NEWS: Protest PhRMA Take Over of Mental Health System

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Mon, 18 Apr 2005 19:24:23 -0700

 

mindfreedom-news

 

 

 

NEWS: Protest PhRMA Take Over of Mental Health System

 

 

 

 

 

MINDFREEDOM NEWS RELEASE - 18 April 2005

http://www.MindFreedom.org - IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Advocates Protest the Drug Industry's

" Take Over of the Mental Health System. "

 

Representatives of mental health and

consumer advocacy groups from throughout the

USA will hold a peaceful protest and press

conference in front of the headquarters of

the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and

Researchers of America (PhRMA).

 

Protesters allege that, " The drug industry has

taken over the mental health system. And we

want it back. "

 

MindFreedom International is sponsoring the

legal protest at 12 noon on Monday, May 2, 2005

at PhRMA; 1100 Fifteenth Street, NW;

Washington, DC, USA.

 

" Join us and tell PhRMA to stop supporting

forced psychiatric drugging! Tell PhRMA to be

truthful about the clinical trials and

side-effects of the medications that their

member companies are profiting from! " said

Krista Erickson, board member of MindFreedom

International.

 

Another protest speaker, attorney Jim

Gottstein of the Law Project for Psychiatric

Rights in Alaska, said, " PhRMA represents the

Big Lie of Big Pharma, which should be called

to account for its despicable sacrifice of

people on the altar of corporate profits. "

 

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A COMPLETE INFO CENTER ON THE PhRMA PROTEST

including downloadable news release, poster,

background, and MindFreedom letter to PhRMA

is now on web at http://www.MindFreedom.org

 

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WHY PROTEST PhRMA?

 

On March 3, 2005, MindFreedom International

wrote a letter to PhRMA with the following

five requests. PhRMA never responded.

 

1. Issue a public statement condemning the

involuntary administration of psychotropic

drugs to any person;

 

2. Issue a public statement that PhRMA and

its member companies will cease and desist

from misrepresenting the true nature of

research findings on psychotropic drugs and

covering up evidence of the harm they do and

the hazards they create;

 

3. Issue a public statement asking PhRMA's

member companies to cease and desist from

presenting advertisements that contain false

and misleading suggestions that psychotropic

drugs correct chemical imbalances in the

brain;

 

4. Issue a public statement asking PhRMA's

member companies to cease and desist from

providing financial support to organizations

that promote involuntary psychiatric

treatment, and;

 

5. Meet prior to March 31, 2005 with

representatives of our organization to

address these concerns.

 

ADVOCATES FROM THROUGHOUT USA

TO SPEAK AT PhRMA PROTEST

 

Following a news conference, protest

speakers at the MindFreedom 2 May 2005

protest of PhRMA include:

 

Leah Harris had what she calls, " A

psychiatrized childhood and adolescence, " and

is the daughter of two parents diagnosed with

mental illness. She serves on the boards of

National Association for Rights Protection

and Advocacy and Mental Disability Rights

International, and has facilitated and

presented workshops at local and national

conferences. She lives in Washington, DC and

is currently writing a memoir entitled

_Generation Rx_.

 

Jim Gottstein has been practicing law in

Alaska for 25 years, including being an

attorney advocate for people labeled with

serious mental illness. Among many other

things, he served as plaintiffs' counsel in

the billion dollar litigation over Alaska's

theft of the one million acre Alaska Mental

Health Trust. Mr. Gottstein now devotes his

time pro bono to the Law Project for

Psychiatric Rights

(http://www.PsychRights.org) , whose mission

is to organize a serious, coordinated legal

effort around the country against forced

psychiatric drugging.

 

George Ebert writes, " I am a former

psychiatric system detainee, a survivor of

psychiatric atrocities, and am familiar with

the horrific effects of several psychiatric

drugs. I have worked as an advocate and

activist with the Mental Patients Liberation

Alliance (in New York State) for over 25

years. I have two children and four

grandchildren. "

 

Krista Erickson of Illinois is a blind

cross-disability activist and psychiatric

survivor who serves on the board of

MindFreedom International, and is chair of

the Action Conference.

 

Larry Plumlee, MD is a graduate of Johns

Hopkins medical school, and served on the

faculty there in the Department of Psychiatry

and Behavioral Sciences.

 

Al Galves, PhD, a licensed psychologist in

Colorado and on the board of MindFreedom

International.

 

Vince Boehm, psychiatric survivor advocate

from Delaware, is a veteran of the Fast for

Freedom hunger strike.

 

David Oaks is a psychiatric survivor and

director of MindFreedom International. This

is his 29th year working as an activist for

human rights in the mental health system. He

lives in Eugene, Oregon.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

For more information and to join MindFreedom

go to http://www.MindFreedom.org or phone

541-345-9106 or e-mail office.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

MindFreedom International is a non-profit

coalition uniting 100 grassroots groups

campaigning for human rights and alternatives

in the mental health system, and is accredited

by the United Nations as a Non Governmental

Organization with Consultative Roster Status.

 

MindFreedom is 100 percent independent with

no funding from government, mental health

systems, drug companies or religions.

 

MindFreedom is holding an Action Conference

29 April to 1 May 2005 at the American

University Washington College of Law.

 

NOTE: The deadline for registration for the

Action Conference is *this* Thur., 21 April 2005.

 

- end -

 

PLEASE FORWARD & POST to all appropriate

places on and off the Internet TODAY!

 

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