Bush Administration - Money, Politics & Drugs

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http://www.sierratimes.com/05/02/11/68_79_78_149_72007.htm

 

 

Bush Administration - Money, Politics & Drugs

Evelyn Pringle

 

A new plan by the Bush administration to test the nation's public

school population for mental disorders and treat them with

controversial drugs has raised an alarm among some medical science

watchdogs and members of the mental health community, according to the

June 27, 2004, New Standard.

 

Bush wants to launch a mental health and disability initiative that

recommends the screening and treatment for students K-12 in public

schools. The plan is based on a Texas program known as the " Texas

Mental Health Parity. "

 

The Texas model has been implemented in other states, including

Pennsylvania, where a government whistleblower, Allan Jones, has

called it " a Trojan horse " for pharmaceutical companies. If enacted on

a national level, the scheme would mandate widespread testing all

across the country which would result in the recruitment of hundreds

of thousands of new customers for the pharmaceutical Industry.

 

Jones was a state employee in Pennsylvania at the time the program was

put into place there. He later became a Whistleblower and says, " the

pharmaceutical industry has methodically compromised our political

system at all levels and has systematically infiltrated the mental

health service delivery system of this nation. "

 

" They are poised to consolidate their grip, via the New Freedom

Commission and the Texas Medication Algorithm Project, " Jones says.

" The pervasive manipulation of clinical trials, the non-reporting of

negative trials and the cover-up of debilitating and deadly side

effects render meaningful informed consent impossible by persons being

treated with these drugs, " he warns.

 

Jones believes that doctors and patients alike have been betrayed by

the governmental entities and officials who are supposed to protect

them, and I agree 100%.

 

I was outraged, as I was forced to watch Bush and the drug companies

set up a scam to used senior citizens as funnels with the Medicare

Prescription Drug Bill. But you can bet that I will not sit back and

watch them implement their latest profiteering scheme when it involves

drugging my grandkids.

 

They won't be satisfied until they have every kid in the country

drugged. Despite the nearly 500% increase in the number of children

being prescribed psychiatric drugs, the administration's, New Freedom

Commission on Mental Health (NFC), claims that there are not enough

children benefiting from mental health treatment and recommends

mandatory screening for all high school students, with follow-up

treatment as required.

 

If Bush has his way, the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP)

will serve as a model for the upcoming nationwide program, according

to the NFC.

 

The TMAP began in 1995, when a group of individuals from the

pharmaceutical industry, joined up with officials from the Texas state

university, and state mental health and corrections systems. The

program's initial funding included a $1.7 million grant from the

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and off-shoot of the Johnson & Johnson

Pharmaceutical company. Johnson & Johnson owns the drug companies

Janssen Pharmaceutica and Janssen/Ortho McNeil, according to " Law

Project For Psychiatric Rights, " by Jones.

 

Its more than obvious that the true goal of this group was to develop

a program of drug treatment for use in the juvenile justice system,

state foster care program, mental health hospitals, and prison

systems, which would generate high volume sales of new expensive

drugs. As Texas Governor, Bush supported legislation that required

private industry to provide increased insurance coverage for mental

health treatment and drugs.

 

The medication guidelines for the TMAP were established by an " expert

consensus " based on the opinions of prescribers, rather than clinical

studies. Nearly all of the major drug companies helped fund the

scheme, including Eli Lilly, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Johnson & Johnson,

Astrazeneca, Novartis, Janssen-Ortho-McNeil, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott,

Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Wyeth-Ayerst and Forrest Laboratories.

 

The drugs recommended by the " experts " for " first line treatment, "

were the new drugs manufactured by the same companies that funded the

scheme and included, Zyprexa, Paxil, Zoloft, Allerall, Risperdal,

Seroqual, Depakote, Pozac, Celexa, Wellbutron, Zyban, Remeron,

Serzone, Effexor, and Buspar.

 

The TMAP gave the pharmaceutical industry unlimited access to the

Texas prison system, juvenile justice system, foster care program, and

state mental health hospitals, by which to expand its customer base

and increase the sale of over-priced drugs.

 

Next, Texas lawmakers passed legislation that would increase Medicaid

coverage to persons who would not ordinarily qualify, and increased

the state budget to provide funding to pay for drugs prescribed to

people within the public systems.

 

As the Texas program spread to other states, the scam did not go

unnoticed. A May, 2004 report by the New York Times, explained how

drug companies were using new strategies to capture the Medicaid and

Medicare markets that involved a " focus on a much smaller group of

customers: state officials who oversee treatment for many people with

serious mental illness. Those patients -- in mental hospitals, at

mental health clinics and on Medicaid -- make states among the largest

buyers of anti-psychotic drugs, " the report noted.

 

By some accounts, between 1999 to 2003, antidepressant prescriptions

for children in the US have increased over 500%, often with

devastating results. For example, Paxil was one of the new miracle

drugs recommended by the TCMAP " expert consensus " panel and prescribed

to children even though it was basically untested.

 

Since then, the drug has been linked to a rising number of dangerous

side effects in children, and lawsuits have listed it as a

contributing factor in suicide, murder, debilitating injury and school

shootings.

 

In June of 2003, the FDA finally issued a warning that Paxil should

not be prescribed for children due to the alarming rise in suicides by

children who were taking the drug.

 

Money, Politics & Drugs

 

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in his 2 bids for the

presidency, Bush has been the number one recipient of campaign

donations from the pharmaceutical industry, in either party. The same

Robert Wood Johnson IV, who has ties to the foundation mentioned

above, and is also heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, raised over

$100,000 for Bush's 2000 campaign, and over $200,000 for campaign 2004.

 

The next top recipients, were Congressman Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) and

Senator John Burr (R-NC), each of whom sits on Energy and Commerce

Subcommittees on Health, which oversee mental health and research,

biomedical programs, food and drug policies, and Medicaid.

 

An obvious example of mixing drugs, money & politics, can be found

with the drug, Zyprexa. It was one of the drugs recommended in the

TMAP. With more than $4 billion in sales worldwide, in 2003, it was

Eli Lilly's top selling drug. In the US, for the most part, tax payers

footed the bill for this drug. According to the New York Times, 70% of

Zyprexa sales in this country in 2003, were paid for by programs like

Medicare and Medicaid.

 

Its no secret that Eli Lilly has long-standing ties to the Bush

administration. At one time, Bush Sr was a member of Lilly's board of

directors, and the current President Bush made Lilly CEO, Sidney

Taurel, a member of the Homeland Security Council.

 

In the 2000 election Lilly contributed over $1.5 million to political

candidates, with over 80% going to Bush and the Republican Party.

 

In fact, looking at the total drug company donations during campaign

2004, Bush won by a land slide. According to the Center for Responsive

Politics, by April, 2004, manufacturers of drugs and health products

had contributed $764,274 to the Bush campaign via their employees and

PACs, while Kerry had received six times less, or $149,400.

 

But $764,274 is but a drop in the bucket when you look at industry

profits under Bush. " National sales of anti-psychotics reached $6.4

billion in 2002, making them the fourth-highest-selling class of

drugs, behind cholesterol-lowering drugs, ulcer drugs and

antidepressants, said IMS Health, a company that tracks drug sales, "

according to a report by Erica Goode in the May, 2003, New York Times.

 

In 2002, NDC Health, another watchdog company, determined that " more

than 7.4 million prescriptions were written for Zyprexa and more than

7.6 million for Risperdal. " Antidepressants and anti-psychotics now

constitute two of the four top classes of drug sales.

 

The Pharmaceutical Industry should branch out into the gambling racket

because it definitely knows a sure bet when it sees one.

 

Evelyn Pringle e.pringle Miamisburg OH

 

(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Independent Media TV and an

investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government)

 

To the millions of doctors, parents and patients who are affected,

Jones offers this advice, PLEASE: suspend disbelief and realize you

are on your own. Educate yourselves. The Internet has many sites that

will help you. The Alliance for Human Research Protection,

www.ahrp.org would be a good place to start.