How
Big Pharma got Americans hooked on anti-psychotic drugs.
Once upon a time, antipsychotics were reserved for a relatively small number of patients with hard-core psychiatric diagnoses - primarily schizophrenia and bipolar disorder - to treat such symptoms as delusions, hallucinations, or
formal thought disorder. Today, it seems, everyone is taking antipsychotics. Parents are told that their unruly kids are in fact bipolar, and in need of
anti-psychotics, while old people with dementia are dosed, in large numbers, with drugs once reserved largely for schizophrenics. Americans with symptoms ranging from chronic depression to anxiety to insomnia are now being prescribed anti-psychotics at rates that seem to indicate a national mass psychosis.
It is anything but a coincidence that the explosion in antipsychotic use coincides with the pharmaceutical industry's development of a new class of medications known as "
atypical antipsychotics." Beginning with Zyprexa, Risperdal, and
Seroquel in the 1990s, followed by
Abilify in the early 2000s, these drugs were touted as being more effective than older antipsychotics like
Haldol and Thorazine. More importantly, they lacked the most noxious side effects of the older drugs - in particular, the tremors and other motor control problems.
The atypical anti-psychotics were the bright new stars in the pharmaceutical industry's roster of psychotropic drugs - costly, patented medications that made people feel and behave better without any shaking or drooling. Sales grew steadily, until by 2009 Seroquel and Abilify
numbered fifth and sixth in annual drug sales, and prescriptions written for the top three atypical antipsychotics totaled more than 20 million. Suddenly,
antipsychotics weren't just for psychotics any more.
As the researchers in one study of the drug industry's influence put it, "the lack of biological tests for mental disorders renders psychiatry especially vulnerable to industry influence." For this reason, they argue, it's particularly important that the guidelines for diagnosing and treating mental illness be compiled "on the basis of an objective review of the scientific evidence" - and
not on whether the doctors writing them got a big grant from Merck or own stock in AstraZeneca.
(
Counterpoint
Educating Instead of Medicating
CureZone.com )
Featured on Al Jazeera
The Assad government's last strike; and South Sudan - a new nation struggles to build an independent media landscape.
Surge, bribe and run? Or surge, bribe and stay? How US military bases and the energy war play out in Afghanistan.
As US pharmaceutical companies move their operations abroad, India has become a testing ground for trial medicines.
During Reagan's presidency, the US went from a creditor to debtor nation and marked a take-off for financial inequality.
TIGER III funds: How NOT to spend these federal transit dollars
~Stephen Crim, The Lens
~
Stephen Crim is a board member with Transport for NOLA, an organization that seeks to create a world-class transportation system in the Greater New Orleans region that is based on equity, accessibility, and best practices. For more information visit www.transportfornola.org.
Budget cuts hit Louisiana state parks, museums
House votes to extend flood insurance to 2016
It's Official: Jindal's Signature Moves UNO To Univ. Of La. System~WDSU
Gov. Jindal lists $533 million in projects for BP to finance after oil spill
~Mark Schleifstein~Also~Coast Guard investigates 2 new reports of oil in Barataria Bay
Too big to jail~Disenfranchised Citizen
FEMA flood buyouts top $2B since 1993
$7 million project to offset erosion in Houma Navigational Canal
New Orleans "desolate"?~Gambit
No Gore, No Foul -The New Orleans Running of the Bulls, in Photos
~Kat Arnold, NOLA DEFENDER
First Look: High Hat~Blackened Out
Tools of the Trade: Curing Burns
~Pauline's Pirates and Privateers
Eye Candy, a short retrospective by Suzanne E. Saunders
~Check out this preview!
Steve Earle and the Dukes recast the House of Blues as a honky-tonk
~Keith Spera Ivor van Heerden whistleblower lawsuit against LSU's wrongful firing to move forward, says Judge
Harry Shearer Uneasy With Corps in New Katrina Flood Film
~Charles Karel Bouley
~
Hat Tweet @LeveesOrg
~At Right:
Harry Shearer speaks at the dedication of the
La. State Historical Marker commemorating the 17th Street Canal Breach. The bottom line is the levees failed the people of New Orleans during the storm and the Army Corps of Engineers failed them years prior.
The Corps, which is immune to prosecution for any negligence brought by flood projects they built thanks to Congress, knew, or should have known that building these levees on substandard soil would lead to catastrophic failure. They should have known that the useless and costly Mr. Go (Mississippi River-Golf Outlet) had a funnel effect that would push water in to the city.
In fact, their total oblivion to the facts was ruled "
gross negligence" by a federal court judge in a subsequent lawsuit; but they don't seem to care.
Senators to meet over future of Corps management of Missouri River
Parish OEP Director receives top state award ~Weekly Citizen~Gonzales, La. — Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Rick Webre recently received the President’s Award 2011, which is the highest award given by the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association (LEPA).
Shucking Oysters Takes Skill, Strength
City Park Fishing Pier - Grass Planting and Maintenance, Sat. July 16th
~Watershed NOLA
Lake Charles company invests in alga
New federal policy aims to expand U.S. fish farming in coastal waters
Gov. Jindal to announce state projects for BP damage assessment money
~Mark Schleifstein
Probe leaves questions about blowout preventer~Fuel Fix
Invisible~Library Chronicles
Summer Interview Series (Part One): Zack Kopplin ~CenLamar
The Art of the Jailhouse Tattoo
~Dege Legg on the ins and outs of getting inked in the clink ~
Gambit
Fundraising for La.'s 2nd bicentennial in a decade
~Hat Tweet HUD "Strong Cities, Strong Communities" pilot to include , transpo. :. What will this mean?
Review: Mayas Restaurant & Bar
~Ian McNulty on the Latin-American flavors at this Magazine Street spot
2011 San Fermin en Nueva Orleans!
I RAN WITH THE BULLS!
~katieRUNSthis
What’s New at Tales of the Cocktail
~Colleen Rush, NewOrleans.com
Checkpoint Charlie’s, The Music Box and DIY Choices
~Disenfranchised Citizen
Does 'Treme' Hate Modern Jazz?
~ Will Layman, PopMatters
~ Hat Tweet ~Today's Events: Steve Earle comes back from the dead at , Paul Sanchez & Swing dance classes on WWOZ~
GAMBIT~
ANTIGRAVITY ZEITGEIST~
NOLAEATS~
NOMENU
Support WWOZ online! I renewed my membership online and so can you.
(:--Please Join OZ Online--:) Thank you! Toll'im Editilla sent'yaz!
Space Shuttle Atlantis's Last Launch: A Look Back At The Most Historic Images
BP oil spill, Katrina/Federal Flood show that we need a technology of thoughtfulness~Fred Commoner
The Big Uneasy Still Rolling Along: to Screen in Five California Theaters ~Levees.org
~Also~Harry Shearer Talks About Tearing Down the Army Corps of Engineers in The Big Uneasy~SF Weekly
Up-Close Look at Louisiana’s Disappearing Marshes
~National Geographic
Not self-evident: Our founding documents weren’t created equal
~Mark Moseley, The Lens
I sense a bunch of pissed off Chalmations are digging dirt on Judge Ginger here on Slabbed.
New Orleans public hospital board scraps federal financing request with HUD, facing opposition
Jindal orders state worker hiring freeze ~Michelle Millhollon
Pedicab policies approved by New Orleans City Council
Causeway again ''world's longest bridge''~WWL
Plant sale Saturday at City Park features roses
2011 New Orleans French Film Festival viewers guide
Meet five Nola fashion bloggers ~~Susan Langenhennig
Leaving Las Vegas...Thank God!
~He Said/She Said NOLA
Beasts and Brass with a Shot of Fernet Branca~Blackened Out
Black Feather Big Chief Lionel Delpit has become an ancestor
~Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame
Road Home settlement will benefit nearly 1,500 homeowners
Eastern Gulf of Mexico system slightly better organized
Let them eat cake: The GOP Mantra is billions in giveaways for big oil but go f*ck yourselves on that wetlands problem you have ~Slabbed
Obama administration objects to bill with no funding for Louisiana wetlands projects
Corps freshwater project moves forward
As Flood Waters Recede, New Land Appears in West Bay~Delta Dispatches
Final gate on Morganza being closed
Several blame Army Corps of Engineers for MO River flooding
More oil than first stated in Yellowstone River pipeline leak
~Today the Department of Transportation said it took Exxon about twice as long as the company originally reported to plug a pipeline leak in Montana. That means much more oil than Exxon first stated has flowed into the swollen Yellowstone River. Locals complain that useful information is hard to come by.
And this afternoon, state officials walked out of Exxon's command center to establish an independent investigation. From the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, Eve Troeh reports.
Essence Festival Interrupts Racial Segregation in New Orleans
~Caroline Heldman
Sula Foundation summer fundraising drive!
LSU adds electric car chargers
Guest Blogger Arielle Schecter: Weird Shit from the New Orleans Public Library ~NOLAFemmes
Interview: St. Roch art impresario holds forth from Tasmania on the wreckage left behind
~Ariella Cohen, The Lens
~Hat Tweet @ Kira “Gutter Gucci” Kaechele’s bagged on d carpet
The Beast Speaks, Interview with Nathaniel Zimet~Blackened Out
Press It Bistrot & Automat opening in CBD~Coleen Rush, NewOrleans.com
Air Sex Season 3: New Orleans
~Humid Beings
Running of the Bulls 2011: red, white and wine all over ~Gambit
Paying Musicians on Frenchmen–How Do We Do It? ~offBEAT
July 10 - July 17 (6) Lots more music links and photos on the site
Reputation ratings are based on real user ratings and they tell you how much other users trust this site.
How reliable are the ratings?
Trustworthiness |
| Excellent |
Vendor reliability |
| Excellent |
Privacy |
| Excellent |
Child Safety |
| Excellent |