Fw: E-alert

[Guest guest]

This was forwarded to me by a friend of

mine, a local State Health Dept. R. N...I haven't read it all the way

through, but looked like something you all would be interested in!!.

Honestly, I think this might be insider stuff and she forwarded it by

accident....The Health Sciences Institute e-Alert July 15, 2003

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Dear Member, What are we doing to our kids? That's the unspoken question that runs through an e-mail I received last

week from an HSI member named Carrie who began by saying: "URGENT

suggestion: Why don't you write about the drug Risperdal?" Carrie did some research on her own, so she was able to make a wise

decision about Risperdal. In other words, she didn't have to learn the

hard way what a dangerous drug this is. Unfortunately, many parents who

trust their pediatricians' judgment may be in for a shock. But just as

unfortunate are the elderly Alzheimer's patients who are also given

Risperdal - with sometimes grave consequences.

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Drug abuse

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Risperdal (the brand name for risperidone) is the most frequently

prescribed antipsychotic medication in the U.S. The FDA has approved

Risperdal for the treatment of schizophrenia, but it is not approved for

children. Of course, that doesn't prohibit doctors from prescribing the

drug for a child - even if the young patient has been diagnosed with a

condition far less severe than schizophrenia.

Here's Carrie's experience, in her own words: "Doctors are giving

Risperdal to children in droves. However, I called the drug company up

and they do not recommend it for kids, nor has it been approved by the

FDA for children. "A doctor prescribed it for my son who is 8. I dropped the doctor like a

hot potato. They are using Risperdal on children with ADHD to help

control them. It can cause incurable disease in children and it is

causing strokes and killing the elderly. I talked with a lawyer and was

told some parents are giving it to their children who are only 2 and 3

years old." If you're a longtime HSI member and regular e-Alert reader, then you're

probably not wondering how a large group of doctors - independent of one

another - would decide to prescribe a potent schizophrenia drug to young

children. They do it because salespeople for the drug company encourage

them to prescribe "outside the box." Meanwhile, the manufacturer's

customer service representatives are telling people on the phone that

the drug is not recommended for kids. Great system: Give the "insider" spin to doctors to pump up sales; give

the politically correct spin to consumers; everybody wins. Except the

kids.

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Into the unknown...again

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Risperdal is manufactured by a division of Johnson Johnson, called

Jannsen Pharmaceuticals. Approved by the FDA almost 10 years ago,

Risperdal was known at the outset to cause a number of possible side

effects, including anxiety, dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat, and

sleepiness. Some Risperdal users feel lightheaded when they stand up too

quickly. And in a few cases, patients experienced tremors, and even

uncontrollable facial twitches.

In recent years, however, this list of side effects has come to include

irregular blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, and muscle rigidity.

These problems have led to 37 confirmed reports of stroke in elderly

patients, resulting in 16 deaths. If these numbers were attached to ephedra instead of Risperdal, the

mainstream press would be howling for a ban. Instead, last April Johnson

Johnson quietly distributed letters to U.S. doctors, warning that

Risperdal raises the risk of stroke among seniors.

What permanent damage this drug may be doing to kids, however, is pure

speculation, because no studies have been conducted to determine the

effects of Risperdal in very young subjects. And it's doubtful that such

studies could ever take place. Imagine how unethical it would be to test

a psychotropic drug on children and infants. There's no telling what

permanent damage such a potent drug would have on developing brains.

 

And yet doctors and psychiatrists are conducting that very test every

day by prescribing Risperdal to young people who are diagnosed with

"conduct disorders." I think Carrie has the right idea: these doctors should be dropped like

hot potatoes.

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Skin deep

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One of the most unfortunate aspects of Alzheimer's is when patients

develop "conduct disorders." Needless to say, these patients are

sometimes inclined to forget or even reject their medication. But

Johnson Johnson has a plan to take care of that problem.

Two years ago Johnson Johnson acquired Alza Corporation - one of the

first developers of sustained-release medications. Alza invented "the

patch" for smokers. This is Alza's specialty: devising new ways to

conveniently deliver drugs. A recent Alza innovation is a device called

Duros - a rod about the size of a one inch pencil lead - that is

implanted just under the skin where it releases small amounts of a drug

for up to one year.

Risperdal is one of the J&J drugs that are currently being developed for

application with Duros. But if a Risperdal Duros reaches the market, you

can bet it won't be cheap. As it is, Risperdal costs more than $7 per

day. When the new delivery device is added, you have to imagine that the

cost will go up, and Jannsen salespeople will, in turn, step up their

sales efforts to make the new generation of Risperdal a success. Suddenly the idea of kids being over-prescribed psychotropic drugs seems

almost tame compared to the idea of Risperdal or Ritalin implants.

No wonder Johnson Johnson executives spent more than $13 billion to

purchase Alza. They saw the future of medication - and its name is

"Convenience."

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Ka-boom

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The information package that comes with Risperdal warns that once a

patient is feeling better they must continue to take their dosage to

prevent symptoms from returning. So what does this mean for a patient

who's 3 or 6 or 10? Are they embarking on a lifetime commitment to a

medication that they'll never remember not having? Earlier this year a study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent

Medicine reported that the use of psychotropic drugs by children in the

U.S. more than doubled during the 1990s, and has almost matched adult

usage of the same drugs. That's not growth - that's explosion.

In her e-mail, Carrie made this closing request: "Please advise

parents to search the web for every drug their children are prescribed

so they can make safe choices for them." If every parent were as

diligent in avoiding potent, untested drugs as Carrie has been, we could

all feel much better about the health of our children. And this is

another place the HSI network can work so well. If you know someone with

young children - or aging parents - please forward this e-mail to them.

The risks of Risperdal are too great to not spread the word. Share this HSI e-Alert with a friend

Carrie didn't mention what sort of alternative to Risperdal she finally

settled on for her son. But if you have a child or grandchild who has

had one of these drugs recommended to address disorderly conduct or

ADHD, I urge you to read the e-Alert "How To Dismantle An '89 Ford"

(6/2/02), in which HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., outlines a

nutritional regimen that might make all the difference between a child

with a clear mind and a child with a mind clouded by pharmaceuticals.

 

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What's the difference between powder and soda? Just one little word. In the e-Alert "McMedicine" (6/25/03) I told your how the average person

my absorb anywhere from 10 to 100 mg of aluminum every day through

aluminum deodorants, cookware, baking soda, antacids, and other sources.

This is a concern, of course, because aluminum toxicity has been

associated with Alzheimer's disease. But it appears that I had one little (but important) word wrong.

An HSI member named Pati wrote with this question:

"My family and I have been using baking soda as a deodorant for several

years now, so that we could avoid the aluminum in regular deodorants. We

have found it to be better than most health store varieties and have

really liked it, but it looked - from your recent article - that it too

contains aluminum. Is this correct? If so, then ANY type of deodorant -

even in the health stores - that claims to be free of aluminum but that

also has baking soda listed is also to be avoided. Is this so?" Good catch, Pati. This question was also brought up on the HSI Forum in

a thread titled "Baking Soda Alzheimer's Disease." It's gratifying to

know that everyone is paying such close attention! In a nutshell, here's the lowdown: Baking soda doesn't contain aluminum,

but baking POWDER does (unless you go out of your way to find

aluminum-free baking powder). So if you're getting good results from a

deodorant that contains baking soda - fear not - your product is

aluminum-free. (By the way, I should have caught that one myself as my

toothpaste is also baking soda based. Shame on me.) To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute ************************************************************

Sources: "About Risperdal" Risperdal web site, http://www.risperdal.com "Risperdal Children" A Drug Recall.com,

http://www.adrugrecall.com "Psychotropic Practice Patterns for Youth" Archives of Pediatrics

and Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 157, No. 1, January 2003,

http://www.archpedi.ama-assn.org

"A Long Way from Tiny Time Pills" Philip Siekman, Fortune, 7/7/03,

fortune.com "Company to Warn of Possible Risperdal Stroke Risk" Reuters Health,

4/11/03, http://www.reuters.com Copyright ©1997-2003 by

http://www.hsibaltimore.com/, L.L.C. The e-Alert may not be posted on commercial sites without written

permission. ************************************************************ Before you

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