To the Attorney General of Texas demanding a criminal investigation of J&J Janssen marketing practices of antipsychotic Risperdal

Sign the petition at the upper right corner of the blog

"To the Attorney General of Texas demanding a criminal investigation of J&J Janssen marketing practices of antipsychotic Risperdal"

The Petition
As a result of the state of Texas vs Janssen settlement of $158 million dollars; to seek and find justice for those who have been harmed by the illegal marketing of the antipsychotic Risperdal; for criminal investigation of J&J Janssen on behalf of those who used the drug as a result of deceptive marketing practices; for admission of guilt by J&J Janssen, this petition is signed by those supporting and seeking truth, and justice, and criminal charges placed to parties responsible for withholding information, hiding data and purposely deceiving the public, including Medicaid patients and providers. The public who have been deceived by J&J Janssen and the children who have been harmed by taking Risperdal due to illegal marketing practices deserve to see a criminal investigation.

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With thanks to the whistleblower Allen Jones, expert witnesses Joseph Glenmullen, and Bruce Perry, to the 1 Boring Old Man blog author and retired psychiatrist who traveled to the trial and reported with interesting, heartfelt posts for all of us to read.

I believe it is time for the pharmaceutical companies caught in illegal marketing practices to be held accountable to the people they injured by pushing the drugs to populations such as children and elderly. I believe there should be top down accountability with more than monetary fines that pharma companies build into their budgets as "business as usual". The CIA's (Corporate Integrity Agreements)and Department of Justice fines are not doing the job they should be in policing these companies, they just keep on breaking the laws, in an insulting and dangerous manner to the people who are the most vulnerable: the people who take their medicines.

I wonder,at times if these drugs such as the antipsychotic Risperdal, or Zyprexa for example were not heavily marketed to children and doctors if there could have been a shift in the childhood bipolar diagnoses explosion, and how many kids are on or were on these drugs as a result of the marketing--would they have different outcomes--if their doctor had not considered Risperdal as a result of the marketing off-label for the antipsychotic. Accountability, and an admission of guilt to the crime of illegal marketing is what is left out of cases like the Texas Risperdal case. J&J Janssen and companies like Lilly and AstraZeneca et al, never do admit guilt in comments in media...never admit guilt even when evidence is stacked high.

That is wrong.


Please sign the petition to carry forward the quest for truth and honesty, accountability to the Attorney General of Texas, let the AG know we want the next dimension beyond what the whistleblowers have done for everyone. I personally would like to have known the trial outcome of a jury verdict. I have questions on why the case was settled and the jury trial stopped. I know I am not alone with these and more questions.

I do hope Allen Jones (and other whistleblowers) can find solace in knowing many of us are grateful and appreciate what he went through to shed light on a subject that affects us all.

*Bloggers: Click 'sign' tab on petition, and on the right side bar of the petition page is a "Spread the word" button to click "Help promote this petition with a widget on your site" for a widget badge html to place on your blog if desired.

Attorney General Of Texas

Allen Jones is pleased, says the 1 Boring Old Man blog: Risperdal Texas trial outcome

"Here’s an example of how the settlement brings pain and anguish back for me as a parent of a child who is a “product” of the Biederman/pharma psychiatric crime against humanity:

from twitter.

I am one who does say it is a crime to consider biz as usual part of this process. I know the trial wasn’t about the kids or the people being given justice, all the same, I had a glimmer of hope that this trial would end with a JURY verdict, not a settlement.
I do thank Allen Jones, Bruce Perry and Joseph Glenmullen for their testimonies.
It is important to never forget the children harmed in Texas and all over the country, at the expense of their health, J&J Janssen made a profit and for these children, justice remains to be served."

That is my comment I left at 1 Boring Old Man blog titled "Allen's pleased..."

J&J to pay $158 million to settle Risperdal case -- not 1 billion as expected!

Marketwatch J&J to pay $158 million to settle Risperdal case:

"Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit said Thursday it has reached a settlement with the State of Texas under which it will pay $158 million "in full resolution of all claims" in litigation over its antipsychotic drug Risperdal. The deal will cover claims brought by the state in 2004 for Medicaid overpayment from 1994 to 2008 "and will circumvent potentially lengthy and costly appellate activities," the company said."

With expert witnesses such as Bruce Perry, Joseph Glenmullen and whistle blower Allen Jones testifying, no wonder J&J Janssen wanted to settle, but the question remains, as to why they got off so cheap!!

J&J Janssen reported to have settled Risperdal case

GO to 1 Boring Old Man read to UPDATE in this post at Boring Old Man blog Reports there settlement talk

Also in that post: J&J Hid 3 Risperdal Diabetes Studies From FDA, Texas Jury Told--Bloomberg

Glenmullen testified


"Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson officials hid three studies showing some patients using Risperdal developed diabetes while claiming the antipsychotic drug didn’t cause the disease, a witness testified.

As early as 1999, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit had researchers’ findings that about half the patients taking Risperdal in a study comparing its risks to those of Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zyprexa antipsychotic drug developed diabetes after a year on the medication, Joseph Glenmullen, a psychiatrist and Harvard Medical School instructor, told a Texas jury yesterday.

That study concluded Risperdal caused “medically serious weight gain” that led study subjects to develop diabetes, Glenmullen testified in the trial of the state of Texas’s lawsuit over Janssen’s marketing of the drug. At the same time, Janssen salespeople were telling doctors that researchers concluded the drug didn’t cause the disease, Glenmullen added."

Source: Johnson & Johnson Settles Suit With Texas

Alison Bass: From the Pentagon Papers to Allen Jones: Why it’s so hard to be a whistleblower

This is worth reading:

"From the Pentagon Papers to Allen Jones: Why it’s so hard to be a whistle blower" , by Alison Bass

From the Pentagon Papers to Allen Jones: Why it’s so hard to be a whistleblower Alison Bass is the author of Side Effects.

"Another thing I know is that the off-label marketing of Risperidal for kids was Janssen directed, Janssen executed, and blatant" 1 Boring Old Man

"Another thing I know is that the off-label marketing of Risperidal for kids was Janssen directed, Janssen executed, and blatant."

Writes retired psychiatrist and 1 Boring Old Man blogger, regarding his thoughts from sitting in on the Texas Janssen Risperdal trial.

Woman with schizophrenia nearly forced to have abortion

Court strikes decision for mentally ill woman’s abortion

Backs rights those ruled incompetent

"Earlier this month, a Norfolk probate judge declared a pregnant woman with schizophrenia incompetent and ordered her to undergo an abortion, stating she could be “coaxed, bribed, or even enticed’’ into the hospital for the procedure.

Unbidden, the judge further directed that the 32-year-old woman be sterilized “to avoid this painful situation from recurring in the future.’’

Yesterday, the state’s appeals court struck down the decision in unusually harsh terms, saying the woman had clearly expressed her opposition to abortion as a Catholic."
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This is atrocious!

Thank goodness she had this taken to the Appeals Court. It is not a crime to have mental illness, nor should people be treated this way, it's eugenics!

Just say NO to Internet Censorship

http://sopastrike.com/

" Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In the Senate the bill is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). SOPA has gotten more attention than PIPA because it was moving faster in the legislative process. But PIPA is just as dangerous, and now it is moving faster.

PIPA would give the government new powers to block Americans' access websites that corporations don't like. The bill lets corporations and the US government censor entire websites and cut sites off from advertising, payments and donations.

This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

The bill is scheduled for a test vote in the Senate on Jan. 24th"

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa

U.K. new blog by a mental health nurse whistle-blows on abuse

The blog, simply titled Dear Blog has a new post up detailing inside abuses witnessed by this U.K. mental health nurse.

*Update 1 18 12

blog posts are removed, see comment at Dear Blog


On Twitter HERE

The Marketing of antipsychotic Risperdal to kids:" I was by now fully alert and fighting the impulse to stand up and say, "Are you serious?" the trial

1 Boring Old Man blogger, and retired psychiatrist writes about the J&J Janssen Risperdal trial in Texas, now on the subject of marketing the antipsychotic to children.

Excerpt:

"As they droned on, nit-picking the call-notes ["How do you know when the note says 'kids' that they meant...?"], my mind wandered. Then, they produced the fourth document. It was Janssen’s request for approval for children [1996] to the FDA – the one turned down in the third document [above]. Mr. Friede hadn’t seen it. It was as advertised – saying since people were already using Risperdal in kids, why not approve it? I was still not fully attentive, but then I got the gist of where the cross-examiner was going. He was suggesting that Janssen was applying for approval with no supporting data or studies for altruistic reasons. He suggested that since it was already being used in kids and teens, Janssen wanted approval so their drug reps could talk to doctors about the proper doses – to keep doctors from using excessive doses of Risperdal. I was by now fully alert and fighting the impulse to stand up and say, "Are you serious?" "

Pharmaceutical crimes and corruption: Deadly twist to the pharma-doctor Serbian bribery story

AstraZeneca was indicted in Serbia for alleged bribery, and the former head of the Institute of Radiology and Oncology in Belgrade is found dead, of possible suicide, hanged in a forest.

VIA The Seroquel Lawsuit blog

November 2011

AstraZeneca Indicted for Bribery - pharmaceutical corporate crime wave continues unabated - What CIA ?

January 2012

Nenad Borojević, former head of the Institute of Radiology and Oncology in Belgrade & The Doctor at the center of AstraZeneca's Bribery & Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was found hanged in a forest.

Whistleblower Allen Jones testifies "“The account was used to deposit money from drug companies" J&J Janssen Risperdal trial

VIA Bloomberg Business:

J&J Whistle-Blower Recounts Firing After Finding Payments
Bloomberg

"Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- A whistle-blower who sued Johnson & Johnson over the marketing of its antipsychotic Risperdal said he was fired after probing company payments to a top pharmacist in Pennsylvania’s government who hid the money.

Allen Jones testified today in Austin, Texas, that he was an investigator in the Pennsylvania Office of Inspector General in 2002 when he looked into an unregistered bank account run by Steven Fiorello, the pharmacist. Fiorello was on a Pennsylvania committee weighing whether to require doctors to give priority to newer, more expensive drugs like Risperdal in state-funded treatment of mental-health patients, Jones said.

Jones, 57, said he found a $4,000 check from J&J’s Janssen unit to Harrisburg State Hospital that was sent “to the attention of” Fiorello. The check covered a Fiorello trip to New Orleans to discuss Pennsylvania’s drug guidelines. Another check for $1,766 to the hospital account was sent “in care of” of Fiorello, Jones said. Fiorello controlled the account and didn’t register it with the state, Jones said.

“The account was used to deposit money from drug companies,” Jones said in the trial’s third day of testimony. “There were real problems here. On many levels, the account was improper.”

Read entire HERE.

Be sure to check 1 Boring Old Man blog daily daily, as he is the retired psychiatrist who travelled to sit in on the trial, and is blogging the trial as it goes.

Dan Abshear: "The Mean and Unclean TeenScreen

An article by ex-pharma-rep Dan Abshear who is currently working to help "homeless military Veterans get back on their feet".

"TeenScreen tacitly considers the pharmaceutical industry their sponsor, as indicated by the amount of money this industry gives NAMI, which is about 3 million dollars a year. Eli Lilly is the top briber of NAMI, as they are the top drug company with the most prescribed psychotropic drugs, unfortunately.

Front groups, they are, that wear the masks of advocacy groups. Over half of the revenue of such groups comes from the pharmaceutical industry. TeenScreen is no different."-Dan Abshear

Go read the entire article HERE.

2004:"My name is Allen Jones, I am a whistleblower"..."

This week the J&J Janssen trial began in Austin, Texas.It is the complex story of paid officials, a medical model called TMAP (Texas Medication Algorithm Project)Teen Screen, and the marketing of an antipsychotic named Risperdal. In the pdf document linked HERE, you'll find whistleblower Allen Jones tell his story, which is gripping, and 66 pages long. I implore you to read it.

Allen Jones, Texas v Janssen pdf lawsuit document HERE filed 12-2008

2005:Medicating Aliah-Mother Jones

"The case of Aliah Gleason raises troubling—and long-standing—questions about the coercive uses of psychiatric medications in Texas and elsewhere. But especially because Aliah lives in Texas, and because her commitment was involuntary, she became vulnerable to an even further hazard: aggressive drug regimens that feature new and controversial drugs—regimens that are promoted by drug companies, mandated by state governments, and imposed on captive patient populations with no say over what's prescribed to them."

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News from the trial 1.11.12

Bloomberg Business Week J&J Paid Texas Official to Speak Around the U.S., Jury Told:

"Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit paid a Texas mental health official to speak around the U.S. about state guidelines on prescribing antipsychotic drugs that gave preference to the company’s Risperdal medicine, the official told jurors today."-Bloomberg

1 Boring Old Man: "the games begin": Texas, Risperdal, TMAP

Excerpt from 1 Boring Old Man; click on title of this post to go to the retired psychiatrist's blog to read the entire article:

Nine hours and counting from now the TMAP/J&J suit finally makes it to a courtroom and the jury selection begins. I’ve only known about this case for a year. But for Allen Jones, it has been a decade since he first got the scent of the wrongdoing alleged in this case. The whistle-blower suit itself was filed eight years ago. I have no clue what it would be like to have something like this on my mind every day for a decade, much less what it would feel like to finally be going to court and testifying in a matter of days. Certainly, the financial stakes are high – the lawyers speak of a billion dollars. But there will be other high stake issues at play in this courtroom. This case brings up so many of the deceptive practices that characterized the invasion of the pharmaceutical industry into academic psychiatry and psychiatric practice, all put into action behind closed doors. With this case, there are added twists. J&J targeted public mental health care. The taxpayers of the State of Texas were the victims along with the State’s mentally ill in hospitals, clinics, and prisons. TMAP was run by academic psychiatrists from Texas’ medical schools, and the psychiatrists who administered TMAP, traveling the country as TMAP evangelists to other States, were employed by the Texas Mental Health system. It’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the State’s own academic and institutional doctors were themselves agents of Johnson & Johnson in defrauding the State’s taxpayers and the State’s mentally ill. Getting this story into the public eye is as important as any punitive damages that might come in this suit. Let the games begin…

Texas AG goes to court this week: J&J and antipychotic Risperdal case

And the 1 Boring Old Man author, a retired psychiatrist is on the way to go witness this case in person:

"I started medical school at twenty-two, and went out of my way to change my specialty to psychiatry at thirty-three. It felt like the thing I was supposed to be doing. At the risk of sounding corny, I always felt honored to be allowed to practice medicine, and particularly psychiatry as I have known it. Now at seventy, if people are going to trivialize that, to treat it like some entrepreneurial business venture that doesn’t have to do with the fate of the patients being treated, and if some psychiatrists participated in that venture, I want to hear it in person. I’ve always thought that the question "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it – does it make a sound?" has an definite answer. "No!" That’s certainly true in psychotherapy – step one to untying the knots is having your story heard by another person. I just want the J&J/TMAP story heard, so that’s why I’m going to to Texas to be one of the people that hears it…"

This doctor deserves a standing ovation.



AG Austin,Texas:State attorney general sued drug company
Abbott: state paid excessively to Johnson & Johnson for Risperdal:Statesman.com

"Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is pitted against one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical companies in a trial starting this week that could bring the state more than $1 billion one of its largest potential awards since a multibillion-dollar tobacco settlement in 1998.

Abbott is charging that Johnson & Johnson Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutical LLC and five other related companies defrauded the state in a "sophisticated marketing scheme" that caused the Texas Medicaid Program to pay too much for Janssen's schizophrenia drug Risperdal, the lawsuit says.

The state also questions the companies' marketing practices and alleges that the companies misled state health officials about the drug's effectiveness, the risk of side effects and its suitability for pediatric use.

The trial is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. today in Judge John Dietz's 250th state District Court in Travis County.

The drug companies have denied the allegations in court documents and in a statement issued last week.

"Janssen is prepared to vigorously defend itself against these claims," the company said. "We are committed to ethical business practices and have policies in place to ensure that our products are only promoted for their FDA-approved indication. If questions are raised about adherence to our marketing and promotion policies, we act quickly to investigate the situation and take appropriate disciplinary action."

Texas got involved with Risperdal litigation about six years ago, when Abbott's office joined a lawsuit filed by corporate whistle-blower Allen Jones, who is a former employee of the office of the inspector general of Pennsylvania.

Jones has questioned the process for how Risperdal was approved in Texas and how that information was used by other states in their approval processes.

Jones filed suit in 2004 after his investigation in Pennsylvania led him to examine the companies' track record in Texas. As a whistle-blower plaintiff, he alleged that the companies overcharged the states and overstated the drug's effectiveness.

Risperdal, approved by the FDA in 1993, was one of Johnson & Johnson's top-selling drugs. Sales dropped off when Risperdal got generic competition in June 2008. Originally, the drug was only approved for adults, but later the FDA allowed it for children and the elderly.

Texas' case alleges that the drug companies prevented state health officials from receiving "truthful information about the safety, efficacy, appropriate uses and cost-effectiveness of Risperdal."

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Wouldn't it be nice to see some prison time for such illegal practices? fines, large or small are not doing the job.

Dr. Mark Foster: Letters From the Frontlines : send Dr. Foster support

The recent letter installment on author Robert Whitaker's Mad in America blog by Dr. Mark Foster in part: (If you aren't familiar with the Letters From the Frontline, take a look at the letters Foster writes to Whitaker regarding his patients on psychiatric medications.

"The boy told me that his psychiatrist had increased his dose of both medicines a few months ago, and with another question it became obvious that this increase correlated precisely with the worsening of his headaches. I asked if any of his doctors had considered that the drugs might be contributing to the headaches. Blank stares. I shared with them that headaches were the two most common side effects listed for both Abilify and Seroquel. The second most common is weight gain. The patient said, “Oh.”"

---

I've been reading Foster's letters for a long time now, and admire him taking a stance toward helping patients get hold of their lives,how he lost his job at a hospital as a result of being an outspoken doctor-blogger... but this was the most alarming, when I read a tweet by Dr.Mark Foster on Twitter:

"Unexpected news. Requesting positive vibes tomorrow as I head into surgery! Www.markvscancer.blogspot.com"

Here's where he wrote about finding the tumor on his cancer blog titled Mark vs. Cancer.

Send him support via Twitter or blog... this is sad and alarming news, no one wants to ever read.

**Update from Dr Foster's cancer blog

HERE.

Good to see an update!

U.K. AstraZeneca sends out "Dear Doctor" letters for Seroquel

Article at the Seroquel Lawsuit Blog

"Psychosis Risk Strikes Out Yet Again" by Allen Frances

Via Psychology Today, Psychosis Risk Strikes Out Yet Again
New Study Shows It Doesn't Predict Psychosis
Published on January 5, 2012 by Allen J. Frances, M.D. in DSM5 in Distress:

Read the article at the link above, but here is the on-target opinion of Dr. Frances:

"The inescapable conclusion: 'Psychosis Risk' should be dropped forthwith. It has survived this long only because it has friends in high DSM 5 places. This is a risky, scientifically unsupported idea that simply can't stand on its own feet and needs to be dropped."

Thank you to Mark at the Psych Survivor blog for the hat tip in my comments.

J&J Said to Agree to $1 Billion Accord in Risperdal Sales Probe

via Bloomberg Business J&J Said to Agree to $1 Billion Accord in Risperdal Sales Probe:

"Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $1 billion to the U.S. and most states to resolve a civil investigation into marketing of the antipsychotic Risperdal, according to people familiar with the matter.

J&J, the world’s largest health products company, reached an accord last week with the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, according to the people, who weren’t authorized to speak about the matter. It doesn’t resolve negotiations over a possible criminal plea, they said.

The U.S. government has been investigating Risperdal sales practices since 2004, including allegations the company marketed the drug for unapproved uses, J&J has said in Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company said it has been in negotiations with the U.S. to settle this investigation.

J&J, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, disclosed in August that it reached an agreement to settle a misdemeanor criminal charge related to Risperdal marketing. The company is in negotiations to pay about $400 million more to settle this portion of the investigation, one of the people said.

“We’re not going to comment on rumor or speculation,” Teresa Mueller, a J&J spokeswoman, said in a phone interview.

Company officials said in an SEC filing in May that they had reserved funds to resolve the government’s claims over Risperdal marketing. The company didn’t say how much had been set aside. The drugmaker said in an August filing it added an unspecified amount to the reserve to cover criminal penalties.

Accord Announcement

When the final settlement will be announced isn’t clear. The Justice Department typically announces civil and criminal resolutions at the same time in corporate cases." Bloomberg

Scott Bartz: Marketing Risperdal Part III: Marketing to the Elderly-- "Power Up" sales reps

Scott Bartz, author of the book The Tylenol Mafia: Marketing, Murder, and Johnson & Johnson and a pharmaceutical industry whistle-blower, has a new article in his series on the sales of the antipsychotic Risperdal. This time, he shows us the inside details of of the marketing to the elderly, which is heart wrenching, considering the dangers of the antipsychotic, and how it is notorious for being used as a chemical restraint for behavior control.

The sales rep incentive campaign, called "Power Up" shows you exactly why the sales reps did their job: MONEY. Simple. $$$$ Forget about the patient safety! get a bonus!

Click on the "Power Up" image on Scott's blog, for a pdf of the entire incentive packet, fine print and all.

Seroxat Sufferers Stand Up and be Counted: APA Use Restraints on Blogger

Bob Fiddaman, author of the Seroxat Sufferers Stand Up and Be Counted blog has written about the APA bullying the DX Revision blog author. As my previous post states, the DX Revision blog is a new name given to the blog forced upon the blog author by the American Psychiatric Society because she used the "DSM-5" in her web domain name. Just as the APA is revising and re-writing the names of existing mental illness labels, they did it to her blog title.


Go HERE, to read Fiddaman's article on the subject where the U.K. blogger recalls being bullied by GSK for a video he made, as well as the recent attempt of intimidation by a lawfirm to another blogger who writes the Seroquel Lawsuit blog, and Irish blogger, Leonie Fennel's letter of intimidation by an attorney for writing her thoughts on psychiatrist Patricia Casey.

It's quite clear when pharmaceutical companies have a dollar to make, and psychiatry get together it seems the two become one force that wants out spoken people silenced.

Of course, that is just my opinion. ;)

Allen Frances, MD- " I am surprised and saddened by APA's ill-conceived attempt to restrict Suzy Chapman's free expression on DSM 5"

The APA (American Psychiatric Association) has bullied a blogger into silence for using the DSM-5 "trademark" in her domain name. Here's the story from Dr. Allen Frances at Psychology Today, in this alarming article.


Is DSM 5 A Public Trust Or An APA Cash Cow?
Commercialism And Censorship Trump Concern For Quality
Published on January 3, 2012 by Allen J. Frances, M.D. in DSM5 in Distress

(In part)

"Until last week, my website published under the domain name
http://dsm5watch.wordpress.com/ .
On December 22, I was stunned to receive two emails from the Licensing and Permissions department of American Psychiatric Publishing, claiming that the domain name my site operates under was infringing upon the DSM 5 trademark in violation of United States Trademark Law and that my unauthorized actions may subject me to contributory infringement liability including increased damages for willful infringement. I was told to cease and desist immediately all use of the DSM 5 mark and to provide documentation within ten days confirming I had done so."

"Given my limited resources compared with APA's deep pockets, I had no choice but to comply and was forced to change my site's domain name to
http://dxrevisionwatch.wordpress.com

Hits to the new site have plummeted dramatically and it will take months for traffic to recover - just at the time when crucial DSM 5 decisions are being made."

"Was APA justified in seeking to exercise its trademark rights in this situation? Or do APA's actions fly in the face of accepted internet trademark practice, common sense, and good public relations? I am not a lawyer, but I have made a careful study of
'U.S. Trademark Law, Rules of Practice & Federal Statutes, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, November 8, 2011' and of many other available sources. My conclusion is that APA is making excessive and unwarranted claims for its DSM 5 trademark. Courts have found that using a trademark in a domain or subdomain name is 'fair use' if the purpose is non commercial, where there is no intent to mislead, where use of the mark is pertinent to the subject of discussion, and where it is clear that the user is not implying endorsement by, or affiliation with, the holder of the mark."

---

Here is a link to her new site

Dx Revision Watch
Diagnosis Revision Watch
Monitoring the development of DSM-5, ICD-11, ICD-10-CM Go there, read and show some solidarity!

The 1 Boring Old Man blog, authored by a retired psychiatrist has his commentary on this HERE.

I've seen a lot of bloggers be bullied over the years from pharmaceutical companies but the APA? nice job doctors! this is YOUR membership club at work!

DSM-5 trademark? bully blogger to change site domain? thank you for depicting psychiatry the way many already feel about it!
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UPDATE 1.5.12

Roy Poses left these links to others who are writing about the APA bullying in a comment at Health Care Renewal blog, where the great Bernard Carroll wrote SELF INFLICTED DAMAGE with his thoughts on the APA's behavior:

"It is bad enough that the APA resorts to this legal artifice to stifle public discussion. When they do it through their lawyers and business entities rather than through their medical and scientific officers, they sink to a lower level yet. The parallels with corporate sleaze that we have discussed so often on this blog are obvious. For shame."-Bernard Carroll

Check out the other blogs, Boring Old Man is linked here also:

On 1BoringOldMan blog:

http://1boringoldman.com/index.php/2012/01/03/dsm-5/

Carlat Psychiatry Blog:

here

Hooked: Ethics, Medicine and Pharma blog:

HERE

University Diaries blog:

HERE.

Update 1.13.12
*Note:

Read Dr Frances' follow-up here: HERE Suzy Chapman, Dx Revision Watch Dx Revision Watch blog.

Deep brain stimulation for depression? or conflicted researcher?

All of the news hype over deep brain stimulation for depression and bipolar has some fine print details for you to pay attention. Dr. Helen Mayberg Helen S. Mayberg, MD, Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

Disclosure: Alisa R. Gutman has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Disclosure: Helen S. Mayberg, MD, has disclosed that she has served as an advisor or consultant to Cyberonics and Advanced Neuromodulation Systems and has a patent licensed from Advanced Neuromodulation Systems

Owns a patent from Advanced Neuromodulation Systems. How handy!

The current news about having a brain pacemaker and remission of depression is reason to take a look at Dr. Helen Mayberg's background, before believing the media hype. (in my opinion)

Take a look at this November 2010 article from author Alison Bass

Keynote scientist at ScienceWriters conference dances around the truth:

"Dr. Helen Mayberg, a neurologist at Emory University, had top billing at the annual Science Writers conference in New Haven Sunday to talk about her work in using deep brain stimulation to treat depression. Nearly 500 writers, editors, public information officers and students listened as she spoke of inserting electrodes into the frontal lobes of chronically depressed patients for whom other treatments (like drugs and ECT) have failed. She spoke with wonder of being able to help "patient after patient" awake from the fog of depression and how for some patients, the difference was like "night and day."

As it turns out, Dr. Mayberg left out a few salient details. To begin with, she never mentioned how many depressed patients have actually benefited from this risky surgical technique. She did say that in the initial feasibility study she and colleagues did in 2002 while she was at the University of Toronto, electrodes were surgically implanted in six patients and four out of six "got better and stayed better." She also alluded to a slightly larger study of 20 patients she conducted at Emory in which "patients are achieving remission." But she did not how many patients are actually in remission and for what length of time, or whether the results are statistically significant, only that "we are now writing up the paper for submission." Her talk was heavy on anecdotal examples but skimpy on any real evidence of efficacy.

Of equal concern, Mayberg did not fully disclose the extent of her conflicts of interest. At the beginning of her talk, she mentioned that she held a patent for the technique and that it was now in clinical trials. She also said she was a consultant for St. Jude Medical. Now, St. Jude Medical Center is the name of a well-regarded nonprofit hospital in California and the clear implication (to many of us in the audience) was that she was consulting for a nonprofit hospital. In fact, Mayberg is a consultant for Advanced Neuromodulation Systems, which also goes by the name of St. Jude Medical Inc., a for-profit multinational company that manufactures medical devices and has annual revenues of $4.6 billion.

This is the company that holds the patent for Mayberg's surgical technique and has begun clinical trials to test it. And it has a less than stellar reputation. Last year, the FDA hit St. Jude Medical, otherwise known as ANS, with a stern warning letter alleging that the company had failed to correct known design defects in spinal cord stimulation devices it sells to treat chronic pain. The FDA letter said..." --Alison Bass

...read the rest of Alison Bass's article HERE, and then consider the source on this "new" brain stimuation depression news.

It's a conflict of interest, and one that I personally take seriously when it comes to news hyped stories like this one, there's always a connect the dots to money on these things.


*It seems I forgot to add Cyberonics to Helen Mayberg's disclosure list at one time:

Disclosure: Helen S. Mayberg, MD, has disclosed that she has served as an advisor or consultant to Cyberonics and Advanced Neuromodulation Systems and has a patent licensed from Advanced Neuromodulation Systems."

Cyberonics makes the implant VNS- Vagus Nerve Stimulation medical device.

I also should mention for another article on Helen Mayberg, go to your newsstands and purchase the November Brain Issue of Discover magazine, where Helen Mayberg is interviewed in a lengthy article written by Sherry Baker.

A New Year: Poem of the month

A poem for the New Year, may everyone have a bright, prosperous year ahead.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.


In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.


Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

~William Ernest Henley

Happy New Year

"Always bear in mind that your own
resolution to succeed is more
important than any other one thing."


-Abraham Lincoln