fought like hell

The dreams that lead your every move
Full of stories you could never prove
If god is part of the written word
There are stories that your god ain't heard

If we don't get together at all, we lose it
Get to the table and talk, we'll choose it
Forget what's been said before, confusing
Out of the heart of it all our future's born
If we don't look inside our souls, we could be gone

J.Barnes/J.Neill/T.Brock

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Mr Men Man, Roger Hargreaves, Honoured by Google - What About the Mr Men GSK Connection?

Mr Sneeze and GlaxoSmithKline

Using the Google search engine this morning brings you into the world of Roger Hargreaves, the creator of the Mr Men series of books... they later went on to be featured as a popular TV show for children.

Hargreaves would have been 76 today, sadly he passed away on 11 September 1988.

This has prompted me to rehash an article I wrote some time ago regarding Mr Sneeze and GlaxoSmithKline.


Back in 2003, Roger Hargreaves son, Adam, wrote a book entitled 'Mr. Sneeze and His Allergies'.

It told how Mr Sneeze starts to sneeze "in the middle of summer". His friend, Little Miss Sunshine, suggests he may have hayfever.

Mr. Men educating our children it seemed.

It continued by telling the reader [Children] that Miss Sunshine discovered that he was allergic to the feathers in his pillow. All good educational stuff one would assume but why tell children about allergies? Was there some sort of motive behind this?

Step forward the genius that is GSK.

The story was followed by four pages of information on allergies from Allergy UK and two pages promoting the use of GSK products Piriteze and Piriton.

Over 50,000 copies of the book were printed in 2003 and many were sent to holders of Tesco clubcards.

Apparently the MHRA were unaware of the book and stated at the time that they "will investigate urgently."

I wonder what the outcome of that investigation was?

According to this source the book was paid for by GlaxoSmithKline.


Piriton is sold by GlaxoSmithKline and this from their own webpage - "Trusted by generations of mums, Piriton provides fast relief from hayfever and other allergies. Piriton also relieves the itchy skin rash of chickenpox, and can be taken as syrup or tablets."

Piriteze is also sold by GlaxoSmithKline and the blurb for this reads: - "From the makers of Piriton, an effective, once-a-day treatment for hayfever and skin allergies. And as Piriteze does not normally cause drowsiness, it can help you and your family enjoy life outdoors."

More can be read about GSK and Mr. Sneeze here and here - the last link being from the British Medical Journal.

For those of you who wish to re-live your childhood, you can watch Mr. Sneeze here.

Metformin - Clinical Trial Targets Expectant Mothers

Image: dubaichronicle.com

Just when you thought it [the psychopharmaceutical monopoly] had rolled out every possible "pill for an ill" along comes one of the most ridiculous drug pushing exercise I think I have ever witnessed.

A controversial NHS trial will see hundreds of mothers given drugs to stop them having obese babies.

The drug, metformin, a diabetes pill, is being administered to women on the trial up to three times a day during their pregnancy, writes the Daily Mail.

Metformin is a medication for type 2 diabetes, its ultimate goal being to lower blood sugar to a normal level and maintain this level. Both placebo and active drugs in the trial will be supplied by Merck Sante, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA.

The Daily Mail article writes:

The treatment is designed to reduce the food supply to the baby, rather than make the expectant mother lose weight herself.

With studies suggesting that the seeds of obesity are sown in the womb, early intervention could save youngsters from a lifetime of weight problems and ill-health.

The trial is being funded by The UK Clinical Research Collaboration [UKCRC], whom has amongst its partners; The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry [ABPI] - The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [MHRA] and The Wellcome Trust.

The trial will involve 400 obese but non-diabetic volunteers at hospitals in Liverpool, Edinburgh and Coventry.

The protocol for the trial can be viewed HERE

**Footnote: Metformin is a useful anti-hyperglycaemic agent but significant mortality is associated with drug-induced lactic acidosis. [Source]

More about lactic acidosis HERE

Fid

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AC/DC - Rock`N`Roll Train - Live [Live At River Plate]

And not a Delorean in sight!

AC/DC - Best thing to come out of Australia.

Regular readers will know I'm an AC/DC nut.

Can't wait to pick this DVD up tomorrow.

Fid





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Wellbutrin - To Promote or Not Promote...That is the Question.

Image: biomindshare.com

Did they or didn't they?

Lauren Stevens, the Glaxo associate general counsel, who is charged with one count of obstructing an official proceeding, one count of falsifying documents before a federal agency and four counts of making false statements to the FDA, has heard evidence given to a jury by James Millar, GSK vice president of strategic pricing, contracting and marketing.

Millar had originally refused to testify but prosecutors persuaded the US District Judge [Roger W. Titus] to order him to give his testimony.

Millar was head of GSK's marketing for Wellbutrin and remained insistent that GSK's promotion of its product was as an antidepressant that carried low risk of weight gain and sexual dysfunction.

GSK have claimed that they worked with doctors to stop the promotion of Wellbutrin for off label use.

In 2002, writes Law 360's Christopher Norton, "GSK became aware that the company's two top promotional-speaker doctors were using slides in their presentations including information for off-label uses of the drug, but swiftly took steps to bring the pair into compliance with all regulations."

Those top two doctors were named as Psychiatrist James Hudziak and physician James Pradko, they were both the most highly paid doctors in GSK's Wellbutrin promotional stable.

It was Millar who, alongside others at GSK, worked with doctors that GSK, claimed, paid to promote the drug in an effort to ensure the physicians removed any mention of off-label uses from their presentations, especially in the wake of new regulations that began to roll out around 2002, he told the jury, writes Christopher Norton for Law360.

It is alleged that Lauren Stevens lied to the FDA when they sought information from GSK about whether or not they promoted Wellbutrin for weight loss. It's also alleged that Stevens knew GSK had sponsored programs that promoted Wellbutrin as a weight loss drug. Stevens is also alleged to have known that GSK had paid many doctors to promote Wellbutrin to other doctors which included "off-label" use.

Millar claims that he was sent to monitor Psychiatrist James Hudziak after concerns were raised about his potential use of off-label slides, slides he used at presentations. Millar was apparently able to make Hudziak change the presentation and got him to start using a "company approved" slide kit.

Stevens has claimed that she concealed slides from the FDA showing that GSK was promoting Wellbutrin for illegal unapproved use, she has also claimed that she was advised by a company lawyer to do so.

So, we have GSK saying they did everything in their power to stop doctors promoting the illegal, unapproved use of Wellbutrin... yet we have Stevens, as part of her defence, claiming she concealed slides that showed GSK was promoting Wellbutrin for illegal unapproved use. Not only that - she was told to do so by one of GSK's lawyers!

The mind boggles at how this company operate.

It seems that Stevens, the former Glaxo associate general counsel, is now turning against the very same people she used to work for. You go girl.

The case against Stevens continues.

Her re-indictment can be viewed HERE

If karaoke is your thing then you may enjoy this little ditty.



Fid

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Sara Carlin - 4 Years Today

May 6 2007 the world lost a beautiful young woman from Canada.

Sara Carlin is very much in my thoughts today as are her family and friends.



Fid

Sara Carlin articles HERE

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Diagnose Depression - Game Show Style

Reading through the archives of the British Medical Journal [BMJ] has left me wondering about some of the lunatics we have submitting papers to medical journals. [It's PC to say lunatic isn't it?]

One such paper, is from Bruce Arroll, associate professor, Natalie Khin, PhD student, and Ngaire Kerse, a senior lecturer.

The paper was accepted by the BMJ back in 2003, its conclusion being that two verbally asked questions for screening for depression would detect most cases of depression in general practice.

The questions that can apparently tell if you, I or anyone else for that matter have depression are:

1. During the past month have you often been bothered by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?


2. During the past month have you often been bothered by little interest or pleasure in doing things?

No competing interests were declared.

The study was funded by Oakley Mental Health Foundation and Charitable Trust of the Auckland Faculty of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

It was back in 2003 and I cannot assume for one minute that this study was ever taken seriously - this has prompted me to write a short skit.

BRUCE FORESIGHT'S 

PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT

STUDIO ANNOUNCER: "Ladies & gentlemen, it's time for PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT...and here is your host, Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuce Foresight."


BRUCE FORESIGHT: "Good game, good game. Nice to see ya, to see ya...NICE. I'm the leader of the pack which makes me such a lucky Jack. I play my cards close to my chest; but here's a pair that's worth revealing, come on dollies, do your dealing."


APPLAUSE FROM OVER ENTHUSIASTIC STUDIO AUDIENCE


BRUCE FORESIGHT: "Alright my luvs, welcome to play your cards right. We asked 100 people if, during the past month, they had often been bothered by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless? How many out of those 100 people said yes they had, during the past month, often been bothered by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?"

*Contestant Couple Roger & Ann

"Oooh, we'd have to say that figure is pretty high Bruce, let's say 66"

*Audience titter

*Contestant Couple Mike & Cheryl

"Umm... we think it may be slightly lower"

*Audience burst into rapturous laughter.

BRUCE FORESIGHT: "The actual number of people who said yes they had, during the past month, often been bothered by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless is..."

*Monitor flashes 100

Roger & Ann get to turn the cards, a series of higher or lower guess sees them complete the round.

BRUCE FORESIGHT: "Good game, good game. Now question 2: We asked 100 people if, during the past month, they had often been bothered by little interest or pleasure in doing things? How many people said yes they had, during the past month, often been bothered by little interest or pleasure in doing things?"

*Contestant Couple Mike & Cheryl

"We'd have to say that was pretty high Bruce, we agree on 70"

Audience titter again

*Contestant Couple Roger & Ann

"We'd say that figure is slightly higher Bruce"

BRUCE FORESIGHT: "The actual number of people who said yes during the past month, they had often been bothered by little interest or pleasure in doing things is..."

*Monitor flashes 100

Audience applaud, Roger & Ann go on to complete the round and win the star prize... a DeLorean.

BRUCE FORESIGHT: Goodnight folks.

Outro music plays whilst audience applaud.


Fid

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Patrick McGorry - Torn Asunder Down Under

Is time catching up with Australian psychiatrist Patrick McGorry?

Talk about timing. No sooner had I blogged about Australian psychiatrist Patrick "DeLorean" McGorry, another gem of an article pops up on the Internet.

Meet Martin Whitely, a former school teacher turned politician, who, it seems, is not quite happy with the way Patrick McGorry seems to be running the whole mental health system in Australia.

Whitely, unlike Halifax, Nova Scotia politician Stan Kutcher, is opposed to McGorry's early intervention program and pre-drugging children so this blog post is not about another politician in cahoots with McGorry, in fact it's quite the opposite.

Whitely is the author of, 'Speed Up and Sit Still', a book that challenges the science, marketing and politics of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. [ADHD] He first became concerned about ADHD child drugging in the mid 1990s. His job back then as a teacher gave him the opportunity to witness the alarming number of boys in his class who were medicated for ADHD but were unnaturally quiet and compliant.

His campaigning started before he became a politician and more recently he has been questioning the ethics of former Australian of the year Patrick McGorry.

On May 4 Whitely posed the question on his website, "Is Patrick McGorry’s and the Independent Mental Health Reform Group’s $3.5b blueprint for Australian mental health the way forward, or a prescription for more ‘psychiatric disorders’, ‘off label’ prescribing and youth suicide?"

The article was sent to McGorry for his response, that response is now up on Whitely's page. It's interesting reading, particularly as McGorry has failed to answer some important questions put to him by Whitely.

In McGorry we have a believer in pre-drugging children before they fall ill, that's pretty much the nuts & bolts of it. The Aussie government are, it appears, in agreement with McGorry's time travelling program and earlier this month McGorry's HEADSPACE was given a pledge of $3AUS MILLION from the Australian government. The money will go toward 10 new sites for the Headspace youth mental health service, each receiving $AUS 300,00.

This is practically peanuts compared to what McGorry has asked for.

In December 2010 Australian Minister for Mental Health, Mark Butler, appointed Professors McGorry and Hickie as members of a Mental Health Expert Working Group. Shortly after being appointed McGorry and co established the Independent Mental Health Reform Group. Last month [March 2011] the same Independent Mental Health Reform Group released its blueprint for mental health.

The figure? A staggering $3.5 Billion Australian dollars!

With this in mind, Whitely posed some questions for McGorry to answer. To be honest I was surprised that McGorry even responded but fair dinkum, he did.

Whitely's questions, McGorry's right of reply and Whitely's last word can be read here. The correspondence is long so grab yourself a cup of tea, sit comfortable and don't touch that flux capacitor!

On a footnote, Whitely's article coincides with a paper published in the British Medical Journal [BMJ] yesterday. The author, Ray Moynihan, writes about the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM], in particular its conflict of interests and the way it defines "disease." You can read it here.

It's a cracking read and both Whitely's and Moynihan's work marry well. You should read them both.

For a concise background on Patrick McGorry read the following articles from CCHR:

The Brave New World of Pre-Drugging Kids: Patrick McGorry & Psychosis Risk Syndrome

Australian Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry Wants His Pre-Drugging Agenda to Go Global

If that isn't enough for you to digest, you can read this, "Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry Slams His Critics [Diddums]" - written by yours truly.

Fid






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Early Intervention, McGorry, Politics & TV Shows

PART I - Early Intervention - Patrick McGorry

I cannot browse the Internet these days without reading about Australian psychiatrist Patrick "Dr. Emmett Brown" McGorry.

Whatever I seem to be researching these days leads me to McGorry.

McGorry was voted Australian of the year in 2010, an award given for the achievement and contribution of eminent Australians.

McGorry is an international researcher and clinician who bangs the drum loudly for the youth mental health reform agenda. He is Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH), an organisation for the prevention and treatment of mental illness. OYH apparently targets the needs of young people with "emerging" serious mental illness, including first-episode psychosis.

First episode psychosis, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health [CAMH] is the first time a person experiences a psychotic episode, the 'episode' being a loss of contact with reality, in which people have trouble distinguishing between what is real and what is not.

Medication used to treat this 'illness' is varied

Typical antipsychotic medications that are commonly used include:

Thorazine/Largactil [chlorpromazine]
Depixol/Fluanxo [flupenthixol]
Modecate/Permitil/Prolixin [fluphenazine]
Aloperidin/Bioperidolo/Brotopon [haloperidol]
Loxapac/Loxitane [loxapine]
Etrafon/Trilafon [perphenazine]
Orap [pimozide]
Mellaril/Novoridazine/Thioril [thioridazine]
Navane [thiothixene]
Eskazinyl/Eskazine/Stelazine [trifluoperazine]
Cisordinol/Clopixol/Acuphase [zuclopenthixol]

Atypical antipsychotic medications include:

Clozaril/Zaponex [clozapine]
Zyprexa [olanzapine]
Seroquel [quetiapine]
Risperdal [risperidone]


I've included the brand names in the list to avoid any confusion.

So, where does McGorry fit in? Patrick McGorry has claimed that nearly half the Australian population will experience mental ill-health during their lifetime. His early intervention program, based on a series of box ticking forms, diagnoses people, many of them children, before they develop a "mental disorder" - to nip this "illness" in the bud [before the patient actually gets it] drugs, such as the ones listed above, can be used.

McGorry has received grant support from Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Bristol Myers Squibb, Astra-Zeneca, Pfizer, and Novartis. He is also a paid consultant for, and has received speaker’s fees from all or most of the above.

When requests, under the Freedom of Information Act, were requested regarding McGorry's dealings with the pharmaceutical industry, he screamed that he was the victim of Scientologists, a worn out defence psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry often use when backed into a corner.

PART II - Politics

McGorry often turns up at symposiums [that's seminars to you and I] to discuss, rather than debate, his program.

It should come as no surprise that fellow supporters/psychiatrists also attend these seminars.

Psychiatrist turned Liberal candidate for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Stan Kutcher, is one such person.

Last week I broke the news story that Kutcher had been featured in The Coast, a newspaper that serves the Halifax area of Nova Scotia. The story picked up momentum, particularly after Kutcher threatened to sue The Coast - they subsequently removed the article, apologised and made a donation in Kutcher's name to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia

The article cited Kutcher's involvement with the infamous Paxil 329 study, a study that has since been discredited by many peers and attorneys in court rooms across the US. Kutcher, for whatever reason, has stood by the study claiming that the article was "confusing opinion with science." In fact the whole study was ghostwritten by Sally K Laden, not to be confused with Bin Laden. The question we, as patient advocates, have every right to ask, is did Kutcher know the paper was ghostwritten or did he just take it on trust that what he was overseeing came from those listed as the authors?

Kutcher, just like McGorry, is a big fan of the early intervention program and has attended and given talks at many seminars where McGorry has been in attendance.

Source

Those that spoke out against Kutcher's involement in the Paxil 329 study, myself included, were...wait for it...labelled Scientologists. It is unknown whether Kutcher was aware that an anti-Scientology movement were orchestrating a smear campaign against one of those that spoke out against Kutcher. [More Here]

Update: Kutcher failed in his attempt to get elected.

Part III - TV Shows

Early today I was sent a link to a TV show aired in Ireland back in 2009. The show featured the parents of Shane Clancy, a young man who was prescribed Cipramil [Celexa in US] then weeks later, and totally out of character, went berserk with a kitchen knife, stabbing a young man to death, injuring two others before finally plunging the knife into his body 19 times.

His parents, Leonie and Tony, made the unprecedented step of going public about their son by appearing on a popular Irish show called 'The Late Late Show.'

The 24 minute video of the interview is a bit difficult to navigate to when accessing the RTE website. For those wishing to view the interview:

Go to - http://www.rte.ie/tv/latelate/20091002.html

Below the date 'Friday, 2 October 2009' you will see a large screen plus four small ones. Under the smaller ones click on 'More'

The video you are looking for is called 'The Clancy's'

During the harrowing interview, a number of doctor's in the audience offer opinion regarding SSRi drugs. One such doctor, Dr Harry Barry, refers to 'a visiting professor, "one of the world's experts on youth mental health" who gave a talk in Ireland.

That visiting professor was Patrick McGorry who according to Dr Barry described Ireland's young adult mental health services as non-existent.

Dr Barry, a best-selling Irish medical doctor based in County Louth, went on to say that "...in Australia they have managed to get around this problem by realising that young people are only mature [brain wise] at the age of 25. They brought in a system called *Headspace, which basically is scattered throughout Australia, which is allowing young people easy and free access to all of the mental health services they require."

*Headspace receives huge funding from the Australian government. In fact, only last month it was announced that $3AUS million had been pledged by the Federal Government who announced 10 new sites for the Headspace youth mental health service will begin operating by the end of the year. [Source ABC News Australia]

Dr Harry Barry is a board member of AWARE, a depression support organisation.

AWARE offers a diagnostic tool on its website, a three minute assessment for anxiety, depression, PTSD and bipolar disorder.

The tool, known as the M-3, was created by primary collaborators Robert M. Post, MD Head of the Bipolar Collaborative Network, Bernard M. Snyder, MD Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University and a cognitive behavioral therapist, Michael L. Byer, President of M3 Information and Gerald Hurowitz, MD Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and a clinical psychopharmacologist.

You can read more about the diagnostic tool here - they have even launched it on Apple iPad.

I'd love to know how McGorry's program actually works, indeed if either McGorry, Kutcher or Dr Harry Barry can tell me then I'd be most grateful. Pre-drugging a child simply because his parent, grandparents or great-grandparents had some form of mental illness is not science, it's guess work and it is wrong to treat guess work with powerful antipsychotic and Atypical antipsychotic medication.

Be careful what boxes you tick folks... you could be labelled as having a mental disorder - not now...but sometime in the near future.

Time for McGorry and co to fire up that old Delorean.

GlaxoSmithKline's Australian Payments

The Australian, a popular newspaper that serves Australian citizens, reported yesterday that GlaxoSmithKline Australia are going to reveal how much money it pays to doctor's research institutes and health groups.

For years many Australian advocates have been calling for more transparency with regard to the way payments are made to the above from pharmaceutical companies.

Should Glaxo be commended for this recent move? Well, not really, they, it appears, are only doing this because of mounting public pressure - if in fact they do it at all.

The Australian reports that GSK Australia general manager Deborah Waterhouse said:

"Whether we go to the level of individual physician data being published on our website, we need to consult . . . and understand what is possible from a privacy standpoint."

While they are at it they should not only disclose payments, they should disclose the hospitality [dine and dash] made to doctor's. A doctor is wined and dined at an expensive hotel solely on the premise that he/she prescribe more products from the pharmaceutical company. This happens with all pharmaceutical companies and should also be made transparent.

It remains to be seen if Glaxo stick to their word. The cynic in me believes they will only release whatever paints them in a good light.

Full story HERE

Fid

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Stan Kutcher's Followers Doing Him No Favours

"Stangate" seems to have gone viral since I first blogged about the newspaper article from The Coast.

42% of visitors to this blog have come from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Twitter is inundated with Kutcher followers defending him opposed to the advocates who are, rightly, pointing out that Kutcher put his name to the infamous Paxil 329 study.

Alison Bass, who was quoted in the original article from The Coast, has even blogged about this intriguing story HERE.

Alison, who authored the book, 'Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and A Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial' asks pertinent questions regarding the reasoning behind The Coast pulling the article and issuing an apology. She writes:

Last Thursday, five days before the Halifax elections, which are being held May 2, Bousquet posted this article about Kutcher's involvement in study 329. Bousquet quoted me as saying that the researchers "essentially distorted the outcome measures." He also quoted Kutcher as saying that he stood by study 329 and didn't think it had caused any particular controversy.

She adds:

Kutcher's lawyers immediate responded to Bousquet's April 28 article by threatening to sue the newspaper for libel unless it immediately issued a retraction. Even though Bousquet backed up his article's assertions with documentation, the Coast decided to issue an apology and retraction anyway.

All of this makes me wonder: where have The Coast and its editors been all these years? And do they really want to go down in history as an example of the not-so-free press buckling under to craven threats?

Kutcher's followers have been joined by an anonymous group who gather on the 'Why We Protest' forum, a forum where like-minded individuals discuss Scientology in the media, when I say discuss, I actually mean they try to make connections to Scientology if a person happens to have an opinion.

What is interesting with the Stangate story is that a bunch of posters on this forum have, it appears, tried to orchestrate a smear campaign against Alison Bass.

The thread starts with the usual nonsense that one would expect from a bunch of conspiracy theorists.

The title of the thread reads:

REQUEST: Canadian Liberal Party candidate and psychiatrist under attack by scilons?

The content of the post by the user and moderator who calls himself 'Trouble' is:

This kind of makes me laugh as the same forum has labelled me a Scientologist in the past - to be honest it would be easier for me to convert to Scientology than it would to keep on stating that I'm not one.

I have many friends who are Scientologists, as a matter of fact I have never met a better bunch of people. They are warm, considerate human beings who care about human rights. I also have Catholic, Christian, Hindu and atheist friends who are equally warm and considerate human beings.

That said, I expect the usual rebuttal from my critics. Fiddaman is a Scientologist, Fiddaman blog funded by Scientology, Yadda yadda.

The thread is interesting, if only for the last post by someone who calls himself 'Roomr'

The avatar used by 'Roomr' is striking.

Skip to Twitter and you will find the same Avatar used by one of Kutcher's supporters:

Even more interesting is the photo section of Stan Kutcher's Facebook Election page:

Check out the fourth image on the right:

Coincidence? I guess it could be argued that this particular image is used by many people, just unusual that when one joins the dots it comes back to the old anti-Scientology brigade orchestrating an attack on a published author whose book, 'Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial', was a winner of the 2009 Science in Society Journalism Awards, sponsored by the National Association of Science Writers. [NASW] I suspect the crazies will somehow try and link the NASW to Scientology next!

Kutcher's response to the original article posted in The Coast was expected - The Coast's pulling of the article was surprising to say the least. Had they have stood firm and told Kutcher that the article was based on evidence then their newspaper, judging by the response across the Internet, would have had themselves one hell of a story. They missed out on a trick there eh?

The Scientology labeling is as old as the hills, it's tiresome and has been used by the pharmaceutical industry as a way to discredit.

With so many people discussing Stan Kutcher, the crazies are going to have some fun on the Internet coming up with connections that fit in with their blinkered views.

For the record, I have won two awards from the CCHR, judging by the logic the crazies use, I'm a Scientologist. Hey, I can live with that, just don't get labeling me a Catholic, I distanced myself from that religion once I hit senior school.

I once went to a Hindu wedding so I must be a Hindu. I've seen AC/DC in concert more times than I can remember, so I must be a devil worshipper. Oh, and I once got caned at school for farting...so I must be part of that new religion the Fartologists! [Breaking wind near you soon]

In fact, the crazies would have me down as being an Australian because I have visited Australia!

If people's beliefs in religion is the only tool critics can use then those critics are doing Kutcher's election campaign more harm than good.

Kutcher must be squirming at the connection he has [more than likely] unwittingly made.

More on Kutcher after the election votes are in tomorrow.

His early intervention stance mirrors the great one from Australia.

Back stories:

Stan Kutcher "Vote Paxil"

Newspaper Issues Apology to Canadian Politician Stan Kutcher

Why 'The Coast' Pulled the Stan Kutcher Article

Paxil Study 329 - The Secrets of The Drug Trials

Other blogs:

Ghostwritten text books & skewed Paxil 329 study Nemeroff, Kutcher demand apologies for truth exposures

Paxil, Seroxat : Reputations for sale? a review of the PAXIL 329 scandal: Stan Kutcher


Fid

Fartologist
Devil Worshipper
Hindu

ORDER THE PAPERBACK
'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
US & CANADA HERE OR FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING [UK]

Paxil Study 329 - The Secrets of The Drug Trials

I'm quite astounded at the recent controversy surrounding the decision by a Canadian newspaper [The Coast] to pull an article it had published about a politician/psychiatrist/doctor from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Twitter website has an array of accounts suggesting that Stan Kutcher is being attacked by the Church of Scientology. Bah humbug! What those behind these Twitter accounts fail to comprehend is that they are drawing attention to Kutcher's involvement with the study. This is not about religion, it is about suppression of data in clinical trials, trials that should be protecting consumers.

This is not a witch hunt against Kutcher, he, like anyone else, has a right to object to newspaper articles that may be libelous. Given that right, he threatened to sue The Coast and they removed the article, issued an apology and made a donation in Kutcher’s name to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

To be honest, it may have been advisable that Kutcher ignored the article because more and more people are asking why the article was pulled. It has created an interest and the whole Paxil 329 study has resurfaced.

Back stories can be found here:

Stan Kutcher "Vote Paxil"

Newspaper Issues Apology to Canadian Politician Stan Kutcher

Why 'The Coast' Pulled the Stan Kutcher Article

The controversy is with regard to Kutcher's involvement with GlaxoSmithKline's infamous Paxil 329 study, a study that he stands by.

So what was the Paxil 329 study all about?


Watch and learn.





Fid


ORDER THE PAPERBACK
'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
US & CANADA HERE OR FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING [UK]