Daily Dose - Happy pills or Happy Trails pills?

[Guest guest]

" WC Douglass " <realhealth

Daily Dose - Happy pills or " Happy Trails " pills?

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 07:15:00 -0500

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Dose

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March 03, 2006

 

 

Are drugs for an invented disorder causing REAL deaths?

 

You know how I feel about ADHD. I've written ad infinitum about how

it's the most over-diagnosed " disorder " on Earth (it's actually a

largely made-up illness that's fueled by Big Pharma and enabled by

today's lax parenting), and how it's creating an entire generation of

drug-dependant souls who feel they just aren't themselves without

their expensive stimulants.

 

I've also written to you about how these drugs are more and more the

medication of choice for adults, and not just those with difficulty

focusing. As I've told you in past Daily Doses, there's a fast-growing

contingent of adult Ritalin and Aderall users who aren't the least bit

imbalanced. They're just college kids looking for an edge - trying to

stay sharp and alert for late-night study sessions or major exams.

Still others fake illnesses to re-sell their pills to " normal " kids

who just want a good buzz...

 

But unfortunately, the parties, study sessions, and even playground

recesses might be getting cut mortally short for a certain number of

these people. According to a 2006 report issued by the Food and Drug

Administration, as many as 25 suspicious deaths (19 among children)

and 54 cases of serious cardio-vascular issues have been reported

among patients who began treatment with five of the most

oft-prescribed ADHD drugs - including Ritalin and Aderall, the two

such medications most people have heard of - between 1999 and 2003.

 

These aren't the first casualties associated with these drugs, either.

According to a recent Associated Press article about the new report's

findings, the FDA claims to have recorded 26 more deaths in a

partially overlapping time period that may also be linked to the use

of these drugs.

 

Of course, the FDA is moving at its usual glacial pace on this

situation. Instead of acting quickly to protect consumers - like

neighboring Canada did last year when it pulled Aderall from the

market until further review could conclusively validate it - the

agency instead continues to debate the best ways to study whether the

drugs have negative long-term effects. This, despite Congressional

pressure to speed things up. According to the AP piece, at least one

U.S. Senator has chastised the FDA for its lethargy in the matter.

 

Meanwhile, sales of ADHD drugs continue to skyrocket, more than

quadrupling between 2000 and 2004, to a total $3.1 billion worth. Over

that period, adult prescriptions of the drugs outpaced children's.

More on this story in future Daily Doses as it develops...

 

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Mom's killer blues cure

 

More bad news for mood-altering drugs: According to some recent

research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, the most

popular class of today's anti-depressants (called SSRIs) can increase

the risk of an often-fatal birth defect by up to SIX-FOLD when taken

by mothers-to-be - especially during the second half of their pregnancy.

 

The drugs, which include Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, have been

implicated in increased numbers of cases of persistent pulmonary

hypertension - a condition that retards the adaptation of an infant's

lungs to normal breathing soon after birth, thereby preventing enough

oxygen from reaching the blood. According to an Associated Press

report on the study's findings, the FDA plans to issue public health

advisory on this link soon.

 

This isn't the first time these drugs have been linked with prenatal

health issues, either. Last year, the FDA warned that Paxil in

particular may be linked with fetal heart defects when taken in the

first 3 months of pregnancy.

 

What's most disturbing to me is this little-known fact: Nobody knows

how ANY patented drugs affect pregnant women or fetuses until after

they've been prescribed to the public. Ethical rules prohibit the

testing of drugs on pregnant women. Drug companies are literally

testing these medications by prescribing them to an unwitting populace

- relying on the FDA, universities, or individual doctors to report

pernicious results.

 

In this instance, the result is a 600% increase in the risk of infant

death.

 

Trying not to be depressed when drugs cause distress,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD

 

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