Furious Seasons

January 19, 2008

01-19-2008 Media Madness

I need to catch you up with several interesting items I've run into over the last few days.

Intueri, a blog written by an actual psychiatrist, briefly reports of learning about an eight-month-old infant taking Zyprexa. Her post is tantalizingly slim on details, but one wonders what would cause a doc to place an infant on this drug.

Wired has a brief review of a book by a Yale psych doc, who argues that America is wildly over-medicated (someone from Yale argued this? Oh, wait till the kids at Skull & Bones find out), and that people need to set about reverse-engineering (e.g., hacking) their own psychological makeups. Gee, it's like I could've written it.

CL Psych slaughters the recent Risperdal for depression trial (told you it was bogus!) as does Health Care Renewal, which offers loving detail of the many, many conflicts of interest in its authorship. This nonsense that anti-psychotics are good for long-term depression treatment simply needs to be stopped.

John Grohol at Psych Central echoes my basic assertion the other day that complete symptom remission as a goal of depression treatment is a bridge too far.

A social service agency in Seattle is closing two of its homes for the mentally ill. This will put out about 100 people, King County has no idea how it will house these folks (there is no other housing, and hospitals are not an option), and I predict that some of these poor folks will end up on the street.

The kids over at Drug Wonks (or is that Drunk Wonks?) attempt to spin on behalf of Big Pharma's coverup of anti-depressant trials data.

A mentally-ill paraplegic man, who was dumped on the streets of Los Angeles last year by a hospital, sues the hospital for abuse. Good for him. It's one of the most appalling cases of mistreatment of the poor that I've heard of in this country in a long time, and his wasn't the only case in LA.

A psychiatrist declares Symbyax (the Zyprexa-Prozac combo pill) a "miracle pill." Unbelievable.

Gianni Kali continues her withdrawal from meds and is taking lots of vitamins, which seem to help.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at January 19, 2008 12:57 PM

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Comments

Dr. Puga, the wonderful psychiatrist who speaks highly of the Zyprexa/Prozac combo, not only spells atrociously (would you trust a doctor so sloppy as to have at least ten to fifteen obvious typos?)but is also grossly misinformed. (okay, that is a very awkward sentence...but I'm calling attention to it!)

He says:

Another problem is sedation and weight gain with the Zyprexa. The problem with weight gain is that the more overweight a person is, the more risk for diabetes. There have been two case reports (of tens of thousands who have been on this medication) of patients developing diabetes upon starting the medication.

what planet does he live on? Two case reports of diabetes?? Jesus.

Posted by: Gianna at January 20, 2008 12:01 AM

In regards to the 8-mth old on Zyprexa, in the March 1998 issue of Psychiatric Times, there is a reference to 1994 data of 3000 SSRI prescriptions being written for children under 12-mths (Yes, less than one year old). Go figure. Several times, I emailed and tried calling the author, Michael Grinfeld, to get some clarification about the data but he would never respond. Since Psychiatric Times is a trade journal I wonder if someone realized this might not be the kind of information to willingly volunteer, and that Grinfeld was told to cease and desist. Its not exactly good PR for the child psychiatry profession. Grinfeld might have been wrong about the data but I never saw a correction. I would be more than happy to provide more details to anyone who is interested.

Posted by: jonathan Leo at January 20, 2008 08:54 AM

I wonder how many eight monthers will turn up on Zyprexa under Massachusetts' dangerous experiment of giving kids psychotropic drugs in the Medicaid Program. Here's hoping the Globe and relevant blogs are on their toes, getting the word out about this disgusting scheme.

Posted by: Sorrowful at January 20, 2008 05:34 PM

Philip, have you read Dr(?)Pugas' blog. This guy claims to have been practicing for 18 years. Unbelievable! His entire blog is a must read for everyone and if you are his patient, run like hell!

Posted by: Jane at January 28, 2008 12:08 AM

Whew, I agree about Dr. Puga. He is one scary dude.

Posted by: Sara at January 28, 2008 11:50 AM

Thanks for your feedback, I didn't mean to soft-pedal the risks of the medication, because indeed, Zyprexa can be harmful for some patients, but, I have seen it where it has saved some highly suicidal patient's lives and that was my point. In relality, I reserve the Symbyax for resistant depression and not as first line. It's all about risk vs benefit analysis. It is hope for some who feel so overwhelmed and near death from the pain of depression, for that I am greatful.

Posted by: Dr. Puga at January 31, 2008 09:03 AM