Politicians and experts meet at parliament to explore link between record antidepressant prescribing and disability

[NJJ]

Politicians and experts meet at parliament to explore link between record antidepressant prescribing and disability

11/05/2016 in News, Psychiatric drugs

 

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence is meeting on 11 May at Westminster to discuss evidence of the link between the rise in disability claimants and the record level of antidepressant prescribing.  The event is being hosted by Paul Flynn MP, co-chair of the APPG.

 

Moncrieff concludes: “The increasing use of all types of drugs for mental disorders, and especially antidepressants, in England since the 1990s does not appear to have improved the rising trends in disability claims for these conditions.  We need to have a serious rethink about current levels of prescribing as it may well be that, for various reasons, the drugs are in fact contributing to the disability burden, resulting in significant social and economic costs.”

 

http://cepuk.org/2016/05/11/politicians-experts-meet-explore-link-record-antidepressant-prescribing-disability/

[nz11]

Thanks for posting i just sent a letter two days ago to our local member of parliament on this very theme so i was amazed to read of this.

[NJJ]

That's great NZ11 I hope u get more of a response than I did. Mine did go as far as the federal minister with the below comments and then just palmed it off to the Therapitic Goods Administration who responded with regurgitated material from their website.

 

"Medical practitioners and pharmacists receive a very high standard of training including training in pharmacology and genetics. The effect of genetics on the way patients metabolize drugs is an emerging field with research still being conducted, this may explain why information can sometimes seem inconsistent"

 

"The medical board has a strict code of conduct regarding professional behaviour. A practitioner found to have a conflict of interest with third parties such as pharmaceutical companies will risk losing their registration. I certainly would not condone this "

 

"One-off reports about specific adverse events may not be disseminated immediately, as they may be assessed as not having an impact on the wider community at that time. This is why the importance of reporting all adverse events, so trends are identified and clinicians are alerted"

[nz11]

Just spent 5 yrs trying to get SAEs reported and to no avail no doctor reports them in fact my exdoc refused.

[btdt]

SAEs?

[LexAnger]

SAEs?

Serious adverse events--SAE

[NJJ]

 

Dr Lucires letter to the TGA

 

'I personally made 500 serious ADR reports and 193 reports of admissions to hospital for suicidal and homicidal behaviours and a homicide from one rural (pop. 150,000) psychiatric unit in 2003-2004. These are serious adverse reactions and included multiple admissions. If I include what happened to the same patients in 2005, there were 7 suicides, an SSRI plus atypical bleeding death and a homicide.

Who looks at these reports or are they just binned? The issue that needs to be transparent is: Does TGA has conflicts of interest? Is it serving two masters? Or does it simply lack the relevant skills to see that these drugs have caused a public health disaster?.Even rare side effects become a public health problem if a drug is given to is given to a large number of people so with a million Australians on antidepressants, which cause suicide at a rate of 189-240/100,000 in clinical trials and follow up studies causes suicide attempts and violence at some 20-40 times that rate, yet TGA manages to turn a blind eye on the effects to the side effects of these drugs in the community'

 

Her letter can be found here.

https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/review-tga-transparency-1101-submission-yolande-lucire2.pdf

[nz11]

Thanks for posting that NJJ .

 

I think Lucire is an Australian treasure.

 

Yep SAEs = serious adverse events.

Apparently GPs in my country are under no obligation to report them. This is disgraceful imo.

[nz11]

wow just working my way slowly through the Whitaker slide show - 51 slides

 

This was slide 44...i cant believe this first statistic  ..... its mind bogglingly insane!!! yet we all know the reason....

 

The Burden of Bipolar Illness on Society Today

• In 1955, there were 12,750 adults hospitalized with bipolar
illness in the United States. Today there are nearly six
million adults in the United States with this diagnosis.

• According to the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 83
percent of people diagnosed with bipolar are “severely
impaired” in some facet of their lives. (5 million adults.)

• Bipolar illness is now said to be the sixth leading cause of
medical-related disability in the world.

[nz11]

Slide 50

 

Drug-induced Oppositional Tolerance:
A Universal Problem?

“Continued drug treatment may induce processes that are the
opposite of what the medication originally produced.” This may
“cause a worsening of the illness, continue for a period of time
after discontinuation of the medication, and may not be
reversible.”

-Rif El-Mallakh, University of Louisville, 2011
Source: El-Mallakh, R. “Tardive dysphoria: The role of long-term antidepressant use in inducing chronic depression.
Medical Hypotheses 76 (2011): 769-773.

[LexAnger]

Considering how many are not even counted in the disability category as I believe the statistics is based only on the successful claims for social welfare, only disabled in silence!

[btdt]

“PPIs,” whose Product information (PI) warns against their use in conjunction with drugs metabolized by CYP450 2C19

 

I did not know this.. guess I should have figured it out by now from the link above Dr Lucires quoted below so you don't have to go back up for it is you have not read it yet read it. 

 

Just spent 5 yrs trying to get SAEs reported and to no avail no doctor reports them in fact my exdoc refused.

I went to Emerg when I was first put on a ppi while still on Effexor... I had slept 24 hours was dizzy could not walk.  The doc there refused to consider a drug reaction and actually told me to stop the drug for 2-3 days then restart it. I ignored her received no treatment help or decent advice. . I know exactly who she is tho I don't live in that city any longer I could find her name easily enough.  What of the doctors..like this?  Before making a report of a SAE... I thought they were called SAR ...reaction not event but whatever... a doctor would have to know there was a such an event.  A few days after when I could see i looked up side effects of that particular PPI listed were all the symptoms I had.  Today is the first time I heard of the warning posted above. 

 

A note on how this works... is some countries and it may be a global thing... there is a books called Death by Prescription I just looked it up on Google.. there are mistakes in the description ( I am so paranoid about such "mistakes"  I think it not accidental) 

https://books.google.ca/books/about/Death_by_Prescription.html?id=GvW-oQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

mistakes

"After fifteen years of Vanessa taking Prepulsid to alleviate a stomach disorder"  She did not take the drug for 15 years she was 15 years old had taken the drug a very short time ... sorry the point is if you want to know more about how this system works you can learn some things about it in his book 

It did not hurt that this particular father had a brother who was a surgeon and he became a member of parliment to try and make some chages. He learned 80 people had died of the same drug his daughter took and nothing was done... if my memory was better I could tell you more... I recall it explains the system ... why these SAE don't insired swift action 

there is a bit about it at RISK here

http://rxisk.org/sudden-cardiac-death-vanessas-story/

Dr Lucires letter to the TGA

'I personally made 500 serious ADR reports and 193 reports of admissions to hospital for suicidal and homicidal behaviours and a homicide from one rural (pop. 150,000) psychiatric unit in 2003-2004. These are serious adverse reactions and included multiple admissions. If I include what happened to the same patients in 2005, there were 7 suicides, an SSRI plus atypical bleeding death and a homicide.
Who looks at these reports or are they just binned? The issue that needs to be transparent is: Does TGA has conflicts of interest? Is it serving two masters? Or does it simply lack the relevant skills to see that these drugs have caused a public health disaster?.Even rare side effects become a public health problem if a drug is given to is given to a large number of people so with a million Australians on antidepressants, which cause suicide at a rate of 189-240/100,000 in clinical trials and follow up studies causes suicide attempts and violence at some 20-40 times that rate, yet TGA manages to turn a blind eye on the effects to the side effects of these drugs in the community'

Her letter can be found here.
https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/review-tga-transparency-1101-submission-yolande-lucire2.pdf

Every country could use a "Yolande Lucire"  should we all get one they would just be ignored anyway ... 

 

Canadians have a problem do you have the same  problem?

 

 

Canada & the Move to Abdicate the Health Protection Duty

In 1997, the Canadian Health Care Coalition reports that Canada’s Bureau of Drug Research was quietly dismantled and facilities for independent lab investigations of pharmaceutical products destroyed. The agency’s scientists were recognized internationally for independent research on drug quality, toxicity, bioequivalence and clinical application of drugs. It was at this juncture that Dr. Michelle Brill-Edwards resigned as the head of the pediatrics branch because she could no longer assure the Canadian public of the efficacy of new drugs that now relied on the pharmaceutical companies to ensure their safety.

 

Also in 1997, food safety research was terminated and labs were secretly dismantled. Projects cut included: investigations into detection of deadly microorganisms and harmful bacteria, toxic chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, residues of volatile contaminants, additives, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, glass particles and insect parts and genetically modified organisms in food.

 

In February 1997, according to the Canadian Health Care Coalition, Health Protection Branch drug reviewers were instructed that the client is the company who pays for the service. “By adopting a client focus and service orientation, regulatory organizations can help those seeking approval to comply with regulations as easy as possible, promote voluntary compliance, earn goodwill from the regulated community, ... and improve the working atmosphere.” The bulletin also says: “there is no conflict of interest between delivering a service to a client and functioning in a regulatory environment.

 

https://www.cautbulletin.ca/en_article.asp?articleid=737

"

 

I can't help myself I am sorry.... 

 

http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/boilingfrog/critical-dialogue-dr-michele-brill-edwards

"Dr. Michele Brill-Edwards, former senior physician with Health Canada shares her first hand experiences with how Big Pharma influences and interferes with government regulators in their work to protect Canadians health. 

We caught up with Dr. Brill-Edwards during our stop in Ottawa, on the cross Canada, Healthy Mind Body Planet Tour.
Before driving to the train, she sat down with us in a small urban park. Under the warmth of an early spring day we learned how deeply systemic the problems are with drug regulation and approvals in Canada. But despite the power of Big Pharma, and the intentional inadequacies within the bureaucracy charged with protecting our health we find an ally in the struggle to inform and activate for positive change.

Interview by Angela Bischoff on April 13, 2006"

 

It seems like a lot but it you average it out over years it is not much I could paper rooms with books I read on this subject forger utube videos and internet chats.... and wd sites... 

 

[btdt]

Since pharma is global maybe the answer to this problem will be global... there are only two international sites I can think of one will be poo pood as a cult... or something like that it is here I can't really recall why maybe scientilogy can't spell it either.... 

 

http://www.drugawareness.org/

 

the other is here

http://antidepressantwithdrawal.info/

 

on the last site I noticed a title called toxicantidepressants thought it may be the source of all those great videos we have including the one on rubic cube of healing... but did not find the videos... 

 

http://toxicantidepressants.fr/

 

it would appear others have thought of approaching this globally long before me... 

 

I have no self control today so i am out of line in posting this here at this thread give me a pass or move it... to me it all fits together like a hand in a glove but that is just me and I am not the template... if there is one. 

 

peace all

[btdt]

Slide 50

 

Drug-induced Oppositional Tolerance:

A Universal Problem?

“Continued drug treatment may induce processes that are the

opposite of what the medication originally produced.” This may

“cause a worsening of the illness, continue for a period of time

after discontinuation of the medication, and may not be

reversible.”

-Rif El-Mallakh, University of Louisville, 2011

Source: El-Mallakh, R. “Tardive dysphoria: The role of long-term antidepressant use in inducing chronic depression.

Medical Hypotheses 76 (2011): 769-773.

 may not be

reversible.”

maybe in 9 years we will see... 8 now

[nz11]

Considering how many are not even counted in the disability category as I believe the statistics is based only on the successful claims for social welfare, only disabled in silence!

I agree recorded numbers are the tip of the iceburg.

[nz11]

This one sums it up very well really.

 

 

[btdt]

I was not given Ad for depression but for pain... if any shrink asked me the depression questions now about sleep and food and how long it had gone on I would walk out with a script. It has been 8+ years of this as the least of horrors depression would be one of the least problematic issue for my wd except for the extreme negativity at the 18 month mark which would likely get me a score of severe clinical depression... it is appalling to think back on how missing that one appointment could have spared me a lifetime of crap. 

[nz11]

I was not given Ad for depression but for pain... if any shrink asked me the depression questions now about sleep and food and how long it had gone on I would walk out with a script. It has been 8+ years of this as the least of horrors depression would be one of the least problematic issue for my wd except for the extreme negativity at the 18 month mark which would likely get me a score of severe clinical depression... it is appalling to think back on how missing that one appointment could have spared me a lifetime of crap. 

Snap!

[mammaP]

What we have been waiting for, the video of the parliamentary meeting to discuss rising prescriptions for psych drugs and rising disability. 2 hours long so grab a cuppa! Just got the link so haven't seen it myself yet. 

 

http://cepuk.org/2016/05/27/video-now-available-appg-event-link-rising-prescribing-disability/

[Shep]

Thanks for adding the video, MammaP.

 

I only recognized Whitaker and Montcrieff, so I looked up the others and found this as a PDF from the MiA site with info on all of the various speakers:

 

http://www.madinamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Invitation-to-APPG-PDD-11-May-2016.pdf

 

The testimonies from various people in the audience were really powerful. I hope this reaches the right people at some point so this senseless drugging / disabling will end. 

[nz11]

Listening to the talk this morning thanks MammaP for posting that.

 

Paul Brett at 43.15 mins says he had a steady and gradual recovery for 8 years

Is now back at work but for 5 years incapable of  working.

Wow that guys story is all of our stories.

[LexAnger]

Thanks MammaP! Great sharing!

I feel even sadder now about the future after hearing how these drugs harms our brains and it may not be reversible.

[Terry4949]

I am starting to think the same , I have been living like I am in severe withdrawel for 2 years now and even tapering slowly isn't making any difference to my suffering , the severe moods and depression is unrelenting and I have started to believe that it is not reversible , I think if you taper of the meds slowly and do not reach the poop out effect but do a gradual 10% reduction you can recover , but once you cross that line you are beyond repair , no amount of sleep excersise supplements and eating healthily have made any difference to my life ,

[LexAnger]

I am starting to think the same , I have been living like I am in severe withdrawel for 2 years now and even tapering slowly isn't making any difference to my suffering , the severe moods and depression is unrelenting and I have started to believe that it is not reversible , I think if you taper of the meds slowly and do not reach the poop out effect but do a gradual 10% reduction you can recover , but once you cross that line you are beyond repair , no amount of sleep excersise supplements and eating healthily have made any difference to my life ,

Yeah, I feel the same sometimes wanting to jump off, but knowing this hell is bottomless we'd better still stick to the slow taper. I am reminded of each time by the worsening status when I reduce too fast.