"2. NSW Health has not funded any research into 'genetic evaluations for ability to metabolise drugs'.
3. to (5) The Chief Psychiatrist in consultation with the NSW Mental Health Clinical Advisory Council is currently considering these issues."


The classic Ponderers Response.

In the meantime, during the period of little ado about much, the occasional akathisia-induced homicide and suicides reach us through the press and the thermometer of drug-induced death continues to show a rise.

This is all happening in Australia too.
We need a False Claims Act and Qui Tam provisions. We have our Biedermans here and they need to be exposed,
TEXT FROM VERACARE: The program includes footage from the astounding videotaped deposition. In USA, a deposition is the evidence in chief for a court case, It is videotaped and circulated so that cross examination can be prepared.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TwdsYVHjGA

Dr. Joseph Biederman, the influential Harvard child psychiatrist whose financial relations with Janssen Pharmaceutica prompted Congressional investigation as they were deemed in violation of federal conflict of interest disclosure regulations.

The deposition includes a slide presentation in which Dr. Biederman promises Johnson & Johnson/ Janssen pharmaceuticals that his "planned studies of [the company's] medicines in children would yield results benefiting the company." The deposition also includes Dr. Biederman's assertion that his Harvard status ranks just below GOD...

Neither conflict of interest violations--nor the breach of scientific integrity in drug trials whose results were predetermined--resulted in any meaningful sanctions--either by Harvard or the National Institute of Mental Health--the federal agency that provided taxpayer support for Dr. Biederman's commercially driven drug research.

Thus, Dr. Biederman's self assurance may reflect his certainty that his privileged position is protected by the power structure.

Vera writes:(with some bitterness coming from experience) One is reminded of the ruling class of pigs in George Orwell' Animal Farm, who decree:

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others..."

FYI
Tonight Public Broadcasting (PBS) airs an investigative report about the drugging of children in foster care.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/uncategorized/need-to-know-january-7-20

This is happening here too but minister is not hearing over the louder voices of pharma-educated psychiatrists. This is why DOCS is overflowing, either kids and mothers get medicines and become disturbed on them.

Question asked on 13 May 2010 (session 54-1) and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 197 <http://bulletin/prod/la/lapaper.nsf/V3QnBySN/541~197/$file/197-QA-S.pdf> .
Answer received on 17 June 2010 and printed in Questions & Answers Paper No. 211 <http://bulletin/prod/la/lapaper.nsf/V3QnBySN/541~211/$file/211-QA-S.pdf> .10220—DEATHS DUE TO ZYPREXA AND RISPERDAL
Mr Daryl Maguire to the Deputy Premier, and Minister for Health—
1. Is the Minister aware that in Zyprexa and Risperdal clinical trials presented to the US FDA to get these drugs licensed, it was revealed that:
1. 1 in 208 (20) Zyprexa (olanzapine) subjects died;
2. 1 in 250 (12) risperidone clinical trial subjects died;
3. most of the deaths (21) were suicides?
2. Is the Minister aware of damages being paid to States and individuals consequent on litigation for fraudulent promotion of medication?
3. Is the Minister aware that by 2003, 288 deaths had been reported to the TGA of persons taking new "Atypical" drugs?
4. What warnings have been issued to patients and prescribers re the above drugs?
5. (a) Have these deaths been thoroughly investigated by coroners as they are in the USA, as described in the editorial provided to which an Australian (NSW) psychiatrist has contributed?
6. (b) Has an inquiry been made into what medications they were taking or had recently taken?

Answer—
I am advised:

(1) and (2) Agreement for drugs to be included for Australian use rests with the Commonwealth Government. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regularly evaluates prescription medicines for quality and safety and to ensure that the product is effective for its intended use. NSW Health ensures that any warnings issued by the TGA are included in relevant clinical guidelines.

(3) The TGA's Office of Medicines Safety Monitoring receives reports of suspected adverse reactions to prescribed medicines, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines and complementary medicines.

(4) The TGA provides advice on suspected adverse reactions to prescription medicines to the public and prescribers as required. Information is available to patients and prescribers in the Approved Product Information leaflets on medicines approved in Australia.

(5) Questions concerning the Coronial Process should be directed to the NSW Attorney General.

TIME Magazine on Psych Drugs and Violence (Posting No. 1 of 2)

Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence

By Maia Szalavitz Friday, January 7, 2011

When people consider the connections between drugs and violence, what typically comes to mind are illegal drugs... However medications… like Prozac… have also been linked to increase risk for violent, even homicidal behavior.

A new study from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices published in the journal PloS One and based on data from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System has identified 31 drugs that are disproportionately linked with reports of violent behavior towards others.

When one particular drug in a class of non-addictive drugs used to treat the same problem stands out, that suggests caution: unless the drug is being used to treat radically different groups of people, that drug may actually be the problem. Researchers calculated a ratio of risk for each drug compared to the others in the database, adjusting for various relevant factors that could create misleading comparisons.

(10) Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) first metabolite of venlafaxine and produced by it, Antidepressant which affects both serotonin and noradrenaline, is 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

(9) Venlafaxine (Effexor) also used to treat anxiety disorders. Effexor is 8.3 times more likely than other drugs to be related to violent behavior.

(8) Fluvoxamine (Luvox) Antidepressant that affects serotonin (SSRI), Luvox is 8.4 times more likely to be linked with violence

TIME Magazine on Psych Drugs and Violence (Posting No. 2 of 2)

Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence

By Maia Szalavitz Friday, January 7, 2011

(7) Triazolam (Halcion) A benzodiazepine which can be addictive, used to treat insomnia. Halcion is 8.7 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs.

(6) Atomoxetine (Strattera) Used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Strattera affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline and is 9 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to the average medication.

(5) Mefoquine (Lariam) A treatment for malaria, Lariam has long been linked with reports of bizarre behavior. It is 9.5 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs.

(4) Amphetamines: (Various) Amphetamines are used to treat ADHD and affect the brain’s dopamine and noradrenaline systems. They are 9.6 times more likely to be linked to violence, compared to other drugs.

(3) Paroxetine (Paxil) An SSRI antidepressant, Paxil is also linked with more severe withdrawal symptoms and a greater risk of birth defects compared to other medications in that class. It is 10.3 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs.

(2) Fluoxetine (Prozac) The first well-known SSRI antidepressant, Prozac is 10.9 times more likely to be linked with violence in comparison with other medications.

(1) Varenicline (Chantix) The anti-smoking medication Chantix affects the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, which helps reduce craving for smoking. Unfortunately, it’s 18 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs — by comparison, that number for Xyban is 3.9 and just 1.9 for nicotine replacement.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/#ixzz1APrGSh5M

I have had genetic tests performed for CYP450 metabolising enzymes, (2D6, 2C9 and 2C19) on over 100 normal folk had become suicidal and homicidal (and hallucinated) on antidepressants and antipsychotics or had other serious Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). I found that 98 could not metabolise these drugs because they lacked relevant genes. I have no tested Champix or Lariam subjects. Those with normal genes were on multiples of standard dose and polypharmacy, and their metabolism was overloaded, often with inhibitors of these metabolising enzymes. Most got polypharmacy (multiple drugs) as well, after they had become violent and suicidal, and it made their condition worse.
I have tested 10 formerly normal folk who killed mindlessly on anti depressants and all have serious genetic problems.
10 in a row is not convincing to some so I need more medication induced akathisia-homicide perpetrators and akathisia-suicide cases where DNA is still available. Whether these drugs cause suicide or homicide just depends on which way the gun is pointed. It is the same neurotoxic phenomenon. Akathisia.
This is a situation where the medical profession does not want to know, medical journals do not want to publish, and authorities do not want to hear. My colleagues and treat me with a 21st century version of how they treated Ignasz Semmelweiss who discovered in the mid 19th Century, before Pasteur, that doctors brought in unseen germs on their hands and fatally infected women during childbirth.
My experience with Zyprexa (olanzapine), Risperidal (risperidone) and Seroquel (quetiapine) is that they are as bad as Effexor in causing violence to self, causing suicide or homicide, as Effexor, but this gets blamed on the presumed "schizophrenia" being treated. Persons with mental illness were neither more suicidal or homicidal than the general population (there were no guards on psychiatric wards before Prozac) before we indiscriminately started to use medications that are catastrophic for the minority who carry these faulty genes while failing to recognise their adverse side effects the most dangerous of which is (recurring) akathisa,