short notes:
will brady's ruminations
will brady's ruminations
2009-11-29
mental health
• The Icarus Project and Freedom Center's Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs is now available in Spanish.
Will Hall, one of the principals on the editorial team that prepared this booklet said the group's goals included:
• Health Care Renewal reports the FDA's tacit support to suppress negative findings about drug testing.
• In the first half of 2005, pharmaceutical manufacturers spent more on media campaigns than any other industry except the automobile industry. Studies show that when a patient requests a specific drug, doctors may prescribe it even if the drug is not in the patient’s best interest. Your doctor, not a drug company, should be deciding about your diagnosis and treatment. You may not need a drug at all.
But there are some who work to correct the efforts of BigPharma who tries to deceive people just to get them to take drugs. One group working to counter the propaganda mills run by drugco shills is Pharmed Out. Their goal is to "provide access to unbiased information about drugs. Led by a team of physicians and academics and is contributed to by a diverse group, Pharmed Out provides lectures at Grand Rounds, meetings, conferences, and medical student events. They offer access to free, web-based, pharma-free CME – enough for any physician in the U.S to fulfill annual CME requirements without taking industry-funded courses. Their courses have been given the endorsement of the Federation of State Medical Boards Foundation..
PharmedOut is funded through the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program, created as part of a 2004 settlement between Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer, Inc., and the Attorneys General of 50 States and the District of Columbia, to settle allegations that Warner-Lambert conducted an unlawful marketing campaign for the drug Neurontin® (gabapentin) that violated state consumer protection laws.
• Not just mental health, per se, but the Kaiser Family Foundation has posted side-by-side comparisons of Congress's Health Care Bills. The Kaiser Foundation is an independent expert voice in a U.S. health system dominated by commercial, political, and ideological interests; a place where people can turn for unbiased and non-partisan analysis, basic facts, and explanation of the biggest domestic and global health policy issues and public opinion shaping them.
Kaiser's "product" is information, always provided free of charge — from the most sophisticated policy research, to basic facts and numbers, to information young people can use to improve their health or elderly people can use to understand their Medicare benefits.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
Thanks to Larry Drain for providing the link to Kaiser Family Foundation.
• The Icarus Project and Freedom Center's Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs is now available in Spanish.Will Hall, one of the principals on the editorial team that prepared this booklet said the group's goals included:
"We wanted -- and I think succeeded in creating -- a guide that would accurately represent psych drug risks and benefits fairly, without falling into simplistic pro- or anti- camps. We wanted to give essential lessons about how the coming off process works, without acting like we could predict what people would go through or provide any kind of definite blueprint for action. We wanted to counter pharmaceutical propaganda and psychiatric myths.You can read a more complete account of the making of the Harm Reduction Guide at the Freedom Center's website.
"We wanted to explore the helpfulness of meds for some people in the same discussion as we explored the harm of meds for others. We needed to cover complicated issues like biology and genetics accurately, and gather the most state-of-the-art research in a very politicized and confusing area of science. We had to ensure the factual information was all backed up and air-tight (thanks to the British survivor movement for their help in this), and fearlessly swim against the brain-disorder mainstream belief system, while also not making any claims we couldn't support with solid sources."
• Health Care Renewal reports the FDA's tacit support to suppress negative findings about drug testing."It is worth mentioning that the [US] FDA [Food and Drug Administration] has encouraged this state of affairs, by viewing negative studies as uninformative, due to the possibility of being 'failed' rather than truly negative (ie, the sample may have simply been unresponsive, or dosing might have been too low and so on). Thus drugs could have two positive studies, and 10 or so negative ones (as did a number of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), and the FDA not only allowed approval but it did not require that the pharmaceutical industry publish its negative results."This appeared in the journal Evidence-Based Mental Health [Gahemi SN. The failure to know what isn't known: negative publication bias with lamotrigine and a glimpse inside peer review. Evidence Based Mental Health 2009; 12: 65-68. Link here.]
• In the first half of 2005, pharmaceutical manufacturers spent more on media campaigns than any other industry except the automobile industry. Studies show that when a patient requests a specific drug, doctors may prescribe it even if the drug is not in the patient’s best interest. Your doctor, not a drug company, should be deciding about your diagnosis and treatment. You may not need a drug at all.
But there are some who work to correct the efforts of BigPharma who tries to deceive people just to get them to take drugs. One group working to counter the propaganda mills run by drugco shills is Pharmed Out. Their goal is to "provide access to unbiased information about drugs. Led by a team of physicians and academics and is contributed to by a diverse group, Pharmed Out provides lectures at Grand Rounds, meetings, conferences, and medical student events. They offer access to free, web-based, pharma-free CME – enough for any physician in the U.S to fulfill annual CME requirements without taking industry-funded courses. Their courses have been given the endorsement of the Federation of State Medical Boards Foundation..PharmedOut is funded through the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program, created as part of a 2004 settlement between Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer, Inc., and the Attorneys General of 50 States and the District of Columbia, to settle allegations that Warner-Lambert conducted an unlawful marketing campaign for the drug Neurontin® (gabapentin) that violated state consumer protection laws.
• Not just mental health, per se, but the Kaiser Family Foundation has posted side-by-side comparisons of Congress's Health Care Bills. The Kaiser Foundation is an independent expert voice in a U.S. health system dominated by commercial, political, and ideological interests; a place where people can turn for unbiased and non-partisan analysis, basic facts, and explanation of the biggest domestic and global health policy issues and public opinion shaping them.Kaiser's "product" is information, always provided free of charge — from the most sophisticated policy research, to basic facts and numbers, to information young people can use to improve their health or elderly people can use to understand their Medicare benefits.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
Thanks to Larry Drain for providing the link to Kaiser Family Foundation.
Labels: alternative treatments, big pharma, clinical trials, CMEs, dealing with crisis, drugs, FDA, Kaiser Family Foundation, negative test results, oversight, Pharmed Out, US Health Care Reform
¶ 19:31 0 comments
2009-09-01
protection rackets
Those new patriots who began rationing health care options years ago [that is, the Insurance Industry] by forcing us to "join" HMOs now want us to believe that "big gommint" is going to make things worse.
...and let's not forget the valuable contributions we provide to the execs running Big Pharma. If you are healthy, take a pill and chill out.
Those new patriots who began rationing health care options years ago [that is, the Insurance Industry] by forcing us to "join" HMOs now want us to believe that "big gommint" is going to make things worse.
...and let's not forget the valuable contributions we provide to the execs running Big Pharma. If you are healthy, take a pill and chill out.
SOURCE: Nightmare Hall, a reliable source of thought-provoking videos and links |
Labels: big pharma, corporate profits, economic treason, insurance companies, thieves
¶ 04:01 0 comments
2009-02-01
street scene
This is from Ian Grey's Street Photography series. I particularly appreciated the "Medicalize the Mideast" though I can interpret it in at least two ways. There is the short term obvious one related to the Israeli/Palestinian, Iraq/Afghanistan War debacles.
My second thought of the flier in his hand takes a non linear second logical step and has my synapses interpreting Mideast as Midwest. In that mental scenario, I think of Big Pharma giant Eli Lilly Corporation who conducted their clinical trials of the so-called wonder drug Zyprexa using street people staying in homeless shelters in Indianapolis. These hapless souls "volunteered" to take this drug now proven [without a doubt] to aid in sero-converting someone to diabetes, even people who have no family history of that malady. Lilly corporation played down the connection
My second thought of the flier in his hand takes a non linear second logical step and has my synapses interpreting Mideast as Midwest. In that mental scenario, I think of Big Pharma giant Eli Lilly Corporation who conducted their clinical trials of the so-called wonder drug Zyprexa using street people staying in homeless shelters in Indianapolis. These hapless souls "volunteered" to take this drug now proven [without a doubt] to aid in sero-converting someone to diabetes, even people who have no family history of that malady. Lilly corporation played down the connection
"Lilly’s own published data, which it told its sales representatives to play down in conversations with doctors, has shown that 30 percent of patients taking Zyprexa gain 22 pounds or more after a year on the drug, and some patients have reported gaining 100 pounds or more. But Lilly was concerned that Zyprexa’s sales would be hurt if the company was more forthright about the fact that the drug might cause unmanageable weight gain or diabetes, according to the documents, which cover the period 1995 to 2004." QUOTE SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Washington Post, November 2006What else should we expect from any big drug dealer trying to make a decent profit while hawking their harmful wares.
Labels: big pharma, homelessness, Ian Grey, street people
¶ 09:31 0 comments
2008-11-19
news blips
• Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez indicted in South Texas! Charges related to alleged abuse of prisoners in federal detention centers. A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on state charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in`Willacy County, Texas federal detention centers.
Cheney's indictment on a charge of engaging in an organized criminal activity criticizes the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.
The indictment accuses Gonzales of using his position while in office to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons.
SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
• FDA questioned about widespread use of psychiatric drugs with children. Powerful antipsychotic medicines are being used far too cavalierly in children, and federal drug regulators must do more to warn doctors of their substantial risks, a panel of federal drug experts said Tuesday.
More than 389,000 children and teenagers were treated last year with Risperdal, one of five drugs known as "atypical anti-psychotics". In many cases, the drug was prescribed to treat attention deficit disorders.
But Risperdal is not approved for attention deficit problems, and its risks — which include substantial weight gain, metabolic disorders and muscular tics that can be permanent — are too profound to justify its use in treating such disorders, panel members said.
Food and Drug Administration officials wanted the committee to endorse the agency’s routine monitoring of the medicines in children.
But committee members unanimously rejected the agency’s proposals, saying that far more needed to be done to discourage the medicines’ growing use in children, particularly to treat conditions for which the medicines have not been approved.
SOURCE: New York Times
• Milky Way's Black Hole Sending Out Flares. Two different telescopes simultaneously observed violent flares from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. The outbursts from this region, known as Sagittarius A*, reveal material being stretched like bread dough out as it orbits in the intense gravity close to the central black hole.
Sagittarius A* is located at the centre of our own Milky Way Galaxy at a distance from Earth of about 26,000 light-years. It is a supermassive black hole with a mass of about four million times that of the Sun. Most, if not all, galaxies are thought to have a supermassive black hole in their center.
SOURCE: Universe Today
• Oil price dives under 55 dollars per barrel in London. Oil prices sank under 55 dollars a barrel on Tuesday to strike a 21-month low as fresh recession jitters fanned fears about slowing global energy demand, traders said.
On London's InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December plunged to 54.92 dollars per barrel -- a level last seen on January 30, 2007. Brent later stood at 55.94 dollar, down 3.14 dollars from Monday.
"News that China's crude oil imports jumped by 28 percent in October from a year ago and that militants are threatening to renew attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria failed to lift prices," noted Sucden analyst Michael Davies.
The oil market was also undermined by the strengthening dollar which tends to dampen demand because dollar-priced crude becomes more expensive for buyers holding weaker currencies.
OPEC president Chakib Khelil indicated over the weekend another round of production cuts may occur should oil prices remain below the cartel's preferred range of 70 to 90 dollars.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps more than 40 percent of the world's crude, announced in October that its daily output would be cut by 1.5 million barrels per day to 27.3 million barrels per day from November.
SOURCE: Energy for the Future [blog]
Double click on the lead sentence of each article for the complete story quoted
• Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez indicted in South Texas! Charges related to alleged abuse of prisoners in federal detention centers. A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on state charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in`Willacy County, Texas federal detention centers.
Cheney's indictment on a charge of engaging in an organized criminal activity criticizes the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.
The indictment accuses Gonzales of using his position while in office to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons.
SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
• FDA questioned about widespread use of psychiatric drugs with children. Powerful antipsychotic medicines are being used far too cavalierly in children, and federal drug regulators must do more to warn doctors of their substantial risks, a panel of federal drug experts said Tuesday.
More than 389,000 children and teenagers were treated last year with Risperdal, one of five drugs known as "atypical anti-psychotics". In many cases, the drug was prescribed to treat attention deficit disorders.
But Risperdal is not approved for attention deficit problems, and its risks — which include substantial weight gain, metabolic disorders and muscular tics that can be permanent — are too profound to justify its use in treating such disorders, panel members said.
Food and Drug Administration officials wanted the committee to endorse the agency’s routine monitoring of the medicines in children.
But committee members unanimously rejected the agency’s proposals, saying that far more needed to be done to discourage the medicines’ growing use in children, particularly to treat conditions for which the medicines have not been approved.
SOURCE: New York Times
• Milky Way's Black Hole Sending Out Flares. Two different telescopes simultaneously observed violent flares from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. The outbursts from this region, known as Sagittarius A*, reveal material being stretched like bread dough out as it orbits in the intense gravity close to the central black hole.
Sagittarius A* is located at the centre of our own Milky Way Galaxy at a distance from Earth of about 26,000 light-years. It is a supermassive black hole with a mass of about four million times that of the Sun. Most, if not all, galaxies are thought to have a supermassive black hole in their center.
SOURCE: Universe Today
• Oil price dives under 55 dollars per barrel in London. Oil prices sank under 55 dollars a barrel on Tuesday to strike a 21-month low as fresh recession jitters fanned fears about slowing global energy demand, traders said.
On London's InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December plunged to 54.92 dollars per barrel -- a level last seen on January 30, 2007. Brent later stood at 55.94 dollar, down 3.14 dollars from Monday.
"News that China's crude oil imports jumped by 28 percent in October from a year ago and that militants are threatening to renew attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria failed to lift prices," noted Sucden analyst Michael Davies.
The oil market was also undermined by the strengthening dollar which tends to dampen demand because dollar-priced crude becomes more expensive for buyers holding weaker currencies.
OPEC president Chakib Khelil indicated over the weekend another round of production cuts may occur should oil prices remain below the cartel's preferred range of 70 to 90 dollars.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps more than 40 percent of the world's crude, announced in October that its daily output would be cut by 1.5 million barrels per day to 27.3 million barrels per day from November.
SOURCE: Energy for the Future [blog]
Labels: big pharma, cheney, gonzalez, oil prices, prisons, space, treason
¶ 08:29 0 comments
2008-06-08
medical abuses
Aspartame's approval by the US Food and Drug Administration came only after Donald Rumsfeld pushed to have it approved during the Reagan administration. Before coming to power during Reagan Rumsfeld served at CEO to GD Searle Corp, a major pharmaceutical giant which had developed the sugar substitute. Searle Corp was later absorbed by agribusiness giant Monsanto.
A "debate" between E Fuller Torrey and Thomas Szasz wherein Torrey postures and postulates and hogs the floor spouting undocumented assertions about schizophrenia while avoiding responding to legitimate critiques about his own points of view. Dr. Torrey, you might know, believes that schizophrenia is caused either by being born in winter or by a virus carried by house cats.
From the New York Times: Influential Harvard psyciatrists Dr. Joseph Biederman, and a colleague, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens accepted millions in "consulting fees" from drug companies while advocating that children be prescribed psychiatric medications. Dr. Biederman is widely regarded as
Aspartame's approval by the US Food and Drug Administration came only after Donald Rumsfeld pushed to have it approved during the Reagan administration. Before coming to power during Reagan Rumsfeld served at CEO to GD Searle Corp, a major pharmaceutical giant which had developed the sugar substitute. Searle Corp was later absorbed by agribusiness giant Monsanto. A "debate" between E Fuller Torrey and Thomas Szasz wherein Torrey postures and postulates and hogs the floor spouting undocumented assertions about schizophrenia while avoiding responding to legitimate critiques about his own points of view. Dr. Torrey, you might know, believes that schizophrenia is caused either by being born in winter or by a virus carried by house cats. From the New York Times: Influential Harvard psyciatrists Dr. Joseph Biederman, and a colleague, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens accepted millions in "consulting fees" from drug companies while advocating that children be prescribed psychiatric medications. Dr. Biederman is widely regarded as"...one of the most influential researchers in child psychiatry and is widely admired for focusing the field’s attention on its most troubled young patients. Although many of his studies are small and often financed by drug makers, his work helped to fuel a controversial 40-fold increase from 1994 to 2003 in the diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder..."Biederman and Wilens, who administered federal government research grants at Massachusetts General Hospital, said they did not realize that taking approximately $1.6 million dollars each, in consulting fees [would some refer to this as a bribe?] from drug giant Johnson + Johnson was either a conflict of interest or might be seen as an ethical problem.
Labels: big pharma, bribes, criminal actions, medicine, pseudo-medicine, torrey
¶ 09:56 0 comments
2007-11-23
medical humor
Stephen M Stahl, MD, PhD, of Neurosciences Education Institute singing in prose lyrical about psychopharmacology. Music by Gilbert and Sullivan. Lyrics by who is obviously ADHD. And sometimes, while interacting with drug prescribing shrinks, this same sort of brilliance seeps out.
Stephen M Stahl, MD, PhD, of Neurosciences Education Institute singing in prose lyrical about psychopharmacology. Music by Gilbert and Sullivan. Lyrics by who is obviously ADHD. And sometimes, while interacting with drug prescribing shrinks, this same sort of brilliance seeps out.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Furious Seasons |
Labels: big pharma, humor, psychopharmacology, quacks
¶ 07:23 0 comments
2007-11-21
drug wars / big pharma
I predict that Pfizer Corporation will have more problems with its experimental stop-smoking drug Chantix [Varenicline], especially as docs use it while trying to get psychiatric patients to quit.
Although clinical practitioners minimize the potential negative impact, The American Journal of Psychiatry, in its August 2007 edition, has already published two reports of problems with using Chantix for people with long-term mental disorders. Here are the links to the recent case reports: Exacerbation of Schizophrenia by Varenicline by Robert Freedman, M.D., and Varenicline-Induced Manic Episode in a Patient With Bipolar Disorder submitted by Izachak Kohen, M.D., and Neil Kremen, M.D.
The USA Food and Drug Administration, only this week, warns that healthcare professionals should monitor patients taking Chantix for behavior and mood changes. The FDA watch site also notes that "...There are also reports of patients experiencing drowsiness that affected their ability to drive or operate machinery. A preliminary assessment reveals that many of the cases reflect new-onset of depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and changes in emotion and behavior within days to weeks of initiating Chantix treatment."
My own personal observations occurred with a close friend long diagnosed with schizophrenia. My friend has smoked for a few decades and, for economic reasons, really wanted to quit. He began taking Chantix as prescribed. Within a couple of days reported disorienting phenomena such as double vision and blanking out. He asked a lot more reality-testing questions ["can you hear my thoughts?"] than usual. It bothered him. In less than a month he was admitted into the psyche ward of one of Connecticut's general hospitals. I reported my observations to the clinical staff there. Although I've known the man since the 1980s, the Chief clinical psychiatrist [who, incidentally, prides himself as a researcher] and who had observed my friend less than two weeks, completely discounted my observations as total bunkus, and began to rant at me comments about Chantix that made me wonder if he were on Pfizer's payroll.
I'm not saying that he is, mind you, but he was clearly more inclined to listen to the drug company's PR propaganda than observed reality. Frankly, I suspect that his point of view is typical. Testing my newfound suspicions with pharmacists and docs where I work I found the same Pollyanna-like faith expressed in Pfizer that the community psychiatrist exhibited.
It is important to note that Pfizer's clinical studies involved less than 5,000 individuals. I doubt that any were people with long-term psychiatric disabilities or any other medical problems. The American Heart Association estimates that 25.6 million men (25.2 percent) and 22.6 million women (20.7 percent) are smokers in the USA alone. That's a mighty tempting market for Pfizer to court. But it also means the control studies population was less than 1/1,000th of a percent of that population.
Pfizer is aggressively targeting that market, both with TV adverts and easy to navigate websites like Chantix Home. They don't care about adverse impacts at all, except maybe to the company's bottom line. Even the Wall Street Journal has reported on the profit potential, yet acknowledges there seems to be a dark side.
Let's insist that the FDA, and other watchdogs, work harder at keeping this aggressive marketer [and pill pusher] in line.
For a thoughful ongoing discussion about the risks of Chantix check out Furious Seasons and the thread Pills, booze and Chantix. A German site, Boocompany, also has posts from readers who report adverse reactions including depression, psychosis and suicidal acts.
Although clinical practitioners minimize the potential negative impact, The American Journal of Psychiatry, in its August 2007 edition, has already published two reports of problems with using Chantix for people with long-term mental disorders. Here are the links to the recent case reports: Exacerbation of Schizophrenia by Varenicline by Robert Freedman, M.D., and Varenicline-Induced Manic Episode in a Patient With Bipolar Disorder submitted by Izachak Kohen, M.D., and Neil Kremen, M.D.The USA Food and Drug Administration, only this week, warns that healthcare professionals should monitor patients taking Chantix for behavior and mood changes. The FDA watch site also notes that "...There are also reports of patients experiencing drowsiness that affected their ability to drive or operate machinery. A preliminary assessment reveals that many of the cases reflect new-onset of depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and changes in emotion and behavior within days to weeks of initiating Chantix treatment."
My own personal observations occurred with a close friend long diagnosed with schizophrenia. My friend has smoked for a few decades and, for economic reasons, really wanted to quit. He began taking Chantix as prescribed. Within a couple of days reported disorienting phenomena such as double vision and blanking out. He asked a lot more reality-testing questions ["can you hear my thoughts?"] than usual. It bothered him. In less than a month he was admitted into the psyche ward of one of Connecticut's general hospitals. I reported my observations to the clinical staff there. Although I've known the man since the 1980s, the Chief clinical psychiatrist [who, incidentally, prides himself as a researcher] and who had observed my friend less than two weeks, completely discounted my observations as total bunkus, and began to rant at me comments about Chantix that made me wonder if he were on Pfizer's payroll.I'm not saying that he is, mind you, but he was clearly more inclined to listen to the drug company's PR propaganda than observed reality. Frankly, I suspect that his point of view is typical. Testing my newfound suspicions with pharmacists and docs where I work I found the same Pollyanna-like faith expressed in Pfizer that the community psychiatrist exhibited.
It is important to note that Pfizer's clinical studies involved less than 5,000 individuals. I doubt that any were people with long-term psychiatric disabilities or any other medical problems. The American Heart Association estimates that 25.6 million men (25.2 percent) and 22.6 million women (20.7 percent) are smokers in the USA alone. That's a mighty tempting market for Pfizer to court. But it also means the control studies population was less than 1/1,000th of a percent of that population.
Pfizer is aggressively targeting that market, both with TV adverts and easy to navigate websites like Chantix Home. They don't care about adverse impacts at all, except maybe to the company's bottom line. Even the Wall Street Journal has reported on the profit potential, yet acknowledges there seems to be a dark side.
Let's insist that the FDA, and other watchdogs, work harder at keeping this aggressive marketer [and pill pusher] in line.
For a thoughful ongoing discussion about the risks of Chantix check out Furious Seasons and the thread Pills, booze and Chantix. A German site, Boocompany, also has posts from readers who report adverse reactions including depression, psychosis and suicidal acts.
Labels: big pharma, Chantix, drug profits, drug risks, Pfizer, psychosis
¶ 06:39 0 comments
2007-02-08
drug dealers
What do the people pictued below have in common? And why should we need to know who they are? They are all involved in the international trafficing of potent chemical substances; the kingpins of a massive organization with close ties to officals in high places and all are part of a well know [some might say infamous] group that is currently engaged in silencing disturbing facts about some of the drugs their global cabal have been pushing.
Who are they? Why, none other than some of the members of the top management of Eli Lilly Corporation. This helps start putting a face to criminals who hide in our midst behind self-congratulatory accolades, self-serving connections to community do-gooder groups, and lengthy lists of accomplishments. Helping perpertuate suffering and death need to be aded to their resumes.
Left to right
Robert Armitage
Robert Armstrong
Alan Breier
Scott Canute
Bryce Carmine
William Chin
Dierdre Connelly
Andrew Dahlem
Frank Deane
Johanna Carmel Egan
Timothy Franson
Michael Heim
Sidney Taurel CEO
Simion Harford
Patrick C James
John Lechleiter
Elizabeth Klimes
Gino Santini
Thomas VerHoeven
Steven Paul
"If the Zyprexa documents are already so widely disseminated, then why is Eli Lilly still targeting critics? There may be something Eli Lilly fears worse than the approximately one billion dollar cash settlement Eli Lilly can afford: Mass publicity may mean public education and criminal prosecution of executive crimes."
attorney Ted Chabasinksi
I'm not saying that each and every one of these Eli Lilly executives were personally involved in the systematic supression and censorship of information or even that they might all have known that their psychiatric drug caused life-threatening metabolic problems such as severe weight gain and diabetes, and tried to keep this secret for a decade.
I'm more concerned, now that this set of facts is already public information, that as corporate decision-makers, they have a personal and social obligation to expose the malefactors in their corporate-nation who have
perpetrated these woes upon unsuspecting customers, mainly mostly mentally ill people, or folks diagnosed with major psychiatric disorders.
To continue to remain silent about what has become increasingly evident that corporate executives at Eli Lilly Corporation knowingly hid information about very real dangers and long-term adverse reactions to Zyprexa, that, is in my mind an immoral act, even if not technically a criminal one. As part f the whole they are equally responsible in the cover up.
What do the people pictued below have in common? And why should we need to know who they are? They are all involved in the international trafficing of potent chemical substances; the kingpins of a massive organization with close ties to officals in high places and all are part of a well know [some might say infamous] group that is currently engaged in silencing disturbing facts about some of the drugs their global cabal have been pushing.Who are they? Why, none other than some of the members of the top management of Eli Lilly Corporation. This helps start putting a face to criminals who hide in our midst behind self-congratulatory accolades, self-serving connections to community do-gooder groups, and lengthy lists of accomplishments. Helping perpertuate suffering and death need to be aded to their resumes.
Left to rightRobert Armitage
Robert Armstrong
Alan Breier
Scott Canute
Bryce Carmine
William Chin
Dierdre Connelly
Andrew Dahlem
Frank Deane
Johanna Carmel Egan
Timothy Franson
Michael Heim
Sidney Taurel CEO
Simion Harford
Patrick C James
John Lechleiter
Elizabeth Klimes
Gino Santini
Thomas VerHoeven
Steven Paul
"If the Zyprexa documents are already so widely disseminated, then why is Eli Lilly still targeting critics? There may be something Eli Lilly fears worse than the approximately one billion dollar cash settlement Eli Lilly can afford: Mass publicity may mean public education and criminal prosecution of executive crimes."
attorney Ted Chabasinksi
I'm more concerned, now that this set of facts is already public information, that as corporate decision-makers, they have a personal and social obligation to expose the malefactors in their corporate-nation who have
perpetrated these woes upon unsuspecting customers, mainly mostly mentally ill people, or folks diagnosed with major psychiatric disorders.To continue to remain silent about what has become increasingly evident that corporate executives at Eli Lilly Corporation knowingly hid information about very real dangers and long-term adverse reactions to Zyprexa, that, is in my mind an immoral act, even if not technically a criminal one. As part f the whole they are equally responsible in the cover up.
Labels: big pharma, censorship, drug wars, zyprexa
¶ 21:47 2 comments
2006-12-05
big pharma | drug recalls
Somebody placed me on the e-mail list for a newsletter titled Defective Drugs and published by A Drug Recall. The site states it provides - "Information on the side effects of recalled drugs and access to attorneys specializing in drug side effects litigation"
The initial scan of the site suggests that there is plenty of up-to-date useful information and I don't get a sense that the site's developers have some strident axe to grind by excoriating the drug companies. Point being, until I find otheriwse, the site's authors seem more interested in fairness and getting helpful information out about risky and unwanted side effects of on the market drugs.
Given that the DrugCo reps are reluctant to do this themselves, a site such as this is needed.
The site also has a list of links to "Alternative" medical treatments but cautions"
Somebody placed me on the e-mail list for a newsletter titled Defective Drugs and published by A Drug Recall. The site states it provides - "Information on the side effects of recalled drugs and access to attorneys specializing in drug side effects litigation" The initial scan of the site suggests that there is plenty of up-to-date useful information and I don't get a sense that the site's developers have some strident axe to grind by excoriating the drug companies. Point being, until I find otheriwse, the site's authors seem more interested in fairness and getting helpful information out about risky and unwanted side effects of on the market drugs.
Given that the DrugCo reps are reluctant to do this themselves, a site such as this is needed.
The site also has a list of links to "Alternative" medical treatments but cautions"
If you are interested in alternative therapy, it is important to do your homework. Gather as much information as possible about the procedures that interest you. If your alternative therapy is practitioner based, learn about the certification and training process required or recommended for these alternative therapy professionals. Many states supply information about practitioner requirements and host a consumer database with important practitioner information i.e. if your desired practitioner has any past actions against them.For their newsletter, just click on to Defective Drugs to get started.
Labels: big pharma, drug wars, FDA, side-effects
¶ 21:40 0 comments
2006-08-15
big pharma | lilly to pay up
Drug giant Eli Lilly has agreed to pay out close to $700 million dollars to people who suffered damages from taking the prescription drug Zyprexa (olanzapine).
The Indianapolis Star reports that 8, 362 consumers of Lilly's top-selling drug that produces diabetes--among other life-threatening effects--can expect Between $5,000 to "well over $100,000 a person" depending upon the harm suffered.
Judge Jack Weinstein who presided over this massive case, capped legal fees to attorneys at 35%--which is more than $200 million. The settlement covered about 75 percent of the known Zyprexa claims
against Lilly. But hundreds more have flooded into federal and state courts.
Lilly has set aside another $300 million to cover potential liability from the unsettled cases, which it has said it will fight in court.
The first trial from the unsettled claims could happen next year. Lilly employees are being deposed by trial lawyers, and the company has turned over more than 10 million pages of documents sought by plaintiffs'
attorneys, Woodin said.
Eli Lilly 's $700 million settlement confirms that Zyprexa, its best selling drug, induces diabetes--an irreversible debilitating disease.
These findings raise a number of troubling questions, which must, nevertheless be asked.
troubling connections to both the H W G Bush, Dubya Bush as well as the Reagan Administrations and has, in prior lawsuits exhibited a "...history of reckless disregard." In a lawsuit pursued in the 1980s "...victims’ attorneys wanted the jury to hear about Lilly’s anti- inflamatory drug Oraflex, introduced in 1982 but taken off the market three months later. A U.S. Justice Department investigation linked Oraflex to the deaths of more than 100 patients and concluded that Lilly had misled the FDA. Lilly was charged with 25 counts related to mislabeling side effects and pled guilty—but in 1985, the Reagan-Bush Justice Department saw fit to fine them a mere $25,000". Read that whole story at Z-Mag.
Individuals who believe they were damaged by the effects of taking this widely promoted antipsychotic drug can find out more from Alexander, Hawes & Audet, LLP, one of the firms who filed the case.
To find out more about unethical human research conducted on unsuspecting citizens by other big pharma drug pushers, check out the website of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, a national network of lay people and professionals dedicated to advancing responsible and ethical medical research practices, to ensure that the human rights, dignity and welfare of human subjects are protected, and to minimize the risks associated with such endeavors.
Drug giant Eli Lilly has agreed to pay out close to $700 million dollars to people who suffered damages from taking the prescription drug Zyprexa (olanzapine). The Indianapolis Star reports that 8, 362 consumers of Lilly's top-selling drug that produces diabetes--among other life-threatening effects--can expect Between $5,000 to "well over $100,000 a person" depending upon the harm suffered.
Judge Jack Weinstein who presided over this massive case, capped legal fees to attorneys at 35%--which is more than $200 million. The settlement covered about 75 percent of the known Zyprexa claims
against Lilly. But hundreds more have flooded into federal and state courts.
Lilly has set aside another $300 million to cover potential liability from the unsettled cases, which it has said it will fight in court.
The first trial from the unsettled claims could happen next year. Lilly employees are being deposed by trial lawyers, and the company has turned over more than 10 million pages of documents sought by plaintiffs'
attorneys, Woodin said.
Eli Lilly 's $700 million settlement confirms that Zyprexa, its best selling drug, induces diabetes--an irreversible debilitating disease.
These findings raise a number of troubling questions, which must, nevertheless be asked.
• Why is a drug that produces a life-shortening disease allowed to be advertised and widely marketed?Eli Lilly corporation also has some
• Why is its use not restricted for proven benefit in life-threatening conditions?
• Is U.S. heathcare policy to promote increased sales for Eli Lilly's
diabetes treatment products?
troubling connections to both the H W G Bush, Dubya Bush as well as the Reagan Administrations and has, in prior lawsuits exhibited a "...history of reckless disregard." In a lawsuit pursued in the 1980s "...victims’ attorneys wanted the jury to hear about Lilly’s anti- inflamatory drug Oraflex, introduced in 1982 but taken off the market three months later. A U.S. Justice Department investigation linked Oraflex to the deaths of more than 100 patients and concluded that Lilly had misled the FDA. Lilly was charged with 25 counts related to mislabeling side effects and pled guilty—but in 1985, the Reagan-Bush Justice Department saw fit to fine them a mere $25,000". Read that whole story at Z-Mag. Individuals who believe they were damaged by the effects of taking this widely promoted antipsychotic drug can find out more from Alexander, Hawes & Audet, LLP, one of the firms who filed the case.
To find out more about unethical human research conducted on unsuspecting citizens by other big pharma drug pushers, check out the website of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, a national network of lay people and professionals dedicated to advancing responsible and ethical medical research practices, to ensure that the human rights, dignity and welfare of human subjects are protected, and to minimize the risks associated with such endeavors.
THANKS TO: Tom Beherendt, one of the Board members of NARPA [the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy] a human rights organization comprised of "...people who've survived psychiatric intervention, advocates, civil rights activists, mental health workers, and lawyers. NARPA exists to expose abuse, to shed light on coercive and dangerous practices, and to promote real alternatives to a mental health system that even professionals find disgraceful." |
Labels: big pharma, lawsuits, zyprexa
¶ 08:54 1 comments
2006-04-15
rainbow's promise | mental health
We had a rainbow show up over the max-security building at work the other day, and perhaps this bodes well, for things have not been good of late.
It's no secret that the Department of Justice is coming to do a site visit where I work. The reasons for this are varied, but doubtless include the death of James Bell, in 2002, when, in front of nearly 30 staff, died of a heart attack yet, according to investigative reports, no one did anything except put him in restraints.
Among the residents where I work [you might call them "patients"], there is a sense that little has changed since that event, though much has.
The place still has a long way to go and even though, according to the the National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI] the state of Connecticut ranks a "B" [tied with Ohio for the quality of care provided to people], there is far to go before care providers can rest on their laurels.
Many staff still fail to grasp the importance of respecting another person's personal space [let alone their rights]. Grievances I receive all too frequently have
birth in someone's utter lack of consideration about others. This kind of obdurate behavior muddies what might be a person's really critical issues. The nurse who rudely dismisses a man complaining of severe lower back pain, might be ignoring a developing tumor [that actually happened ~ the man is now paralyzed from the waist down].
Then there's the preoccupation, even sloven fealty to Big Pharma; as if taking a mouthful of meds actually solves problems like some magic bullet. Let me clue you in here ~ in and of themselves, psychotropic meds are not cure-alls. Many have severe and crippling side-effects that could last for life and the taker of meds has to "choose" between living with extreme discomfort, diabetes, kidney failure, even the possibility of premature death. All this in exchange for numbing the intensity of one's psychiatric symptoms. Yet, so frequently, nursing staff's first response to expression of crisis is "So do you want a PRN?" Make's you wonder what ever happened to sitting down and actually listening to someone to hear their personal tales of woe before being inappropriately prescriptive.
Clinical professionals, as well as lay-people fail to grasp the basic reality that many individuals with perceptual and cognitive conditions that become disabling, severe and long-lasting, can and do recover from their inability to deal with those conditions. For some, "recovery" means the conditions go away completely, for others, they learn to adapt and function with the conditions, however difficult that me be for not only themselves, but for others with whom they live.
But that recovery rarely occurs in a vacuum. Those around those with the difficulties and travails that society has dubbed to be "mental illnesses" have to be available to provide, care, compassion, support, uncondtional love, understanding and forebearance. Not someting easily done, perhaps, but without it the rainbow's promise is all the more difficult to find.
RESOURCES: Advocacy Unlimited; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Dr. Peter Breggin; Centre for Evidence Based Mental Health; Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery; MindFreedom; National Alliance on Mental Illness; National Institute of Mental Health; Mental Health Matters | Cross posted at Rondacker's LiveJournal Diary
It's no secret that the Department of Justice is coming to do a site visit where I work. The reasons for this are varied, but doubtless include the death of James Bell, in 2002, when, in front of nearly 30 staff, died of a heart attack yet, according to investigative reports, no one did anything except put him in restraints.
Among the residents where I work [you might call them "patients"], there is a sense that little has changed since that event, though much has.
The place still has a long way to go and even though, according to the the National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI] the state of Connecticut ranks a "B" [tied with Ohio for the quality of care provided to people], there is far to go before care providers can rest on their laurels.
Many staff still fail to grasp the importance of respecting another person's personal space [let alone their rights]. Grievances I receive all too frequently have
birth in someone's utter lack of consideration about others. This kind of obdurate behavior muddies what might be a person's really critical issues. The nurse who rudely dismisses a man complaining of severe lower back pain, might be ignoring a developing tumor [that actually happened ~ the man is now paralyzed from the waist down]. Then there's the preoccupation, even sloven fealty to Big Pharma; as if taking a mouthful of meds actually solves problems like some magic bullet. Let me clue you in here ~ in and of themselves, psychotropic meds are not cure-alls. Many have severe and crippling side-effects that could last for life and the taker of meds has to "choose" between living with extreme discomfort, diabetes, kidney failure, even the possibility of premature death. All this in exchange for numbing the intensity of one's psychiatric symptoms. Yet, so frequently, nursing staff's first response to expression of crisis is "So do you want a PRN?" Make's you wonder what ever happened to sitting down and actually listening to someone to hear their personal tales of woe before being inappropriately prescriptive.Clinical professionals, as well as lay-people fail to grasp the basic reality that many individuals with perceptual and cognitive conditions that become disabling, severe and long-lasting, can and do recover from their inability to deal with those conditions. For some, "recovery" means the conditions go away completely, for others, they learn to adapt and function with the conditions, however difficult that me be for not only themselves, but for others with whom they live.
But that recovery rarely occurs in a vacuum. Those around those with the difficulties and travails that society has dubbed to be "mental illnesses" have to be available to provide, care, compassion, support, uncondtional love, understanding and forebearance. Not someting easily done, perhaps, but without it the rainbow's promise is all the more difficult to find.
RESOURCES: Advocacy Unlimited; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Dr. Peter Breggin; Centre for Evidence Based Mental Health; Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery; MindFreedom; National Alliance on Mental Illness; National Institute of Mental Health; Mental Health Matters | Cross posted at Rondacker's LiveJournal Diary
Labels: big pharma, drug wars, mentally ill, obituaries, prisons, Recovery
¶ 13:17 0 comments
