Pharmaceuticals Anonymous

Sunday, April 6, 2008

UK: Behaviour medications putting tots at risk

baby green pills



By Sarah Boseley, health editor
The Guardian, Monday April 7 2008

New evidence has shown children's lives are being put at risk by a surge in the use of controversial tranquillising drugs which are being prescribed to control their behaviour, the Guardian has learned.

The anti-psychotic drugs are being given to youngsters under the age of six even though the drugs have no licence for use in children except in certain schizophrenia cases, the report says.

The number of children on the drugs has doubled since the early 1990s as the UK begins to follow a trend started in the US, but critics say they are a "chemical cosh" that could cause premature death.

The first comprehensive analysis, carried out by Ian Wong, professor of paediatric medicines research at the London School of Pharmacy, suggests the number of children on the drugs has surged sharply.

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.


Read the article here

Side Effects

This is the trailer for a movie called "Side Effects".
If you haven't seen it, rent it!

Death By Medicine

"Death By Medicine"


This study was conducted between 2003/2004, so it's been around for a while. However, it is sometimes necessary to refresh our memories and also to introduce it to those who haven't seen it.
This study was done by Gary Null, PhD; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; and Dorothy Smith, PhD, and Carolyn Dean, MD, ND. It is mind-boggling to say the least, the startling findings from this meticulous study indicate that conventional medicine is “the leading cause of death” in the United States . Over 700,000 Americans die each year at the hands of government-sanctioned medicine, while the FDA and other government agencies pretend to protect the public by harassing those who offer safe alternatives. I suggest reading the entire study, including the foot notes before your next doctor's appointment or surgery.....

From the Abstract of the study;

A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals, and government health statistics shows that American medicine frequently causes more harm than good.
  • The number of people having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to prescribed medicine is 2.2 million.

  • Dr. Richard Besser, of the CDC, in 1995, said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million. Dr. Besser, in 2003, now refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics.

  • The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million.

  • The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million.

  • The total number of iatrogenic deaths shown in the following table is 783,936.

It is evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. The 2001 heart disease annual death rate is 699,697; the annual cancer death rate, 553,251.


ANNUAL PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC COST OF MEDICAL INTERVENTION
Condition Deaths Cost
Adverse Drug Reactions 106,000 $12 billion
Medical error 98,000 $2 billion
Bedsores 115,000 $55 billion
Infection 88,000 $5 billion
Malnutrition 108,800 --------
Outpatients 199,000 $77 billion
Unnecessary Procedures 37,136 $122 billion
Surgery-Related 32,000 $9 billion

TOTAL:

783,936 $282 billion


It's simply astounding, follow the link to read more of this study. Be healthy!

Counterfeit medicines: the pills that kill

It's not just legal drugs we have to worry about. A great many problems are caused by counterfeit ones, too. From Britain's Telegraph.