"New" "Improved" Antipsychotics Hype

New Schizophrenia drugs no better than the old ones: Reuters
Here you can read about correct diagnosis
and, here, about mental health and vitamins.

Shown: Steven Carter and Abram Hoffer of the International Society of Orthomolecular Medicine

Exploring Inner Space: TED and Serenity

"To date, there hasn't been an overarching theory of how the human brain really works, Jeff Hawkins argues in this compelling talk. That's because we still haven't defined intelligence accurately. But one thing's for sure, he says: The brain isn't like a powerful computer processor. It's more like a memory system that records everything we experience and helps us predict, intelligently, what will happen next. Bringing this new brain science to computer devices will enable powerful new applications -- and it will happen sooner than you think."
TED



The next two clips are based on a Josh Whedon film, SERENITY, a cautionary tale set in the future in which mind control through machines and drugs is common. In SERENITY, the population of an entire planet is wiped out because a medication called PAX.. is put in the air supply, for the good of all - they thought. Business and the military no doubt have plans for this technology.

From Furious Seasons: Lilly's Zyprexa documents in video form

"The Zyprexa Chronicles: Zyprexa Documents Hit YouTube!
A UCLA PhD candidate in History who's a reader of this site came upon a genius idea: making a video of himself reading one of the Zyprexa documents on YouTube. His name is Brad Fidler (website) and the document he chose (ZY100175096 4.1 MB .pdf) had details of a little role playing game Lilly wanted Zyprexa reps to play in order to increase their knowledge of the drug. The document is quite large, so please use my bandwidth sparingly, and is the primary "Viva Zyprexa" campaign roll out in 2000. The game is called "Family Feud" and is on page 61 of the 67 page document.
Yes, the game sounds weird, but I recall from my own pharma company reppin' days that during sales training reps often acted out various roles--doctor, nurse, purchasing agent, etc.--with one another so we could sell our products better."

And...heeeeere's the game card!


Many thanks to Philip Dawdy at Furious Seasons for bringing this to our attention.
Go see him here

UPDATE: LILLY SETTLED FOR $15M
Pocket change for them

NAMI speaker displays a brain at TED

It's hard to say what is most disturbing in this TED presentation by Jill Bolte Taylor: the disrespectful and manipulative way this NAMI speaker handles and displays a human brain as a prop; the patronizing and stigmatizing use of her brother in her presentation; her ignorance of the 29 physiological reasons why a patient may present as schizophrenic; or her claim that the hemispheres of the brain are completely separate from each other - only briefly mentioning the Corpus Callossum and ignoring the Medulla, Pons, Midbrain, Thalamus and Hypothalamus.
Visit the Harvard Brain Project here.
NAMI associates have been implicated in more than one case of brain theft.
We hope that Dr. Bolte will stop singing long enough to read about the 29 causes of schizophrenia here and here, and we wish appropriate diagnosis, good medical treatment and speedy recovery to her brother.

Canada's Anti-Drug Strategy for Parents

This is all well and good, but the biggest drug dealers are listed on the Stock Exchange.

Why lecture kids about dope when we hand them Ritalin every day?

Have a look at this 2000 BBC report, Kids on Pills

Bad Medicine: The Depressing Truth About Antidepressants

Click here to read The Depressing Truth About Antidepressants, from CounterPunch
Click here to read about negative side effects from SSRI and SNRI antidepressants.

Salon: Doctors Without Orders

Now they want to put dog tags on us to monitor when we take our meds. What next?

Doctors Without Orders
THE MYSTERY OF PATIENTS WHO FAIL TO FOLLOW PRESCRIPTIONS.
By Jessica Wapner
Posted Friday, March 21, 2008, at 10:21 AM ET

Many patients do not take medicine as prescribed
Earlier this month, scientists at Georgia Tech announced their invention of a necklace that records the date and time at which a person swallows his prescription medicine. The device (which looks more like a dog collar than jewelry) responds to a tiny magnet in the pill as it travels down the esophagus. Other recently developed similar technologies include a drug-filled prosthetic tooth that slowly drips medicine into the mouth and a pill bottle that sends a wireless message to your pharmacist every time it's opened.
Are we so bad at taking medicine that we need false teeth to do it for us and pill bottles that tattle on us when we don't?