Furious Seasons

April 03, 2007

Paxil/Seroxat Study 329 Co-Author Editorializes On The Bipolar Child

The new issues of the American Journal of Psychiatry came out yesterday and in it was a most interesting editorial. The editorial was authored by Boris Birmaher, a psychiatrist at Pitt, who was describing a new study of outcomes of young bipolar patients. I thought to myself, "Self, where have I heard that guy's name before?" So I went and did a little Google Scholar search and, sure enough, Birmaher is one of the co-authors of the 2001 paper based upon the controversial Glaxo Smith Kline Study 329 of Paxil/Seroxat in depressed teens that was the subject of the recent BBC "Panorama" program on Paxil. Study 329, in short, claimed that Paxil beat placebo in treatin depression in teens when, according to multiple sources, it did not. But that's context for this assertion Birmaher makes at the top of his editorial:

"Consistent with [Emil] Kraepelin’s early descriptions, it is now recognized that bipolar disorder may become manifest during childhood and adolescence. However, the diagnosis of children with this disorder may be difficult because pediatric bipolar disorder usually manifests with rapid mood changes, and therefore many children do not have the currently required DSM-IV duration of symptoms to fulfill diagnosis for bipolar I disorder or bipolar II disorder."

He goes on from there and describes the study elsewhere in the AJP and states:

"Despite these negative consequences and the fact that up to 60% of adults with bipolar disorder report the onset of their mood symptoms before age 20, there are doubts regarding the existence of this disorder in youths. Prospective follow-up studies of children with presumptive bipolar disorder may help validate this disorder."

In his mind, the whole early-onset bipolar disorder business is real, very, very real. But should anyone trust Birmaher? Should parents? Let's just say that some very smart people have taken on many of the issues around Study 329 and Paxil/Seroxat and, based upon the evidence, I'd have to say that it's fair to assert that none of us in the patient world should trust anyone who had a hand in the study (unless they want to suddenly recant the work) on absolutely anything they say about mental illness. At a minimum, we should be wildly skeptical of any claims they make. But, then, maybe I just have a problem with liars and I need to get over myself.

Healthy Skepticism, an Australian site, has done yeoman's work on Study 329 and other issues. You can find their resource page on the study here. Many interesting documents. In addition, CL Psych has written several smart posts about Study 329 banging on the study's main author and the journal that published the paper. And, of course, over in the UK there is an entire phalanx of bloggers delivering regular butt kickings to GSK over Paxil. Bob Fiddaman's Seroxat Sufferers site and Scientific Misconduct have been blowing apart the many ugly issues around Paxil for some time now. As well, AHRP has shown GSK much love and I have offered my own small thoughts here and here. I pass all of this along as resources for anyone who may be interested. (Check Fiddaman's blog roll to get a sense of just how much anger there is in the world about Paxil/Seroxat.)

Paxil is a bad med. As a result, I put little faith in the pronouncements of any doctor who pimped for the drug.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at April 3, 2007 12:01 AM

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Comments

I sit here and wonder why the hell my friend's son got put on Paxil at age 11 for social anxiety; ADHD already in place; then it all got summed up to Childhood bipolar after he became suicidal on Paxil. I am talking 1999 here.
This stuff just makes me SICK.

Posted by: Stephany at April 3, 2007 03:08 AM

"Paxil/Seroxat Study 329 Co-Author Editorializes The editorial was authored by Boris Birmaher, a psychiatrist at Pitt, who was describing a new study of outcomes of young bipolar patients. I thought to myself, "Self, where have I heard that guy's name before?" -Dawdy

Here is where you may have seen me write his name in the comment section:[Harvard Mafia, C.A.B.F.]

A Bipolar Child Murdered: Associated Press Takes A Swing

Posted by: Stephany at April 3, 2007 04:28 AM

And speaking of study 329 authors, don't forget Marty Keller and his great work to help Glaxo get Gepirone ER finally approved by the FDA...

see http://seroxatsecrets.wordpress.com/2007/04/01/ghostwriters-in-the-sky/

I'm sure you all remember Gepirone was deemed 'unapprovable' by the FDA a while back, but that was before Marty and Glaxo got involved... we wait to hear what the outcome will be this time round...

Posted by: admin at April 3, 2007 07:03 AM

The DSM is nothing but a fascist bible..
And psychiatry is a dangerous cult...
No psychiatric definition holds any real value when weighed against intelligent logic , reason and exact scientific methods..
Psychiatry is a gross fraud,it is dehumanizing and un-democratic..
It's guiding principles are based around a sinister pseudo-science of quackery , deception ,social control and domination..
That has always been the way with psychiatry..
It is a belief system which is designed to disect and squash the human condition into stigmatized categories , and then to further box, lable and medicate according to its dogma of definitions, (the DSM)..
Psychiatry is insideous and its methods are just as babaric and hideous today as they were 100 years ago...
Psychiatrists such as those whom collude with drug companies cannot be trusted and their opinions deserve no respect...
Unfortunately ,success in academic psychiatry can only be attained in its questionable collusion with pharmaceutical companies... So many psychiatrists will abandon any sense of ethics or morals in order to fund their careers , research or for a sense of prestige or importance, and this is exactly what the pharmaceutical companies provide.. in abundance..
Psychiatrys "key opinion leaders" such as Mr Birmaher are not only untrustworthy , but they are also a prime example of the corrupting influence of power and money..
But also maybe what they represent is an insight into the ugly side of the human condition , a place where conscience is abandoned and discarded for the glory and pursuit of the insatiable "ego" ..

The definitions of psychiatrys agenda quite fittingly fall within their own realm , and maybe that is because they themselves are are a representation of a mind set and ethos riddled with the same fears and neuroses which they claim to understand. And maybe psychiatry should begin to question and analyse its own history and behaviour before it continues to believe it has the right to interfere and tamper with anybody elses...

www.truthman30.wordpress.com

Posted by: truthman at April 3, 2007 10:05 AM

Thanks for the positive comments about the Healthy Skepticism site. One link (to the Paxil Study 329 protocol) wasn't working but is now fixed. Apologies. http://www.healthyskepticism.org/documents/protocol329.pdf

Posted by: Robyn Clothier at April 3, 2007 11:39 PM

my pleasure. thanks for your work.

Posted by: Philip Dawdy at April 4, 2007 12:00 AM