[drugawareness] Bush to screen population for mental illness

[Guest guest]

atracyphd2

Wed, 23 Jun 2004 15:25:10 EDT

[drugawareness] Bush to screen population for mental illness

 

Several of you have sent this article to me to make sure I saw it. I had. But

what far too many in our society need to know is that this program has been

in place for some time already.

 

It is called the " Teen Screen Program " and is in 168 schools at this point.

It is a program put out by Columbia University. Yes, this is the same group

that has been designated by the FDA to review the studies on SSRIs. So with

their

Teen Screen Program at risk if these drugs are pulled for children, I do not

expect an unbiased report out of Columbia University.

 

Two summers ago this coming August, Mark Taylor, the first boy shot at

Columbine, and I, along with Pepper Draper, our Arizona Director, testified in

Tempe, AZ against the implementation of the Teen Screen Program there. At that

point there were only 60 some odd schools involved. So it is growing rapidly.

 

Now the suggestion that all school employees be tested is new. It is a very

interesting proposal in light of the fact that in 1992 in my own school

district here in Utah, $1.2 Million was spent on Prozac prescriptions and $5

Million

in psychiatric care for district employees. Clearly this suggestion to include

school personel is only a beginning for those who smell the scent of even

larger profits coming in on these serotonergic antidepressants and atypical

antipsychotics.

 

For Dr. Graham Emslie to be for the program is hardly a shock either. He has

made lots of $$$$$ doing studies on children for the drug companies. He is one

of the two who never should have been involved, but is one of the leading

researchers in the Prozac study we just heard preliminary reports on our

national

news this past month. (Why would anyone be surprised that these two

researchers, imbedded in the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies, would make

a

statement that the study is currently showing improvement in children on Prozac

when their own study showed a doubling of the suicide rate and a suicide attempt

rate that jumped by five times?)

 

Anyway in light of this article coming out I am next going to send you two

more very enlightening articles that will shed more light on what is happening

in the Pharma/Politics department.

 

Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D.

Executive Director, International Coalition For Drug Awareness

Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare

& audio tape on safe withdrawal: " Help! I Can't Get

Off My Antidepressant! "

 

Order Number: 800-280-0730

Website: www.drugawareness.org

 

--------------

 

 

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39078

 

 

 

Monday, June 21, 2004

 

LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER

 

Bush to screen population for mental illness

 

Sweeping initiative links diagnoses to treatment with specific drugs

Posted: June 21, 2004

5:00 p.m. Eastern

 

 

 

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

 

President Bush plans to unveil next month a sweeping mental health initiative

that recommends screening for every citizen and promotes the use of expensive

antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs favored by supporters of the

administration.

 

The New Freedom Initiative, according to a progress report, seeks to

integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing " services

in the

community, rather than institutions, " the British Medical Journal reported.

 

Critics say the plan protects the profits of drug companies at the expense of

the public.

 

The initiative began with Bush's launch in April 2002 of the New Freedom

Commission on Mental Health, which conducted a " comprehensive study of the

United

States mental health service delivery system. "

 

The panel found that " despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go

undiagnosed " and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for

" consumers

of all ages, " including preschool children.

 

The commission said, " Each year, young children are expelled from preschools

and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviors and emotional

disorders. "

 

Schools, the panel concluded, are in a " key position " to screen the 52

million students and 6 million adults who work at the schools.

 

The commission recommended that the screening be linked with " treatment and

supports, " including " state-of-the-art treatments " using " specific medications

for specific conditions. "

 

The Texas Medication Algorithm Project, or TMAP, was held up by the panel as

a " model " medication treatment plan that " illustrates an evidence-based

practice that results in better consumer outcomes. "

 

The TMAP -- started in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the

pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas and the mental health and

corrections

systems of Texas -- also was praised by the American Psychiatric Association,

which called for increased funding to implement the overall plan.

 

But the Texas project sparked controversy when a Pennsylvania government

employee revealed state officials with influence over the plan had received

money

and perks from drug companies who stand to gain from it.

 

Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General

says in his whistleblower report the " political/pharmaceutical alliance " that

developed the Texas project, which promotes the use of newer, more expensive

antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs, was behind the recommendations of the

New Freedom Commission, which were " poised to consolidate the TMAP effort into

a comprehensive national policy to treat mental illness with expensive,

patented medications of questionable benefit and deadly side effects, and to

force

private insurers to pick up more of the tab. "

 

Jones points out, according to the British Medical Journal, companies that

helped start the Texas project are major contributors to Bush's election funds.

Also, some members of the New Freedom Commission have served on advisory

boards for these same companies, while others have direct ties to TMAP.

 

Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanzapine, one of the drugs recommended in the

plan, has multiple ties to the Bush administration, BMJ says. The elder

President Bush was a member of Lilly's board of directors and President Bush

appointed

Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to the Homeland Security

Council.

 

Of Lilly's $1.6 million in political contributions in 2000, 82 percent went

to Bush and the Republican Party.

 

Another critic, Robert Whitaker, journalist and author of " Mad in America, "

told the British Medical Journal that while increased screening " may seem

defensible, " it could also be seen as " fishing for customers. "

 

Exorbitant spending on new drugs " robs from other forms of care such as job

training and shelter program, " he said.

 

However, a developer of the Texas project, Dr. Graham Emslie, defends

screening.

 

" There are good data showing that if you identify kids at an earlier age who

are aggressive, you can intervene ... and change their trajectory. "