Schizophrenia, neuroleptic medication and mortality

Schizophrenic patients given neuroleptic medication die at an alarming rate.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/188/2/122

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/reprint/188/2/122

http://www.springerlink.com/content/v87mlpbdv096lf0v/

http://www.gims.tcu.edu.tw/981%A4%BD%BD%C3%B1M%B0Q/1103%B6%C0%A6%B6%A7%C2.pdf

That's too high a price for the patients, their families and society to pay.
Patients need and deserve proper medical workups.

Drugs World - Medications Visualized

Medications diagrammed and arranged by family - Antipsychotics, Stimulants, Downers/Depressants, Hallucinogens.
Take a look!

Pharmawater everywhere, and not a drop to drink

"PHARMAWATER I
Pharmaceuticals found in drinking water, affecting wildlife and maybe humans

By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD
Associated Press Writers
A vast array of pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

But the presence of so many prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.

Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed."




This special AP investigation - Pharmawater - addresses a matter we have been concerned about for years.

Canadians spend $30 Billion a Year on Medications

That CAN'T be healthy.
Link
PDF
Two thoughts:
The father of medicine said "Let your food be your medicine"
and
Are we medicating for nutritional deficiencies? Do we take laxatives when extra fiber and Vitamin C would put us right?

Lyme Disease: Antitrust probe spurs disease review

Lyme Disease can be wongly diagnosed as mental illness, causing further harm by delaying proper treatment. Read articles here and here

25 Shocking Facts About the Pharmaceutical Industry

Image: Valley of the Dolls, movie, 1960's

From the Nursing Online Education Database

25 Shocking Facts About the Pharmaceutical Industry

By Laura Milligan
Researching and snagging an adequate, wallet-friendly health care plan is tough these days, despite its high-profile presence in political debates. A large part of the controversy over expensive health costs stems from criticism of high-priced medications marketed by powerful pharmaceutical companies. From Medicare fraud to CEOs worth billions of dollars, big drug companies are accused of putting profits above patients, spinning false PR campaigns and more. We've uncovered 25 of the most shocking facts about the pharmaceutical industry in this list.
Some excerpts:

The price of drugs is increasing faster than anything else a patient pays for: Marcia Angell writes in her book The Truth About Drug Companies that "drugs are the fastest-growing part of the health care bill which itself is rising at an alarming rate."

Your doctor may have an ulterior motive behind your prescription: In 2007, the St. Petersburg Times reported that drug reps often give gifts to convince doctors to prescribe the medications that they represent.

Pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than research: According to ScienceDaily, a "new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development."

Brand name meds often have a 1,000% mark-up price: Many Americans are aware that brand name prescriptions cost more than generic meds.

Read the rest here

UK: Behaviour medications putting tots at risk

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

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.

Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves Into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs.

Are Big Pharma murderers?
A New York Times book review focuses on the work of Melody Petersen, a former reporter for the Times. She has written a book against Big Pharma's marketing tactics called Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves Into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs. Petersen asks if drugs could be killing people but never being blamed, allowing them to harm even more Americans until someone, finally, catches on. Petersen calls for non-government watchdog agencies and closer oversight on published studies, which she says are ghostwritten by pharma spokespeople.
The review is here