Sometimes I wonder if it’s all worthwhile and why I keep Seroxat Secrets going.

Then, out of the blue this arrives:

hey Admin
you do not know how much you really helped me, from about a year ago I send my Seroxat taking off problem at this site, and you replied at once and if it was not for your reply and help I know that things would ‘ve gone far much worse for me,
I do not know you as a person, I never met you, but honestly I appreciate what you did for me, and I thank Allah for you being in my life even if for a little while but you made a life change for me
thank you Admin I ‘ll always pray to Allah to keep safe and happy
Reham

To know that I’ve been able to help just one person makes it all worthwhile – thanks Reham and good luck.

…research and development?

You must be joking, it’s on marketing – and this is just in the USA!

Of course the way some drug trials are rigged and the data ‘interpreted’ then many would argue that these costs should be included in the marketing spend as well.

This from the Wall Street Journal:

Despite all the job cuts for drug reps, despite the endless stream of TV drug ads, the pharma industry still spends most of its U.S. marketing money the old-fashioned way: Paying salespeople to call on doctors and other health-care providers.

Drug companies spent “at least $20.5 billion in marketing” in 2008, the  CBO said in a research brief published yesterday. (That figure doesn’t include the value of free drug samples companies give to docs, by the way.) The big categories include:

$12 billion for “detailing,” the industry term for sending sales reps to talk to doctors, nurses and other providers. Spending on detailing was highest for statins (such as Pfizer’s Lipitor), antidepressants (like Forest’s Lexapro) and antipsychotics (like Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Abilify). In each of those categories, branded drugs are competing against generics for a big market.

$4.7 billion direct-to-consumer advertising, and an additional $400 million on advertising in professional journals. CBO took a closer look at consumer advertising for about 2,000 drugs and found that TV ads accounted for 62% of spending, print ads made up 35% and online ads were 4% (those figures add up to 101% because we rounded to the nearest percentage point).

$3.4 billion sponsoring professional meetings and events. This includes sponsoring courses and talks that doctors can attend (or watch online) in order to satisfy requirements for continuing medical education (known as CME). Industry-funding of CME has been getting some attention in Congress lately, with some lawmakers calling for public disclosure of who pays for what.

Chuck Nemeroff, the controversial former Emory University psychiatry department chair, has been named chair of the psychiatry department at the University of Miami School of Medicine – has the man got no shame?

It was only October last year that Chuck was forced to resign from Brown University. Phil Dawdy at Furious Seasons summed it up like this:

A few of you have probably already caught the news elsewhere: yesterday, Charles Nemeroff resigned as chair of the psychiatry department at Emory University. The move came on the heels of revelations that he’d taken in $2.8 million in pharma consulting monies since 2000, but had only reported less than half of that–all while taking NIH research grants on the other hand and assuring his university that he was taking in less than $10,000 a year in pharma dough.

For those of you who don’t know, Nemeroff is one of the biggest depression researchers in the world and his work is hugely influential in the field. But as CL Psych has repeatedly detailed, Nemeroff’s work is often scientifically compromised.

I’ll hand over to Phil again for his take on the latest news:

News is just out that, as expected, the controversial former Emory University psychiatry department chair Charles Nemeroff has been named chair of the psychiatry department at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Nemeroff is infamous for epic conflict of interest issues and dubious research findings. I’d say Miami U. and Nemeroff are made for each other as the university has the dirtiest, most thuggerific football team in NCAA football.

The Miami Herald reports:

“On Thursday, Pascal Goldschmidt, dean of UM medical school, called Nemeroff ‘an extraordinary psychiatrist and scientist. . . . He got into serious trouble on disclosure on conflict of interest.’ “Goldschmidt said he had read investigative reports from Emory about Nemeroff’s activities and found nothing to indicate that payments the psychiatrist received had in any way influenced his research results.

“In a telephone interview at mid-day Thursday, Nemeroff, 60, told The Miami Herald he was excited to be coming to Miami. ‘I think it’s going to be a top-10 school.’”

Extraordinary psychiatrist and scientist? Last month, Bernard Carroll, a California psychiatrist and co-author of Health Care Renewal, delivered an epic smackdown of Nemeroff over his involvement in pimping Seroquel for major depression:

“As for Dr. Nemeroff, he is yesterday’s news. The adverse findings by ACCME about his program serve as a reminder to corporate sponsors and CME companies that Dr. Nemeroff is so compromised by now that he has lost effectiveness as a front man for Pharma. Indeed, he is so toxic that he now glows in the dark.”

Phil Dawdy’s Nemeroff back catalog is here.

My Nemeroff back catalogue is  here, here and here.

Read even more here, here and here.

I wonder how much money Timothy Dinan has been by paid by Lundbeck in the past 10 years?

Currently Tim is a Faculty member of the ‘The Lundbeck Institute’.

On the payroll of any other pharma companies, Tim?

Conflict of interest Tim?

In a letter to the Irish Times, the ‘great and the good’ [my irony] of Irish psychiatry wade in to the Shane Clancy case (detail here) to sort out a few misunderstandings for us mere mortals (and Dr Michael Corry) who they think know nothing…

“…A controversial statement has been made … namely that antidepressants cause homicide, which we wish to rebut…”

“…There is no scientific evidence whatsoever that antidepressants cause homicide…”

“…the erroneous belief that antidepressants induce aggression and homicide…”

“…those with severe depressive illness, who need antidepressants for continuing wellbeing…”

So say Prof PATRICIA CASEY, Prof TIMOTHY DINAN, Prof MICHAEL GILL, TCD, Prof BRIAN LAWLOR, Prof JAMES V LUCEY, Prof KEVIN MALONE, Prof DAVID MEAGHER, Prof COLM McDONALD.

Pretty black and white then, or so they would have us believe. However in reality it’s not so clear cut… There is much evidence (anecdotal and trial and pharmacovigilance data) that to points to a link between antidepressants and violence.

For instance I wonder if any of these very impressive Irish professors have read the paper Antidepressants and Violence: Problems at the Interface of Medicine and Law.

How can this be?

I’d say there are two main reasons: In the UK (and most countries) the Government is happy to buy huge amounts of expensive drugs from big pharma and by prescribing them, at least something is being seen to be done – boxes can be ticked, ‘treatment’ targets delivered.

The problem is that there is no money left to employ counsellors – research by five mental health charities found depressed patients were having wait for six to 18 months to get an appointment with an NHS counsellor… and this against a background of previous studies that have shown psychological therapies can be as effective as drugs in tackling mental health problems, and may work better in the long term. In fact, many GPs admit prescribing antidepressant medications to patients because they can’t get access to talking therapies.

And the second reason?

I suggest you find out what big pharma calls ‘marketing’ its product – here – read about rigged drug trials, buried negative data, the invention of new illnesses to treat with exisiting drugs…

This from Jenny Hope of the Daily Mail:

Prescriptions for anti-depressants have soared despite fewer patients being diagnosed with depression, research shows.

It reveals the number of prescriptions issued by GPs for drugs including Prozac and Seroxat has more than doubled over the past 11 years.

And it warns the dramatic rise is largely down to more than two million patients taking antidepressants for years at a time  -  many of them young women.

Prescriptions for anti- depressants have soared despite fewer patients being diagnosed with depression, research shows.

It reveals the number of prescriptions issued by GPs for drugs including Prozac and Seroxat has more than doubled over the past 11 years.

And it warns the dramatic rise is largely down to more than two million patients taking antidepressants for years at a time  -  many of them young women.

The study, by Southampton University and published in the British Medical Journal, analysed all new cases of depression between 1993 and 2004 from anonymous computerised general practice records.

The database covers 170 GP surgeries and around 1.7million registered patients.

It found the number of prescriptions issued for antidepressants per patient rose from 2.8 in 1993 to 5.6 in 2004.

Data from the Prescription Pricing Authority also found more than 30million prescriptions for SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), such as Prozac and Seroxat, are issued each year  -  twice as many as the early 1990s.

The study also found 90 per cent of those diagnosed with depression now take SSRIs either continuously or as repeated courses over several years.

Researchers said they feared the rise could result in addiction problems like those affecting users of the anti-anxiety drug Valium 30 years ago.

And they claimed many patients, particularly women, were taking the drugs over a long period rather than to alleviate symptoms in the short-term.

Many subsequently had trouble getting the help they needed to treat their addiction, they added.

Professor Kendrick, who led the study, said: ‘We estimate more than two million people are taking antidepressants long-term, in particular women aged between 18 and 30.

‘Our previous research found although these drugs are said not to be addictive, many patients found it difficult to come off them, due to withdrawal symptoms including anxiety.

‘Many wanted more help from their GP to come off the drugs. We don’t know how many really need them and whether long term use is harmful. This has similarities to the situation with Valium in the past.’

He said the UK was among several western European countries which had seen a substantial rise in antidepressant prescribing in the past 20 years.

‘Lower thresholds for diagnosis or treatment, or changes in illness or behaviour do not seem to be responsible for this rise,’ he said.

‘The rise in antidepressant use is mainly explained by changes in the proportion of patients receiving long-term treatment.’

Previous studies have shown psychological therapies can be as effective as drugs in tackling mental health problems, and may work better in the long term.

NHS guidelines recommend this kind of treatment, including cognitive behavioural therapy, often in preference to drugs.

Research by five mental health charities found depressed patients were having wait for six to 18 months to get an appointment with an NHS counsellor  -  with many being forced to go private.

Many GPs admit prescribing antidepressant medications to patients because they can’t get access to talking therapies.

I’ve had a couple of comments about this story that I think are worthy of bringing to the fore:

This first comment is from an interview in the Irish press with Shane’s father, Patrick:

Shane was taking it for about a week when he took the remaining three weeks’ supply in one day, possibly an attempt at suicide. He told his mother what had happened. Two days later, she took her son to another GP. It was explained to the second doctor that Shane had taken a high dosage of Citrol two days previously. The GP prescribed Cipramil, another brand of citalopram.

As this GP was aware Shane had misused antidepressants two days previously, it was instructed on the three-week prescription that the chemist should only supply Shane with one week of the drug at a time, according to his father. But when Shane went to fill the second prescription, the chemist asked him if he wanted to get the three-week prescription filled at once, and Shane said yes. It was Friday 14 August. His family believe Shane took another high dosage of antidepressants the next day. In the early hours of 16 August, Shane Clancy carried out his attack.

“Shane was the type of person who was always careful about taking pills. If he had a Lemsip, he’d phone me to ask if he could take paracetamol as well a few hours later. I don’t know if he was attempting suicide when he took three weeks’ worth of antidepressants in one day. I might never know,” says his father.

“I don’t want to be seen as pointing the finger at the doctors or the chemist but surely if it said to only give him one week’s supply at a time, the chemist should have followed that instruction.”

The whole interview can be read here.

The second comment sheds some light on the complaint made against Dr Michael Corry:

This is absolutely outrageous, but I am not surprised that the (predominantly pharma-funded) psychiatric community in Ireland is baying for Michael Corry’s blood.. He has been a strong critic of both the influence of the industry and the misdeeds of his own profession for quite some time now… It is always the brave ones who go up against the “status quo” whom are first to be attacked..

On the subject of which senior psychiatrist complained about Michael Corry… ?
Read the following article …

Professor of Psychiatry charges Dr Michael Corry at Medical Council
A senior psychiatrist, Professor Timothy Dinan of University College, Cork, has laid a complaint against Dr Michael Corry at the Medical Council. The complaint concerns Michael Corry’s statements about the role of SSRI antidepressants in the murder/suicide of Sebastian Creane and Shane Clancy.

Dinan, who is an enthusiastic advocate of SSRIs and SNRIs and has declared his close relations with several drug companies, accuses Dr Corry of “”statements regarding the pharmacology of antidepressants” and of making “statements regarding a diagnosis without ever seeing the patient”.

Dinan has joined in a previous attempt to chill discussion of the effects of antidepressants. Signing himself as Timothy Dinan, MD, PhD, FRCPsych, FRCPI, Professor of Psychiatry, University College Cork, the academic was one of six professors of psychiatry who penned a letter published in the Irish Times on 16 November 2006 demanding the resignation of the then Minister for Mental Health, Tim O’Malley, for two reasons. One, O’Malley had dared to suggest that many everyday difficulties of life were being mis-labeled as ‘clinical depression’. Secondly, he had dared to suggest, with good reason, that the alleged benefits of medications used to treat mental illness cannot be proven scientifically in the way that other medications can. Both suggestions are cardinal sins for those who rule the world of psychiatry, and whose word is law among the students they teach.

WE MUST DEFEND MICHAEL CORRY’S RIGHT TO SPEAK OUT!

To defend Dr Michael Corry we need other health professionals to stand by him.
We appeal to doctors and nurses, especially psychiatric nurses, together with psychotherapists and counsellors, who are concerned at this attack on the right of medical professionals to oppose the monopoly of bio-psychiatry and are willing to stand up and be counted.

Please contact Dr Corry’s defence team: email wellbeing[at]wellbeingfoundation.com
(use the @ symbol instead of [at] )

The most chilling part of Professor Timothy Dinan’s complaint is that Corry made “statements regarding the pharmacology of antidepressants”. If such a complaint is upheld as valid, neither Dr Corry nor any other doctor registered with the Medical Council will ever again be able to ‘make a statement’ on the action of a drug such as Seroxat or Lexapro — or, by extension, of any drug.

Are you willing to allow this to happen?
Send objections to Professor Timothy Dinan’s complaint to:
Mr John Sidebotham
Professional Standards Department Medical Council
Lynn House
Portobello Court
Lower Rathmines Road Dublin 6
Fax: 01 4983103
Email: complaints@mcirl.ie

This story is beyond belief…here it is in brief:

Shane Clancy is a young guy who stabbed 2 people and murdered another, then stabbed himself to death in a frenzied attack recently in Ireland, his parents blame the SSRI he was taking at the time for his behavior and there has been huge media interest in the story in Ireland. Dr Michael Corry said live on TV that it was likely the SSRI that made Shane Clancy go on the violent rampage. Now it seems that an unnamed ’senior psychiatrist’ has made a ridiculous complaint against Dr Corry:

THE Medical Council in Ireland is investigating a complaint regarding psychiatrist Dr Michael Corry’s “competence to practice” following comments he made to the Sunday Tribune about the role of anti-depressants in a murder-suicide in Bray eight weeks ago.

A senior psychiatrist wrote to the Medical Council accusing Dr Corry of “publicity seeking of an appalling kind”, and the council will now consider the complaint at a scheduled meeting on 15 October.

In the wake of the murder-suicide carried out by Shane Clancy, who was misusing antidepressants, Dr Corry said: “If he was not on medication, he would not have done what he did. I would stake my career on that. His behaviour was out of character. He went from homicidal to suicidal.”

The psychiatrist who complained to the Medical Council said Dr Corry had made comments about a tragedy “without regard for the distress” caused to the families; had “made allegations regarding the competence” of a fellow colleague [by suggesting a colleague treated a patient that rendered him homicidal and suicidal]; “made statements regarding a diagnosis without ever seeing the patient”; made “statements regarding the pharmacology of antidepressants”.

I have a few observations – firstly we need to know who the ‘unnamed psychiatrist’ is, so we can be sure of his motives and uncover any conflicts of interest there may be behind this complaint.

Secondly I have to ask if the ‘unnamed psychiatrist’ has ever taken an SSRI like Seroxat… the idea that an SSRI can make a person extremely violent is not news to the many of us who have had the misfortune to suffer adverse reactions to SSRIs.

Thirdly I wonder if the ‘unnamed psychiatrist’ is aware of the paper published on September 12, 2006, by David Healy, Andrew Herxheimer and David B. Menkes which dealt with SSRIs and Violence?

And lastly what about ALL THESE STORIES...

See Shane Clancy’s mother on television in Ireland here - just click the ‘More’ button and choose ‘The Clancy’s’ video segment.

When, oh when, will the medical establishment admit that SSRIs like Seroxat/Paxil can be very dangerous drugs indeed and cause extreme, violent behaviour in some people?

And why must the few Doctors who speak out like Dr Corry and Prof. Healy have to suffer attacks from the same medical establishment?

After analyzing a 2001 e-mail from a Paxil user who aborted her fetus because it had a heart defect, Glaxo officials noted in company files they were “almost certain” the drug was related to the problem, Jane Nieman, a former Glaxo drug-safety executive, told a Pennsylvania jury.

Now that Glaxo has been found guilty and Kilker case has ended, pending an appeal of course,  what of the remaining court documents that have yet to surface?

READ THEM ALL HERE!