Medicating the Military

At least one in six service members is on some form of psychiatric drug.

And many troops are taking more than one kind, mixing several pills in daily “cocktails” — for example, an antidepressant with an antipsychotic to prevent nightmares, plus an anti-epileptic to reduce headaches — despite minimal clinical research testing such combinations.

The drugs come with serious side effects: They can impair motor skills, reduce reaction times and generally make a war fighter less effective. Some double the risk for suicide, prompting doctors — and Congress — to question whether these drugs are connected to the rising rate of military suicides.

“It’s really a large-scale experiment. We are experimenting with changing people’s cognition and behavior,” said Dr. Grace Jackson, a former Navy psychiatrist.'

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Reality Reversals Continue: Scientists Now Propose That Ritalin Boosts Learning

Just in case you doubted the complete incompetence of medical scientists after the H1N1 swine flu scam, they are now claiming that the ADHD drug Ritalin boosts learning.

Oh yes, you heard right! Ritalin, a drug that causes brain changes similar to cocaine is going to help people learn now. Ritalin is the brand name for methylphenidate. Although introduced way back in 1956, experts still aren’t sure exactly how it works. It is a stimulant. Methylphenidate affects the way a patient’s brain responds to impulses.

It can cause anorexia, heart palpitations, blood pressure/pulse changes, cardiac arrhythmia, anemia, psychosis, liver failure, brain inflammation, decreased white blood cell count among other effects. However, according to scientists studying the drug, the risks just don’t exceed the learning benefits acquired by children who use the drug.'

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Our Toxic World: Nine-Year-Old Girl Diagnosed With Dementia

A 13-year-old girl living in the United Kingdom has been suffering from early-onset dementia since the age of nine, according to British news reports.

Dementia refers to a cluster of roughly 100 different incurable diseases in which the brain's cognitive functioning progressively deteriorates. The most common form is Alzheimer's disease. Most dementia affects people over the age of 65, but early onset forms are becoming more common.'

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Antidepressants Cause Suicide, Violence in Soldiers

Here are the starting facts: Death by suicide is at record levels in the armed services. Simultaneously the use of antidepressant drugs is also at record levels, including brand names like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa and Lexapro....

Some observed that the drugs often change the personality of the soldiers, making them irritable, edgy, and angry. They fear these drugs many unleash impulsive violence. Meanwhile, because many soldiers don't want to take psychiatric medications, they avoid seeking any kind of help.'

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'Scandalous Abuse' of the Elderly Prescribed Antipsychotics in Hospital Exposed

Tens of thousands of vulnerable dementia patients are being prescribed 'chemical cosh' drugs in hospital wards in a 'scandalous abuse' of the elderly, ten leading health organisations have said in a letter to The Daily Telegraph.

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States Drug Foster Kids to Death - Medical Neglect?

A shocking 31 percent of teenagers in foster care in the state of Florida have been placed on psychotropic drugs, the Miami Herald has revealed.

"It is doubtful that so many children in Florida have severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia," wrote columnist Daniel Shoer Roth. "Rather, the majority are minors removed from their homes and carted from one foster home to another, from one school to another. In addition, they must make that emotional roller-coaster ride with precious little psychological aid."

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Big Pharma Bribes Doctors to Hook Your Kids on Drugs

As part of this legal proceeding, Biederman was forced to provide documents relating to his interactions with Johnson & Johnson, the giant pharmaceutical company. These documents included presentations he made over several years summarizing the work of his center financed by Johnson & Johnson. On March 20, 2009, the New York Times reported that Biederman pitched Johnson & Johnson that his proposed research studies on its antipsychotic drug Risperdal would turn out favorably for Johnson & Johnson -- and then Biederman delivered the goods.

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Disease Mongering Galore: Panel Says ALL Teens Should be Screened for "Depression"

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued a new recommendation, published in the journal Pediatrics, that all children between the ages of 12 and 18 be regularly screened for the symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD).



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Ritalin ADHD Drug Linked to 500 Percent Increased Risk of Sudden Death in Children

Just how dangerous are the amphetamine stimulant drugs prescribed for children with so-called ADHD? According to scientific research funded by the FDA and the National Institute of Mental Health, drugs such as Ritalin increase the risk of sudden death by five hundred percent among children and teens.

In these cases of sudden death, the child suddenly collapses and dies, only to be discovered later by parents or siblings. That's what happened to Matthew Hohmann in 2004, and according to this new research, it keeps happening to more and more children at a rate that's 500 percent higher than would be considered typical for children of a similar age and health status.

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FDA Approval of Antipsychotics for Children Mirrors Bayer, AMA Approvals of Heroin as Cough Medicine for Children

Today an FDA advisory panel approved the prescribing of powerful mind-altering chemicals for children. Seroquel, Zyprexa and Goedon have now been approved by the advisory panel to be prescribed to children as young as 10 years old to treat a fictitious disease invented by psychiatrists and given the name "bipolar disorder." (There is no such thing as a bipolar disorder disease. It is merely a name assigned to children demonstrating the predictable side effects of correctable dietary imbalances.)

In light of this disturbing decision, it is instructive to remember the history of pharmaceutical medicine and children. One hundred and ten years ago, Bayer marketed heroin to children as a non-addictive alternative to morphine. Did I say "non-addictive?" Yes, it's right from the company's own marketing materials. It just goes to show you that drug companies have been lying to the public (and poisoning the children) for well over one hundred years.



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AstraZeneca Told Sales Reps to Lie About Seroquel-Diabetes Link

Drug giant AstraZeneca instructed its sales representatives to tell doctors that there was no link between its antipsychotic drug Seroquel and an increased risk of diabetes, even though studies conducted by the company had already shown otherwise, according to documents uncovered as part of a lawsuit.

AstraZeneca is the target of more than 9,000 lawsuits alleging that the company concealed information about the diabetes risks posed by Seroquel and that it illegally marketed the drug for "off label" uses not approved by the FDA.

Seroquel is approved only for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but is also prescribed off-label to treat anxiety and insomnia.

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Disgusting: Psychiatrists Warn About Warnings on Antidepressant Drugs (They'd Rather Have No Warnings at All)

Strong warnings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about suicide risks linked to antidepressant use in children and young adults have had a "spillover effect" on depression care in older adults, researchers said on Monday.

They said the warnings resulted in a lasting decline in depression diagnosis and treatment, even for older adults, and urged the FDA to revise its policy.

"Policy actions are required to counter the unintended consequences of reduced depression treatment," Anne Libby of the University of Colorado and her colleagues wrote in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

U.S. and European regulators sent out a series of public health warnings on use of antidepressant drugs beginning in 2003 after clinical trials showed they increased the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and teens.

In February 2005, the FDA added its strongest warning, a so-called black box, on the use of all antidepressants in children and teens to draw attention to the possible risks of these medications. In May 2007, it extended the warnings to young adults aged 18 to 24.

Many psychiatrists have criticized the warnings, saying they scare people away from effective treatment for depression, the leading cause of suicide.

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U.S. Military: Heavily Armed and Medicated

In deploying an all-volunteer army to fight two ongoing wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has increasingly relied on prescription drugs to keep its warriors on the front lines. In recent years, the number of military prescriptions for antidepressants, sleeping pills, and painkillers has risen as soldiers come home with battered bodies and troubled minds. And many of those service members are then sent back to war theaters in distant lands with bottles of medication to fortify them.

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Population Reduction: Just Take your Medicine

Government, Big Pharma Push Bill to Drug America’s Mothers

It’s called the Melanie Blocker Stokes Mothers Act and if passed it will turn countless women into lifelong customers for Big Pharma. It was killed in the Senate last year but it was reintroduced in January of this year. Democrat Senator Robert Menendez from New Jersey, home to a large number of drug companies, and Democrat Richard Durbin are the main sponsors of the bill in the Senate (S. 1375).

Evelyn Pringle, a columnist for Scoop Independent News, writes that the “true goal of the promoters of this Act is to transform women of child bearing age into life-long consumers of psychiatric treatment by screening women for a whole list of ‘mood’ and ‘anxiety’ disorders and not simply postpartum depression.” In short, the medical industry and Big Pharma want to deem pregnancy a mental illness and prescribe dangerous psychotropic drugs.

“The Mothers Act has the net affect of reclassifying the natural process of pregnancy and birth as a mental disorder that requires the use of unproven and extremely dangerous psychotropic medications (which can also easily harm the child). The bill was obviously written by the Big Pharma lobby and its passage into law would be considered laughable except that it is actually happening,” writes Byron Richards for NewsWithViews.

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Panel Advises Depression Screening for US Teens

An influential government-appointed medical panel is urging doctors to routinely screen all American teens for depression _ a bold step that acknowledges that nearly 2 million teens are affected by this debilitating condition.

Most are undiagnosed and untreated, said the panel, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which sets guidelines for doctors on a host of health issues.

The task force said that when followed by treatment, including psychotherapy, screening can help improve symptoms and help kids cope. Because depression can lead to persistent sadness, social isolation, school problems and even suicide, screening to treat it early is crucial, the panel said.

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German Chencellor Merkel Calls For Raids on Homes

Today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded even tougher gun control measures relating to storage of firearms and ammunition in Germany. With an audacity that defies belief the former East German communist also called for unannounced raids on homes and offices of registered firearm owners.

If Merkel was so concerned about the children, why would she not call for a ban on prescription of antidepressants, such as Prozac or Xanax. All mass shootings, including the latest German tragedy, have been connected with pychotropic drugs. SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are excessively prescribed to children and young people and cause violent and irrational behaviour in people.

SSRIs are big business for big Pharma and for the politicians who are sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. Who are you working for, Frau Merkel?

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Psychiatric Drug Use of German School Shooter Confirmed

From the facts that were known yesterday, it was already apparent that the shooter, Tim Kretschmer, was either on psychiatric medications or withdrawing from them. His behavior and choice of targets (including a worker at a psychiatric medical school) pointed strongly towards his use of antidepressant drugs, which are known to cause violent thoughts and behavior.Behind the scenes, I already knew from an industry source that Kretschmer had undergone psychiatric "treatment," but I could not name that source and thus chose not to publish that fact until it could be further corroborated.But today, the Associated Press confirms it. In a story widely published across the 'net'

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After Attacks, Europe Hurries to Tighten Gun Laws

Several European countries have restricted gun laws in the wake of school massacres, gang violence and other gun-related crimes:

_Finland announced plans Wednesday to impose stricter restrictions on firearms, including raising the minimum age for handgun ownership from 15 to 20. The proposal was prompted by two school massacres within a year in which lone gunmen opened fire on classmates and teachers.

_Germany, where a gunman killed at least 11 people Wednesday, raised the legal age for owning recreational firearms from 18 to 21 following a 2002 shooting in Erfurt that killed 16 people, including 12 teachers.

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Bitter Pill

Created to treat schizophrenia, Zyprexa wound up being used on misbehaving kids. How the pharmaceutical industry turned a flawed and dangerous drug into a $16 billion bonanza.

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