NAMI Lies: A brief analysis of NAMI sponsored misinformation about “schizophrenia”

http://recoveryfromschizophrenia.org/2011/12/nami-lies-a-brief-analysis-of-nami-sponsored-misinformation-about-“schizophrenia”/

NAMI Lies: A brief analysis of NAMI sponsored misinformation about “schizophrenia”
Author: Ron Unger


At least as of today, if a person Googles “schizophrenia recovery” the first link that is not an advertisement is to a document titled “Understanding Schizophrenia and Recovery” authored by NAMI. (I would link to it for your convenience, but I hesitate to do anything that would further increase the Google rankings of a site that claims to be increasing “understanding” yet seems more dedicated to deliberately distorting the facts.)

I’ll start with a disclaimer. While I am seriously challenging the national organization of NAMI that is responsible for the document under discussion, I am not expressing an opinion about any local NAMI chapter. Local NAMI chapters have some degree of independence from NAMI national, and some of them are fairly progressive. But hopefully NAMI chapters that wouldn’t spread misinformation will do more to challenge the national organization that seems only too willing to lie to the public.

NAMI’s propaganda efforts start within the title of the document, which is: “Schizophrenia and Recovery; What you need to know about this medical illness.” NAMI is implying that it is a fact that “schizophrenia” is a “medical illness” and wants us to think that it is not in any way an understandable reaction to life events; but there are actually large numbers of both research studies and individual stories that point to the opposite conclusion.

The next sentence spreads more confusion, with its claim that “Schizophrenia interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others.” NAMI wants us to ignore the possibility that the person diagnosed with “schizophrenia” may be having problems with thinking, emotions, decisions and relationships because of what happened to them and how they were treated, and wants us to think that some theoretical “illness” called “schizophrenia” did it instead.

It is worth reflection on the likely consequences of telling someone that their experience and behavior is definitely being caused by a “medical illness,” and not by what has happened to them and how they chose to react to it. A very probable effect of this sort of “explanation” is the creation of confusion within the person that in itself is likely to interfere with that person’s ability to handle thinking, emotions, decisions and relationships. Of course, if the NAMI explanation creates more difficulties for the person, those difficulties will also be attributed by NAMI to the “illness” and not to the misinformation.

On page 2, it is stated that “Research has linked schizophrenia to changes in brain chemistry and structure….” Reading this, one might assume that changes in brain chemistry and structure have been found to go along with “schizophrenia” in the same way that having high blood sugar goes along with diabetes, a condition NAMI suggests in the next sentence is “like” schizophrenia. But this simply isn’t true. Instead, researchers have only found that the people diagnosed with schizophrenia are LIKELY to have brain differences compared to the AVERAGE person who doesn’t have the diagnosis: many people diagnosed with schizophrenia don’t have the differences, and some people not diagnosed do have the differences. And it isn’t clear where all the differences come from: someare likely caused by the drugs, others by being inactive, and most all of the differences have also been found in people who suffered abuse in childhood.

This last issue, abuse in childhood, is something NAMI clearly doesn’t want anyone to associate with “schizophrenia.” NAMI states definitively in the next paragraph that “Schizophrenia is not caused by bad parenting….” NAMI makes this statement despite what is now a very large amount of research that shows that abuse in childhood dramatically raises the odds of getting a diagnosis of schizophrenia in adulthood. This applies to all types of abuse: neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse. More severe levels of abuse have been associated with more severe levels of later psychosis in all the studies that looked for such a “dosage relationship.”

NAMI’s denial of the possible link between bad parenting, or abuse, and later “schizophrenia” amounts to collaboration with abusers in denying the effects of abuse even for people who have been severely mistreated. “You are just “schizophrenic,” you can’t blame your problems on anything that happened to you!” Such denial is itself “crazy-making” and results in further emotional abandonment of already abused people; but of course if any “symptoms” result from the “schizophrenic” person encountering such lies, it will just be blamed on “the illness.”

In making the above statements, I am definitely not saying that all people diagnosed with “schizophrenia” had abusive childhoods or that it is definitely true that any NAMI parents are abusers. There was a period of time when many clinicians would automatically blame parents when a child appeared to have “schizophrenia” but such approaches were seriously over-simplified. More complex perspectives acknowledge that children may experience abuse and trauma growing up even when parents are doing their best to keep them safe, and in other cases, children may have a non-traumatic childhood but experience problems that lead to the difficulties labeled “schizophrenia” later in life. So NAMI would have my full support if their point was that we should not assume that bad parenting caused any particular case of “schizophrenia,” but when they claim that bad parenting is definitely never a cause, they appear to have deliberately lost touch with reality. (The information on the connection between having an abuse history and a later diagnosis of “schizophrenia” is now widely enough know that I believe there is no way NAMI leadership could be unaware of it, which is why I am suggesting that NAMI is “lying” and not just misinformed or misunderstanding.)

NAMI goes on to declare in the next paragraph that “schizophrenia” is completely unrelated to “dissociative identity disorder’ (a disorder common among those severely traumatized as children.) While NAMI is only repeating here what many so-called “experts” have to say, the truth seems to be that the same sorts of problems exist for people with both diagnoses, and the “voices” that often plague those diagnosed with “schizophrenia” are not fundamentally different from the “dissociated identity states” that plague those diagnosed with “dissociative identity disorder.”

Toward the bottom of page 2, NAMI states that “Medications are crucial to symptom control….” The fact is that only some people find medications crucial to symptom control. Many people find ways to completely recover and definitely do not need medications. Others don’t recover but also find that the medications don’t make things better and may make things worse. Of course, some people do find the medications helpful, but even in those cases it is often unclear if they are truly necessary; it may just be that the right alternatives have not been offered to some of these people.

I won’t even bother trying to sort out the distortions in the rest of the document. It isn’t all misinformation: NAMI mixes in some facts and some helpful details. But the existence of so many false claims in just the beginning of a document indicates that NAMI is more committed to spreading propaganda than it is to the truth.

I hope that if enough of us comment on these sorts of lies, we can embarrass NAMI into cleaning up its act. And by confronting NAMI, we can also make some headway in getting more accurate information out to those who need it, accurate information that is seriously overdue for most of those in our mental health system.
&&&&&&

Link to article on 29 Medical Causes of Schizophrenia

D.J. Jaffe

http://youtu.be/-CwM4wMOBiw


How to prepare for an emergency
by
D.J. Jaffe
Sometime, during the course of your loved one’s illness, you may need the police. By preparing now, before you need help, you can make the day you need help go much more smoothly. There are three things to do.
First, you should establish contact with your local precinct, before you need help. (That’s right. Violate your loved one’s privacy and get them flagged by the local cops. This way, they will know to show up with one hand on their balls and the other hand on their tasers.)
Secondly, you should have the attached info sheet filled out in duplicate, ready at all times.
Thirdly, you should read the article at the end of this page on how to make 911 respond to your calls. (The part where we explain how to make a false report and support it with “evidence” such as furniture we turn over ourselves to make it look like our loved one is violent.)
1. ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH PRECINCT
Someday your loved one may be missing from home or hospital. Normally, the police will not fill out a missing persons report & start looking for them until they are gone 24 hours. But by making arrangements beforehand, you can insure that if this happens to you, they will start looking immediately. Or, let’s say your relative is becoming increasingly agitated & uncontrollable & you have to call the police to take them to a hospital. It is very likely that the police will go to the hospital of their choice, not yours. But by making arrangements beforehand, you can have a say in where that person is taken. In addition, if your relative is picked up for some crime (drugs, let’s say); by making prior arrangements, you can help see that they go to a hospital instead of jail. Finally, it may make it easier for you to get someone involuntarily committed, if & when you have to do that.
The way to make these arrangements is to call the “Community Patrol Officer Program” (C-POP Officer) at your local police precinct, now, before you need help. If you do not have a C-POP program (i.e, outside NYC), call the station commander.
Tell them that you have a MI relative at home & that you want to make the police aware of it, in case you ever need help. Tell them you are worried that if they are ever missing the police won’t start looking until after 24 hours; or that if you need police to take your relative to a hospital, they won’t go to the one you want; or that if your relative is busted, they will go to jail, instead of to a hospital. Tell the C-POP (pronounced, “see-pop”) officer, that it was suggested that individuals with MI relatives contact the C-POP officers, before help is needed to make them aware of the situation, & that is why you are calling. The officer may think this is unusual, but you should do it anyway. FOLLOW THE CONVERSATION UP, WITH A LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE C-POP OFFICER & SEND A COPY TO THE PRECINCT COMMANDER.
If you ever do need help, call 911 if it’s an emergency. If not, call your local precinct. When the police come, mention the C-POP Officer & Precinct Commander by name. The police who come to your door do not know what to expect. By mentioning these names, you help calm them & help identify that it is not you who needs help, it is your relative. They will also be more likely to listen to you, & may even get the Commander on the phone or walkie talkie. Because you have prepared ahead of time, they are more likely to take the person where you want them to be taken, & to listen to you carefully. Be calm. (and bring donuts)
2. PREPARE INFORMATION & HAVE IT READY
If your relative needs emergency hospitalization, it will be extremely stressful to everyone. It is made more difficult by the myriad of questions that need to be answered. By having the answers to these questions written and ready, you can insure that the emergency hospitalization will not only be less stressful, but that your relative is more likely to get proper care. For instance, identify his doctor, & what medicines he is currently on, so those medicines can be continued, increased, or removed as appropriate. Indicate what hospital you use. Below is a form you should fill out. After filling it out, make two copies & keep one on hand (in your wallet) all the time. One for you, one for the police, one for the hospital.
FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING FORM AND KEEP DUPLICATES HANDY
CRISIS INFORMATION PAGE (FOR POLICE/HOSPITAL/EMS)
Please take this person to _____________________hospital.
This person is not a criminal. He/she has a mental illness. Please treat with compassion and dignity. Thank you. (That part is to assuage your conscience, so you can sleep without concern that your loved one has been arrested, hand-cuffed, four-point-restrained, or coerced under threat of physical force to remove them from their home to a locked facility where they will be drugged and, perhaps, restrained to a bed, placed in an empty room with a mattress on the floor, or even electroshocked against their will with your consent. Better yet, just invent your own definition of compassion and dignity to include these degrading human rights violations.)
Name__________________________________Age_________
Address____________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Telephone_______________________Birthday____________
Social Security #______________Blue Cross #_____________
Blue Shield #_____________Other Med Ins #_____________
Is on SSI?_________Is on SSDI?________Other?__________
Eye Color______Hair Color_________Skin______________
Blood Type_________Eyeglasses?_______
Height_______________Weight__________________
Tatoos? Other Identifying Marks_______________________
Military/VA Status?__________________________________
Current Primary Diagnosis____________________________
Secondary Diagnosis__________________________________
Name of Commanding Officer where patient lives______________
Name of Community Officer where patient lives_________________________
Precinct Phone Number______________________________
Name of Doctor______________________________________
Doctor’s Phone Number_______________________________
Name of Hospital____________________________________
Current Medicines and Dosages________________________
___________________________________________________
Suicidal?_____________Violent?________________________
Date of Last Hospitalization_________How Long?________
Date of Last Crisis____________________________________
Allergies?________________Hi Blood Pressure?__________
Name of outpatient program___________________________
Number of outpatient program________________________
Name of Case/Social Worker__________________________
Number of Case/Social Worker________________________
In Emergency Contact________________________________
Relationship to Patient________________________________
Address_____________________________________________
Day Phone__________________Eve. Phone____________
How to make 911 respond to your calls
(This article was based on information provided by Dr. Darwin Buschman, Chief Psychiatrist, Manhattan Mobile Crisis Intervention Services.)
Individuals with neurobiological disorders (“NBD” formerly known as serious mental illnesses) are occassionaly danger to themselves, suicidal and/or danger to others. When this happens, you may want to call 911.
It is often difficult to get 911 to respond to your calls if you need someone to come & take your MI relation to a hospital emergency room (ER). They may not believe that you really need help. And if they do send the police, the police are often reluctant to take someone for involuntary commitment. That is because cops are concerned about liability. They don’t want to be sued for taking someone to the ER involuntarily. Another reason is that they must stay with the person until he or she is admitted. This can take between 2-48 hours. Cops don’t want to sit in ER; sergeants don’t want to take two police off the streets. Following is how you can make 911 & the police overcome their reluctance to help.
When calling 911, the best way to get quick action is to say, “Violent EDP.” Or “Suicidal EDP.” EDP stands for Emotionally Disturbed Person. This shows the operator that you know what you’re talking about. Describe the danger very specifically. “He’s a danger to himself” is not as good as “This morning my son said he was going to jump off the roof.” Be specific. “He’s a danger to others” is not as good as “My son has just struck a neighbor for no reason.” Also, give past history of violence. This is especially important if the person is not acting up. Again, be specific. “Every time my son gets psychotic, he has hurt himself. Last spring, he cut his wrists. I think he’s going to do it again.”
When the police come, they need compelling evidence that the person is a danger to self or others before they can involuntarily take him or her to ER for evaluation. If the person stops acting out by the time police arrive, this can be difficult. Again, give specific recent examples of danger.
Realize that you & the cops are at cross purposes.
You want them to take someone to the hospital. They don’t want to do it. You need to get on common ground with the cops to gain their cooperation. Say, “Officer, I understand your reluctance. Let me spell out for you the problems & the danger. I understand that if you take my son to the ER involuntarily, you’ll have to wait with him until the doctors make a decision on whether to admit. I also understand your concern about litigation if you take him involuntarily. Therefore, why don’t we work together so my son goes voluntarily.” Cops will often change their attitude dramatically if you say this. If a person goes voluntarily, the cops don’t have to stay in the ER. They don’t have to use handcuffs. If a person goes involuntarily, they go the same way, except in handcuffs. This can often be used to convince a person to go voluntarily. You can say, ” I know you don’t want to go, but I think you need to go.” The cops can say, “You’re going to go one way or another, cuffs or no cuffs.” Usually the person will go voluntarily when faced with this choice. (Threats work! We call this giving them a “choice”. You can get a woman to “voluntarily” have “sex” with you using the same methods. “Either you let me put my penis in your vagina, or I hold you down and shove it in. Either way, you’re going to get fucked.” See how effective that can be? If you have a gun or a taser like the cops will have when they come for your loved one, you can very quickly get the woman to “voluntarily” have “sex” with you.)
Once the person is taken to the ER, cops leave. So it’s a good idea to have a family member accompany the patient. Let the ER security guard, triage nurse, & others know that the person is MI & a danger to self or others. When you go to ER, make sure you have the “How to Prepare for Emergencies” form that is in this newsletter (Note: This is a form with the name, address, SS#, Med history, current med, diagnosis, name and number of doctor, name and number of next of kin, insurance, etc. In other words, all the info you would be asked in an emergency).
911 should be first resort in an immediate emergency, & the last resort when it’s not. If your family member needs help, not necessarily hospitalization, try Mobile Crisis Intervention Services.
The fact is that some families have learned to ‘turn over the furniture’ before calling the police. Many police require individuals with neurobiological disorders to be imminently dangerous before treating the person against their will. If the police see furniture disturbed they will usually conclude that the person is imminently dangerous.
Read How and why to change involuntary treatment laws in your state.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT WHICH MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION TO THOSE WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM IT.
NAMI/ NYC (formerly AMI/FAMI) does not endorse any medicines or treatments. This info is a public service as part of our efforts to educate and help others affected by these disorders. Do not rely on it. Consult your doctor before making any decisions. NAMI/NYC is a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of people with neurobiolgical disorders (“NBD”, formerly known as ‘mental’ illness) through education, advocacy, support, and research. If this has been useful to you, PLEASE JOIN US . Send a deductable contribution of $30 (or more) to NAMI/NYC, 432 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 to get on our mailing list or call (212) 684-3AMI. To join chapter outside NYS: 1 800 950 NAMI. This was downloaded from http://www.schizophrenia.com/ami

Introducing... The E. Fuller Torrey Brain Trust

Has Dr. Torrey actually accomplished anything with his decades of work on theories and hoard of brains?

http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2003/janfeb/features/torrey.html

Are some of the brains Torrey obtains and uses actually stolen?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Fuller_Torrey

                       http://www.cafepress.com/dd/28403286

                                              

State budget cuts decimate mental health services

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110309/ap_on_he_me/us_states_mental_health

By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press – 4 mins ago

DENVER – State budget writers looking for cash to balance the books have stripped a cumulative $1.8 billion from mental health services over the last 2 1/2 years, putting the public at risk as the mentally ill crowd emergency rooms and prisons, according to the nation's largest mental health advocacy group.

The Washington-based National Alliance on Mental Illness tallied state budget cuts to mental health services between 2008 and today and found that 32 states and Washington, D.C., cut funding just as economic stressors such as layoffs and home foreclosures boosted demand for services.

"These are really dangerous times," warned Michael Fitzpatrick, NAMI's executive director. The group reviewed state mental health budget cuts in the wake of the January shooting in Arizona, in which six people died and 13 were injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The man charged with shooting them, Jared Loughner, showed signs of mental illness but was never referred for treatment.

Indeed, the picture looks only grimmer in many states where legislatures still at work on next year's budgets are considering making things worse.....

"Any time you make cuts this massive in mental health cuts, the needs in prisons and hospitals and emergency rooms and homeless shelters start to pile up," Fitzpatrick said.

(snip) 

Tough times - for NAMI? Recently NAMI got 60% or so of its cash from Pharma - and a large percentage of the rest came from County, State, and Federal funding.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Alliance_on_Mental_Illness#Funding_and_US_Senate_Investigation_of_NAMI

http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/blogcategory/23/60/

A World Health Organization study indicated that those who were never medicated got better sooner than those who took meds.

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-global/sartorius-on-who

Antidepressants may cause many more problems than we ever imagined.

http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Depression.html

Isn't it time doctors started checking for the real physical causes of mental illness rather than handing out prescriptions for something the drug rep recommended when your 15 minutes is up? 

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/diamond.htm

For those who want to find out if they are on medications they actually need, and how to withdraw from meds they don't need to be on, check out the resources in our LINKS section - start at the top of the right hand column.

"It's the lives that count"

What's wrong with psychiatry? A psychiatrist explains.

NAMI's Road to Recovery and Cure

Roadmap to Recovery & Cure
"Report of the NAMI Policy Research Institute Task Force on Serious Mental Illness Research
The 40-page report is now available!

News release: NAMI Task Force Calls For Stronger, Smarter Investment In Federal Scientific Research on Serious Mental Illnesses
Roadmap to Recovery & Cure full report (PDF, 497kb)
Background information about the Task Force and a list of its members
Take Action Now for Improved Research Funding!

Use the links below to access sample letters and contact information for key policy makers:
Contact your Congressional Representatives
Contact President Bush
Contact Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH)
Contact Senators Harkin and Specter, who hold leadership positions on the Senate’s Labor, Health, and Human Services Subcommittee that oversee"

In this download there's nothing about diagnosis of the physical causes of mental illness. It's like an anecdotal drugs ad with footnotes.
PDF Link

The physical causes of mental illness are outlined here and include

*Finding the Medical Causes of "Dementia" in the Elderly: the Genesis Protocols Used by the Los Angeles County Genesis Program

*Finding the Medical Causes of Severe Mental Symptoms:
The Extraordinary Walker Exam by Dan Stradford Founder, Safe Harbor

*Medical Causes of Psychiatric Symptoms (Extensive)

*Medical Causes of Psychosis, Anxiety, and Depression
by Ronald J. Diamond, M.D., Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin

*The Medical Evaluation Field Manual of the State of California: Basic Screening Procedures for Finding Medical Causes of Severe Mental Symptoms

*The 29 Medical Causes of Schizophrenia

Only one road makes sense...

Wachovia Bank - Money Laundering, Plea Bargain

This is a bit off our usual path, but Wachovia handles NAMI's money. Links:
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Money Laundering, Plea Bargain

WACHOVIA ENTERS INTO DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENT
March 17, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bank Agrees to Pay $160 Million

Wachovia Bank, N.A. (“Wachovia”), one of the largest banks in the United States, has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice to resolve charges that it willfully failed to establish an anti-money laundering program. Today’s agreement is the result of an investigation into Wachovia’s transactions with Mexican currency exchange houses, commonly known as “casas de cambio” (“CDCs”), announced Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (“IRS-CID”), John C. Dugan, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and James H. Freis, Jr., Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The agreement also resolves Wachovia’s admitted failure to identify, detect, and report suspicious transactions in third-party payment processor accounts.

A criminal information, filed March 12, 2010 and unsealed today, charges Wachovia with willfully failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program from May 2003 through June 2008, in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”). According to the information and other documents filed with the court today, including a detailed Factual Statement and a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“the Agreement”), Wachovia failed to effectively monitor for potential money laundering activity more than $420 billion in financial transactions with the CDCs.

As part of the Agreement filed today, Wachovia has agreed to forfeit $110 million to the United States, which represents proceeds of illegal narcotics sales that were laundered through Wachovia. FinCEN also assessed a $110 million Civil Money Penalty that is deemed satisfied by the forfeiture to the U.S. government, for serious and systemic BSA violations. Moreover, pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and the OCC’s separate Cease and Desist and Civil Money Penalty Orders, Wachovia has agreed to pay an additional $50 million fine to the U.S. Treasury. The total sum of $160 million is due within five days from the date of the Agreement.

In light of Wachovia’s willingness to acknowledge responsibility for its actions and omissions, its cooperation and remedial actions to date, and its promised continued cooperation and remedial actions in the future, the government has agreed to defer prosecution of the criminal charge in the information for 12 months. If Wachovia fully complies with its obligations under the Agreement, the U.S. agrees to dismiss the criminal information at the end of the 12 months. Earlier today, the Agreement was accepted in federal court in Miami by U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard.

According to the documents filed with the court, Wachovia was aware, as early as 1996 and through 2004, of the high risk that drug money was being of laundered through the CDCs. Wachovia was also aware that other U.S. banks had stopped doing business with the CDCs because of these concerns. Wachovia, however, continued to expand its business with the CDCs. Indeed, from at least May 2004 through December 2007, Wachovia provided correspondent banking services to various Mexican CDCs, including wire transfer, bulk cash, and pouch and remote deposit capture services, among others.

According to the documents, Wachovia allowed CDCs to wire transfer funds through accounts at Wachovia to recipients throughout the world. Wachovia also offered a “bulk cash” service to CDCs, through which the CDCs collected large sums of dollars that would be physically transported to the United States for deposit. In addition, Wachovia offered a “pouch” deposit service and later, a “remote deposit capture” (“RDC”) service, which allowed the CDCs to deposit at Wachovia items drawn on U.S. banks, including checks and traveler's checks, presented by their Mexican customers. According to the documents filed today, Wachovia did not have an effective anti-money laundering policy or procedure to monitor these transactions to detect and report potential money laundering activity, as required by the BSA. As a result, from May 1, 2004 through May 31, 2007, at least $373 billion in wire transfers were made from the CDCs to Wachovia accounts; more than $4 billion in bulk cash was transported from the CDCs in Mexico to accounts at Wachovia; and approximately $47 billion was deposited at Wachovia accounts through the RDC service. These monies included millions of dollars that were subsequently used to purchase airplanes for narcotics trafficking operations. Ultimately, more than 20,000 kilograms of cocaine were seized from these airplanes.

According to court documents, Wachovia also maintained account relationships with certain third-party payment processors for the telemarketing industry from 2003 to 2008. These processors deposited more than $418 million using remotely-created checks into Wachovia accounts on behalf of the telemarketers. Remotely-created checks are created when the holder of a checking account authorizes a payee to draw a check on that account but does not actually sign the check. In place of the account-holder’s signature, the remotely-created check generally bears a statement that the customer authorized the check. These checks were often returned as “unauthorized” resulting in return rates that, in some cases, exceeded 40 percent of the deposited checks. Wachovia admitted that it failed to identify, detect, and report the suspicious transactions in the third-party payment processor accounts, as required by the BSA, due to deficiencies in its anti-money laundering program. Specifically, Wachovia failed to conduct appropriate customer due diligence by delegating most of this responsibility to business units instead of compliance personnel. Wachovia also failed to monitor high return rates for remotely-created checks and report suspicious wire transfer activity from the processors’ accounts.

U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman stated, “On the heels of the UBS international banking case, in which we held accountable the largest bank in Switzerland, today we announce the deferred prosecution of Wachovia, one of the largest banks in the United States. Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations by laundering at least $110 million in drug proceeds. Corporate citizens, no matter how big or powerful, must be held accountable for their actions. Today’s historic agreement makes it clear that such conduct will not be tolerated and imposes the largest penalty in any BSA case prosecuted to date.”

“As this case demonstrates, financial institutions - no matter how large - will be held accountable when they allow dirty money to pollute the U.S. banking system,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. “With billions of dollars flowing through our financial institutions each day, it is imperative that banks maintain robust anti-money laundering controls to identify possible illegal activity.”

“A narcotics investigation always involves two things: drugs and money,” said Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division. “DEA Agents and our law enforcement partners investigating a multi-national drug trafficking organization were able to seize drugs and identify the associated financial trail. Diligent investigative work exposed how this organization capitalized on weak anti-money laundering practices at Wachovia to further their drug trafficking abilities.”

Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-CID in Miami, stated, “The law requires all banks, including Wachovia, to notify the Department of Treasury when they detect suspicious activity. By failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program, Wachovia disregarded numerous financial transactions that should have raised "red flags" and caused their bank to act a as conduit to launder money.”

“The practices targeted by today’s enforcement actions reflect a totally unacceptable breakdown in the standards expected of banks’ anti-money laundering systems and compliance. Today’s actions by the OCC and other agencies demonstrate our firm commitment to the highest standards of compliance in this arena and the success of continued coordinated efforts by the Department of Justice, OCC, and FinCEN to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act,” said John C. Dugan, Comptroller of the Currency. “Financial institutions must maintain anti-money laundering compliance programs and policies that are adequate to identify, analyze and report suspicious activity and are commensurate with the risks being undertaken. With these actions, we are sending another strong message that we will not tolerate use of the U.S. financial system to launder illegal monies.”

“In the recent past, Wachovia was the fourth largest commercial bank in the United States, and held itself out as a global leader in correspondent banking,” said James H. Freis, Jr., FinCEN Director. “During FinCEN’s joint investigation with our law enforcement and regulatory agency partners, it became evident that, despite such a prominent role in the domestic and international banking sectors and accompanying resources, Wachovia did not institute systems, controls and other measures to manage risk commensurate with the scope and magnitude of its products, services and business lines, particularly foreign correspondent banking.”

Wachovia Bank will merge into Wells Fargo Bank later this month. The Agreement binds Wells Fargo, as Wachovia’s successor, to continue to implement remedial measures to fully bring Wachovia into BSA compliance.

The CDC-portion of this matter was investigated by the DEA’s Miami Field Division, IRS-CID’s Miami Office, FinCEN, and OCC. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea G. Hoffman and Jared E. Dwyer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The investigation of the third-party payment processors was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Constantine Lizas and Matthew Haslinger of the Criminal Division's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. This portion of the case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Philadelphia Field Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Philadelphia Division.

Attachments:
Information (PDF)
Agreement (PDF)
Statement (PDF)
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.

...
Senator Charles Grassley is investigating NAMI's funding ties,
three-quarters of which may come from Pharma.
...

Now we look at this NAMI PDF on donations in a different light...

U.S. Sen. Grassley: Grassley works for disclosure of drug company payments to medical groups

Three Cheers for Senator Grassley!

12/8/2009

Link

WASHINGTON --- Senator Grassley has asked 33 medical groups for information about the financial backing they get from the pharmaceutical, medical device and insurance industries.

“These organizations have a lot of influence over public policy, and people rely on their leadership. There’s a strong case for disclosure and the accountability that results,” Grassley said.

Grassley said his inquiry follows a review of industry support for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where he questioned the organization’s national office and state chapters. The Alliance subsequently adopted a new policy of publicly releasing industry support over $5,000. “It’d be good for the system if other organizations would follow NAMI’s lead in this area,” Grassley said.

For several years, Grassley has conducted extensive oversight and sought disclosure of financial ties with industry from research physicians, medical schools, medical journals, continuing medical education, and the patient advocacy community. He has worked to expose cases where there was vast disparity between drug-company payments received and reported by leading medical researchers. In response to Grassley’s work, the National Institutes of Health is working on new disclosure guidelines for federal grant recipients.

Grassley is also working for congressional passage of reform legislation he has sponsored with Senator Herb Kohl. Their bipartisan Physician Payments Sunshine Act would require annual public reporting by drug, device and biologic manufacturers of payments made to physicians nationwide.

“I’m interested in transparency,” Grassley said. “Letting the sun shine in and making information public is basic to building people’s confidence in medical research, education and the practice of medicine,” Grassley said.

This week, t he senator’s letters of inquiry were sent to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, the American Academy of Dermatology, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Surgeons, the American Dental Association, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association, the American Heart Association, the American Hospital Association Inc., the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, the American Society of Health–System Pharmacists, the American Society of Hypertension, Inc., the American Society of Nephrology, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, the Heart Rhythm Society, Mental Health America, NARSAD, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the North American Spine Society, Screening for Mental Health Inc., the National Center for Mental Checkups at Columbia University (TeenScreen), The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the American Cancer Society.

Here is the text of Grassley’s letter.

December 7, 2009

Dear _________________:

The United States Senate Committee on Finance (Committee) has jurisdiction over the Medicare and Medicaid programs and, accordingly, a responsibility to the more than 100 million Americans who receive health care coverage under these programs. As Ranking Member of the Committee, I have a duty to protect the health of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and safeguard taxpayer dollars authorized by Congress for these programs.

For the last three years, the Committee has been looking into various aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, including consulting arrangements, and industry funding for Continuing Medical Education (CME). My inquiry was spurred, in part by press accounts documenting the lack of transparency in the relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and nonprofit organizations. For instance, in April 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that industry representatives, including ten major drug companies, formed a coalition to promote looser restrictions on off-label marketing. [1] The coalition asked the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to speak in favor of this issue.

On October 6th of this year, I sent letters to all fifty state chapters of NAMI asking them to disclose income from pharmaceutical companies. In that letter, I explained that NAMI National receives almost two-thirds of its funding from the drug industry. [2] I learned recently that a few days after I sent those letters, one of the founders of NAMI and member of the NAMI National Board of Directors emailed his resignation, stating that he was shocked at NAMI’s reliance on pharmaceutical industry funding. In particular he said: “This financial dependency presents a number of problems.”

In response to my concerns, NAMI began to disclose publicly on its website, any amount of funding exceeding $5,000 that it received from pharmaceutical companies and other foundations. This decision in favor of transparency by NAMI is encouraging.

In April of this year, the Institute of Medicine issued a report endorsing transparency and stating that protections against conflicts can be established without inhibiting productive relationships between medicine and industry to improve medical knowledge and care. I am hoping you can assist me in this effort by providing additional insights into these relationships as well as any changes in transparency that your organization may be planning for in the future. Operating with transparency sends a message that there is nothing to hide.

Accordingly, I would appreciate an accounting of industry funding that pharmaceutical, medical device companies, foundations established by these companies or the insurance industry have provided to the (Organization) (The term “industry funding” means any transfer of value, including but not limited to grants, donations, and sponsorship for meetings or programs, etc.) This request covers the period of January 2006 to the present.

Because reporting practices vary widely from one charitable organization to another, I would appreciate you also placing this income into a chart, detailing annual amounts of industry funding. For each year, please provide the following information for (Organization) :

1) Year;

2) Name of company;

3) Amount of funding; and

4) Reason(s) that the funding was provided.

In addition, please explain (Organization) policies for accepting industry funding and the disclosure requirements of your top executives and board members by answering the following questions. For each question, please respond by first repeating the enumerated question followed by the appropriate answer. Again, this request covers the period of January 2006 to the present:

1)

Please describe the policies for accepting industry funding and whether or not (Organization) allows companies to place restrictions or provide guidance on how funding will be spent.

2)

If (Organization) allows companies to place restrictions on industry funding, then please explain all restrictions and/or guidance for each transfer of value from industry. For every transfer of value with a restriction, please provide the following information: year of transfer, name of company, and restriction placed on funding.

3)

Please explain what policies, if any that(Organization) plans to adopt to ensure transparency of funding in order to provide a greater public trust in the independence of your organization.

4)

Please explain your policies on disclosure of outside income by your top executives and board members.

5)

Please provide the disclosures of outside income filed with your organizations by your top executives and board members.

In cooperating with the Committee’s review, no documents, records, data or information related to these matters shall be destroyed, modified, removed or otherwise made inaccessible to the Committee.

I look forward to hearing from you by no later than December 21, 2009.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley United States Senator Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance

*****

The New York Times December 8, 2009

Grassley Seeks Details on Medical Financing by Gardiner Harris

A top Republican senator, Charles E. Grassley, has sent letters to the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society and 31 other disease and medical advocacy organizations asking them to provide details about the amount of money that they and their directors receive from drug and device makers.

Such financing amounts are often considered proprietary by the organizations and their directors, but critics contend that the industry’s sway over such groups leads them to lobby on the industry’s behalf.

Mike Lynch, a spokesman for the A.M.A., said the organization had received the senator’s letter and would respond. Mr. Lynch said industry financing made up less than 2 percent of the organization’s budget.

Steve Weiss, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society, sent an e-mail message stating that the society “holds itself to the highest standards of transparency and public accountability, and we look forward to working with Senator Grassley to provide the information he requested.”

Kate Meyer, a spokeswoman for the Alzheimer’s Association, which also received a letter from the senator, said the organization “was going to answer all of his questions,” but she would not immediately say what share of the organization’s financing comes from drug or device makers.

The letter is part of Mr. Grassley’s long-running investigation into the influence of drug and device makers on the practice of medicine. Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has also long been interested in how charities get and spend their tax-deductible contributions.

“These organizations have a lot of influence over public policy, and people rely on their leadership,” he said. “There’s a strong case for disclosure and the accountability that results.” Earlier this year, Mr. Grassley sent a similar letter to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The group told the senator that more than two-thirds of its donations came from the pharmaceutical industry. In response to the disclosure, Dr. H. Richard Lamb resigned from the group’s board.

Dr. Lamb joined the board of the organization in 2005, when he was “shocked to learn that approximately half of NAMI’s income comes from the large pharmaceutical companies,” he wrote in a resignation letter that Mr. Grassley made public. Alliance officials assured Dr. Lamb that the situation would change. “However,” Dr. Lamb wrote, “very little has changed, right up to the present day.” In an interview, Dr. Lamb said that NAMI’s dependence on the drug industry made some actions impossible. For instance, Dr. Lamb said that NAMI should consider warning against the use of some mental health drugs with life-threatening side effects. But Dr. Lamb said the organization could not consider such a move because it could threaten much of its financing.

Michael J. Fitzpatrick, the organization’s executive director, promised that the industry’s share of the group’s fund-raising would drop significantly next year.

Mr. Grassley’s request that organizations provide details about the outside income of directors may cause some consternation. While a few large patient advocacy groups have provided general guidance about their reliance on industry, almost none have given such details about their leaders.

Senator Grassley is looking at Pharma funding of universities too.
Link
For Immediate Release
June 24, 2009

"Grassley seeks information about medical school policies for disclosure of financial ties

WASHINGTON --- Senator Chuck Grassley has asked 23 medical schools for information about their policies for conflicts of interest and requirements for disclosure of financial relationships between faculty members and the drug industry.

Grassley sent his request to the 23 educational institutions that did not respond to an earlier request made by the American Medical Student Association for the same information. In that case, the schools reportedly replied to a survey by answering either "no response" or "decline to submit policies." Of the 149 schools asked, 126 provided information to the student association.

"There's a lot of skepticism about financial relationships between doctors and drug companies," Grassley said. "Disclosure of those ties would help to build confidence that there's nothing to hide. Requiring disclosure is a common sense reform based on the public dollars and public trust at stake in medical training, medical research and the practice of medicine."

Grassley has been working to achieve uniform and universal disclosure of the money that pharmaceutical, medical device and biologic companies give to physicians. He has conducted extensive oversight of financial relationships, especially among doctors who conduct research with the $24 billion awarded annually in federal grants by the National Institutes of Health. Institutions receiving these federal dollars are required to track financial relationships, but Grassley has found enforcement of those requirements often to be either lax or in violation. Grassley also has sponsored reform legislation that would require payments from the drug industry to be publicly reported. Senator Herb Kohl is the cosponsor of the "Physician Payments Sunshine Act," S.301.

The 23 schools receiving Grassley's letter are: the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine, Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Albany Medical College, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Howard University College of Medicine, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Louisiana State University School of Medicine - New Orleans, Meharry Medical College, Morehouse School of Medicine, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of the New York Institute of Technology, Ponce School of Medicine, San Juan Bautista School Of Medicine, University at Buffalo School of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey - New Jersey Medical School, University of South Carolina School of Medicine. The text of the letter is below."

NAMI: Pharma Companies are its biggest donors

"Drug Makers Are Advocacy Group’s Biggest Donors

By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: October 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — A majority of the donations made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one of the nation’s most influential disease advocacy groups, have come from drug makers in recent years, according to Congressional investigators.

The alliance, known as NAMI, has long been criticized for coordinating some of its lobbying efforts with drug makers and for pushing legislation that also benefits industry.

Last spring, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, sent letters to the alliance and about a dozen other influential disease and patient advocacy organizations asking about their ties to drug and device makers. The request was part of his investigation into the drug industry’s influence on the practice of medicine.

The mental health alliance, which is hugely influential in many state capitols, has refused for years to disclose specifics of its fund-raising, saying the details were private.

But according to investigators in Mr. Grassley’s office and documents obtained by The New York Times, drug makers from 2006 to 2008 contributed nearly $23 million to the alliance, about three-quarters of its donations."

New York Times Link

Search for "grassley" to see our previous posts on this matter; here is one -
http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/05/most-nami-money-is-from-psychiatric.html

Some day NAMI will have an interesting section at Little Sis.

Senator Grassley's Sleuth

"Grassley's Sleuth Gets Press In Nature
Most of you are aware of a long-running campaign by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) to ferret out undisclosed pharma company funding of academic researchers who also wind up taking federal research money. Well, it ain't the Senator who does all the digging that leads to him going after the likes of Emory University psychiatrist Charles Nemeroff and Harvard University psych researchers. Instead, it is Paul Thacker, a former journalist and an investigator for the Senator, who is making researchers' lives hell--and appropriately so. I've known this for a long time but have kept my yapper shut when writing about Sen. Grassley.

Anyway, Nature has a nice article on Thacker and it includes Nemeroff himself basically apologizing for his mess and claiming he was in compliance with disclosure rules plus other researchers defending Nemeroff. Please. In a political world filled with scum and manure, it's good to see one good guy in the fray. And since I'm such a good guy, I'm making a copy of the article (usually requires a subscription) available to all of you. I encourage you to download it and read it."

From Philip Dawdy's wonderful Furious Seasons - PDF on Thacker - Senator Grassley's NAMI investigator

Philip is doing his seasonal fundraiser. Please donate here.... http://www.furiousseasons.com/

More tasty pharma scandals - involving Pfizer and NAMI - are here.

Little Nemo in NAMI Land - Man Boobs

Little Nemo in NAMI Land - Man Boobs



Read about the original Little Nemo here.

Treating the underlying cause of the gynecomastia may lead to improvement in the condition. Patients should talk with their doctor about revising any medications, such as risperdal, that are found to be causing gynecomastia.
Read about Gynecomastia - here.

Now NAMI has a Theme Park for Information!

A virtual theme park.

NAMILand link. Enter at your own risk.
Here's a sample from their "Wellness Center". There is nothing there about correct diagnosis of the physical causes of mental/brain disorders, and nothing about nutrition. You will, however, find that information on this site and a list of the 29 medical, correctable causes of schizophrenia is here. Correcting schizophrenia with vitamins and caffeine avoidance costs pennies a day, and will stop a lot of drug use - both prescribed and illicit self-medication.

NAMI
WELLNESS CENTER

A major focus of NAMI’S 2009 convention is health and wellness, and as part of that focus we are proud to present our first-ever Wellness Center. The Wellness Center is offering activities and information throughout the convention to promote healthy living.

The Wellness Center will be located in the East Lounge outside the Exhibit Hall in the Continental Ballroom. In addition, Wellness Center activities will be happening in various locations throughout the hotel and outside of it.

WELLNESS CENTER ACTIVITIES

Let’s WALK! Join the NAMIWalks team for a relaxed early-morning walk around the neighborhood. Tuesday and Thursday, 7:30am – 8:00am.
Drumming Circles. Drumming is one of humanity’s most ancient and universal activities. Recent clinical studies have documented many physical, mental, and emotional benefits of focused drumming activities – including stress reduction and enhanced clarity and focus. Drumming energizes the mind, body and spirit. Two classes, Tuesday, 12:00pm – 12:45pm and 1:00pm – 1:45pm.

Exercising at Home. A certified fitness instructor will show you how to use what you’ve got in your house (for example, using canned goods as weights) to design your own exercise program. This class will be especially valuable to people who don’t have the time, money, and/or inclination to leave home to go to an exercise class. Wednesday, 12:30pm – 1:30pm,

Sing Before Your Supper. Singing in a group – regardless of your vocal abilities, has been shown to raise serotonin levels, is a big contributor of cohesiveness and team-building, and – it’s fun! Join us for this 30-minute group sing-a-long. Wednesday and Thursday, 5:30pm – 6:00pm.

Strength Building. Small, inexpensive rubber balls – available at sporting goods stores, toy stores, or dollar stores – can be used for strength building exercises. Come find out how. Thursday, 12:30pm – 1:30pm.

Yoga Class. A restorative way to end a busy day. Thirty minutes of gentle movement will be followed by 15 minutes of reflective relaxation. Taught by a certified yoga instructor. Wednesday, 5:30pm – 6:15pm.


WELLNESS CENTER ADVICE AND INFORMATION

In addition to the activities described above, experts in the Wellness Center will offer information and advice on a number of topics that contribute to healthy living. The Wellness Center will be open as follows:
Tuesday 11:00am – 2:00pm
Wednesday 8:30am – 2:30pm and
4:00pm – 7:00pm

Among the topics to be covered are:

Medications. Pharmacists will be on hand to offer information on medications, medication interactions, side effects, and adherence strategies.

Dental Hygiene. Many people with mental illnesses have trouble with their teeth. We will have a dental hygienist available to give advice and giveaways to promote dental hygiene.

Nutrition. One-on-one advice on good nutritional habits and how to overcome some of the special nutritional challenges posed by psychiatric illness and psychiatric medications.

Blood Pressure Checks. We will offer blood pressure checks, as well as tips for dealing with hypertension.

Smoking Cessation. While overall smoking rates have declined dramatically in the last couple of decades, rates of smoking among people with mental illnesses remain extremely high. We will offer workable strategies for quitting.


Several individuals and organizations have contributed their time, money, and expertise to make the Wellness Center possible. We would like to thank:
OptumHealth
The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center
The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists
Lisa Halpern
Linda Long
Barbara Bate
The NAMIWalks Team

Sorry, folks, but there's nothing to see here. No surprise... Pharma money is NAMI's bag.

New Report Examines the Effect of Severe Mental Illness and Capital Punishment on Families

ACLU releases details on and links to a new report from NAMI which tells the stories of the effects of lack of proper treatment and inappropriate criminal conviction on the mentally ill and their families. Great - but we'd like them to go further....

"The report details several examples in which people who were clearly ill murdered someone and were found incompetent. It also tells the stories of those who were still tried, convicted and eventually executed, despite their mental illness.

For example, Larry Robison was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His parents checked him into a few facilities. Each time he was about to be released, his parents asked the physicians to retain him. One psychiatrist stated that Robison needed long-term care, but when the hospital learned that Robison was not covered by insurance, his parents said the hospital "could not wait to get him out of there." His parents were told he could not get help because he was not violent, but if he became violent, he would be placed in a mental hospital.

Robison began to self-medicate and was admitted to a rehabilitation center for his drug use, but was not treated for schizophrenia. Robison was arrested for the murder of five people just four years after his first diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. His first violent act was murder. Robison was executed, without ever receiving the treatment he needed."

Link

Pharmaceuticals Anonymous comments:
We wish that the mentally ill would get justice, but we know that won't happen without proper diagnosis and treatment. Schizophrenia can be reversed when proper examination for its 29 medical causes is done, and other disorders that cause antisocial and criminal tendencies can similarly be screened and treated, generally with supplements and appropriate foods. We wish NAMI had led the way on this, but they have made many deals with Big Pharma so it is unlikely that proper screening and diagnosis will be allowed on their agenda. Link
Until proper diagnosis and right treatment are common, suffering will continue, and enforced, often damaging drugging which curtails cognitive and personal freedoms will continue.
See PDF.

Link - Wikipedia on orthomolecular/nutritional treatment of mental illness

NAMI Busted - a long way from Mayberry

Did you know that American mathematician John Nash, played by Russell Crowe in the film A BEAUTIFUL MIND, got well on his own and never took drugs for schizophrenia?
Link -NAMISCC
His wife Sylvia Nasar thought Nash's refusal to take drugs "may have been fortunate," since their side effects "would have made his gentle re-entry into the world of mathematics a near impossibility". But worse, if he had, he might not have survived - almost certainly not to become an octogenarian.


Lying about mental health for profit is wrong. NAMI - and Ron Howard - sure are a long way from the simple truths and decency of Mayberry.

Bruce Levine follows this pharma money trail at Huffington Post.

If you have dislosures to make about NAMI's ties to Pharma, please contact Senator Grassley's office.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Response to Medicines

"RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN
RESPONSE TO MEDICINES: TOWARDS
INDIVIDUALIZED PHARMACEUTICAL
TREATMENT

Valentine J. Burroughs, MD, Randall W. Maxey, MD, PhD, and Richard A. Levy, PhD
Washington, DC and Reston, Virginia

It is now well documented that substantial disparities exist in the quality and quantity of
medical care received by minority Americans, especially those of African, Asian and Hispanic
heritage. In addition, the special needs and responses to pharmaceutical treatment of these
groups have been undervalued or ignored. This article reviews the genetic factors that underlie
varying responses to medicines observed among different ethnic and racial groups. Pharmacogenetic
research in the past few decades has uncovered significant differences among racial and
ethnic groups in the metabolism, clinical effectiveness, and side-effect profiles of many clinically
important drugs. These differences must be taken into account in the design of cost management
policies such as formulary implementation, therapeutic substitution and step-care protocols.
These programs should be broad and flexible enough to enable rational choices and individualized
treatment for all patients, regardless of race or ethnic origin. (J Natl Med Assoc. 2002;
94:1–26.)

Key words: race l ethnicity l
pharmaceuticals l
pharmacogenomics

The recent report of the Institute of Medicine
(IOM), “Unequal Treatment: Confronting
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare,”
illustrates in eloquent scientific detail that racial
and ethnic disparities in health care do
exist and are prevalent in both the treatment of
medical illness and in the delivery of health
care services to minorities in the United States.1
Of greater significance is the finding that these
disparities still exist even after adjustment for
differences in socioeconomic status, insurance
coverage, income, age, comorbid conditions,
expression of symptoms, and access-related factors.
These disparities are not confined to any
one aspect of the health care setting, and can
even be found in the delivery of pharmaceutical
services, which are under increasing cost
control measures.
Implicit in this transaction is the ultimate
outcome of increased morbidity and mortality
for African Americans and other minorities.
This is mostly due to a diminished quality of
medical care and health services, but also due
to a predilection to avoid using better quality

© 2002. From the Health Policy Committee, Board of Trustees, National
Medical Association, Washington, DC; and Scientific Affairs,
National Pharmaceutical Council, Reston, Virginia. Requests for reprints
should be addressed to Dr Richard Levy, National Pharmaceutical
Council, 1894 Preston White Drive, Reston, VA 20191.
JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION VOL. 94

PDF




NAMI has a plan in place to "treat" Natives - and people in other nations of non-white ethnicity.
"Chapter Four Evaluating Your Outreach Efforts 127 Materials adapted from Outreach to African Americans and Hispanic Families: A Manual for NAMI Affiliates. Currently, Mental Health and Social Services......"Link



NAMI's "Eliminating Disparities" pdfs - various ethnic groups targeted

Shouldn't any plan which mentions "eliminating" and "Natives" be immediately suspect?

If "losing your mind" is a normal response to having your culture, community and country destroyed, what then?
Has much really changed since the days of the Hiawatha Asylum?

Bloomberg: NAMI to be probed re Pharma ties

Grassley Probes Financing of Advocacy Group for Mental Health
By Nicole Gaouette

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Charles Grassley expanded his investigation into drug company influence on the practice of medicine by asking a nonprofit mental-health- advocacy group about its funding.

In a letter sent today to the National Alliance for Mental Illness, based in Arlington, Virginia, Grassley asked the nonprofit group to disclose any financial backing from drug companies or from foundations created by the industry.

The Iowa Republican, in a series of hearings and investigations, has focused on financial ties between the drug industry, doctors and academic institutions. His efforts have led New York-based Pfizer Inc. to begin disclosing consulting payments to U.S. doctors, and Harvard Medical School in Boston to reexamine its conflict-of-interest policies. Now Grassley is expanding his inquiries to nonprofit groups.

“I have come to understand that money from the pharmaceutical industry shapes the practices of nonprofit organizations which purport to be independent in their viewpoints and actions,” Grassley wrote in his letter.

Officials at the National Alliance for Mental Illness didn’t return calls for comment.

Link

Thank Senator Grassley - or contact him with your concerns - here.

Read the Bonkers Institute's response to Senator Grassley's initiative here.

"House" shilling for NAMI

This is so wrong on so many levels....
~ NAMI is confusing reality with television. "House" is not a doctor, he just plays one on TV.
~ "House" is strongly individualistic; NAMI members are generally conformists.
~ If real NAMI members met a doctor as curmudgeonly as "House" - and a drug addict to boot - they would certainly not become allies.
Beyond boycotting the HOUSE tv actor, ignoring this silly campaign, or remembering "everybody lies", there is another possible response...

Get it here.



MINDFREEDOM's old files, NAMI WATCH, are archived here.

NAMI: PACT, Pharma's slush fund, and Mrs. Doonesbury

NAMI gets the money to run its "meds to your door and we'll watch while you take them" program, called PACT,
from Big Pharma.

Read NAMI's PACT pamphlet here

Investigative journalist Jane Pauley and her husband Garry Trudeau, freedom-loving creator of DOONESBURY, should learn about PACT before she accepts an award from NAMI.
Will most people who hear about her breakdown through NAMI ever know that she became ill while taking steroids and antidepressants - because of medication?


Pauley and a crew of Pharma movers and shakers are
big money-makers.

As a celebrity spokesperson (whose speaker's fee is "Category E - $50,000 to $100,000"), Pauley broadcasts the prescription dictum promoted (in unison) by leading psychiat lists and the drug industry.
In a New York Times Magazine Eli Lilly Advertising Supplement, (October 30, 2005), Pauley embraces drug-dependency for life without an iota of skepticism or reservation:

"Although I had only one episode, no one can tell me whether I will have another one, so I must take medication for the rest of my life."
She says she takes both Lithium and an antidepressant.

To understand how Big Pharma buys influence, The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is a good example.
DBSA bills itself as a grass roots organization that: "throughout 2003 over 4 million people asked DSBA for help."
The DBSA website has multiple "self assessment" tools to assist interested persons in self-diagnosis for a variety of conditions.
The site offers "testimonials" from "real people" who credit medications for their recoveries.
(To see their self-tests online - so bad they are embarassing - go here)

While claiming to be member supported, at a minimum 90% of DBSA'a income comes from the drug industry.
The DBSA 2003 annual report shows who the major donors are:


The “Leadership Circle” consists of donors of $150,000 or more. Listed are: Abbott Labs, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Meyers Squibb,Elan Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen and Pfizer.
The “Founders Club” consists of donors of $10,000 to $149,000. These include: Cyberonics, Forest Labs, Merck, Organon, Wyeth.
The “Advocate Council” consists of donors of $5,000 to $9,999. These include: the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMSHA).
The “Platinum” donors of $1,000 to $4,999 include TAP Pharmaceutical
See: http://www.dbsalliance.org/PDF/AnnReptFINAL.pdf

Is NAMI Jane's Bag?














Images from http://www.namipharma.org


Is it time to give that Cronkite Award back?

AND...