FYI: CHADD is one the biggest Pharma front groups around. Read the following article which is by a colleague of mine and pass it far and wide. The heavy metals, allergies, and nutritional testing is definitely the way to go for ADHD symptoms. The ADHD pharmacologics have never been proven effective and are extremely dangerous to our children as you know! --Gwen

http://psychiatrized.org/Articles/why_was_steve_plog_fired_by_chad.htm

Why was Steve Plog fired by ChADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder) for talking about lab tests & nutrition?

My name is Steven Plog. In Jan of 2006, I served as the Las Vegas coordinator for ChADD
My position lasted just 30 days.

I'm 52 now, but at the age of 39 in a 30 minute interview with a psychiatrist recommended to me
by ChADD in Chicago, I was diagnosed by a visual evaluation as having "so-called ADD" and
given a prescription of Ritalin. Later I found out I was toxic and suffering from nutrient depletions,
not a neurotransmitter malfunction in my brain, that was diagnosed by simply talking to me.

ChADD claims to be a grass-roots support group for persons with “so-called” ADD, like me.
My firing for talking about nutrition proves that ChADD, in fact, is not a grass-roots group at
all, but is simply a front group for the psycho-pharmaceutical industry and drug companies,
working to forward their specific messages and increase profits.

I'm now founder of The Results Project www.resultsproject.net a non-profit organization who
is dedicated to getting people a proper diagnosis using lab tests, not visual evaluations.

In Sept of 2005 Heather Rockow then ChADD Coordinator for Las Vegas came to my meeting
where I presented lab test for symptoms of hyperactivity, depression, mood swings, attention
span etc.(With information from the lab tests, nutrition is the next step, not drugs. FYI)

Heather realized I had better information and better science than she was being sent by
ChADD and joined my 4 month program to help her husband, who was on 7 prescription
drugs per day and had been for 20 years. Turns out he was high in toxic metals and suffered
from multiple delayed food allergies. Dr. Robert Ellsworth, the doctor who orders the tests
said that after looking at the lab results stated that none of these results could be treated
with drugs, in fact they would make them worse.

Later, Heather stepped down from ChADD and recommenced me for the position.

I became the ChADD Chapter Coordinator for Las Vegas on January 1, 2006. Thinking
that other ChADD Coordinators might want this information like Heather did I called ChADD
HQ and asked if I could put a full page, full color ad in their ChADD magazine for a full year
about nutrition and lab tests.They said, "No".

When I asked why, they said all of their magazines are donated, and only the donors get their
info published. Big Pharma, selling Ritalin, Adderall etc., is the donor.

I then asked if I could donate an alternative magazine that I fund and send to ChADD Coordinators
to distribute for free to parents with info on lab tests and nutrition just like the drug companies.
They said, "No".

When I asked why, ChADD contends that they only distribute information that has science behind it,
and nutrition has none. Zero, Zip, Zilch. I said, "What about the over 100,000 published research
papers in major medical journals like JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, www.pubmed.gov of which many are by Nobel Prize Winners in Medicine?"

ChADD replied that the subject is closed for discussion and hung up on me.

Later they found out I was talking about lab tests and nutrition in my ChADD weekly meetings in
Vegas and terminated me as the Coordinator.

Ruth Hughes Deputy CEO of ChADD personally called me up to fire me. We talked for an hour and I
brought up multiple references such as:

American Naturopathic Medical Association (ANMA) (www.anma.com)
American Association of Orthomolecular Physicians ( www.orthomolecular.org)
Institute for Traditional Medicine ( www.itmonline.org )
American Nutraceutical Association (ANA) (www.ana-jana.org )

I told Ruth there's more proof from labs that nutrition works than there is proof that Lincoln was ever
president of the US. For an hour I brought up fact after fact that she couldn't dispute so she would
say; "We'll have to agree to disagree."

I also pointed out the ChADD Motto right out of their Coordinator Manual states:

"It is the philosophy of ChADD that persons seeking information, non-judgmental support and education
about AD/HD be able to participate in a setting which is non-discriminatory and promotes recognized
best practices." Link from Manual http://www.resultsproject.net/gfx/CHADD1.png

When I asked, "Wouldn't lab tests recognized by the FDA, AMA and NIH as "best practices" qualify to
be presented to parents in an unbiased ChADD meeting?"

She said, "We'll have to agree to disagree."

When I asked if I could bring outside materials to the open meetings Ruth said, "No products can be
sold in ChADD meetings." I asked why then meetings I've been to in Orlando & Dallas had drug reps
in the meeting presenting?" Ruth said, "We'll have to agree to disagree," fired me and hung up.
Termination Letter: http://www.resultsproject.net/gfx/CHADD2.png Last week I sent out an invitation to over 100 ChADD Coordinators across America after getting their
contact info from their website inviting them to my EXPO featuring speakers from top labs in the country.

This EXPO is open to parents, teachers, doctors and child advocates dealing with "so-called ADD"
What's Causing My Symptoms? http://www.whatcausedmysymptoms.com/ Sept. 14th Las Vegas.
(If you would like to attend the Vegas EXPO click the above link)

The invitation stated that as a ChADD Coordinator they could attend for FREE and then I gave them a
link with all the speakers. ( www.whatcausedmysymptoms.com/html/speakers.html )

These labs provide tests to measure sugar levels, food allergies, hormone levels, metal toxicity, nutrient
depletions, serotonin levels and anti-oxidants. These lab tests can point to physical causes for symptoms
such as bad memory, low attention span, hyperactivity, mood swings, anger, depression, fatigue,
restlessness, headaches, insomnia.

They also show that Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta & Prozac are not needed at all. Once the nutritional
deficiencies are addressed, most if not all of the symptoms disappear.

Their response? 100% turned me down and 5 threatened me for emailing them the invitation. Why would
100% of the people who supposedly care about children, not want to see evidence based solutions to
safely reverse a child's symptoms?

ChADD is a big supporter of TeenScreen another Big Pharma backed program that will have children
take a simple 20 question test and then if the laymen who scores it gets the score they want, that
child will be sent to a psychiatrist who will give them a visual evaluation with no lab testing and then
according to the latest study by, J AM Academy Adolescent Psychiatry 2002; 41:123-130
"9 out of 10 new psychiatrist will be put those children on drugs."

ChADD is just another front group for Big Pharma, which uses psychiatry to sell unnecessary,
dangerous, mind-altering drugs to children. They have over 20,000 members who are being told
that lab tests are unreliable and a psychiatrist visual evaluation is science and the drugs are
for an unseen mental problem.

If your doctor looked at you and said you had cancer (without conducting any tests) would you believe the diagnosis? Why then when a psychiatrist looks at you and says you need Ritalin, do you believe it?

Story Of A Small Boy

I just got this email. It's not really on line with our core message, which is the fact that SSRI anti-depressants, far from healing people mentally, make homicidal and suicidal killing machines. But this message certainly communicates the insanity that has infiltrated our society and our school system. It illustrates the problem with psych-oriented society and education:

Another success story- Many more need our help!

This young boy was only 2 years old when the pre-school teacher told his mom that he was not "fitting in". He was not willing to sing his "ABC" song, although he knew his alphabet perfectly. He apparently didn't glue things "correctly" on a page, and that was unsatisfactory to the teacher.

This young boy was put on an amphetamine drug that caused him to have severe weight loss, sleepless nights and his heart beating out of his chest, all upon the recommendation of a psychologist who said her son had ADHD.

This type of thing occurs on a regular basis!

This mom was fortunate in that she recognized the need to seek an alternative health practitioner who could help her son to safely get off of the drug and to get on a natural protocol to help heal the body.

This mom is now one of CCHR Florida's biggest and most helpful advocates!

I am asking you to come by my office or call me. I would like to have the opportunity to fill you in on what we are doing, as a team, to eradicate the harmful practices in the field of mental health.

One more person can make a difference and you can be that one person to join our team!

CCHR Florida has many different projects that can be done in life, at home, in our office, yet these projects need to be manned up.

Experience the pride of working with a team that gets the job done!

Call now or come by the office!

Laurie Anspach

Executive Director

CCHR Florida

1217 N. Ft. Harrison Ave., Clearwater

727-442-8820

Court Records Show Psych Drugs Involved In School Shooting

COURT RECORDS SHED NEW LIGHT ON OHIO SCHOOL SHOOTER

Asa Coon May Be Another Teen Under

the Influence of Psychiatric Drugs Resulting

in 29 Dead and 68 Wounded.

Cleveland juvenile court records obtained by the psychiatric watchdog group Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) show that Asa Coon, the 14-year-old Ohio school shooter who wounded four before taking his own life on Wednesday, had been prescribed psychiatric drugs including Trazodone, an antidepressant, and Clonidine, prescribed for “ADHD.” Although The New York Times reported that Coon had refused to take his “medication,” it failed to mention that the court records also state that the “Child shall be evaluated by a psychiatrist to review his medication and he shall follow all recommendations, including taking medications as prescribed.” This was in June 2006, and by November, the court determined that these conditions were met and the boy’s probation was consequently terminated.

CCHR’s long-standing investigation into the correlation between suicidal and homicidal effects of antidepressant drugs, predating the FDA's black box suicide warnings by more than 15 years, maintains that the drugs are often linked to acts of senseless violence yet this fact is often swept under the rug. Recent school shootings by teens under the influence of psychiatric drugs, documented by the FDA to cause suicidal behavior, mania, psychosis, hallucinations, hostility and “homicidal ideation,” have resulted in 29 dead and 68 wounded. With many other school shooters, their psychiatric drug use has never received the investigation merited by the violence-inducing effects of the drugs. Frequently, toxicology reports or medical records are never disclosed, or in the case of Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter, toxicology tests were only done on blood and not tissue, which would reveal if the shooter was experiencing violent withdrawal symptoms. A thorough toxicology report was merited by Cho’s former roommate’s observation of the shooter taking “prescription medication” as part of his daily routine, along with the fact that Cho’s records reveal he was prescribed psychiatric drugs in high school.

School shootings committed by individuals under the influence of psychiatric drugs include:

March 21, 2005: Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota: 16-year-old Jeff Weise, reportedly under the influence of the antidepressant Prozac, went on a shooting rampage at home and at his school, killing nine people and wounding seven before committing suicide.

April 10, 2001: Wahluke, Washington: 16-year-old Cory Baadsgaard took a rifle to his high school, and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage while on a high dose of the antidepressant Effexor.

March 22, 2001: El Cajon, California: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman was on two antidepressants, Effexor and Celexa, when he opened fire at his California high school wounding five.

May 20, 1999: Conyers, Georgia: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with a mix of antidepressants when he opened fire on and wounded 6 of his classmates.

April 20, 1999: Columbine, Colorado: 18-year-old Eric Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox when he and his partner Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 26 others before taking their own lives. The coroner confirmed that the antidepressant was in his system through toxicology reports while Dylan Klebold’s autopsy was never made public.

May 21, 1998: Springfield, Oregon: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his own parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22. Kinkel had been on Prozac.

Following the Red Lake Indian Reservation shooting in September 2005, the National Foundation of Women Legislators, together with American Indian tribal leaders, called for a Congressional investigation into the correlation between psychiatric drug use and school massacres. However, Congress has yet to investigate the psychiatric drug link to these senseless acts of violence. According to CCHR, an immediate Congressional investigation into this link is necessary to help prevent further tragedies in our nation’s schools.

For more information, read CCHR’s publication, Psychiatric Drugs and Anger Management Curricula—A Perspective on School Violence.

More Psychiatrists In Hot Water

There are now over 1700 entries on the public records page: http://www.psychsearch.net/public_records.html

State suspends Vero Beach psychiatrist's license after NYC charges revealed

By James Kirley
October 5, 2007

Vero Beach

The Florida Department of Health issued an emergency suspension of a Vero Beach psychiatrist's medical license this week after learning the doctor pleaded "not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect" to charges that he tried to kidnap a 2-year-old from his mother in New York City last year.

The doctor later told a court he thought the mother was from outer space. Dr. William John Johns III, 35, has been incarcerated in New York since his arrest in July 2006. "He believed he was a character in a movie and that other people were actually actors observing him," the order reads. Some time later, Johns reportedly drove to New York City. Along the way he tore a medication patch from his arm, heard voices and thought he was Jesus Christ, the order states

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Psychiatrist Reprimanded!?!? in 2002 Drug Intoxication Death

Dr. Charles Dack of Lakeland must pay a $6,000 fine and attend classes.
By Robin Williams Adams

October 6, 2007
The Ledger - Orlando

A Lakeland psychiatrist brought before the Florida Board of Medicine on Friday after one of his patients died of "multiple drug intoxication" will get a reprimand, pay a $6,000 fine and attend classes intended to prevent similar situations.

Dack treated a woman for seven years for depression and back pain. Before her death in March 2002, the state's administrative complaint said, she was on 1,300 milligrams of morphine a day and on 300 milligrams a day of Elavil, an antidepressant that also can be used to treat chronic pain. In addition to those drugs, Dack also prescribed other medicines.

Story here: http://www.theledger.com/article/20071006/NEWS/710060417/1134

A Congressman Speaks Out On Big Pharma's Pet Plan

Ron Paul's

Texas Straight Talk

A Weekly Column

9/30/2007

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Congressional Control of Health Care is Dangerous for Children

This week Congress is again grasping for more control over the health of American children with the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Parents who think federally subsidized health care might be a good idea should be careful what they wish for.

Despite political rhetoric about a War on Drugs, federally-funded programs result in far more teenage drug use than the most successful pill pusher on the playground. These pills are given out as a result of dubious universal mental health screening programs for school children, supposedly directed toward finding mental disorders or suicidal tendencies. The use of antipsychotic medication in children has increased fivefold between 1995 and 2002. More than 2.5 million children are now taking these medications, and many children are taking multiple drugs at one time.

With universal mental health screening being implemented in schools, pharmaceutical companies stand to increase their customer base even more, and many parents are rightfully concerned. Opponents of one such program called TeenScreen, claim it wrongly diagnoses children as much as 84% of the time, often incorrectly labeling them, resulting in the assigning of medications that can be very damaging. While we are still awaiting evidence that there are benefits to mental health screening programs, evidence that these drugs actually cause violent psychotic episodes is mounting.

Many parents have very valid concerns about the drugs to which a child labeled as “suicidal” or “depressed,” or even ADHD, could be subjected. Of further concern is the subjectivity of diagnosis of mental health disorders. The symptoms of ADHD are strikingly similar to indications that a child is gifted, and bored in an unchallenging classroom. In fact, these programs, and many of the syndromes they attempt to screen for, are highly questionable. Parents are wise to question them.

As it stands now, parental consent is required for these screening programs, but in some cases mere passive consent is legal. Passive consent is obtained when a parent receives a consent form and fails to object to the screening. In other words, failure to reply is considered affirmative consent. In fact, TeenScreen advocates incorporating their program into the curriculum as a way to by-pass any consent requirement. These universal, or mandatory, screening programs being called for by TeenScreen and the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health should be resisted.

Consent must be express, written, voluntary and informed. Programs that refuse to give parents this amount of respect, should not receive federal funding. Moreover, parents should not be pressured into screening or drugging their children with the threat that not doing so constitutes child abuse or neglect. My bill, The Parental Consent Act of 2007 is aimed at stopping federal funding of these programs.

We don’t need a village, a bureaucrat, or the pharmaceutical industry raising our children. That’s what parents need to be doing.

Bad Drugs Getting Bad Press

The press is catching on about Prozac and other psychiatric drugs and their ill effects. Here are some examples of recent articles:

. The New York Times ran an article entitled "Senators Seek Public Listing of Payments to Doctors" regarding the bill introduced by Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) that require the makers of drugs and medical devices to report publicly nearly all payments and gifts to doctors. The bill results from growing concerns that free meals and consulting payments-which in some cases have exceeded $100,000 annually-lead doctors to prescribe more expensive drugs and devices, increasing the costs of health care and sometimes endangering patients. Companies with at least $100 million in annual revenues would have to make quarterly disclosures of gifts or payments that exceed $25, and the reports would be posted on a website. "Right now, the public has no way to know whether a doctor's been given money that might affect prescribing habits," said Senator Charles E.
Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and one of the bill's authors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/washington/07doctors.html?ref=us


. The Chicago Tribune published an article entitled, "Drug-related deaths, injuries reported to FDA surged between 1998-2005, study finds:
Report expected to add momentum to push in Washington to reform the federal government's monitoring of prescription drugs." A new study in the American Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine found that the number of serious drug injuries and deaths reported to the FDA have already more than doubled between 1998 and 2005. This information adds to a growing momentum for Congress to enact strong monitoring of prescription drugs by the FDA.
Senator Charles Grassley stated, "This report is another indication that the FDA's post-market review of drugs must be rigorous and timely. The FDA needs to commit itself to considering and acting on the additional data gathered from more adverse events being reported considering the deaths associated with these adverse drug events."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070910fda,0,1014894.story

. Pharmalot.com ran an article entitled "Antidepressant Use and Conflicts of Interest" about the controversy over the financial conflicts of interest between the pharmaceutical and psychiatric industries. The journalist, Ed Silverman, points out that (at least) two of the authors of a recent pro-psych study have ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
http://www.pharmalot.com/2007/09/antidepressants-suicide-and-conflicts-of-interest/

. RxPG News ran an article entitled "Depression: SSRI anti-depressants may cause stillbirth" about how women who take antidepressants during pregnancy face the risk of a stillborn baby, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Canadian researchers at the University of Ottawa compared the health of babies born to
972 women taking SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) with that of babies born to mothers who did not use anti-depressants. They found that women using the drugs were twice as likely to have a stillbirth, and were twice as likely to have a low birth weight baby and also more likely to have seizures.
http://www.rxpgnews.com/antidepressants/SSRI_anti- depressants_may_cause_stillbirth_3965_3965.shtml

. FOX News ran an article on its website entitled "Anna Nicole Smith Psychiatrist Forced to Close Office Amid Financial Woes" regarding how Dr.
Khristine Eroshevic, who wrote 11 different prescriptions for Smith, has already closed one of her offices due to a current Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation. The psychiatrist blames it on bad press and the fallout from being accused of filling a medicine cabinet on behalf of Smith.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295785,00.html

. Forbes.com ran an article entitled "Food Additives Could Fuel Hyperactivity in Kids-Study makes first link between colorings, preservatives and behavioral woes" that covers how British researchers found some common food colorings and preservatives appear to increase the risk of hyperactive behavior among children. The link between food additives and hyperactivity has long been suspected, but this is the first study to show a direct connection. In the study, published in the Sept. 6 issue of The Lancet, researchers gave drinks containing additives to 297 children. The children were in two groups: 3 year olds and 8 and 9 year olds. The drinks contained artificial food coloring and additives such as sodium benzoate, a preservative. As a control, some children were given drinks without additives. Over the six weeks of the trial, researchers found that children in both age groups who drank the drinks containing additives displayed significantly more hyperactive behavior. These children also had shorter attention spans.
http://www.forbes.com/health/feeds/hscout/2007/09/06/hscout608014.html

Another State Sues Eli Lilly Over Zyprexa

Arkansas is planning a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, Janssen Pharmaceutica and Astra Zeneca for “improper and unlawful marketing” of anti-psychotic drugs. The drugs in question are Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel. The Medicaid program of Arkansas has spent $200 million on those drugs over the last eight years and, under Arkansas’ Medicaid fraud law, the state could collect three times that much.

You can find copies of the lawsuits other states have filed here: www.psychsearch.net/lawsuits.html along with newspaper articles.

The tally so far?

8 States have sued Eli Lilly regarding Zyprexa: Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia.

3 states have sued Janssen regarding Risperdal: Louisiana, Texas and Pennsylvania

1 state has sued AstraZeneca regarding Seroquel: Pennsylvania

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/202128/

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

State plans lawsuit against drug firms

BY SETH BLOMELEY

September 22, 2007

Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel told lawmakers Friday he’s planning a lawsuit against three major pharmaceutical manufacturers over a “marketing scheme” for anti-psychotic drugs paid for by the state Medicaid program.

Some taking the drugs shouldn’t have been given them and have developed side effects, he said.

McDaniel told the Legislative Council he could seek as much as $ 600 million for the state and that he’s taking the unusual step of contracting with a private law firm to take the lead in the litigation. He said the firm, Bailey Perrin Bailey LLP of Houston, will bear all the expenses and its fee will be 15 percent of the award.

“It’s extraordinarily reasonable for the quality of work we’re going to get,” McDaniel said. “This particular matter is so large that frankly the AG’s office could not handle it internally. If [the suit ] is not successful we don’t owe a dollar.”

He said the firm is handling similar litigation for six other states.

A national coalition of about 30 state attorneys general is involved in a similar investigation of anti-psychotic drug marketing but McDaniel said he declined to join that effort because he feared Arkansas would “be lost in the shuffle.”

McDaniel said Gov. Mike Beebe was satisfied that the state needed outside help in the case. Lawmakers voiced no objections.

The lawsuit should be filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court within three to four weeks, a spokesman for McDaniel said.

A letter McDaniel wrote to the council says “substantial evidence” exists to support a claim by the state for “improper and unlawful marketing” of anti-psychiotic drugs by Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis; Janssen Pharmaceutica of Titusville, N. J.; and Astra Zeneca, an international company formed by the union of a United Kingdom firm and a Swedish firm.

The drugs in question are Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel.

Officials with those companies didn’t return telephone messages left by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

McDaniel told reporters after the meeting that researchers have known since the 1950 s that anti-psychotic drugs had serious side effects, including weight gain, hypoglycemia and Type II diabetes.

“What [the three companies ] did was intentionally hide that and downplayed the efficacy of alternatives,” he said.

McDaniel said the companies engaged in a “marketing scheme that was very effective to where a drug that was never approved by the [federal Food and Drug Administration ] for children... the elderly... or run of the mill behavioral disorders like depression, all of a sudden was touted to America’s doctors, Arkansas ’ doctors, as a miracle drug. So, a child that has [attention deficit disorder ] is taking a drug that was never authorized for that child, causing serious complications... that could last a lifetime.”

He said the state Medicaid program has spent $ 200 million on those drugs over the last eight years and, under Arkansas’ Medicaid fraud law, the state could collect three times that much.

But it’s unclear at this point what percentage of those Medicaid prescriptions were necessary and what percentage were improper, said McDaniel’s chief deputy, Justin Allen.

A McDaniel spokesman couldn’t say late Friday what the statute of limitations is on Medicaid fraud cases.

McDaniel said what generally happens is that pharmaceutical representatives will push doctors to prescribe the drugs based on what the company tells them.

“Technically, does the doctor have liability if he thereafter prescribes it ? Maybe, but the concern for the state is the overall marketing scheme, and those who made profit over it,” he said. “The [state ] Medical Board should certainly give consideration regarding how much trust is placed in pharmaceutical reps.”

McDaniel said the prescriptions in questions were “off-label.”

Scott Smith, a lobbyist for the Arkansas Medical Society, a doctors’ trade association, said that means for uses not approved by the FDA.

“It’s my understanding that physicians can prescribe medicines for uses not approved by the FDA for a particular ailment but the distinction is that pharmaceutical companies are not supposed to be marketing physicians for that,” Smith said.

Waiting for FDA approval before prescribing the drugs can take years and waiting could mean “life or death” for some patients, he said.

Smith said he hasn’t heard of any problems with Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel in Arkansas.

Officials at the Arkansas State Medicaid Board couldn’t be reached for comment late Friday.

According to a St. Petersburg Times report in July, the Medicaid program in Florida last year spent $ 27. 5 million on anti-psychotic drugs for children, an increase of nearly 500 percent over the last seven years.

That report said that Medicaid and insurance programs have pushed the drugs as a less costly alternative to psychotherapy for children, but some psychiatrists say the drugs are too risky for children because the young patients’ brains are still developing.

Arkansas Medicaid Director Roy Jeffus and a Department of Human Services spokesman didn’t return messages Friday.

During the legislative meeting, Sen. Ruth Whitaker, R-Cedarville, asked McDaniel about the law firm’s qualifications.

McDaniel said he started working on the issue in the days before he was sworn in in January. He said only about eight firms nationwide are qualified to handle such litigation. He said he interviewed applicants for the contract “exhaustively” and the Houston firm rose to the top because it is already working on the issue in representing Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Alaska, New Mexico, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The other firms that applied for the contract were: The Miller Firm LLC of Orange, Va. Allen L. Rothenbert P. C. of Yardley, Pa. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler LLP of Radnor, Pa. Heninger Garrison Davis LLC of Birmingham, Ala.

“This is going to be massive litigation and it was not selected willy-nilly,” he told Whitaker.

McDaniel emphasized that his office, not the Houston firm, would have final say on major decisions involving the lawsuit.

Problems arose in 1998 when former Attorney General Winston Bryant arranged for a San Diego firm to help him in the state’s litigation against tobacco companies. But Bryant never used the firm and settled the litigation along with other states. Arkansas’ expected take was between $ 50 million and $ 60 million a year. The firm sued the state, saying it had done work for Arkansas and deserved to be compensated, but the state prevailed in court.

Since then, the attorney general’s office has only used one private firm on a contingency basis and that was under Attorney General Mark Pryor and involved asbestos claims. That was Dies & Hile LLP of Orange, Texas, said spokesman Gabe Holmstrom.

McDaniel said he expects no problems with the Houston firm.

“This law firm has never contributed to my campaigns... nor the lawyers in the firm, nor their spouses, nor their kids, I think,” he told reporters. “If there is a kid or a cousin that slipped through we didn’t know about it.” Information for this article was contributed by Laura Kellams of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Ban ADHD Drugs, Not Tag

Ban ADHD Drugs, Not Tag
by Tony Zizza

It appears the last good thing coming out of the state of Colorado is Coors beer. Everything else has taken a horrible left hand turn down the drain.

Does the mountain air in Colorado have a way of turning their education system into a circus?

Colorado is home to the infamous college professor/goon Ward Churchill, and it is home to a high school education system where guest speakers/programs ramble on and on about the pleasures of sex and drugs. There is no shame. There is no standards. There is no accountability. One would think things could not go off the deep end any further in Colorado.

Oh, but they can. And they have.

The Associated Press reported on September 2nd that an "elementary school has banned tag on its playground after some children complained they were harassed or chased against their will."

Color me cynical, but these are just the kind of children who will only become, well, adult children. I'm sure their parents (if you can call them that) are a bunch of wimps. This is a terribly unfunny joke. The world is laughing at us.

According to Cindy Fesgen, assistant principal of the Discovery Canyon Campus school, tag "causes a lot of conflict on the playground." And the issue is - what? Life in the form of human relationships is a constant crash course in conflict. Conflict is how you work things out. Grow. Cooperate. Negotiate. Give up. Ms. Fegen must think that children who do not experience conflict in elementary school outside play will somehow have an inside track on never experiencing conflict in the adult world. Oops. I forgot. My bad. Ms. Fegen and her Discovery Canyon warriors will never know what it's like to be a full grown adult.

Banning tag on an elementary school playground? This is social engineering run amok, and run right out of a sewer.

But it brings a great idea to mind. It's an idea that should be brought to fruition. It could save thousands and thousands of young minds, not just in "Hey, anything goes!" Colorado, but in schools all across this dynamic country of ours.

Ban ADHD drugs, not tag. That's right. You would have to be a moron with a capital M if you do not realize that the emotional impact of tag on an elementary school student is a hell of a lot less severe than the emotional and physical impact ADHD drugs have on students whose minds and bodies are still - growing. Did you hear me? Still growing!

Are these weasels who rail on about tag and how it must be banned, also willing to ban ADHD drugs? I mean, doesn't every school in America have several drug free zone signs in the front entrance for everyone to see, already? What kind of parent or teacher could support ramming Methylphenidate down the throat of an innocent child, but could not support that same child engaging in a simple game of tag?

We're awful teachers and parents if we give tag the boot, but continue to welcome in Big Pharma to our schools and homes. We welcome in Big Pharma in the form of subjective mental disorders, the acceptance of their drugs, and the constant advertising of the ADHD lie in the form of advertising in magazines such as Woman's Day, Redbook and Family Circle. Millions of parents and teachers read these magazines, and see the slick ADHD machine at work.

How sad. Picture a parent-teacher conference or a family dinner (rare, these days) where voices carry to ban the emotional evil of tag, but the mighty label of ADHD is accepted without question. Without debate. Without a wonder. Without a second thought as to the real damage an ADHD diagnosis/drug does to the heart and mind of a small innocent child. Well, at least lousy parents (more interested in their careers or tennis) are relieved with the comfort their child's eventual compliance brings.

So, what kind of parent/teacher are you? Are you against the simple game of tag, but for a child being schooled in ADHD doublespeak and dangerous drugs? Where does your soul weigh in on this one?

Come on, this one is a no brainer.

Ban ADHD drugs, not tag.

Read the original article at

http://www.therealitycheck.org/GuestColumnist/tzizza090307.htm

Drug Companies Paying Docs To Over-Prescribe Psych Drugs

The New York Times found that psychiatrists who took the most money from makers of antipsychotic drugs tended to prescribe the drugs to children the most often. These and other stories have helped to fuel a growing interest among state and federal officials to document and restrict payments to doctors from drug makers.

A new federal bill called the "Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2007" has been filed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/washington/07doctors.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

New York Times
Senators Seek Public Listing of Payments to Doctors
By GARDINER HARRIS
September 7, 2007

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 — Makers of drugs and medical devices would be required to report publicly nearly all payments and gifts to doctors under legislation introduced Thursday in the Senate.

“Right now, the public has no way to know whether a doctor’s been given money that might affect prescribing habits,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and one of the bill’s authors.

Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin, said drug and medical device makers had long defended their payments and gifts to doctors as appropriate.

“If that is the case, full disclosure will only serve to prove them right,” Mr. Kohl said.

Ken Johnson, senior vice president at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said, “A new law is not necessary when pharmaceutical marketing is already heavily regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.”

The F.D.A. does not regulate the gifts or consulting arrangements drug and device makers routinely provide doctors, and it reviews only a fraction of the scripted marketing talks doctors make on companies’ behalf.

The bill results from growing concerns that free meals and consulting payments — which in some cases have exceeded $100,000 annually — lead doctors to prescribe more expensive drugs and devices, increasing the costs of health care and sometimes endangering patients.

Minnesota and Vermont require disclosures, and the legislatures of Maine and West Virginia have passed measures that may soon require them. Other states are considering similar measures.

The bill introduced Thursday is more comprehensive than any state measure. It includes medical device companies, not just drug makers, and has a more inclusive list of gifts and benefits that must be disclosed.

For instance, any payments or benefits made “directly, indirectly, through an agent, subsidiary or other third party” would have to be disclosed. That could include payments by universities and an array of small companies that, with industry financing, set up conferences for influential doctors at expensive hotels. Such payments have never been disclosed on a widespread basis.

The bill would also require the disclosure of financing for continuing medical education. Drug and device makers now underwrite much of the continuing education that is required of nearly all doctors.

Companies with at least $100 million in annual revenues would have to make quarterly disclosures of gifts or payments that exceed $25, and the reports would be posted on a Web site. Companies failing to make the disclosures — and many have not complied with the laws in Minnesota and Vermont — would be fined at least $10,000 per infraction.
Under the bill, the provision of free drug samples and financing for clinical trials would not have to be disclosed.

Rob Restuccia, executive director of the Prescription Project, a nonprofit group that works to eliminate conflicts of interest in medicine, said some academic medical centers already restricted gifts to faculty members. Greater disclosures would lead to more such restrictions, Mr. Restuccia said.

---

22,975 petition signatures against TeenScreen: http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY

Message From AbleChild.org (Owen Wilson Data Included)

A Message From AbleChild.org:

We have learned that the Psychiatric and Drug Companies want to repeal the Black Box Suicide Warning that we all worked so hard to obtain. Trusting parents believed that placing their loved ones onto antidepressants was the right thing to do. No one ever told them about the deadly side effects of antidepressant-induced suicide. We only have to look at the recent Suicide Attempt of Owen Wilson, who was being treated with ANTIDEPRESSANTS to understand the fact that antidepressants are ineffective and dangerous. ("he did not overdose, "an attorney for Wilson told Access Hollywood. The attorney also said the actor did not have his stomach pumped. The attorney said Wilson had been taking antidepressants, but was not aware of any other drugs in his system at the time of the incident.). We need to ensure that the Black Box Warning remains on this product. We can no longer believe slanted studies paid for by those who profit from the very same product they are trying to sell. We question the findings of this study based on the fact that toxicity reports on the suicide victims were not release nor their medical records to indicate whether they were already using antidepressants. Take a moment for all suicide victims and take the vote. Should the Black Box be repealed or should it remain on the product?


A quick vote: Do you think the Drug Companies and Psychiatric Industry should be allowed to repeal the Black Box Warning. Vote Here

Thank you for all of your support and donations !

Respectfully,

Sheila Matthews
Co-Founder

Copyright 2001- 2007 Ablechild (Parents for Label and Drug Free Education). All rights reserved.
Ablechild is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, Section 501(c) (3) charitable organization,
and donations are deductible under the provisions of the IRS Tax Code.
Ablechild and the Ablechild logo is a Trademark of Ablechild, Inc.

The Truth About Increases In Suicide

There is a lot of "noise" running in the press about how suicides have gone up since the black box warnings for antidepressants were issued. It is total B.S.

^{The CDC (Center for Disease Control) reports an increase in youth suicide from 2003 to 2004 and some "experts" are blaming this increase on the decline in antidepressant use among youth. However, the Black Box Warning on SSRI-Class psychiatric drugs was not approved until September 2004, didn't go into affect until Jan/Feb 2005.}

From Rosie Mysenberg (SSRI stories):

1) Across the country, the media are publishing an article concerning statistics on antidepressant use among youth in 2003 and 2004. They report a decrease in antidepressant use among youth and an increase in suicides. However, the report which came out from the American Psychiatric Association in 2004 reported an increase of 8% in antidepressant use among 19's and under. This statistic was for the first six months of 2004. [Note: the Black Box Warnings were not approved until September 2004]

2) Paragraph 11 reads: "In 2003, U.S. physicians wrote 15 million antidepressant prescriptions for patients under age 18, according to FDA data. In the first six months of 2004, antidepressant prescriptions for children increased by almost 8 percent, despite the new drug labeling." [Again, the Black Box Warnings were not approved until September 2004]

3) This is data from Medco Health Solutions, which manages pharmacy benefit programs. on 2005-2006. Notice the numbers.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070517/prescription-drug-use-up-in-teen-girls

List of growth in prescription drug claims for 2001-2006 in girls and boys aged 10-19:

IT SHOWS ANTIDEPRESSANT RATES SINCE 2006 HAVE BEEN RISING NOT FALLING!

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs. Up nearly 74% for girls and 37% for boys
• Antidepressants. Up more than 9% in girls and less than 1% in boys
• Antipsychotics. Up more than 117% in girls and almost 71% in boys
• Sleep aids. Up more than 80% in girls and about 64% in boys

Back To School: Pencils, Pens and Meds

Full story here: http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/admark/la-oe-klein20aug20,1,5517982.story?coll=la-headlines-business-advert
Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2007
Pencils, pens, meds
As kids head to class, pharmaceutical companies ramp up their drug marketing

Back-to-school season is in full swing. Time to pick out a backpack, sneakers and a stimulant medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Nearly 2 million children in the United States are diagnosed with ADHD...

Besides time off from school, many kids with ADHD get a summer "vacation" from the prescription medications...

Children in the U.S. are 10 times more likely to take a stimulant medication for ADHD than are kids in Europe.

The U.S., ...consumes about 85% of the stimulants manufactured for ADHD.

More: Drug Companies Employ Ethics-Challenged Docs

The St. Petersburg Times exposed a couple of Florida psychiatrists today in an article entitled:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/02/Worldandnation/Who_s_judging_drugs.shtml

Who's judging drugs?

St. Petersburg Times

September 2, 2007

"You might think that when pharmaceutical companies hire a doctor to test new drugs, they automatically would reject someone disciplined for "gross or repeated malpractice." You would be wrong. A St. Petersburg Times analysis of public databases identified several doctors who have conducted clinical trials despite run-ins with the Florida Board of Medicine. "

Clinical trial - a process in which a medication or other medical treatment is tested for its safety and effectiveness

The Times wrote about:

Psychiatrist Serge Vilvar of North Miami Beach

Reprimanded, fined $50,000, suspended for 6 months, and put on a 1 year probation after the Florida Health Department found that he gave $3-million worth of unnecessary therapy to at least 14 patients. He worked on clinical trials after the Health Department initiated disciplinary action.

Psychiatrist Abbey Strauss of Boca Raton

Fined $15,000 for prescribing painkillers to a patient in excessive and inappropriate quantities which endangered the patient's health

Strauss has also conducted clinical trials after the Health Department initiated disciplinary action.

A Note From Congressman Dan Burton

Parental consent for mental health screens

I am a co-sponsor of the “Parental Consent Act of 2007”(H.R. 2387) which seeks to essentially prohibit any student mental health screening program that allows mental health screening of individuals under 18 years of age without the express, written, voluntary, informed consent of the parent or legal guardian of the individual involved.

I appreciate the value of having mental health problems diagnosed and treated early but I have serious concerns about universal or mandatory mental health screening. I am worried that federally funded universal or mandatory mental health screening in schools without parental consent could potentially lead to labeling more children as “ADD” or “hyperactive” and thus force more kids into taking possibly dangerous psychotropic drugs, such as Ritalin, against their parents' wishes. Many children have already suffered harmful side effects from using psychotropic drugs. These side effects can include mania, violence, dependence, and weight gain. Furthermore, it is known that parents have been threatened by school districts with child abuse charges if they resist efforts to drug their children.

I know that some people believe that my concerns are overblown but I feel very strongly that parents' have a fundamental right to raise their children as they see fit and that includes making decision about evaluation and treatment of mental health conditions.

Indiana 5th District
Congressman Dan Burton

Plaintiffs Find Payday Elusive in Vioxx Cases

By ALEX BERENSON

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/alex_berenson/index.html?inline=nyt-per

KEENE, Tex. - In Carol Ernst's eyes, two years ago she won a measure of justice.

On Aug. 19, 2005, a Texas jury awarded Mrs. Ernst $253.5 million after concluding that Merck & Company and its painkiller Vioxx had caused the death of her husband, Robert, in 2001. At a news conference after the verdict, Mrs. Ernst said she was pleased that jurors had punished Merck for hiding Vioxx's heart risks. "This has been a long road," she said. "I just know that it was a road that I had to run and I had to finish."

But her comfort was premature. Merck, the third-largest American drug maker, appealed the verdict - which Texas laws on punitive damages automatically reduced to $26.1 million. Until higher courts rule on the appeal, Merck is not obligated to pay. So Mrs. Ernst, 62, has yet to receive any money.

In fact, none of the 45,000 people who have sued Merck, contending that they or their loved ones suffered heart attacks or strokes after taking Vioxx, have received payments from the company. The lawsuits continue, for now in a state of legal limbo, with little prospect of resolution.

In combating the litigation, Merck has made an aggressive, and so far successful, bet that forcing plaintiffs to trial will reduce the number of Vioxx lawsuits and, ultimately, its liability.

Promising to contest every case, Merck has spent more than $1 billion over the last three years in legal fees. It has refused, at least publicly, to consider even the possibility of an overall settlement to resolve all the lawsuits at once.

The strategy's successes, from the view of Merck and its shareholders, are clear. In the last year, the company has won most of Vioxx cases that have reached juries. Though its stock plunged immediately after the Robert Ernst verdict, it has since risen 80 percent, easily outpacing those of other big drug makers. And estimates of Merck's ultimate liability, once as high as $25 billion, are now closer to $5 billion, said C. Anthony Butler of Lehman Brothers .

The Merck executive most closely associated with the company's strategy, Kenneth Frazier, its general counsel, has prospered. In July, Mr. Frazier was promoted to president of the global human health division, where he oversees the marketing and sales forces, half of Merck's 60,000 employees.

When Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in 2004, after a clinical trial found that the drug increased the risk of heart attacks when taken for 18 months or more, some predicted the company's doom. More than 20 million people in the United States had taken Vioxx, and some scientists estimated that as many as 100,000 might have suffered heart attacks. Merck said it had adequately warned patients and doctors of Vioxx's heart risks and that it never knowingly endangered patients.

The pace of Vioxx-related lawsuits, after soaring in 2005 and 2006, has fallen slightly this year, as plaintiffs' lawyers shy away from cases where they lack strong evidence that their clients took Vioxx for several months before having a heart attack. Lawyers have withdrawn several cases as they were about to go to trial.

"It seems to have worked quite well," Peter Schuck, a professor at Yale Law School who specializes in complex litigation, said of Merck's strategy. "They have discouraged the plaintiffs' bar from litigating these cases." The legal system is not set up to try thousands of cases at once, and nearly all Vioxx lawsuits are caught up in the pretrial process.

Plaintiffs' lawyers have tried to get the courts to combine all the potential suits into a single class action. But judges have rejected that tactic. Because the facts of individual cases can vary greatly, each case must be tried separately, courts have ruled.

So far, fewer than 20 Vioxx suits have reached juries, an average of 9 in each of the last two years. At this rate, the backlog of Vioxx cases will take years to work through and many plaintiffs may die before they get their day in court.

Even if they win, it will take years for plaintiffs to be compensated. Merck has appealed every case it has lost. In the case of Mrs.

Ernst, if her award is upheld, she will not be paid before 2010 at the earliest, her lawyer, W. Mark Lanier of Houston, said.

After the 2005 verdict, analysts wondered how Merck would overcome evidence presented in the case, showing that the company had been concerned about Vioxx's potential heart risks as early as 1997, two years before it began selling the drug.

"The possibility of increased C.V. events is of great concern," a Merck scientist, Dr. Alise Reicin, wrote in a 1997 e-mail message." "C.V. events" is medical shorthand for cardiovascular incidents like heart attacks. "I just can't wait to be the one to present those results to senior management," Dr. Reicin's message continued.

Other documents offered at the trial showed that in March 2000, Dr. Edward M. Scolnick, then Merck's top scientist, said a clinical trial had confirmed Vioxx's risks. Documents also showed that Merck resisted efforts at the Food and Drug Administration to add clear warnings to Vioxx's label.

Even after losing the Ernst case, Merck did not back down from its strategy of fighting every case. The company may have felt it had little choice, said Benjamin Zipursky, a law professor at Fordham University, who has followed the Vioxx litigation. Heart attacks are the most common cause of death in the United States, and more than 105 million Vioxx prescriptions were written in the five years before Merck stopped selling the drug. If it had not taken a hard line, Mr. Zipursky said, Merck would have faced an essentially unlimited pool of plaintiffs.

Merck has said it could not be certain that Vioxx caused heart attacks before seeing the results of a clinical trial in 2004. The company has also focused on making plaintiffs prove, with prescription records, that they took Vioxx continuously for months or years before a heart attack. It has also pointed out at trial that patients had other risk factors, like obesity or high cholesterol.

"We're continuing our strategy of looking at each case on the individual facts," said Theodore V. H. Mayer, a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, the law firm coordinating Merck's defense. "Did they really have a heart attack? Did they really take the medicine? Did they take the medicine in proximity to the heart attack?"

Mr. Mayer said Merck was trying to clear the backlog of 45,000 cases. The company is moving through pretrial discovery - the process of learning the basic facts in a case - in 500 lawsuits in New Jersey alone, he said. The company faces 16,000 lawsuits in New Jersey.

Mr. Mayer said Merck had not yet found a single case where it believed that Vioxx caused a heart attack. Heart attacks are "a very, very common injury that occurs with or without medicine in many people," he said.

It is that attitude that infuriates the plaintiffs' lawyers. They say that since Merck has acknowledged that Vioxx can cause heart attacks in people who take it for more than 18 months, the company should be moving to settle some cases.

"Merck's goal is to manipulate the legal system to deprive justice to tens of thousands of people whose cases can never be heard," said Mr. Lanier, the lawyer who represented Mrs. Ernst. "Justice delayed is justice denied." He and other leading plaintiffs' lawyers say they will continue to pursue cases against Merck.

Robert J. Gordon, a partner at the law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg in New York, which represents about 3,300 Vioxx plaintiffs, maintains that pressure on Merck to reach a broad settlement may increase in 2008.

Judge Eldon E. Fallon in New Orleans, who is overseeing the 8,000 federal lawsuits filed against Merck, and Judge Carol E. Higbee in Atlantic City, who is overseeing state court suits in New Jersey, may be tiring of Merck's refusal to settle, Mr. Gordon said. "The courts are in the business of removing cases from their dockets," he noted.

But Mr. Schuck, the Yale law professor, said that plaintiffs might be disappointed if they think that pressure from judges will get Merck to settle. A faster trial calendar might actually benefit the company, which can coordinate its defense experts and trial teams more easily than the plaintiffs can, he said. And Merck's recent run of successes - it has won five of the last six cases and seven of the last nine, including one mistrial - has given it the upper hand, Mr. Schuck said. "Nobody can make them settle," he said.

Of course, the case against Vioxx is not settled either, and Merck's exposure continues. In the cases the company has lost, it has faced large damage awards. And it still faces the possibility of a class-action lawsuit from the insurers, states and other third-party groups that provided insurance coverage. The New Jersey Supreme Court, for instance, is considering whether a lawsuit should be allowed to proceed as a class action or whether different insurers should be forced to bring separate suits.

Several state attorneys general have sued the company, and federal prosecutors continue to investigate.

That leaves plaintiffs like Carol Ernst with little to do but wait."They could have all of their money and everything I own if they would just give him back to me," she said of her husband. "But they can't do that."

Copyright 2007

The "Constant Gardener" Is Quite Real

If you haven't seen the film The Constant Gardener starring Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes, be sure to rent it. If you have seen it, you know how it depicts the ruthless way in which major drug companies exploit third-world countries as guinea-pig areas for drugs, covering up their occasional disasters by paying off the right people to make the problem go away.

But here's a real-life version of the same thing: It's at http://www.physorg.com/news106016990.html

Here's part of the article:

Pfizer Facing 4 Court Cases in Nigeria

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer

Anas Mustapha foreground who was one of the children tested with the meningitis epidemic experimental drug and now suffering brain damage stands near the entrance of their house in Kano, Nigeria Thursday, July 19, 2007 New York-based Pfizer is facing four court cases two filed by the federal government , two by the state in Nigeria over a decade-old drug trial in the northern Muslim city of Kano. It is accused of using a 1996 meningitis epidemic to push through a sloppily managed study without the full understanding of the parents or the proper regulatory approval. AP Photo/George Osodi)

(AP) -- A security guard in this dusty Nigerian city is living with tragedy - a 14-year-old son whose dazed eyes, slow speech and uneven gait signal brain damage. Mustapha Mohammed says he knows who to blame - Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug maker.

New York-based Pfizer is facing four court cases - two filed by the Nigerian government and two by officials in the northern Nigerian state where Mohammed lives - over a decade-old drug study that included Mohammed's son.

The company, which denies any wrongdoing, is accused of using a 1996 meningitis epidemic to push through a sloppily managed drug study that contributed to death in some and infirmities in others.

The fallout provides a case study of the ethical dilemmas that arise when Western medical priorities run into Third World poverty and ignorance. The communication gap between those handing out medical alms and those receiving has bred mistrust and anger in Kano - with damaging, far-reaching effect.

The Pfizer case was cited as one reason residents of Kano and the state of the same name boycotted a polio vaccine in 2003, fearing it was a plot to make Africans infertile. Polio exploded in Nigeria and eventually spread to 25 previously polio-free countries.

Though the meningitis epidemic is long over and the polio vaccination program is back on track, misinformation and suspicion persist.

READ THE REST AT THE LINK ABOVE...

Lawmaker Calls for Registry of Drug Firms' Payments to Doctors

New York Times
Lawmaker Calls for Registry of Drug Firms Paying Doctors
By GARDINER HARRIS
August 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 — An influential Republican senator says he will propose legislation requiring drug makers to disclose the payments they make to doctors for services like consulting, lectures and attendance at seminars.

The lawmaker, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, cited as an example the case of a prominent child psychiatrist, who he said made $180,000 over just two years from the maker of an antipsychotic drug now widely prescribed for children.

Mr. Grassley is one of several lawmakers to propose a federal registry of such payments. Minnesota, Vermont and Maine already have similar registries, and other states are considering them.

The proposals are a response to growing concerns that payments from drug makers can affect doctors’ prescribing habits, increase the cost of health care and, in some cases, endanger patients’ health.

The drug industry opposes such registries, saying they would discourage doctors from receiving needed education. John Bentivoglio, a lawyer in Washington who represents drug makers, said the registries would be a burden for the companies and might be misinterpreted.

“One of the concerns is that these payments are seen as bribes,” Mr. Bentivoglio said. “That’s not the case. The vast majority are lawful payments for services.”

In a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Mr. Grassley said he had started an investigation into these practices. Noting that most universities require academic researchers to disclose such payments, he said, “I have sent letters to a handful of universities to understand how well such a reporting system actually works.”

These letters have uncovered several problems, Mr. Grassley said. First, universities do not verify the information filed by their professors, so “the only person who knows if the reported income is accurate and complete is the doctor who is receiving the money.”

Also, the universities generally keep this information secret from patients, who have no way of knowing whether their doctor is on a drug maker’s payroll, he said.

“So if there is a doctor getting thousands of dollars from a drug company — payments that might be affecting his or her objectivity — the only people outside the pharmaceutical industry who will probably ever know about this are the people at that very university,” he said.

Mr. Grassley said that he had asked how much the child psychiatrist, Dr. Melissa DelBello at the University of Cincinnati, made from AstraZeneca, the London-based drug giant that manufactures the antipsychotic Seroquel.

Dr. DelBello’s studies of Seroquel in children have helped to fuel the widespread pediatric use of antipsychotic medicines. Those studies were inconclusive, but she has described them as demonstrating that Seroquel is effective in some children.

Asked in a past newspaper interview how much she was paid by AstraZeneca to help market Seroquel, she had said, “Trust me, I don’t make very much.” Mr. Grassley said this week that her disclosure forms at the University of Cincinnati show she received $100,000 from AstraZeneca in 2003 and $80,000 in 2004. Dr. DelBello consults for seven other drug makers as well. She did not respond to requests for comment this week.

Richard Puff, a university spokesman, said he did not know how much Dr. DelBello made in combined payments from all eight drug makers. Asked if the institution did anything to verify its professors’ financial disclosures, he replied, “We do trust our faculty when they’re making these disclosures.”

Mr. Grassley said he would propose that drug makers make public any payments made to doctors who bill the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, which would include nearly all doctors.

Noting that voters can easily look up the contributions made to elected officials, he asked, “Shouldn’t we hold doctors to similar standards?”

Bill To Drug Pregnant Women! Help Stop It.

YOUR URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED on a bill quickly moving through Congress called "The Mother's Act" (H.R. 20) that calls for pregnant women to be screened for mental disorders and new mothers to be screened for "postpartum depression," resulting in their being prescribed dangerous antidepressants or other psychiatric drugs.

1) Click here: http://www.capwiz.com/cchr/issues/alert/?alertid=10099911 to make your voice heard!

2) Just put in your zip code, click on pre-written paragraphs of your choice and the letter will be directed to your US Congressman! If you are a mother, please let your Representative know this. The software makes it very fast and easy.

3) Please forward to your friends to do the same.