Antipsychotic Use by Medicaid-Insured Youths: evidence of criminal prescribing practices

Average rate of gray matter loss: evidence of neuroleptic drug-induced brain damage.

The more drugs you've been given, the more brain tissue you lose. What exactly do these drugs do? They block basal ganglia activity. The prefrontal cortex doesn't get the input it needs and is being shut down by drugs. That reduces the psychotic symptoms. It also causes the prefrontal cortex to slowly atrophy. 

~ Dr. Nancy C. Andreasen, New York Times, Sept. 16, 2008

Both the older and the atypical neuroleptics shrink brain tissue during routine clinical exposure.

~ Dr. Peter R. Breggin, Brain Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry (2008) 

ARTICLES   |   March 01, 2013 

Antipsychotic Use by Medicaid-Insured Youths: Impact of Eligibility and Psychiatric Diagnosis Across a Decade

Julie Magno Zito, Ph.D.; Mehmet Burcu, M.S.; Aloysius Ibe, Dr.P.H.; Daniel J. Safer, M.D.; Laurence S. Magder, Ph.D.

Psychiatric Services 2013; doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201200081

Author and Article Information

Dr. Zito and Mr. Burcu are affiliated with the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research and Dr. Magder is with the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland, 220 Arch St., Room 01-216, Baltimore, MD 21201 (e-mail: jzito@rx.umaryland.edu).Dr. Ibe is with the School of Community Health and Policy, Morgan State University, Baltimore.Dr. Safer is with the Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Copyright © American Psychiatric Association

a couple of excerpts:

Conclusions

"The expansion of antipsychotic medication use from 1997 to 2006 among Medicaid-insured youths was most prominent among those qualifying with low (SCHIP) and very low (TANF) family incomes. This was the case even though the most impaired youths—those in foster care or those receiving SSI—had distinctly higher levels of antipsychotic drug use within each study year. Factors contributing to this antipsychotic use pattern included the expanding SCHIP and TANF populations, the increased use of antipsychotics among youths enrolled in SCHIP and TANF, and the increased use of antipsychotic medication for behavior disorders over the decade. Likewise, although youths with diagnoses of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders and pervasive developmental disorders had the highest rates of antipsychotic medication use, youths with externalizing behavior disorders far outnumbered those with these less common conditions and constituted the largest group of utilizers of antipsychotic medications."

"Methods: The authors analyzed computerized administrative claims data for 456,315 youths aged two to 17 years who were continuously enrolled in Medicaid in a mid-Atlantic state in 1997 (N=159,171) and 2006 (N=297,144)."

In 1997 a total of 615 kids with no diagnosis were prescribed neuroleptic drugs in this sample. More than twice as many kids, a total of 1,481 were prescribed a neuroletic drug in 2006, despite the fact they had no psychiatric diagnosis which would indicate a need for such a prescription!

What the above represents is only a small percentage of the number of fraudulent claims which were submitted to Medicaid for payment, i.e. fraud. Obviously, the civil and criminal penalties paid by the pharmaceutical industry for illegally marketing these drugs is not going to stop the fraud. The unethical medical practitioners are defending their "professional privilege" to use these drugs absent evidence the drugs "treat" the conditions the drugs are prescribed off label for. It is the prescribers whose unethical prescribing of these teratogenic drugs to children are guided by the APA and AACAP practice parameters and treatment algorithms who must be stopped.  Standard practices originally protected patients, now they serve to protect the unethical behavior of the professionals who use them as an affirmative defense for what is not only medical malpractice, but Human Experimentation; the current standard in mental health care for kids on Medicaid.  



hat tip: Allen Frances, M.D.

@allenfrancesmd It doesn't explain the lack of #medicalethics it takes to Rx drugs that cause a myriad of neurological cognitive impairments
— Becky (@yobluemama2) March 8, 2013

@narcotic_repose Pharma fined heavily for illegal off-label marketing,but continues because antipsychotic sales an outrageous $18 bil/yr
— Allen Frances (@AllenFrancesMD) March 8, 2013

@allenfrancesmd @narcotic_repose Pharma wouldn't be successful w/o unethical doctors Rxing neuroleptics for behaviors others find annoying!
— Becky (@yobluemama2) March 8, 2013

PRESCRIPTION PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG USE AMONG CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE 

House Hearing,  2009

Special thanks to Methodius Isaac Bonkers of Bonkers Institute of Nearly Genuine Research for the graphic and the quotes at the beginning of this post.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted

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Paris Williams Interview

Rethinking Madness website

The human cost of well-organized crime

The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour – Tony’s Story – 03/06/13

This is the most difficult and most heartfelt radio interview I have ever conducted. I talk with the surviving wife and the surviving mother of Tony Orban, an outstanding soldier and police officer driven to tragic violence and then to suicide by the antidepressant Zoloft (sertraline). As Tony’s medical expert I grew to know and to care about him and his family. A poignant reminder of the human cost of violence induced by psychiatric drugs.

The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour – Tony’s Story – 03/06/13
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution





via Ann Blake-Tracy's website SSRI Stories:

Police: Officer showed anger, boredom during alleged rape

Summary:

Paragraph 21 reads:  "Orban also told police that he had taken two anti-depressants that morning, Zoloft and Neurontin, before spending the hours leading up to attack drinking beer and margaritas with his old friend, Jelinek."

SSRI Stories Note:  The Physicians Desk Reference states: antidepressants can cause a craving for alcohol and alcohol abuse.  Also, the liver cannot metabolize the antidepressant and the alcohol simultaneously,  thus leading to higher levels of both alcohol and the antidepressant in the human body. Also, the mania caused by the Zoloft can result in violence and hostility. 

Soldier Cases this is just a fraction of them...
Suicide SSRIs 2008-05-05 Iraq/U.S.A. ++Soldiers Have More Post War SuicidesThan Combat Deaths in Iraq & Afghanistan
Crime Against Humanity Chantix 2008-06-17 U.S.A. ++Soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Recruited to Test Drug the FDA Says Causes Suicide
Suicides Not Mentioned 2010-04-04 Iraq/Afghan/U.S.A. ++Soldiers: Suicides Among 20 to 24 Year Olds: 4 Times the Average: FDA Black Box For Suicidality
Ineffective SSRIs & Atypical Antipsychotic As Add-On 2011-08-30 Global ++Soldiers: 89% of Soldiers with PTSD are Taking SSRIs: Add-On of Atypical A/P Ineffective
Mania, Suicide & Violence SSRIs & SNRIs 2010-02-25 Iraq/Afghan/U.S.A. ++Soldiers: Veteran's Govt. Meeting: More Soldiers Kill Themselves Than Killed in Combat
Murder Med For Depression 2009-07-28 Iraq/Texas +Soldier Kills 5 at Baghdad Psychiatric Center on May 11th, 2009
Murder-Suicide Antidepressant 2010-08-19 Iraq/Wisconsin +Soldier, Served in Iraq: Now With National Guard Kills Wife, Child & Self: On A/D's For Two Weeks
Death Paxil/Seroquel & Benzo 2008-06-08 U.S.A. +Soldiers [Twelve] Die in Sleep from PTSD Meds As Uncovered by the Father of One of the Soldiers
Suicides SSRIs 2010-02-24 Iraq/Afghan/U.S.A. +Soldiers: Dept. of Defense Studying Link Between High Suicide Rate Among Vets & Medications
Murder Med for Depression 1999-09-03 Kentucky Soldier Accused of Beating Fellow Soldier
Murder Attempt Antidepressant & 14 Other Meds for PTSD 2010-04-27 Iraq/Nevada Soldier Ambushes Deputy

via Salem-News.com:

Jun-07-2008 15:50

Dr. Phil Leveque 

The VA is more dangerous than a battle in Iraq.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - It appears that battle veterans are getting it in the neck again (I'm saying this because this is a family Website).

Around June 1st 2008, The Charleston North Carolina, Gazette newspaper reported four battle veterans with PTSD dying from prescriptions given them by VA clinics. The medications wrere Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel.

The father of one of the victims, Stan White, researched this and found eight more dead victims in the Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia area. This doesn't seem to bother the VA but we/somebody should question on what is going on. As a physician/pharmacist and victim of VA hospital medical abuse, I think I know what is causing these deaths and I believe these reports are the "tip of the iceberg". Whoever is "taking care" of these battle veterans and I believe it is psychologists or social workers rather than physician/psychiatrists.

Therein lies the problem. A medical adage is, if one pill doesn't work, take two and if that still doesn't work take more ir add a similar medication. This is standard operating procedure (SOP) in the VA rather than good medical care. The combination can be/is lethal.

The deaths of those 12 veterans should be a red flag of danger but I suspect VA psychologists are color blind also.

The article in the newspaper brought about 17 letters to the editor which indicate the readers know more than the VA caretakers.

one writer wrote "Seroquel turns one into a zombie". A physician, Dr. Ann Blake Tracy wrote "two of this type of drug should never be given together." She questions the rationale of the "doctors".

Another mother wrote of her son's death from Zyprexa v which is in the same family.

Another wrote of the recent article that anti-depressants don't work. Another relates the same of Progentin which was pulled from use.

It is time for a real evaluation of VA treatment for PTSD battle veterans. Although they represent less than one percent of the population, they produce 20 percent of the deaths by suicide- multiple tragedies.

Yes, treatment by the VA is far more dangerous than combat in Baghdad. Hoorah and blessings to my brothers in the Infantry.

As a final statement, my 400+ Vietnam Veterans say marijuana works better (and safer) than ANY of the above drugs. 

                                                   

Got a question or comment for Dr. Leveque?

Email him: Newsroom@Salem-News.com

More information on the history of Leveque can be found in his book,General Patton's Dogface Soldier of Phil Leveque about his experiences in WWII.Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier.

If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

hat tip: Ginger Breggin

Dr. Breggin says: This is the most difficult and most heartfelt radio interview I have ever conducted. I talk... fb.me/2Y0bWroUs
— Ginger Breggin (@GingerBreggin) March 6, 2013

Is Psychosis Neurotoxic?

Is Psychosis Neurotoxic? - ISPS-US: Dr. Koehler's Posting:

Major General Smedley Butler USMC

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

Dwight D. Eisenhower 

Major General Smedley Butler USMC

via Occupy Marines:

[003]

WHEN THE BANKERS PLOTTED TO OVERTHROW FDR - 1933:
"It was a dangerous time in America: The economy was staggering, unemployment was rampant and a banking crisis threatened the entire monetary system.

The newly elected president pursued an ambitious legislative program aimed at easing some of the troubles. But he faced vitriolic opposition from both sides of the political spectrum.When Roosevelt finally took office, he embarked on the now-legendary First Hundred Days, an ambitious legislative program aimed at reopening and stabilizing the country's banks and getting the economy moving again.

Critics on the right worried that Roosevelt was a Communist, a socialist or the tool of a Jewish conspiracy. Critics on the left complained his policies didn't go far enough. Some of Roosevelt's opponents didn't stop at talk. 

Though it's barely remembered today, there was a genuine conspiracy to overthrow the president. The Wall Street Putsch, as it's known today, was a plot by a group of right-wing financiers.

"They thought that they could convince Roosevelt, because he was of their, the patrician class, they thought that they could convince Roosevelt to relinquish power to basically a fascist, military-type government," Denton says.

"It was a cockamamie concept," she adds, "and the fact that it even got as far as it did is pretty shocking."

The conspirators had several million dollars, a stockpile of weapons and had even reached out to a retired Marine general, Smedley Darlington Butler, to lead their forces.

"Had he been a different kind of person, it might have gone a lot further," Denton says. "But he saw it as treason and he reported it to Congress."

This is NOT an 'alleged' plot. And at some point, the corporate/banking coup d'etat of our government actually took place.

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/12/145472726/when-the-bankers-plotted-to-overthrow-fdr

http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/53/Plot1.html

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/McCormack-Dickstein_Committee

The Business Plot & Prescott Bush:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA29F12D5812133B9

via rationalrevolution.net:

In a few selected quotes from War is a Racket he writes:

WAR is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives...
In the World War a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows...
Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few – the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill...
And what is this bill?
This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations...
...a war that might well cost us tens of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives of Americans, and many more hundreds of thousands of physically maimed and mentally unbalanced men.
Of course, for this loss, there would be a compensating profit – fortunes would be made. Millions and billions of dollars would be piled up. By a few. Munitions makers. Bankers. Ship builders. Manufacturers. Meat packers. Speculators. They would fare well.
Yes, they are getting ready for another war. Why shouldn't they? It pays high dividends...
The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits – ah! that is another matter – twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent – the sky is the limit. All that traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it...
Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "we must all put our shoulders to the wheel," but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket – and are safely pocketed.

Butler goes on to name American companies that saw huge increases in profits during World War I. Below is a listing of pre-war vs. intra-war profits for American companies that are included in Butler’s analysis as well as some additional companies.

Company	Average profits in the last pre-war year	Average profits during the four years of war
U. S. Steel	$105,331,000	$259,653,000
Du Pont	$6,092,000	$58,076,000
Bethlehem Steel	$6,840,000	$49,427,000
Anaconda Copper	$10,649,000	$34,549,000
Utah Copper	$5,776,000	$21,622,000
American Smelting	$11,566,000	$18,602,000
Republic Iron and Steel	$4,177,000	$17,548,000
International Mercantile	$6,690,00	$14,229,000
Atlas Powder	$485,000	$2,374,000
American and British Man.	$172,000	$325,000
Canadian Car & Foundry	$1,335,000	$2,201,000
Crocker Wheeler	$206,000	$666,000
Hercules Powder	$1,271,000	$7,430,000
Niles, Bement Pond	$656,000	$6,146,000
Scovill Mfg. Co.	$655,000	$7,678,000
General Motors	$6,954,000	$21,700,000

It has been estimated by statisticians and economists and researchers that the war cost your Uncle Sam $52,000,000,000. Of this sum, $39,000,000,000 was expended in the actual war itself. This expenditure yielded $16,000,000,000 in profits. That is how the 21,000 billionaires and millionaires got that way. This $16,000,000,000 profits is not to be sneezed at. It is quite a tidy sum. And it went to a very few...
Who provides the profits – these nice little profits of 20, 100, 300, 1,500 and 1,800 per cent? We all pay them – in taxation. We paid the bankers their profits when we bought Liberty Bonds at $100.00 and sold them back at $84 or $86 to the bankers. These bankers collected $100 plus. It was a simple manipulation. The bankers control the security marts. It was easy for them to depress the price of these bonds. Then all of us – the people – got frightened and sold the bonds at $84 or $86. The bankers bought them. Then these same bankers stimulated a boom and government bonds went to par – and above. Then the bankers collected their profits.
But the soldier pays the biggest part of the bill.
If you don't believe this, visit the American cemeteries on the battlefields abroad. Or visit any of the veteran's hospitals in the United States. On a tour of the country, in the midst of which I am at the time of this writing, I have visited eighteen government hospitals for veterans. In them are a total of about 50,000 destroyed men – men who were the pick of the nation eighteen years ago. The very able chief surgeon at the government hospital; at Milwaukee, where there are 3,800 of the living dead, told me that mortality among veterans is three times as great as among those who stayed at home...

Perhaps the following sounds familiar of the current Bush administration as well? Just replace “Germans” with “Iraqis.”

So vicious was this war propaganda that even God was brought into it. With few exceptions our clergymen joined in the clamor to kill, kill, kill. To kill the Germans. God is on our side...it is His will that the Germans be killed.
And in Germany, the good pastors called upon the Germans to kill the allies...to please the same God. That was a part of the general propaganda, built up to make people war conscious and murder conscious.
Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. This was the "war to end all wars." This was the "war to make the world safe for democracy." No one mentioned to them, as they marched away, that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits. No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here. No one told them that the ships on which they were going to cross might be torpedoed by submarines built with United States patents. They were just told it was to be a "glorious adventure."...

Butler proposed that the only way to actually prevent war is take the profits out of war. He proposed several ways to achieve this. What is important to note is that it is possible to take the profitability out of war, but it must be done at an international level. Taking the profitability out of war and out of the weapons industry is really the way that is most likely to be able to achieve some level of global peace. Of course there has never been any effort to do this in America, in fact the opposite is true, and right now the Bush administration is making war even more profitable, only ensuring its proliferation.

The General concludes by proclaiming:

TO HELL WITH WAR!

War is a Racket pdf via ratical.org

The Unquiet Mind

DSM-1, 1952: 106 disorders DSM-II , 1968: 185 disorders DSM-III, 1980: 265 disorders DSM-IV, 1994: 357 disorders

via Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research

via npr.org TED Radio Hour:

The Unquiet Mind

"People need depth, and depth means the possibility of unhappiness and frustration and sometimes torment — though hopefully not madness." — Oliver Sacks

We've all had that moment. The moment where you might see or hear something and you wonder: Am I going crazy? In this hour, TED speakers share their experiences straddling that line between madness and sanity — and question if we're all in the gray area between the two.

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Unquiet Mind. 

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Unquiet Mind.

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Unquiet Mind.

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Unquiet Mind.

hat tip: Harold Hopkins @hoppy212ny

In Indonesia mentally ill patients are shackled and left without adequate care

Photo copyright: Jefri Aries/IRIN

via The Lancet on facebook: 

The Lancet News podcast (http://ow.ly/iauwv): What does pasung mean to you? In Indonesia it’s the practice by which mentally ill patients are shackled and left without adequate care.

Today—despite the practice being banned in 1977—roughly 18 000 patients with mentally illness are subjected to pasung, with their families unable to afford mental health services or to pay for drugs. We look at the Indonesian Government’s pledge for renewed efforts to improve mental health treatment (and a Universal Health Care law due for 2014). Listen here http://ow.ly/iauwv

Also in the podcast, typhoid breaks out in Syria as the medical infrastructure crumbles, a victory for Chinese anti-counterfeiters, Afghan civilian casualties of war, smoking in New Zealand and Chile, and a new $3 million dollar life sciences prize invigorates oncology.

via IRIN 

humanitarian news and analysis 

a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Tackling shackling of the mentally ill in Indonesia 

JAKARTA, 14 February 2013 (IRIN) - Indonesia is seeking to boost its community mental health services in an effort to end the lockdown and shackling of thousands of mental health patients. 

“The practice of shackling mentally-ill people still exists and eliminating it is one of our priorities for 2013,” Diah Setia Utami, director of mental health at the Health Ministry, told IRIN, noting that the country’s “serious” shortage of mental health professionals has been one of the biggest obstacles.

The government aims to provide 30 percent of the country’s 9,000 community health clinics and 1,700 general hospitals with staff to provide basic mental health care by 2014, Utami said.

The Health Ministry estimates 19 million people nationwide have various mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, and another one million have severe psychoses.

Currently, 33 specialized mental health hospitals and 600 psychiatrists offer public mental health care. “These hospitals are adequately equipped to treat mental patients, but in the future, patients will be encouraged to have treatment outside [the] hospital under the care of families and community caregivers,” Utami added.

The Health Ministry estimates some 18,000 people with mental disorders, mostly in rural areas and bereft of any mental health services, are still subjected to `pasung’ (shackling) to prevent them from attacking others. In villages, people with mental disorders are typically chained behind their homes, while in cities, limited space and stigma confine a number of them to small rooms. 

Opposition to the practice has grown along with local media reports of people - at times undiagnosed - wasting away after years in chains.

Yusuf said people still resort to `pasung’ - banned since 1977 - because they cannot afford mental health care and to escape stigma associated with mental illness.

A psychiatric consultation costs on average US$25, not including drugs. The government plans to implement nationwide universal health coverage in 2014, which is expected to cover most mental health costs.

Government initiative

In 2011 the Health Ministry launched the `Menuju Indonesia Bebas Pasung’ programme (Towards a Shackle-Free Indonesia), but lack of trained health professionals and funding have stalled progress, say officials.

Nova Rianti Yusuf, a member of a parliamentary health commission, noted the lack of data and research on `pasung’, with the exception of two recent studies of 49 shackled mental health patients that showed 90 percent of them had schizophrenia and 70 percent were receiving improper treatment.

The country’s decentralized health care system accounts for uneven attention to mental health care across the country’s 34 provinces, said Utami. “There are some regional governments that pay little or no attention to mental health and, therefore, allocate little or no budget.”

But, in some places, there are signs of improvement.

Asmarahadi (one name), a psychiatrist at the state-run Soeharto Heerdjan mental hospital in Jakarta, said mental health care has improved there “significantly” over the past 10 years. “People used to call the place a prison, but now it’s like a hotel - at least a one-star hotel." People used to call the place a prison, but now it’s like a hotel - at least a one-star hotel. "The hospital receives 150 patients daily and has a policy of not turning anyone away even if they cannot pay, he said.

“People in Jakarta and its surrounding areas are increasingly aware of mental problems,” he said. “Mental health care is not expensive and even atypical, third-generation anti-psychotic drugs are accessible at affordable prices,” he said.

“Treatment failure is usually caused by a lack of patients’ compliance and family support,” he said.

This is if someone seeks formal medical treatment at all. Large pockets of the country still believe magic spells cause mental illness, with families turning to shamans and religious leaders for cures.

WHO plan

Under the 2013-2020 World Health Organization (WHO) global mental health action plan, 80 percent of member countries are expected to update their mental health policies and laws by 2016, while allocating at least 5 percent of public health expenses to mental health care by 2020.

It also seeks to decrease the number of beds used for long-term stays in mental hospitals (which medical studies link to poor treatment and human rights abuses) by 20 percent by 2020, and increase the availability of places for community-based residential care and supported housing.

“The government has the responsibility to provide mental health care for the poor and it should do so by involving local communities,” said Yusuf.

The WHO plan also calls for doubling the treatment of severe mental disorders. Up to 85 percent of such disorders are not currently treated in low- and middle-income countries,WHO estimates.

Friday Funny: A Prayer, A Rap and A Stop

hat tip: Secure Start on facebook

via The Entertaining Elf on facebook