Sunday, April 27, 2008

Shooting - Prozac Induced?

Decide for yourself, check out this article with the following in mind - Prozac is an SSRI with side effects of suicidal thoughts and violent behavior. SSRI withdrawl symptoms include the above two side effects as well.

Why do we have people on such destructive drugs? Aren't mental health experts supposed to be protecting society against those who would be dangerous to themselves and others - not causing depressed people to become dangerous to themselves or others via drugs?

What do you think?

Friday, April 18, 2008

Side Effect Info on Bupropion Hydrochloride

While the FDA is out there approving new drugs and saying they are safe as shown in this article, side effects of many anti-depressant drug including ones made from bupropion hydrochloride, such as Wellbutrin XL and the new generic produced by Impax Laboratories Inc list suicide as a side effect. So, be careful to read the side effects of all prescribed drugs.

As a side note, the FDA has begun to check for suicidal ideation more and more in prescription drugs, so make sure you check those pages of fine print before popping any pills. This goes for non-psychiatric drugs too.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Statistics for Child Drugging

This article from the Guardian indicates various shocking statistics from the first comprehensive study on child drugging. Ian Wong conducted the study in the UK and the following are some of the published results:

"His analysis, to be published next month in the US journal Pediatrics, shows that between 1992 and 2005, 3,000 UK children were given anti-psychotics.

"Twice as many prescriptions were given to children for the drugs in 2005 as in
1992, with the biggest increase in the seven to 12 age group, where the number of anti-psychotics prescribed trebled. The largest category of use by far is in cases of behavioural disorders and personality disorders, including bipolar disorder (manic depression), autism and hyperactivity."

Back at the ranch (read - in America) there are some shocking statistics of kids being prescribed drugs they aren't supposed to be using. The winner in the USA is... drum roll please... anti-psychotics!

Why are psychiatrists improperly prescribing drugs to their patients? Let me know what you think.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Speaking up about Seroxat

Pharmalot has a fascinating post regarding a blogger who spoke up about Seroxat (also known as Paxil to us Yankees) and the company that makes Seroxat/Paxil (GlaxoSmithKline) and the company's head of psychiatry. Glaxo only paid attention to him once it seemed he might be defaming the head of psychiatry. The blogger did compare the head of psychiatry to Hitler (perhaps not the wisest move in the world) and accused him of covering up the issues that Paxil has had - like the side effects of suicidality, death, etc. The lawyers for GlaxoSmithKline sent the blogger this letter, and he did take down the video and the defaming statements. However, the video that caused all this controversy has spread around the Internet and can be viewed here: