Violating the Hippocratic Oath and the Oath to preserve and defend the Constitution.
via Stars and Stripes:
Army, VA partner for PTSD drug study
The Frederick News-Post
Published: July 15, 2012
"The U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity's Neurotrauma and Psychological Health Project Management Office has signed an agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program that will help guide the studies, which could begin in about a year.
"Clinical studies at locations across the U.S. will take an additional 24 to 36 months to complete, according to Maj. Gary Wynn of USAMMDA, which is based at Fort Detrick.
"We're not just looking to do a study, we're looking to do a program," Wynn said.
"Wynn, a research psychiatrist who also works at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, is chairing the effort for the Department of Defense.
"The goal is to identify drugs already on the market that may help in treating PTSD and seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for their specific use in treating the disorder, Wynn said. In some cases, health care providers may already be using certain drugs off-label to help, Wynn said, but they are not approved for use.
"Providers have found certain drugs help aspects of (PTSD), but nothing has been studied to the FDA level," Wynn said.
"Only two drugs, paxotene, known as Paxil, and Zoloft, are approved for the treatment of PTSD, Wynn said.
"The disorder's symptoms include flashbacks, loss of sleep and nightmares. Its cause is unknown, according to the National Institutes of Health.
"Studies have shown that 10 to 15 percent of soldiers who deploy in a given year may develop PTSD, Wynn said.
"Researchers are eyeing 10 to 20 drugs that might be helpful for treatment, Wynn said, including Seroquel, an antipsychotic, and Lunesta, which is used to treat insomnia." here
This announcement comes less than three months after the Army Surgeon General and Army Medical Command warned doctors against using psychotropic drugs for PTSD; citing fatal risks and lack of efficacy.
The question is why is the DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs partnering to study drugs that are known to have fatal risks when it is known the drugs are not effective treatment for PTSD? The answer is given by Major Gary Wynn; a psychiatrist, who reports the purpose of the drug trials will be to, "seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for their specific use in treating" PTSD. This is not a valid ethical purpose for conducting a drug trial using human subjects. It is what is referred to as a 'seeding trial,' the primary purpose of which is to expand the market for a particular drug; or in this case, multiple drugs. Why is the US Government planning on conducting and paying for research which is obviously unethical, and plainly nothing more than a part of the pharmaceutical industry's drug marketing strategy?
Why is the DoD and Veterans Affairs not announcing that it is going to make it a priority to fund the type of treatment that has empirical evidence of being effective for treating PTSD? Apparently, ensuring that the military continues to be a source of revenue long term for the pharmaceutical industry takes precedence over providing effective non-lethal treatment for our troops with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Major Gary Wynn is a psychiatrist and is going to head this project. Since the drugs are already known to be ineffective, and multiple warnings have been issued cautioning against using them to treat PTSD due to risk of fatality and the drugs inefficacy; it is a violation of the ethical guidelines of the medical profession, to even prescribe them for PTSD. "First, do no harm..." These drug trials are not for the primary benefit of the troops who have PTSD. It is obvious that the preservation and defense of the individual rights; i.e. Constitutional Rights, of the troops who will be used as research fodder in what is clearly Human Experimentation is not even a concern; it's morally reprehensible.
The question is why is the DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs partnering to study drugs that are known to have fatal risks when it is known the drugs are not effective treatment for PTSD? The answer is given by Major Gary Wynn; a psychiatrist, who reports the purpose of the drug trials will be to, "seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for their specific use in treating" PTSD. This is not a valid ethical purpose for conducting a drug trial using human subjects. It is what is referred to as a 'seeding trial,' the primary purpose of which is to expand the market for a particular drug; or in this case, multiple drugs. Why is the US Government planning on conducting and paying for research which is obviously unethical, and plainly nothing more than a part of the pharmaceutical industry's drug marketing strategy?
Why is the DoD and Veterans Affairs not announcing that it is going to make it a priority to fund the type of treatment that has empirical evidence of being effective for treating PTSD? Apparently, ensuring that the military continues to be a source of revenue long term for the pharmaceutical industry takes precedence over providing effective non-lethal treatment for our troops with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Major Gary Wynn is a psychiatrist and is going to head this project. Since the drugs are already known to be ineffective, and multiple warnings have been issued cautioning against using them to treat PTSD due to risk of fatality and the drugs inefficacy; it is a violation of the ethical guidelines of the medical profession, to even prescribe them for PTSD. "First, do no harm..." These drug trials are not for the primary benefit of the troops who have PTSD. It is obvious that the preservation and defense of the individual rights; i.e. Constitutional Rights, of the troops who will be used as research fodder in what is clearly Human Experimentation is not even a concern; it's morally reprehensible.
last month in Navy Times:
DoD cracks down on off-label drug use
via Air Force Times:
Army launches study of PTSD meds
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 8, 2012 16:21:49 EDT
Posted : Tuesday May 8, 2012 16:21:49 EDT
"Military and Veterans Affairs Department physicians often prescribe medication to ease the symptoms of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, even though only two antidepressants — Paxil and Zoloft — are approved specifically by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the disorder.
"But little data exists on which “off-label” medications work and which don’t.
"The Army is hoping to change this, launching a major research initiative next year on the effectiveness of commonly prescribed medications for PTSD.
"Speaking at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in Philadelphia on Monday, Army Maj. Gary Wynn of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Col. David Benedik, associate director for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, said the service will start clinical trials next year to evaluate commonly prescribed PTSD medications such as the antidepressant Cymbalta, mirtazapine, prazosin, and atypical antipsychotics like Seroquel." here
via NextGov Broken Warriors April 25, 2012:
via NextGov Broken Warriors August 2011:
VA SPENT $717 MILLION ON A DRUG DEEMED AS EFFECTIVE AS A PLACEBO"But little data exists on which “off-label” medications work and which don’t.
"The Army is hoping to change this, launching a major research initiative next year on the effectiveness of commonly prescribed medications for PTSD.
"Speaking at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in Philadelphia on Monday, Army Maj. Gary Wynn of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Col. David Benedik, associate director for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, said the service will start clinical trials next year to evaluate commonly prescribed PTSD medications such as the antidepressant Cymbalta, mirtazapine, prazosin, and atypical antipsychotics like Seroquel." here
via NextGov Broken Warriors April 25, 2012:
ARMY WARNS DOCTORS AGAINST USING CERTAIN DRUGS IN PTSD TREATMENT
"The Army Surgeon General's office is backing away from its long-standing endorsement of prescribing troops multiple highly addictive psychotropic drugs for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and early this month warned regional medical commanders against using tranquilizers such as Xanax and Valium to treat PTSD.
An April 10 policy memo that the Army Medical Command released regarding the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD said a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines, which include Xanax and Valium, could intensify rather than reduce combat stress symptoms and lead to addiction.
The memo, signed by Herbert Coley, civilian chief of staff of the Army Medical Command, also cautioned service clinicians against prescribing second-generation antipsychotic drugs, such as Seroquel and Risperidone, to combat PTSD. The drugs originally were developed to treat severe mental conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The memo questioned the efficacy of this drug class in PTSD treatment and cautioned against their use due to potential long-term health effects, which include heart disorders, muscle spasms and weight gain." read here
"The Army Surgeon General's office is backing away from its long-standing endorsement of prescribing troops multiple highly addictive psychotropic drugs for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and early this month warned regional medical commanders against using tranquilizers such as Xanax and Valium to treat PTSD.
An April 10 policy memo that the Army Medical Command released regarding the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD said a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines, which include Xanax and Valium, could intensify rather than reduce combat stress symptoms and lead to addiction.
The memo, signed by Herbert Coley, civilian chief of staff of the Army Medical Command, also cautioned service clinicians against prescribing second-generation antipsychotic drugs, such as Seroquel and Risperidone, to combat PTSD. The drugs originally were developed to treat severe mental conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The memo questioned the efficacy of this drug class in PTSD treatment and cautioned against their use due to potential long-term health effects, which include heart disorders, muscle spasms and weight gain." read here
via NextGov Broken Warriors August 2011:
"Over the past decade, the Veterans Affairs Department spent $717 million for an anti-psychotic drug to treat post-traumatic stress disorder that a recent study shows is no more effective than a placebo."
"While the paper on risperidone published earlier this month reported the results of the first large trial measuring the effectiveness of second-generation anti-psychotics in the treatment of PTSD, previous research found little evidence the drugs were effective and VA's own clinical practice guidelines, first published in 2004, when the department spent $66 million on risperidone and $56 million on Seroquel, warned against using the drugs to treat PTSD." here
In 2011 it was announced that Venlafaxine became a "First- Line Treatment" for PTSD even though it is not FDA approved to treat PTSD.
via Clinical Psychiatry News 3-11-11
Venlafaxine Becomes First-Line PTSD Therapy in Latest VA Guidelines
"The new Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense (VA/DoD) evidence-based guidelines strongly recommend that all adults with PTSD be offered pharmacotherapy with a first-line agent. That means either an SSRI, for which the strongest evidence of benefit exists for sertraline, paroxetine, and fluoxetine, or a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), among which venlafaxine has the strongest supporting evidence, said Dr. Villarreal, a psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and the New Mexico VA Health Care System." here
In 2011 it was announced that Venlafaxine became a "First- Line Treatment" for PTSD even though it is not FDA approved to treat PTSD.
via Clinical Psychiatry News 3-11-11
Venlafaxine Becomes First-Line PTSD Therapy in Latest VA Guidelines
"The new Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense (VA/DoD) evidence-based guidelines strongly recommend that all adults with PTSD be offered pharmacotherapy with a first-line agent. That means either an SSRI, for which the strongest evidence of benefit exists for sertraline, paroxetine, and fluoxetine, or a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), among which venlafaxine has the strongest supporting evidence, said Dr. Villarreal, a psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and the New Mexico VA Health Care System." here
The Entire Broken Warriors Series from NextGov
Soldiers who have committed suicide / homicide while on psychiatric drugs
1 comment:
nice article i like it very much
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