The "Science" behind Psychiatric Drugs

I just came across this fascinating article about The Psychiatric Drug Crisis in the pharmaceutical industry.

The article covers not only that crisis, but also the history behind many psychiatric drugs and the complete lack of science behind them.

For example, the use of the drug lithium for people who experienced mania came about because it sedated guinea pigs that had been injected with the urine of manic patients. Honest, I kid you not. If you don't believe me, read the article (see the link above).

Here is a quote from the article:

By 1960, the major classes of psychiatric drugs—among them, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs, known as anxiolytics—had been discovered and were on their way to becoming a seventy-billion-dollar market. Having been discovered by accident, however, they lacked one important element: a theory that accounted for why they worked (or, in many cases, did not). That didn’t stop drug makers and doctors from claiming that they knew.

The article also exposes the truth about the myth of the "chemical imbalance," which even its long time proponents no longer espouse.

It's nice to have someone in the actual industry completely validate everything you've been saying for the past twenty plus years.

Criminal conduct by Eli Lilly costs them 1.42 Billion

Here is a report on the criminal conduct of Eli Lilly and how much it is costing them. But why aren't we seeing the people who did it prosecuted and thrown in jail? Well, let's hope someone in authority decides soon that it's time to put these criminals behind bars.

Scientology and Drugs - Attitudes and Rules

Eric asked: I know Scientology opposes the drugging of society, but I am unclear as to precisely what extent it stands in opposition to drug consumption, i.e. absolute opposition vs. nuanced opposition.

What, if anything, does Scientology have to say, for example, about "moderate" caffeine and/or alcohol consumption? Are Scientologists discouraged from drinking beer and caffeinated soda?

Hey Eric,

Great question.

The Church does its utmost to not interfere in people's lives. So there are no rules about what you can and can't do regarding drugs - other than the usual laws of the land.

It has been found that certain drugs affect Scientology Auditing, so there are rules about how long you have to wait after (for example) drinking a beer or taking a painkiller before you can get auditing.

The church policy about physical illness is that you should go to a competent practitioner in that field: e.g., an MD, a chiropractor, a nutritionist, etc. At that point it's up to the practitioner.

As to attitudes of Scientologists to drugs, there are some survey results here: Use Of Drugs/Alcohol.

The following data on attitudes to drugs is from my own experience and observations.

Illegal drugs: They are illegal, so we don't touch them.

Legal drugs that have been proven to be safe: if you need a drug because of a medical situation and it has been prescribed by a competent practitioner then you should take it. Ditto for over-the-counter stuff.

Scientologists are individuals. Most that I know are very careful about drugs and we have workable alternatives to them. For example, I'd say a Scientologist was less likely to take a painkiller for the pain from an injury than your average Joe, because we have alternative, very workable methods of handling pain (See Scientology Assists). But if you need a medical drug and it's the usual thing to take then you take it.

Here is an example: a friend of mine had a burst appendix. It was pretty severe and she needed a major operation to handle the peritonitis caused by it (she still has a 6 inch scar from this operation). After the operation she was put on Vicodin for the post-op pain - a powerful and potentially addictive painkiller. As soon as I could, I gave her a course of Scientology Assists and next day she didn't need the Vicodin anymore, she was able to go down to aspirin. After some more assists she didn't need any drugs at all.

Legal drugs that have been proven to be dangerous and to cause harm but are still on the market because the drug manufacturer makes billions from them: We are opposed to these. We don't take them. Examples of this sort of drug: Psychiatric Drug Side Effects Search Engine.

Other miscellaneous drugs such as alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, etc.: Some drugs can get in the way of Scientology Auditing. For example, you can't get auditing within 24 hours of drinking alcohol because it has been found that it will interfere with your spiritual progress. Same goes for some other drugs such as aspirin. So there is no restriction on you having a beer, just that you can't get auditing for 24 hours afterwards.

I've never seen anything regarding most other "minor" drugs such as caffeine or tobacco, it's personal choice.

My own personal preference is to stay away from any kind of drug as much as possible. If I have a physical problem then I'll first try something natural, if it doesn't work then I'll try something stronger, but I'll try to apply the Scientology principle of gradients. E.g., If I had a nasty systemic virus such as Chronic EBV, then maybe I'd start with dioxychlor, if it didn't handle it I'd move on to something stronger and more medical like doxycycline and if that didn't work then acyclovir (BTW: that's an actual example I know of). Of course, all this would be done under the guidance of a competent practitioner, the Church would not be involved in this sort of medical treatment in any way.

I hope that answers your question.

Mental Health Declaration of Human Rights

These are important rights. Watch the video and realize that everyone, no matter their mental state, needs these rights.

Film Review: Generation RX

Here is a review of the documentary "Generation RX":



You can read my review of this film here: Generation Rx - A must-see for all parents

ADHD drugs found to be ineffective in long-term study

A study of children on ADHD medication has found that over a period of eight years the drugs made no difference at all to the children in terms of behavior but that the drugs caused stunted growth. The other serious side-effects of these drugs were not mentioned.

Here is the complete article: Study admits that drugs may have long-term risk.

What's wrong with Clinical Trials?

Almost every day a new drug is labeled "safe and effective" by the FDA and released onto the market. Because it is "safe and effective" doctors start to prescribe it and people start to take it, but how "safe and effective" is it really? All to often, after months or years of use a "safe and effective" drug is found to be "deadly and ineffective". Examples abound, like thalidomide (the wonder drug that was found to cause horrific birth defects), Vioxx (which caused severe and sometimes fatal heart problems) and Zyprexa (which caused diabetes in tens of thousands of people).

What enabled the drug to be labeled "safe and effective" were the results from the procedure know as a "Clinical Trial". So it would seem like a good idea to understand exactly what a clinical trial is and what the results from it actually mean. Here is an eye-opening video that will explain it to you.

Generation Rx - A must-see for all parents

We know the depths to which corporate executives will descend in order to make a profit. For example, we saw Big Tobacco CEOs stand up before Congress and swear that cigarettes did not cause cancer. Later it was revealed that they knew their cigarettes caused cancer and they lied to protect their profits.

The same story has been going on for a couple of decades now in the pharmaceutical field. The most noticeable difference being that the ones standing up and blatantly lying about the dangerousness of certain billion dollar earning drugs are not Big Pharma CEOs but doctors and other "authorities" who are paid huge sums by Big Pharma.

The rampant corruption in the medical field and the toll it is taking in terms of human lives, and especially children's lives, is exposed in the new documentary Generation Rx, produced and directed by acclaimed documentary maker Kevin P. Miller. The film is a riveting must-see for every person who has any contact with the medical field.

If you are a parent you should see this movie if you don't want to make the mistakes that the parents featured in the movie made. "If I'd known there was a 4 in 100 chance of my daughter committing suicide while on these drugs," says one mother, "you can be sure I wouldn't have let her take them." Her daughter, who took the drugs because she was nervous about a school test, committed suicide just 24 hours after starting on a prescribed anti-depressant. Too late the parents started researching to find out what had happened and they discovered that the truth about the danger of these drugs is out there and easy to find.

The movie is filled with facts about the profits the drug companies make and the human suffering caused by these "safe and effective" drugs. Numerous experts are interviewed and all tell the same story: marketing replacing science, profit usurping help.

One interview that especially caught my attention was with award winning author Robert Whitaker. Whitaker admitted that initially he was a proponent of the "wonder drugs" but that when he looked into the science behind the drug company claims he found that it wasn't there. The drugs were backed by marketing, not science.

If you live on planet Earth, then you need to see this documentary. It can be purchased here: Generation Rx DVD.

Study shows that Narconon Drug Education Works

A peer-reviewed study published in the Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy Journal shows that the Narconon Drug Education program is effective in reducing drug use amongst youth.

The study said:

Results
At six month follow-up, youths who received the Narconon drug education curriculum showed reduced drug use compared with controls across all drug categories tested. The strongest effects were seen in all tobacco products and cigarette frequency followed by marijuana. There were also significant reductions measured for alcohol and amphetamines. The program also produced changes in knowledge, attitudes and perception of risk.
Conclusion
The eight-module Narconon curriculum has thorough grounding in substance abuse etiology and prevention theory. Incorporating several historically successful prevention strategies this curriculum reduced drug use among youths.

You can read the entire published study here: The NARCONON™ drug education curriculum for high school students: A non-randomized, controlled prevention trial

In China they execute people for this

Let me begin by saying that I'm against the death penalty. I am for appropriate justice such as a sentence that gives the offender a chance to make up for the damage his criminal acts caused.

So, in China when people, in order to make a profit, carry out acts that kill or cause harm they are given pretty stiff sentences: Two condemned to death for role in China milk crisis and in 2007, Ex-Food and Drug Chief Sentenced to Death.

So what would have happened to the executives of Eli Lilly who pushed the killer drug Zyprexa on thousands of unsuspecting people. Here are a few quotes from an excellent article in Rolling Stone: Marketing a Phony "Miracle" Drug (Subtitle: 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)

The mechanisms used to leverage this growth [of the antipsychotic drugs to $16 billion in sales a year] were in some ways the most modern and perfect the pharmaceutical industry had developed, but they were also, according to state and federal prosecutors, illegal. [Ely] Lilly has already agreed to pay $2.6 billion to settle charges that it built the market for Zyprexa first by concealing its side effects, and then by marketing it "off-label," for diseases for which it had not been approved.

... medical researchers who have studied the atypical antipsychotics say that, in the final tally, the drugs, which have already been linked to some deaths, may eventually be responsible for tens of thousands of cases of diabetes and other potentially fatal diseases.

I added the highlighting of what I consider the key phrases above. If that happened in China what do you suppose would be the sentence for the Eli Lilly executives? And what do they get in the USA? The company has to pay out $2.6 billion in fines. That sounds like a lot, but consider that antipsychotics make $16 billion a year. What is $2.6 billion compared to that?

So how was the entire medical community persuaded that these drugs were so wonderful that they should even be given to young children?

[Regarding atypical antipsychotic medication] "Almost the whole scientific community was conned into thinking — as a consequence of good marketing — that this was a different and better set of drugs. The evidence, as it's all added up, has shown this to be untrue."

... despite their early promise for treating schizophrenia, the drugs have not even performed any better than the crude and imprecise earlier medications that preceded them. "We have been paying $16 billion a year instead of $2 billion a year for drugs that seem to be no better and might be worse," says Douglas Leslie, a researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina who contributed to an extensive federal study of the drugs.

The story of how Zyprexa and other atypicals became a multibillion-dollar market suggests that the medical community — doctors, researchers, the institutions that back them — may be themselves prone to a placebo effect: the willed conviction that a new drug, presented as a breakthrough, must in fact be one, that a product sold as healing must in fact do good.

Read the article. It's a real eye-opener. Marketing a Phony "Miracle" Drug

Antipsychotics are killing people

More evidence has emerged of the dangers of the psychiatric drugs known as antipsychotics. Antipsychotic Drugs Shorten Lifespan of Alzheimer's Patients.

Most telling of all is this from the results of the study:

After three years, less than a third of people on antipsychotics were alive compared to nearly two-thirds that were given the placebo.

Perhaps the drugs work by killing the patient, thus "curing" them?

Scientology is Solutions: Handling Drug Abuse

Scientologists are serious about ending drug abuse. Here is an article about action being taken by Scientologists in France: Scientology Churches in France Cycle Against Drugs.

The materials the article talks about can be obtained here: Foundation for a Drug Free World

Drug Companies are at it again

GlaxoSmithKline has been caught exploiting people in third world countries. Their unethical behavior has resulted in the death of twelve babies. Read the article here: Poor Families Pressed Into Vaccine Trials by Drug Companies; 12 Babies Die

Film Review: GenerationRx

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I will be seeing it soon at which time I'll give you my own review.

In the meantime here is a review from NaturalNews.com: Film Review: GenerationRx Documents Chemical Abuse of Children by Pharmaceutical Industry, Modern Psychiatry

Scientology is Solutions: Drug Addiction

For someone who has never suffered the physical and mental anguish of drug addiction, it is easy to say "get over it" or think that drug addicts are weak willed, but anyone who has been in the horrible situation of being addicted to drugs and who has attempted to get free of their death grip knows how hard it truly is.

It's easy to get addicted. There are plenty of ill-intentioned people out there who are only too willing to supply the initial hit that will create a paying customer for life. And whether the drug is illegal or given by prescription makes little difference to the addict for the results are the same, the only difference being who the money goes to: a pusher on the street or a pusher in a plush corporate office.

So what can be done about this world-wide epidemic?

First is to educate children, teens and even adults so they understand the truth about drugs: The Foundation for a Drug Free World is an organization sponsored by the International Association of Scientologists. It's website just got a major overhaul: Foundation for a Drug Free World. They provide a ton of educational materials including booklets on each of the common drugs people get addicted to, and a set of award-winning Public Service Announcements which quickly communicate the truth about drugs.

Next is to encourage kids to take responsibility for themselves and others where drugs are concerned. The "Drug Free Marshals" (Drug Free Ambassadors outside North America) campaign encourages kids to sign a "Drug Free" pledge and to be active, helping their friends stay off drugs.

Next is to help those who are addicted to free themselves. L. Ron Hubbard developed secular (non-religious) methods to help people get off drugs. The largest drug rehab network in the world, Narconon, uses these methods to get people off drugs and gives them the tools they need to avoid being caught in the trap of drugs again. Narconon has the highest success rate of any drug rehab program (Narconon Program Results).

Finally there is warning people of the dangers of drugs prescribed by doctors who have not been honestly informed by drug companies of their horrendous side-effects: Making A Killing (Documentary).

Scientologists are involved in all the above programs. We want to see people live better lives by being free of harmful drugs.

Pharmaceutical Industry Hustlers

Here is a powerful expose that starts:

After twenty long years, it appears that the epidemic in mental disorders in America might be coming to an end. It won't happen because of any great medical breakthrough but rather because the perpetrators of the greatest healthcare fraud in history are finally being exposed.

Read it and make up your own mind: Pharmaceutical Industry Hustlers – Part I

Feeding on children

Psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Biederman has been in the news quite a bit recently. First we learned that while championing the use of powerful anti-psychotic drugs on toddlers, he was accepting over a million dollars from drug companies without disclosing it (Harvard Researchers Face Heat Over Drug Company Payments).

Now we learn:

Newly disclosed court documents portray Dr. Joseph Biederman, a leading Harvard child psychiatrist, as courting drug company money by promising that his work at Massachusetts General Hospital would help promote the use of antipsychotic drugs for youngsters diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

We also learn:

In one 1999 e-mail, a Janssen employee seeking to make sure Biederman receives $3,000 that the company owes him writes frantically to his superiors: "Dr. Biederman is not someone to jerk around. He is a very powerful national figure in child psych and has a very short fuse."

Does that sound like a man dedicated to the furtherance of science or a money-motivated ghoul feeding off a sector of society that is least able to defend itself against such abuses?

Read the article and make up your own mind: Papers reveal push on drug firm funds.

Other related articles:
Congressional investigation of Harvard psychiatrist

Generation RX

It seems that Scientologists are not the only people who recognize the dangers of psychiatric drugging of children. A new movie, GenerationRX, by critically acclaimed director Kevin Miller, examines the "mass abandonment of medical ethics, and the routine betrayal of an entire generation" and investigates "collusion between drug companies and their regulatory watchdogs at the FDA and focuses on the powerful stories of real families who followed the advice of their doctors - and faced devastating consequences for doing so."

Here is the trailer:

Making a Killing, Part 10

Part 10 of the documentary:

Making a Killing. Part 9

Part 9 of the documentary: