People with mental illness deserve much better treatment than
they have received to date. Although lobotomies and straitjackets are no longer
used, modern medications leave a lot to be desired. …
his electroshock doctor, Bernard M.
Coelho, MD, at Mercy Hospital is often
full with about 10 patients
who Ray believes are also scheduled for
electroshock. Giving multiple
electroshocks on the same morning is a common
practice, sometimes
called a “Shock Mill,” and can be very lucrative. …
The issue at stake is whether insurance companies can claim even though they
were not the targets of Lilly’s fraud: …
As part of the settlement
with the Justice Department, Lilly agreed to plead guilty to one
misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act related to the
off-label promotion of Zyprexa between 1999 and 2001. The guilty plea
says Lilly promoted the drug in elderly people as treatment for
dementia, including Alzheimer’s, although the drug isn’t approved for
such use.
…
They found 478 sudden cardiac deaths among those taking
the drugs, about twice the rate of the control group. The risk —
equivalent to 3 deaths for every 1,000 patients taking the drugs for a
year — was about the same whether people took the newer or older
medications. The higher the dose of the drug, the study found, the
higher the risk of sudden death. …
By prescribing strong medicines instead
of teaching children new choices using proven behavioral methods, we
short-circuit a child’s learning process and, even worse, lay the
tracks for a lifetime habit of responding to challenge and
disappointment with avoidance, denial and chemical dependency. …
Dr. Regier has forced psychiatrists
participating in the DSM process sign a secrecy agreement, and he has
refused to respond to contacts from organizations such as
MindFreedom, despite encouragement from World Health Organization. …
his award lecture, which was delivered in the auditorium
of AAAS headquarters), describes how control of protein synthesis
influences memory formation. …
“Patients with chronic neurodegenerative diseases frequently have many risk
factors for vitamin D insufficiency,” including advancing age, obesity,
avoidance of sun exposure, residence in northerly latitudes and having darker
skin. …
Researchers hypothesize, based upon several lines of evidence, that documented
chronically inadequate vitamin D intake in the United States,
particularly in the northern states and particularly in the elderly, is a
significant factor in the causes of Parkinson’s disease. …