SSRI Discontinution at Wikipedia

Synaptic/SSRI cartoon above is a spoof.
We'll place this information on "Discontinution syndrome" in our Friends column as well.

Dr. Abram Hoffer Dies, Age 91

All those who have benefited from Dr. Hoffer's knowledge will be sad to learn that the great man has died, age 91....

The International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine gives tribute here.

Canada's GLOBE AND MAIL has an obituary here.

Here Hoffer writes of his own youth and early experiences as a physician. Link



Thank you, Dr. Hoffer.

Vioxx: A Mercky Story

"After paying out almost $5 billion in the US, Merck is defending a class action in Australia where a journal that never was came to light. Meanwhile in the UK victims see no prospect of compensation - writes Prof. Peter Saunders"

There are about 10,000 people in the United Kingdom who believe they are due compensation for damages they suffered while on Merck's Vioxx. These persons cannot get legal aid and if they lose they will have to pay Merck’s costs. Merck has deep pockets so the company has effectively been handed a default victory by the British government. However, in Australia, 1000 Vioxx users are bringing a class action to trial, and the outcome there may be quite different.
Link

Blowback: Agent Orange in Canada

Excerpt from Blowback: A Canadian History of Agent Orange and the War at Home
at link

TED Talks: Elizabeth Gilbert on Nurturing Creativity

We like Elizabeth Gilbert, and wish to take her thoughts a step further - to discuss protective effects of proper nutrition on the brain of the young and the creative. Much self-destructive behavior stems from problems caused by poor nutrition. Video at link
Relevant article - Orthomolecular Nutrition to the Rescue

Drug Rep on SURVIVOR: Merck told her to sell drugs that kill

Corinne Kaplan is a candidate on the American reality TV show Survivor.

At one point, Corinne insisted, “I have no moral compass.” The most damning illustration has to do with her (now former) job as a pharmaceutical sales rep, where she said she knowingly sold drugs to physicians that she knew would kill people. “Selling drugs is a lie. I sold drugs that I knew damn well—I sold Vioxx for Merck before it got taken off the market for killing people. I knew damn well it was dangerous; I went around telling them to write it. There’s a lot of serious lying I’ve done in my life,” she said.

That’s okay, Corinne told me, because “I’m doing a job. For me, in that case, Merck told me to go out and sell drug even though I had hesitation about it. It’s not for me to say. … Don’t listen to me. Read your fucking journals. Why the fuck are you listening to your rep? Just because I’m pretty? You think I know more about the drug? No.”

Likewise, for Corinne, being on Survivor Gabon “is work; I’m trying to make a million dollars. It really doesn’t matter. I hope everyone gets injured; I don’t care. Just not me.”

Hear Corinne talk about wanting the money, the type of person she is, her problems with production, and selling a drug she knew would kill people here.

Is chronic illness at the heart of our economic crisis?

Image: Summer, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1573

Simple, eloquent, true.

"We can virtually match the exponential climb in chronic illness with an exponential climb in all-things-industrialized! Our innate genetic requirements for health require purity and sufficiency in the way we eat, move and think, with minimal toxicity and deficiency. How are we doing in these areas in the past 50 years?

We have more toxins in our food and agricultural industry, nutritionally deficient foods, toxic water supply, more fake and processed foods, we move less as a society than ever before, we're fatter than ever, we take far more drugs than ever, we sit in traffic more than ever, we have rampant pollution, we're inundated with an overwhelming amount of stimuli like no other time in our history, we're financially stressed, we spend more time indoors in artificial lighting and temperatures, we use more toxic chemicals on our bodies, on our lawns and in our homes, our relationships are stressed, we've lost a sense of community, we're more rushed... and on and on.

As a culture, we've moved away from what we know creates health and happiness."

Link