"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.

Need, not Greed: Canadian Federation of Nurses Calls for Pharmacare

From the Canadian Federation of Nurses' Statement:

Drugs now rank second after hospitals in terms of share of total health care spending,
having overtaken spending on physicians in 1997. The share of total spending going to
drugs rose from 9.5 percent in 1985 to 16.2 percent in 2002. Spending on drugs is expected
to hit 16.7 percent of total health care spending in 2004, while spending on physicians will
be just 12.9 percent.3

The rapid rise in drug costs is primarily due to the ongoing substitution of newer, more
expensive drugs in place of existing, less expensive products. The newer drugs, in the
majority of cases, have no added benefit. Of the 117 drugs with new ingredients introduced
in Canada between 1998 and 2002, only 15 provided a substantial improvement over
existing drugs.4 The rest are “me-too” drugs that offer little or no therapeutic advances over
existing therapies but are responsible for 80 percent of the increased expenditure on drugs.5

Aggressive advertising by drug companies drives consumption of these me-too drugs.6
Apart from advertising directly to consumers, drug companies spend approximately
$30,000 per year for every doctor in Canada on drug samples, sales rep contact,
conferences, trips and giveaways.7 The influence of pharmaceutical companies on research,
education and clinical practice has also been widely documented.8 Both patients and
doctors are influenced by the onslaught,9 with the result that drug costs are skyrocketing
but health outcomes are not necessarily improving.

Pdf here

Bipolar Disorder Caused by Antidepressants

In an essay appearing March 17 in The Lancet, Franco Benazzi, MD, PhD, writes about a common but poorly recognized form of bipolar disorder, called bipolar disorder II.
Because the disorder is so often misdiagnosed, patients are often wrongly treated with antidepressants alone, which can make the problem worse, the professor of psychiatry tells WebMD.

"These patients need to be on mood-stabilizing drugs, and if depression persists an antidepressant can be added," Benazzi says. "Treating these patients with antidepressants alone can actually increase the manic episodes and worsen the disorder."

Bipolar II caused by antidepressants

And more evidence from Am J Psychiatry 166:2, February 2009.
Pdf
Thanks to Philip Dawdy of Furious Seasons for releasing this information.

GABA for gentle attitude adjustment and more

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is a natural calming agent. It is one of the brain’s most important regulators of proper function and neurotransmission. It appears that many people with anxiety, insomnia, epilepsy, and other brain disorders do not manufacture sufficient levels of GABA. While many drugs work by increasing the effects of GABA in the brain, they may have side effects, addictive properties, or may not be suitable for long-term use, whereas natural GABA is both safe and effective–without any known side effects.

Calm and Focused

Studies with synthetic GABA have shown that it does not cross the blood-brain barrier very well, leading to the assumption that GABA found in the brain was manufactured there and that supplemental GABA would not increase levels of GABA in the brain. That appears to be the case with synthetic GABA, but not with GABA naturally manufactured from Lactobacillus hilgardii.

Research has shown that GABA increases the production of alpha brain waves (a state often achieved by meditation, characterized by being relaxed with greater mental focus and mental alertness) and reduces beta waves (associated with nervousness, scattered thoughts, and hyperactivity).

In Japan GABA is a popular ingredient in functional foods, beverages, and dietary supplements designed to produce mental and physical relaxation without drowsiness. The most popular applications of GABA are found in chocolate and coffee beverages. It is particularly helpful in counteracting the effects of caffeine.

GABA is fast acting. Generally, the effects are felt within 15 minutes and can last from four to six hours.

Link

Read about Margot Kidder's return to wellness with GABA
here and here.

We ask, why take lithium and benzodiazepines if what the brain needs is GABA?

Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive

Part One of Twelve

Part Two of Twelve. Click through on the video for the rest of the series.

Mr. Fry's website is here.

Damaged By Pharma? Call Rules Committee Members Now!

Been Damaged By Pharma? Call Rules Committee Members Now!
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)
Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability
http://www.ahrp.org and http://ahrp.blogspot.com


Call Members Of The Rules Committee Now!

FYI

Below, the National Whistleblower's Center is asking advocates to call members of the House Rules Committee asking them to vote for a National Whistleblower's Protection Law. [text below]

Absent from the legislative language developed by the Whistleblower's Center is inclusion of protection for citizens who are victimized by hazardous medical products. Hundreds of thousands of citizens suffer serious disabling harm--many are killed--by toxic prescription drugs and defective medical devices.

Whistleblower legislation cannot be blind to the suffering caused by corrupt practices by corporations and /or government officials.

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
212-595-8974
veracare@ahrp.org



From: "National Whistleblowers Center"
mw@whistleblowers.org
Date: January 27, 2009 1:12:30 PM EST
To: "Stephen Sheller" sasheller@sheller.com
Subject: Call Members Of The Rules Committee Now!
Reply-To: "National Whistleblowers Center" mw@whistleblowers.org

Dear Active Member,

Contact the Congressional Rules Committee to urge them to vote for federal whistleblower protection in the stimulus bill. It is critical that you call Rules Committee members now!

Below is a list of the Rules Committee members and their office phone numbers. Please call them now and tell them to vote for oversight and accountability today!

Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) - (202) 225-3615

James P. Mc Govern (D-MA) - (202) 225-6101

Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) (202) 225-1313

Doris O. Masui (D-CA) (202) 225-7163

Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) (202) 225-6131

Michael Arcuri (D-NY) (202) 225-1891

Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) (202) 225-2645

Chellie Pingree (D-ME) (202) 225-6116

Jared Polis (D-CO) (202) 225-2161

David Dreier (D-CA) (202) 225-2305

Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) (202) 225-4211

Pete Sessions (R-TX) (202) 225-2231

Virginia Foxx (R-NC) (202) 225-2071

Thank you!

Stephen M. Kohn
President
National Whistleblowers Center

PETITION FOR A NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ACT

WHEREAS, the adequate protection of employee whistleblowers is essential to ensure that the American people know about the misconduct of their elected officials;

WHEREAS, employee whistleblowers have saved the taxpayers billions of dollars;

WHEREAS reports made by employee whistleblowers exposed numerous failures in the "war on terror";

WHEREAS, employee whistleblowers serve the public interest by disclosing violations of law, fraud against investors and threats to the environment and public health and safety;

WHEREAS, there are currently no federal protections for employees who expose drug safety violations, election fraud, medical misconduct, food safety violations, pesticide abuses, consumer fraud and violations of numerous other laws designed to protect the American public;

WHEREAS, Congress has not enacted a comprehensive national whistleblower protection law akin to the national laws enacted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, race, age, religion or disability;

BE IT RESOLVED, that the undersigned petitioners hereby call upon the Congress of the United States to pass a National Whistleblower Protection Act designed to prevent retaliation against employees who blow the whistle on violations of law and threats to the public health and safety;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that any National Whistleblower Protection Act provide whistleblowers with a level of protection that is at least equal to the protections currently afforded all employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin), and the false claims act.


Related Links:
* FDA Protection Failure - Drug Safety Crisis
Vera Hassner Sharav, AHRP/Gardiner Harris, New York Times

Death Cures Smoking

Chantix, a smoking cessation drug, now carries serious warnings by the FDA. Chantix has been implicated in suicide, has been banned for pilot use by the FAA, and is now being sold by drug dealers as a recreational drug to teens.

UPDATE from May 2008: Some 800 Canadians are getting together to take action against Chantix, called Champix in that country. Link Thanks and a tip of the Mad Hatter's chapeau to Philip Dawdy at Furious Seasons.

Terry Pratchett: On His Alzheimer's

UPDATE: Aug. 9 2009

Pratchett is fighting for the right to die.
Link
Not so fast, Sir Terence: Alzheimer's may not be what your medical experts tell you it is. See

Harold Foster.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060526175827/http://www.hdfoster.com/Foster_Alzheimers.pdf



From The Times
January 30, 2009
Discworld author Terry Pratchett on Alzheimer's and his best work
The Discworld author is funny, fluent and channelling the anger towards his Alzheimer's disease into some of his best work

Andrew Billen

The Talmud decrees that to save one life is to save the world. If scientific research can save Sir Terry Pratchett from Alzheimer's disease, then it will also save Discworld, the fantastical other Earth that the novelist has chronicled in 36 books. Discworld is a flattish disc that rests on four elephants standing on an enormous turtle - but you probably know that, even if you have never read Pratchett. The idea is such a delightful joke, both on creation myths and the more pompous strains of fantasy fiction, that it resonates. As a young fan interviewed on a two-part BBC documentary that follows Pratchett's first year from diagnosis, says: “How could a great mind like that be lost?” I try the thought out on Pratchett, that for intellectuals, such as Bernard Levin or Iris Murdoch, the disease is particularly cruel. “Yes, isn't that a pile of c***?” he replies. “It is a tragedy for everybody. Or, if it is a tragedy for anyone, then it is tragedy for everyone.”

You need to be careful when talking to Pratchett on this matter. For a start he has a particular strain of Alzheimer's called Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA) and its symptoms are different. Second, he does not think it makes him special. Over the new year, Edward Stourton on the Today programme on Radio 4 made the mistake of linking his knighthood with the news of his illness, released on the web 13 months ago, a few months before his 60th birthday. Pratchett retorted that he hoped he was being recognised for more than getting ill. He let Stourton off when he said he was referring to the way he had addressed the condition. Stourton was lucky. I get into trouble for saying that having a film crew accompany him as he investigated his own prognosis must have been a “sacrifice”.

“You see, there you go again. It seemed to me absolutely natural because I had to tell people and I thought, ‘Well why be bashful about it?' It's not as if I'd done something wrong. In too many people's minds Alzheimer's is considered madness. It is a physical disease that affects the brain.” In fact, he will admit that the campaigning - not just the television but a visit to Downing Street, where Gordon Brown personally made him a cup of tea and, what is more, listened, a pledge to give a million dollars in research, appearances at support groups and so on - has cost him “half a book”. This is a sacrifice, for he must keep writing.

“Otherwise I'm just Terry Pratchett, ‘the sufferer'. It's all part of our modern culture. We like people to be sufferers because then we can pity them.” He doesn't then want a movie made of his “battle”, such as that Iris Murdoch film? “No. I think three different researchers wrote to me asking could I help them with work on analysing my style as the illness progresses, and I wrote back, 'What I like about vultures is that they wait until the donkey is dead'. I just couldn't believe that they would try that.”
Link

About his television program on living with Alzheimer's
Link

How the Bailout Benefits Big Pharma - and YOU Will Pay For It

At about the 1:20 mark, Mr. Kucinich mentions Pfizer's $68 Billion buyout of Wyeth - for which YOU will pay. The New York times article link is here.

Rest in Peace, Lux

Lux Interior, founder and lead singer of the punkabilly group the Cramps, has died.
Here he performs for patients inside Napa State Mental Hospital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cramps

Alzheimer's and B3/Niacin

Vitamin B3/Niacin as Alzheimer's therapy:
"Memory loss is the signature feature of Alzheimer's disease, and therapies that prevent or delay its onset are urgently needed. Effective preventive strategies likely offer the greatest and most widespread benefits. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors increase histone acetylation and enhance memory and synaptic plasticity. We evaluated the efficacy of nicotinamide, a competitive inhibitor of the sirtuins or class III NAD+-dependent HDACs in 3xTg-AD mice, and found that it restored cognitive deficits associated with pathology. Nicotinamide selectively reduces a specific phospho-species of tau (Thr231) that is associated with microtubule depolymerization, in a manner similar to inhibition of SirT1. Nicotinamide also dramatically increased acetylated -tubulin, a primary substrate of SirT2, and MAP2c, both of which are linked to increased microtubule stability. Reduced phosphoThr231-tau was related to a reduction of monoubiquitin-conjugated tau, suggesting that this posttranslationally modified form of tau may be rapidly degraded. Overexpression of a Thr231-phospho-mimic tau in vitro increased clearance and decreased accumulation of tau compared with wild-type tau. These preclinical findings suggest that oral nicotinamide may represent a safe treatment for AD and other tauopathies, and that phosphorylation of tau at Thr231 may regulate tau stability."
Link
More here: Link
A link has been established between Alzheimer's and calcium - a substance we take like candy in antacids. Link
What is the counterbalance for calcium? Magnesium. What makes magnesium work better? Niacin....

Stop Bill C-51 Campaign Revived

It's baaaaack...Canada's vitamin-banning Bill C-51 has been reworked as Bill C-6.


Stop Bill C-51 -- CODEX ALIMENTARIUS -- Call to Action from Anonymai on Vimeo.

Who Owns Nature? Pharma, Of Course!

Further extracts from ETC Group's recently released report, "Who Owns Nature?" These are from the section about the pesticde industry. For the full report:
http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=707

According to the report, the world's six largest agrochemical manufacturers, who control nearly 75% of the global pesticide market, are also seed industry giants.

It's worth breaking this down by company.

Bayer: the world's biggest agrochemical company is also the world's seventh biggest seed company.

Syngenta: the world's second largest agrochemical company is also the world's third largest seed company.

Monsanto: the world's biggest seed company is the world's fifth largest agrochemical company.

And DuPont: the world's second biggest seed company is also the world's sixth largest agrochemical company.

All these companies are gene giants.

Weed killers (herbicides) account for about one-third of the global pesticide market, and around 80% of GM seeds involve herbicide-resistance.

The worldwide market for agrochemicals grew last year by nearly 10%.
------
Who Owns Nature?
Report from ETC Group

[Extracts only]

Agrochemical Industry

World's Top 10 Pesticide Firms

Company - Agrochemical Sales 2007 (US$ millions) - % Market Share

1.Bayer (Germany) - $7,458m - 19%
2.Syngenta (Switzerland) - $7,285m - 19%
3.BASF (Germany) - $4,297m - 11%
4.Dow AgroSciences (USA) - $3,779m - 10%
5.Monsanto (USA) - $3,599m - 9%
6.DuPont (USA) - $2,369m - 6%
7.Makhteshim Agan (Israel) - $1,895m - 5%
8.Nufarm (Australia) - $1,470m - 4%
9.Sumitomo Chemical (Japan) - $1,209m - 3%
10.Arysta Lifescience (Japan) - $1,035m - 3%
Total $34,396m - 89%
Source: Agrow World Crop Protection News, August 2008

The top 10 companies control 89% of the global agrochemical market.

The worldwide market for agrochemicals was US$38.6 billion in 2007 - up 8.4% over the previous year. The top 6 companies accounted for $28.8 billion, or 75% of the total market.


Link

Canada - take action on genetic modification here