In Which I Mark My Return

Hi. Looks like I am actually back now, after a few days of trying to disconnect from all the work drama. Which means I have some catching up to do.

One of those things is to introduce you all to a fairly new blog, authored by an anonymous doctor, that is just as skeptical as I am about the current state of the mental health world. It's called Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look and is a damn good read. Already Dr. X is going after the notion that everyone is bipolar all of a sudden and that AstraZeneca trying to expand its market for Seroquel by targeting anxiety disorders, as well as offering some wise comments about the fact that several states are subpoenaing various documents from the makers of Seroquel and Zyprexa, etc. Read Dr. X's work, which is ridiculously knowledgeable, and add his blog to your newsreader/feedburner/etc. Dr. X also had nice things to say about this here blog today.

A couple of thoughts: Using Seroquel to treat anxiety disorders is a bit like using a nuclear bomb to clear a field of stumps. It's efficacious as hell, but....well, you know. Two, like Dr. X, I am thrilled to see California and other states going after atypical makers for their marketing and pricing practices, especially as they relate to each state's drug formulary and MedicAid programs. As I have mentioned several times in the last year or so, the fact that these atypicals are not proving out as being much better for treating schizophrenia than first-generation antipsychotics argues that the pharma companies should be forced by market pressures to slash the prices of these drugs. Why NAMI and NMHA have not even floated that idea is beyond me.

The big selling points for atypicals in treating schizophrenia is that they are better at treating symptoms of the illness than older meds and that their side effects are much more tolerable than, say, Haldol. But as the CATIE study and other studies have established, the atypicals aren't any better than the older meds and they have their own set of troubling side effects. Bottom line: the Eli Lillys of the world are ripping off their customer base, which is a bad way to do business.

And, now, they think they can justify giving these meds to every bipolar as if they were the equivalent of Lithium or Lamictal? Please.