Black box warnings not just for downed airliners

[Guest guest]

" WC Douglass " <realhealth

Daily Dose - " Black box warnings " not just for downed airliners

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 12:28:51 -0500

 

 

 

Daily Dose

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November 14, 2005

 

 

 

Deadly side effect of a " made-up " disease's drug

 

It's been a while since I talked about ADHD. If you've been reading me

for any amount of time at all, you already know what I think about the

" disease " : In the vast majority of cases, an ADD or ADHD diagnosis is

the result of unqualified professionals (like school nurses or

guidance counselors) planting the seed in the minds of unqualified

parents that perfectly normal, yet with moderately challenging

childhood behavior like a short attention span and rambunctious-ness

are signs of a medical problem...

 

And once parents are convinced that their unruly child is the way he

or she is because of an illness instead of because of their poor

parenting, they'll haul the kid before a doctor and insist he (or she,

I know) write a prescription. At that moment begins a lifelong cycle

of self-doubt and dependency that any child would have trouble

overcoming, even well into adulthood.

 

What's even more absurd is the medical establishment's astonishing

" roll-over-and-play-dead " attitude about the whole thing. After all,

it's easier, faster, and more profitable to keep writing prescriptions

for Ritalin and other drugs than it is to confront parents with their

lackluster parenting skills.

 

This, the grow-up-too-fast, schizophrenic pace of life, the jump-cut

look of today's media, and Ritalin's status as a

schoolyard-black-market favorite (kids are literally faking the

illness to get prescriptions they can sell to other kids for their

stimulant value) are why rates of ADD and ADHD diagnosis have gone up

so much in the last 15 years - it's now estimated that 7% of children

have one of these " disorders. " How ridiculous!

 

Which brings me to my point: The drugs that are often prescribed for

these conditions are far from harmless. In fact, they pack a whole

list of disturbing side effects, including one most recently and

indelibly identified with antidepressants:

 

Suicide.

 

According to a recent Associated Press story, The FDA warned doctors

that the ADHD drug Strattera (made by Eli Lilly & Co.), has been

linked by a recent study to suicide among children. Interestingly

enough, even though Strattera has been praised by health care

professionals and parents alike for its non-addictive nature (it's not

a stimulant like Ritalin), the drug nevertheless is chemically quite

similar to certain antidepressants....

 

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According to the AP piece, a larger FDA review of psychiatric drugs

and their potential links to suicide revealed the correlation between

Strattera and suicidal tendencies. Among their findings from past

clinical trials:

 

* In one clinical trial of 1357 patients of varying ages, 5 youths

reported suicidal thoughts during the study. One involved youngster

actually attempted suicide. This, compared to...

* No attempted suicides or reports of suicidal thoughts among the

851 patients in the same study's " placebo " group.

 

Of course, many youths ponder suicide - it's in the nature of those in

the throes of massive hormonal tides, bodily transformations, and

mental development to take a walk on the dark side of their mortality.

But apparently, there's enough damning evidence to prompt the FDA to

require Lilly to post on Strattera's packaging the most stringent

warning label mandated by the agency: The " black box " warning.

 

Nearly 3.5 million people have been prescribed Strattera since its

introduction. Lilly bigwigs say around 3/4 of those were children at

the time of first prescription. If there is any statistical truth to

the ratio of patients to suicidal tendencies revealed in the

placebo-controlled study the AP article cited, that means

approximately 9,000 of those kids considered suicide who ordinarily

wouldn't have.

 

It also means that around 1800 of them attempted suicide because of

the drug...

 

I'll bet not all of them failed.

 

Never failing to warn you,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD

 

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