Early Deaths, Health Damage, Psychosis and Suicides: Psychiatry’s Gifts to Man

ANTIPSYCHOTICS

FDA WARNING: NEWER ANTIPSYCHOTICS KILL THE ELDERLY 60-70 PERCENT FASTER THAN PLACEBO

“Older patients with dementia who are given antipsychotic medicines are far more likely to die prematurely than those given dummy pills, federal drug regulators said Monday.”

“Zyprexa and Symbyax from Eli Lilly, Risperdal from Johnson & Johnson, Seroquel from AstraZeneca, Abilify from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Clozaril from Novartis and Geodon from Pfizer are all affected by this warning.”

“The Food and Drug Administration said that it had analyzed the results of 17 placebo-controlled trials involving the drugs, which are known as atypical antipsychotics. The agency found that elderly patients with demetia who were given the pills were 1.6 to 1.7 times as likely to die as those given placebos.”

(Quotes taken from article by Gardiner Harris, “Popular Drugs for Dementia Tied to Deaths,” New York Times, April 12, 2005.)

HOSPITAL WARNS THAT OLDER ANTIPSYCHOTICS KILL THE ELDERLY EVEN FASTER

“Complicating this widespread use, in April 2005, the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory warning that newer or ‘atypical’ antipsychotic medications nearly doubled the risk of death among elderly patients.”

“The researchers identified those given conventional antipsychotics (such as Haldol or Thorazine) and atypical drugs (such as Risperdal and Zyprexa).”

“In this important study, BWH [Brigham and Women's Hospital] researchers found that patients prescribed conventional antipsychotic drugs had a 37 percent higher risk of death in the short term than among those to whom atypical medications were prescribed.”

“In the first 180 days of use, 17.9 percent of patients on conventional antipsychotic medications died as compared with 14.6 percent of those taking atypical agents. The greatest increase in risk of death among conventional versus atypical drug users occurred with higher doses and during the first 40 days after starting threrapy.”

(Quotes taken from Brigham and Women’s Hospital press release in 2005, “First Generation and Newer Classes of Antipsychotic Medications May Increase Risk of Death Among Elderly FDA black box warnings should also include first -generation medications” )
STUDY IN EIGHT STATES SHOWS MENTAL PATIENTS DIE, ON AVERAGE, 25 YEARS YOUNGER THAN THE GENERAL POPULATION; ANTIPSYCHOTICS INDICATED AS A MAJOR REASON WHY

“People with serious mental illness served by our public mental health system die, on average, 25 years earlier than the general population.”

“However, with time and experience the second generation antipsychotic medications have become more highly associated with weight gain, diabetes, dyslipidemia, insulin resistence and metabolic syndrome.”

“Psychotropic medications may mask symptoms of medical illness and contribute to symptoms of medical illness and cause metabolic syndrome.”

“Polypharmacy

- Identified as risk factor for sudden death”

(Quotes taken from study by Joe Parks, MD; Dale Svendsen, MD; Paticia Singer, MD; Mary Ellen Foti, MD for the National Association of Mental Health Program Directors/Medical Directors Council, “Morbidity and Mortality in People with Serious Mental Illness,” 2006)

THE MORE ANTIPSYCHOTICS PATIENTS TAKE, THE FASTER THEY DIE

“The number of neuroleptic drugs prescribed at the time of the baseline survey was related to the subsequent mortality. Of people with schizophrenia taking one, two and three or more neuroleptic drugs, 11 (35%), 15 (44%), and 8 (57%) respectively died during follow-up, whereas the corresponding rate was 5 (20%) among those without neuroleptic medication.”

“The present study demonstrated a graded relationship between the number of neuroleptic drugs prescribed and mortality of those with schizophrenia. This relationship and the excess mortality among people with schizophrenia could not be explained by coexistent somatic diseases or other known risk factors for premature death.”

(Quotes taken from study by Matti Joukamaa et al., “Schizophrenia, neuroleptic medication and mortality,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 188 (2006): 122-127.)

ANTIPSCHOTICS NO BETTER THAN PLACEBO AT CURBING AGGRESSION

“The drugs most widely used to manage aggressive outbursts in intellectually disabled people are no more effective than placebos for most patients and may be less so, researchers report.”

“The finding, being published Friday, sharply challenges standard medical practice in mental health clinics and nursing homes in the United States and around the world.”

“The new study tracked 86 adults with low IQ’s in community housing in England, Wales and Australia over more than a month of treatment. It found a 79 percent reduction in aggressive behavior among those taking dummy pills, compared with a reduction of 65 percent or less in those taking antipschotic drugs.”

“The researchers focused on two drugs, Risperdal by Janssen, and an older drug, Haldol, but said the findings almost certainly applied to all similar medications. Such drugs account for more than $10 billion in annual sales, and research suggests that at least half of all prescriptions are for unapproved “off label” uses – often to treat aggression or irritation.”

(Quotes taken from article by Benedict Carey, “Drugs Offer No Benefit in Curbing Aggression, Study Finds,” New York Times, January 4, 2008.)

ANTIPSYCHOTICS SPEED DECLINE IN MENTAL ABILITIES OF ELDERLY

“Antipsychotic drugs frequently used in nursing homes to treat aggression in Alzheimer’s patients don’t provide benefit and seem to lead to marked decline in ability, a report says.”

“The study, published in the April issue of the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, adds to a long line of evidence suggesting such drugs aren’t safe in elderly patients and don’t work very well when used off-label.”

“Often an underlying medical problem, such as an untreated urinary tract infection, causes an Alzheimer’s patient to behave aggressively, Jacoby says.”

“Jacoby and his colleagues studied 165 people with severe Alzheimer’s living in nursing homes in four cities in Great Britain, where the drugs also are heavily used. The patients had been taking an anti-psychotic drug such as thioridazine, chlorpromazine, haloperidol, trifluoperazin or risperidone for at least three months. The researchers took half the patients off the medication and gave them placebo pills. The other half kept taking the medication.”

“After six months, the researchers found that patients who kept taking the anti-psychotic drugs showed a significant deterioration in their ability to speak fluently. Alzheimer’s ultimately destroys the brain’s language centers, but the study suggests the drugs might speed up that process and leave patients increasingly isolated, Nixon says.”

(Quotes taken from article by Kathleen Fackelmann, “Anti-psychotics may speed Alzheimer’s decline,” USA TODAY, April 7, 2008)

MENTAL PATIENTS NOT TAKING ANTIPSYCHOTICS RECOVER BETTER

“Krishna Devi, a woman he had treated years ago for schizophrenia, sat in a courtyard surrounded by religious pictures, exposed brick walls and drying laundry. Devi had stopped taking medication years ago, but her articulate speech and easy smile were eloquent testimony that she had recovered from the debilitating disease.”

“Few schizophrenia patients in the United States are so lucky, even after years of treatment. But Devi had hidden assets: a doting family and an embracing village that never excluded her from socal events, family obligations and work.”

“Devi is a living reminder of a remarkable three-decade-long study by the World Health Organization — one that many Western doctors initially refused to believe: People with schizophrenia, a deadly illness characterized by hallucinations, disorganized thinking and social withdrawal, typically do far better in poorer nations such as India, Nigeria and Colombia than in Denmark, England and the United States.”

“The astounding result calls into question one of the central tenets of modern psychiatry: that a ‘brain disease’ such as schizophrenia is best treated by hospitals, drugs and biomedical interventions”

(Quotes taken from article by Shankar Vedantam, “Social Network’s Healing Power is Borne Out in Poorer Nations,” Washington Post, June 27, 2005)

ANOTHER STUDY SHOWING MENTAL PATIENTS NOT TAKING ANTIPYCHOTICS RECOVER BETTER
“People diagnosed with schizophrenia who are not on antipsychotics are more likely to experience recovery than those taking medication, according to an American study.”

“Over 15 years, schizophrenia patients not on antipsychotics showed more periods of recovery than those taking antipsychotics, states a research paper in last month’s Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.“

“Researchers reported that, after 10 years, 79% of patients on antipsychotics were psychotic, whereas 23% of those not on medication were psychotic. After 15 years, 65 per cent of patients on antipsychotics were psychotic, whereas only 28% of those not on medication were psychotic.”

(Quotes taken from article by Angela Hussain, “People with schizophrenia not taking antipsychotics more likely to recover, states research,” psychminded.co.uk, June 13, 2007)

ANTIDEPRESSANTS

AN EARLY MASS KILLING RELATED TO THE NEW ANTIDEPRESSANTS

“On September 14, 1989, Joseph T. Westbecker, a forty-seven-year-old pressman returned to Standard Gravure, his former place of work in Louisville, Kentucky, and shot 20 of his co-workers, killing eight and injuring twelve, before committing suicide in front of the pressroom supervisor’s office.

“It was discovered soon afterward that Westbecker had been taking a course of the antidepressant Prozac. Thus, Eli Lilly of Indianapolis, the manufacturer and distributor of the drug, became a prime target in a subsequent liability suit brought by the survivors and trelatiives of the dead.”

(John Cornwell, The Power to Harm, Penguin Books, 1996, Preface)

MAKING THE PROZAC STUDIES ACCEPTABLE TO THE FDA BY RE-WORDING

“One item involved a November 1990 report by the German affiliate chief, Claude Bouchy, expressing his ‘great concerns’ in response to the request of Lilly executives that the phrase ‘suicidal ideation’ be changed to ‘depression’ in data on suicidality: ‘I do not think I could explain to the BGA [the German government's drug-regulatory body], to a judge, to a reporter, or even to my family why we would do this,’ the document read, ‘especially on the issue of – sensitive issue of suicide and suicidal ideation, at least not with the explanations that have been given our staff so far.’”

“Eventually Zettler asked, ‘Do you have any criticisms about the way the data from overseas was gathered and reported?

“‘Yes,’ she responded with gusto. ‘At one point in 1984, Eli Lilly received word from the German authorities that they were not going to approve this drug because of their concern with the suicidality and agitation. They said that people became agitated before the antidepressant effects came on, and that increased the risk of suicide. They wrote a memo concerning untoward, damaging effects and Lilly then went over there and looked at the data again and pulled out cases that they didn’t think were suicide.

“Lord let this sink in for a moment. ‘First of all,’ she continued, ‘how are they to know? The investigator thought it was a suicide attempt. They said , well they don’t think it is….’ The British and the Danish, she added were similarly concerned about safety, but Lilly reacted in a like manner.”

(Quotes taken from book by John Cornwell, The Power to Harm, Penguin Books, 1996)

THE USE OF OTHER DRUGS TO MASK SIDE EFFECTS IN PROZAC DRUG TRIALS

“After the court reconvened, Zettler again asked about the effect of concomitant medications in Prozacs clinical trials. Various witnesses had tackled this question before, but Lord’s approach, loaded with qualifying detail, was devastating.

“‘To simply sedate them, make those things [adverse events] less of a problem and then not report them, was in my opinion improper,’ she said to a hushed court. She was not referring, she added, to aspirin or antibiotics. ‘Those sorts of things are expected. But in this case, they regularly, systematically, and in a large portion of the people used tranquilizers, sedatives, to calm people down. It happened in very high percentages of people in the study, and it completely obscured what this product was doing to people’s minds.’”

(Quotes taken from book by John Cornwell, The Power to Harm, Penguin Books, 1996)

DURING THE TRIAL REGARDING ELI LILLY’S CULPABILITY FOR WESTBECKER’S MASS SHOOTING WHILE TAKING PROZAC, LILLY’S LAWYERS SECRETLY SETTLED WITH ALL THE PLAINTIFF’S UNDER THE CONDITION THAT THEY CONTINUE THE TRIAL, THEIR LAWYERS NOT BRING UP CERTAIN DAMNING INFORMATION BEFORE THE JURY AND THAT THE JURY, JUDGE AND PUBLIC NOT BE TOLD OF THE SETTLEMENT. AFTER LILLY APPEARED TO WIN THE JURY’S VERDICT THEY PUBLICIZED THEIR WIN AND PROZAC’S EXONERATION IN THE MEDIA AND TO DOCTORS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. HOWEVER, THE RUMORS THAT LILLY HAD SETTLED THE CASE WERE EVENTUALLY CONFIRMED.

“Attempts to deny the existence of a financial settlement were finally swept away in July, when it was revealed that plaintiff Andrew Pointer, shot [by Joseph Westbecker on Prozac] in the tunnel between Standard Gravure and the Currier-Journal building, had been obliged to divulge his earnings in a divorce settlement. Without revealing the actual figure, his lawyer declared publically that he was receiving a huge payment from Lilly, in three parts.

(Quotes taken from book by John Cornwell, The Power to Harm, Penguin Books, 1996)

A STUDY IS PUBLISHED IN THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY IN 1990 SHOWING THAT PROZAC (FLUOXETINE) COULD CAUSE “INTENSE, VIOLENT SUICIDAL PREOCCUPATION”

“Six depressed patients free of recent serious suicidal ideation developed intense, violent suicidal preoccupation after 2-7 weeks of fluoxetine treatment. The state persisted for as little as 3 days to as long as 3 months after discontinuation of fluoxetine. None of these patients had ever experienced a similar state during treatment with any other psychotropic drug.”

Martin H. Teicher, M.D. PhD. et al., ‘Emergence of Intense Suicidal Preoccupation During Fluoxetine Treatment,” The American Journal of Psychiatry, 1990; 147: 207-210)

Double Suicidal Thinking & Action – FDA Warning- Boston Globe

Drastically Increase Suicidal Thinking and Action, like Paxil

Associated with Many Mass Murders

Associated with many Gruesome Family Murders

Damage to Fetuses & Newborns

Work hardly better than placebo and many studies by others than drug companies show they work less better

Fraudulent Marketing

Stimlulants

Common Side Effects

FDA Warnings on Heart Problems

Stunted Body Growth

Stunted Body Growth – Australian Study

Stunted Body Growth – American Academ of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Study

Ritalin Stronger than Cocaine – Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Study

Lack of Effectiveness in Academic Performance – past studies

Lack of Effectiveness in Academic Performance

Psychosis – FDA Warnings

Hallucinations

Brain Shrinkage & Deterioration
(Long-term use od ADHD patients

Reduced Blood Flow to Brain

Street Drug Use as Amphetamine

Antianxiety Drugs

Addiction

Violence

Fraudulent Drug Approval & Marketing Process

FDA does not study drugs

Side effects hidden from FDA & public by drug companies

Psychiatric Drugs & Violence

Lawsuits

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