From the Advocates for Responsible Care
Press release August 31, 2010 (pdf)
"DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson assures ARxC’s 33 Dialysis Patients they will have a health home “Let us look each other in the eye and know that these are people”.
DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson Atlanta, Georgia
--- After facing a year of battles for 33 Grady dialysis patients to receive long term dialysis care negotiations are in progress between the private dialysis companies, Grady Hospital and ARxC under the leadership of Commissioner Larry Johnson. Commissioner Johnson informed a room full of private providers; Emory Health Care, Fresenius, DaVita, ARxC representatives, The Grady Coalition and Grady Hospital that the dialysis patients will receive their treatments to keep them alive. Once again absent from the meeting was Dialysis Centers Inc, Renal Care Patients, The Kidney Foundation and DSI Renal, Inc. ARxC was told to inform the dialysis patients to continue their treatments at their designated Fresenius Dialysis Centers. In the meeting an „in kind‟ distribution of patients was stated as: Emory Healthcare taking three (3) patients, Fresenius taking five (5) patients and as previously promised DaVita will take their „fair share‟. This would leave twenty-five (25) patients under Grady's care. The details of these agreements are still being negotiated and defined."
Continue reading HERE
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SUPPORTED THE GRADY PATIENTS WITH CONCERN AND PETITION SIGNATURES!!
HUGS to the Grady patients, I'm so relieved!
More:
Agreement Likely on Dialysis for Ex-Grady Patients-FOX Atlanta news
SanFrancisco Examiner
Washington Examiner
NY Times
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
PTSD and veterans: dog therapy vs.Seroquel and psychiatric medication based therapy
PTSD and veterans: dog therapy vs.Seroquel and psychiatric medication based therapy
Thursday, September 10, 2009-$300,000 for study of dog therapy for soldiers with PTSD
VIA KS City article now archived:
.."the Defense Department is financing a $300,000 study that will pair troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with dogs trained to sense when their masters are about to have a panic attack and give them a calming nudge or nuzzle.
These psychiatric service dogs have been assisting people with a variety of mental illnesses since the late 1990s. About 10,000 such dogs are now in use.
New but preliminary research suggests that the dogs may be particularly helpful for people with PTSD.
And that has the military interested.
“It’s a powerful intervention. We expect a very large effect,” said research psychologist Craig Love."
---
The psychiatric model for care in the United States is based on medication intervention with powerful chemicals called psychiatric medications.
Antidepressants and antipsychotics both have black box warnings for various side effects including increased suicidal thinking, diabetes, and more.
Seroquel, is an antipsychotic being prescribed off-label for insomnia, and has been for over 4 years.The recent re-visiting by the news media of soldiers dying in their sleep while taking Paxil and Seroquel and other psychiatric medications, should be a red flag warning AGAIN, that this paradigm of care can be dangerous with deadly outcomes.
Trauma and PTSD is a serious issue veterans as well as many other people suffer from, and the drug based paradigm of care is one that needs to be reconsidered, in attempt to use the least intrusive way possible to treat the trauma.
There are many anecdotal stories of patients having violent nightmares while taking Seroquel.
One might consider the consequence of war veterans taking such a drug.
I again raise the question, why did the U.S. government allow a study of Seroquel by the Department of Veteran Affairs be sponsored by AstraZeneca, the makers of Seroquel, and why are the veterans being given an antipsychotic for insomnia? is there a conflict of interest there? $$$
It's time to invest more than $300,000 on dog therapy. Let's stop killing our veterans with a rx for psych meds, while we watch the drug company profits increase.
The Military working dogs suffer from PTSD too
Adding this story here says a lot about war and the aftermath of more than soldiers returning with PTSD
Man's best friend not immune to stigmas of war; overcomes PTSD:
From Air Force Surgeon General
"8/2/2010 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) -- When four-year-old Gina, a 21st Security Forces Squadron military working dog, returned from her five-month tour in Southwest Asia, she wasn't the same.
She was anti-social. Every sound, even the radio, bothered her. She was jumpy. And, she showed no interest in her work, which was to detect drugs and bombs.
Before she deployed, Gina had been a MWD for two years. She had trained at the Department of Defense Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and was assigned to Peterson AFB, Colo. Other than the gun-fire training with her handler, Gina had never been exposed to the loud booms of improvised explosive devices.
While deployed, Gina was riding with her handler when an IED went off in the vehicle behind hers. It spooked her. The constant patrols, flash bangs, the sounds of kicking in doors and the IED booms got to her.
"When Gina came back from (SWA) she was so messed up, she didn't want to see anybody," said Master Sgt. Eric Haynes, the 21st SFS NCO in charge of the MWD section. "She wouldn't walk through front doors, she didn't want to go inside buildings. She was terrified of everything."
*image from Air Force Surgeon General article:
Master Sgt. Eric Haynes praises Gina, a four-year-old German shepherd, during her off-duty play time July 21, 2010, at the Peterson Air Force Base dog kennel in Colo. Sergeant Haynes spent the past six months working daily with Gina, who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after her tour in the Southwest Asia. Sergeant Haynes is the 21st Security Forces Squadron NCO in charge of the military working dog section. (U.S. Air Force photo/Monica Mendoza)
Off-label use of Seroquel, other prescription drugs for PTSD kills Veterans: Cardiac Deaths not suicide
Off-label use of Seroquel, other prescription drugs for PTSD kills Veterans: Cardiac Deaths not suicide
re-post from May 2010
This has been known by the Government for 2 years or longer. When will the U.S. government stop the sale and the current trials of Seroquel/Seroquel XR? when will the U.S. government read the data on deaths and injury from Seroquel use for citizens, that also include veterans? children and adults?
MAY 2010
THIS alarming news story speaks for itself:
VIA PharmaGossip:
SOURCE Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD
VIA EarthTimes
"EL CAJON, Calif., May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD today announced the results of his research into the "series" of veterans' deaths acknowledged by the Surgeon General of the Army.
Upon reading the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets Taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Drugs Die in Sleep," Baughman began to investigate why these reported deaths were "different." And, why they were likely, the "tip of an iceberg."
Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008.
Baughman's research suggests that they did not commit suicide and did not "overdose" leading to coma as suggested by the military. All were diagnosed with PTSD. All seemed "normal" when they went to bed. And, all were on Seroquel (an antipsychotic) Paxil (an antidepressant) and Klonopin (a benzodiazepine).
They were not comatose and unarousable ? with pulse and respirations or pulse intact, responsive to CPR, surviving transport to a hospital, frequently surviving. These were sudden cardiac deaths."
AND
On April 22, 2010 I anonymously received "SIRS (Serious Incident Reports) 10/03/09-3/7/10/."
In it were listed: Total ARNG (Army National Guard)
"Accident Fatalities--20;
Suicide--32 (6 confirmed 12 pending);
Combat--8;
Illness caused--23;
Other deaths--10; Total--93.
Among the listed: 10/19/09-"illness heart attack";
10/28/09?"illness cardiac arrest";
11/10/09?"other found dead";
11/14/09?"other found dead";
11/28/09?"illness heart attack";
12/26/09?"illness heart attack";
1/2/10?"illness cardiac arrest";
2/7/10?"illness cardiac arrest"; 2/9/10?"
illness cardiac arrest"; 2/3/10?"
illness cardiac arrest."; 2/10/10?"
illness cardiac arrest"; 2/21/10?"
illness heart attack."
Here we have 13 of 93 (14%) definite or probable sudden cardiac deaths."
re-post from May 2010
This has been known by the Government for 2 years or longer. When will the U.S. government stop the sale and the current trials of Seroquel/Seroquel XR? when will the U.S. government read the data on deaths and injury from Seroquel use for citizens, that also include veterans? children and adults?
MAY 2010
THIS alarming news story speaks for itself:
VIA PharmaGossip:
SOURCE Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD
VIA EarthTimes
"EL CAJON, Calif., May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD today announced the results of his research into the "series" of veterans' deaths acknowledged by the Surgeon General of the Army.
Upon reading the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets Taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Drugs Die in Sleep," Baughman began to investigate why these reported deaths were "different." And, why they were likely, the "tip of an iceberg."
Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008.
Baughman's research suggests that they did not commit suicide and did not "overdose" leading to coma as suggested by the military. All were diagnosed with PTSD. All seemed "normal" when they went to bed. And, all were on Seroquel (an antipsychotic) Paxil (an antidepressant) and Klonopin (a benzodiazepine).
They were not comatose and unarousable ? with pulse and respirations or pulse intact, responsive to CPR, surviving transport to a hospital, frequently surviving. These were sudden cardiac deaths."
AND
On April 22, 2010 I anonymously received "SIRS (Serious Incident Reports) 10/03/09-3/7/10/."
In it were listed: Total ARNG (Army National Guard)
"Accident Fatalities--20;
Suicide--32 (6 confirmed 12 pending);
Combat--8;
Illness caused--23;
Other deaths--10; Total--93.
Among the listed: 10/19/09-"illness heart attack";
10/28/09?"illness cardiac arrest";
11/10/09?"other found dead";
11/14/09?"other found dead";
11/28/09?"illness heart attack";
12/26/09?"illness heart attack";
1/2/10?"illness cardiac arrest";
2/7/10?"illness cardiac arrest"; 2/9/10?"
illness cardiac arrest"; 2/3/10?"
illness cardiac arrest."; 2/10/10?"
illness cardiac arrest"; 2/21/10?"
illness heart attack."
Here we have 13 of 93 (14%) definite or probable sudden cardiac deaths."
Monday, August 30, 2010
Seroquel, PTSD and veterans: survive war, die by antipsychotic off-label use
Seroquel prescribed for insomnia and PTSD to veterans: a killer of a drug
VIA NYDaily News:
Andrew White's death was a preventable tragedy, Seroquel, an antipsychotic is a lethal drug being marketed and trialed for use in children, for blushing, for public speaking phobia, for menopausal depression, for anorexia and more.
"
Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate.
In White's case, the nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel. At one point, the 23-year-old Marine corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.
A short time later, White died in his sleep."
---
VIA NYDaily News:
Andrew White's death was a preventable tragedy, Seroquel, an antipsychotic is a lethal drug being marketed and trialed for use in children, for blushing, for public speaking phobia, for menopausal depression, for anorexia and more.
"
Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate.
In White's case, the nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel. At one point, the 23-year-old Marine corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.
A short time later, White died in his sleep."
---
Dear AstraZeneca,
AstraZeneca googled ' Dr. Henry Nasrallah Seroquel'. That's good. AstraZeneca, because Americans want justice, and accountability for the corporate crimes you've committed. The $520 million dollar fine (and Corporate Integrity Agreement) from the DOJ for illegal marketing of Seroquel in April 2010 was not enough. Thanks James Wetta.
The death of Dan Markingson in the CAFE trial and Andrew White's death were preventable tragedies. The 26,000 people suing AstraZeneca for becoming diabetic after taking Seroquel want answers and accountability.
AstraZeneca is trialing Seroquel XR right now at the University of Minnesota, the principal investigator is the same one in charge of the CAFE trial in 2003, and the study is funded by AstraZeneca. Trial of Seroquel XR vs. placebo.
The drug is being used off-label for use in children, and adults. This drug is NOT an antidepressant it is a non-efficacious antipsychotic re-marketed and being promoted for use as far as the patent will take this drug.
BY the time Seroquel goes generic, the damage will have been done, the company moves on. It is already killing innocent people. The drug is being abused as a street drug in prisons. Rebecca Riley was 4 years old when she died and Seroquel had been given to her.
These people are victims of corporate crime and greed. Remember Wayne MacFadden trading sex for BMS information?
Quetiapine Augmentation for Treatment-resistant PTSD
This study has been completed.
First Received: February 13, 2006 Last Updated: September 1, 2009 History of Changes
Sponsor: Department of Veterans Affairs
Collaborator: AstraZeneca
Information provided by: Department of Veterans Affairs
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00292370
1
Open-Label Paroxetine Drug: Phases I & II
Open-label Paroxetine
2: Placebo Comparator
Double-blind quetiapine or placebo Drug: Phases I & II
Open-label Paroxetine
Drug: Phase II
Double-blind quetiapine or placebo
Sponsors and Collaborators
Double-blind quetiapine or placebo
Sponsors and Collaborators
Department of Veterans Affairs
AstraZeneca
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Mark Benjamin Hamner, MD BS Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center
Maybe the US government should investigate itself and ask why this trial was sponsored by the Department of Veteran Affairs. Or, why they allow AstraZeneca to collaborate in a drug trial promoting the sale of their drug.
Trials for Seroquel XR--Click here-it will blow your mind.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Fresenius Medical Care profits increase as dialysis need goes up: Grady Hospital patients: victims of corporate greed
A 12 billion dollar case of corporate greed: Fresenius
The 33 Grady Hospital patients in dire need of a life saving contract for continued treatment are not just the victims of a hospital closing it's dialysis clinic in Atlanta, GA. The people are victims of corporate greed.
More Corporate Health Care Greed Shows Up- OpEd News 2007
OpEdNews November 2007
"Two companies-DaVita and Fresenius-provide the bulk of kidney dialysis services in America. They are both lobbying Congress to force kidney patients to remain on private insurance much longer before they can qualify for Medicare."
AND
.."patients who need dialysis must stay on private insurance for two and one half years (30-months) before being eligible for Medicare. DaVita and Fresenius want to make the requirement 42 months, adding another year to the wait. This would destroy a good many middle class families; just because these two firms want to make more profits. What is going on? Are congress people that stupid or just that greedy? In addition, how would the benefit the two companies DaVita and Fresenius who want to keep kidney patients out of Medicare? These companies would typically charge private insurers, ultimately employers and workers-close to three times what they charge Medicare for the same services.
DaVita and Fresenius would create an additional $200,000,000 in profits a year and with interest $2-$4 billion windfall over the next decade if Congress agrees."
August 2010
Fresenius Medical's Second-Quarter Profit Rises on Higher Dialysis Demand-Bloomberg
"Fresenius Medical Care AG, the world’s biggest provider of kidney dialysis, reported a higher second-quarter profit on increased demand for blood cleansing services.
Profit rose 12 percent to $248 million, the Bad Homburg, Germany-based company said today in a statement. Sales increased 7 percent to $2.95 billion.
Fresenius reiterated that it expects profit growth of as much as 10 percent this year to between $950 million and $980 million, compared with $891 million in 2009, and revenue of more than $12 billion. The company raised its budget for acquisitions to as much as $500 million from $400 million this year as pressure on health costs creates opportunities for deals at attractive prices.
“We have continued to strategically expand our global presence in dialysis services through acquisitions in attractive growing markets such as the Russian Federation and Asia,” Chief Executive Officer Ben Lipps said in the statement.
Fresenius’s sales in North America, its largest market, rose 8 percent to $2.03 billion. Average revenue per treatment in the region increased to $356 in the second quarter from $344 a year earlier, helped by higher reimbursement rates. Average revenue per treatment was $355 in the first quarter."
--
August 2010
Dr.Neil Shulman-'Doc Hollywood'- goes after Fresenius in an emotional plea at a public rally, on behalf of 33 dialysis patients who currently receive dialysis via a contract with Fresenius which will expire on 8-31-10.
Death as a result of lack of dialysis treatment due to corporate greed, is an unacceptable solution for the Grady dialysis patients!
Addendum:
Press release 8-27-10
Advocates for Responsible Care:
ARxC Calls on Elected Officials to Respond as Deadline for Dialysis Care Draws Near for 33 ARxC Patients
Atlanta, Georgia--- On behalf of 33 dialysis patients, facing a shutdown of treatment on August 31, 2010, ARxC has asked Rep. John Lewis, Rep. David Scott and Rep. Hank Johnson (see attached letter) to intercede under their authority and privilege as representatives of Georgians to make a congressional inquiry into the State Department’s response to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) request.
On January 29, 2010 the Organization of American States (OAS), on behalf of the IACHR requested the U.S. Department of State to intervene in the Dialysis Crisis in Atlanta (see attached OAS correspondence). To date, ARxC and attorney Lindsay Jones have not heard any response to their request for the adoption of urgent measures to ensure the patients have access to ongoing medical treatment and to adopt these measures in consultation with the patients. The IACHR also requested the OAS provide the Commission with information concerning the compliance of these precautionary measures.
We are asking our elected officials, Ambassador Carmen Lomellin of OAS, Executive Secretary Santiago Canton of IACHR and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to assist in this inquiry and to open a dialogue for a human solution and viable outcome. We call for our government to stand true to its commitment to halt any conduct that places these vulnerable people in grave danger. We are reaching out to the authorities of our Sate Department and congressmen to help prevent the irreparable tragedy of the loss of life for these 33 patients anguished by the uncertainty of their future.
Continued information on the Grady dialysis patients:
Advocates for Responsible Care,Dialysis Crisis-Grady
The 33 Grady Hospital patients in dire need of a life saving contract for continued treatment are not just the victims of a hospital closing it's dialysis clinic in Atlanta, GA. The people are victims of corporate greed.
More Corporate Health Care Greed Shows Up- OpEd News 2007
OpEdNews November 2007
"Two companies-DaVita and Fresenius-provide the bulk of kidney dialysis services in America. They are both lobbying Congress to force kidney patients to remain on private insurance much longer before they can qualify for Medicare."
AND
.."patients who need dialysis must stay on private insurance for two and one half years (30-months) before being eligible for Medicare. DaVita and Fresenius want to make the requirement 42 months, adding another year to the wait. This would destroy a good many middle class families; just because these two firms want to make more profits. What is going on? Are congress people that stupid or just that greedy? In addition, how would the benefit the two companies DaVita and Fresenius who want to keep kidney patients out of Medicare? These companies would typically charge private insurers, ultimately employers and workers-close to three times what they charge Medicare for the same services.
DaVita and Fresenius would create an additional $200,000,000 in profits a year and with interest $2-$4 billion windfall over the next decade if Congress agrees."
August 2010
Fresenius Medical's Second-Quarter Profit Rises on Higher Dialysis Demand-Bloomberg
"Fresenius Medical Care AG, the world’s biggest provider of kidney dialysis, reported a higher second-quarter profit on increased demand for blood cleansing services.
Profit rose 12 percent to $248 million, the Bad Homburg, Germany-based company said today in a statement. Sales increased 7 percent to $2.95 billion.
Fresenius reiterated that it expects profit growth of as much as 10 percent this year to between $950 million and $980 million, compared with $891 million in 2009, and revenue of more than $12 billion. The company raised its budget for acquisitions to as much as $500 million from $400 million this year as pressure on health costs creates opportunities for deals at attractive prices.
“We have continued to strategically expand our global presence in dialysis services through acquisitions in attractive growing markets such as the Russian Federation and Asia,” Chief Executive Officer Ben Lipps said in the statement.
Fresenius’s sales in North America, its largest market, rose 8 percent to $2.03 billion. Average revenue per treatment in the region increased to $356 in the second quarter from $344 a year earlier, helped by higher reimbursement rates. Average revenue per treatment was $355 in the first quarter."
--
August 2010
Dr.Neil Shulman-'Doc Hollywood'- goes after Fresenius in an emotional plea at a public rally, on behalf of 33 dialysis patients who currently receive dialysis via a contract with Fresenius which will expire on 8-31-10.
Death as a result of lack of dialysis treatment due to corporate greed, is an unacceptable solution for the Grady dialysis patients!
Addendum:
Press release 8-27-10
Advocates for Responsible Care:
ARxC Calls on Elected Officials to Respond as Deadline for Dialysis Care Draws Near for 33 ARxC Patients
Atlanta, Georgia--- On behalf of 33 dialysis patients, facing a shutdown of treatment on August 31, 2010, ARxC has asked Rep. John Lewis, Rep. David Scott and Rep. Hank Johnson (see attached letter) to intercede under their authority and privilege as representatives of Georgians to make a congressional inquiry into the State Department’s response to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) request.
On January 29, 2010 the Organization of American States (OAS), on behalf of the IACHR requested the U.S. Department of State to intervene in the Dialysis Crisis in Atlanta (see attached OAS correspondence). To date, ARxC and attorney Lindsay Jones have not heard any response to their request for the adoption of urgent measures to ensure the patients have access to ongoing medical treatment and to adopt these measures in consultation with the patients. The IACHR also requested the OAS provide the Commission with information concerning the compliance of these precautionary measures.
We are asking our elected officials, Ambassador Carmen Lomellin of OAS, Executive Secretary Santiago Canton of IACHR and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to assist in this inquiry and to open a dialogue for a human solution and viable outcome. We call for our government to stand true to its commitment to halt any conduct that places these vulnerable people in grave danger. We are reaching out to the authorities of our Sate Department and congressmen to help prevent the irreparable tragedy of the loss of life for these 33 patients anguished by the uncertainty of their future.
Continued information on the Grady dialysis patients:
Advocates for Responsible Care,Dialysis Crisis-Grady
Dr.Charles Schulz, MD University of Minnesota: Ethics, Seroquel trials and internal data: lies vs. truth, marketing Seroquel vs.public health safety
Dr.Charles Schulz, MD University of Minnesota: Ethics, Seroquel trials and internal data: lies vs. truth, marketing Seroquel vs.public health safety
Questions
Why is the University of Minnesota ethically permitted to trial Seroquel XR a decade after Seroquel internal documents indicate there was questionable data backing the marketing of Seroquel in 2000? Why is Dr.Charles Schulz the Principal investigator of the current 2010 trial of Seroquel XR, a study funded by AstraZeneca?
Recent discussion brings the CAFE trial back to the surface after lurking in the dark shadows for years
Dan Markingson was a trial subject in the 2003 CAFE study at the U of MN and committed suicide after enrolling. Dan was diagnosed with Schizophrenia after he enrolled in the study. Mother Jones hosts an indepth article authored by Carl Elliott on that entire topic in the article, "Making a Killing". Links to those and other recent articles about Schulz and Seroquel can be found on this blog by clicking the 'AZ Brennan' label on this post.
August 2010
Dr.Charles Schulz currently trials Seroquel XR at University of Minnesota-AstraZeneca sponsoring the study, Dr. Charles Schulz Principal Investigator
March 2000
"The data don't look good," an AstraZeneca official, John Tumas, warned in an e-mail on March 23, 2000. That month, an internal company analysis of the raw data concluded: "It is clear that a claim of superiority for Seroquel over Haloperidol (Haldol) could not be generated using these data." - Star Tribune,MN March 2009
March 2009 Excerpts from the Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry blog
Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry:A closer look-March 2009
Internal documents suggest Seroquel data not presented accurately
"The internal analysis clearly indicates that, based on several clinical trials, Seroquel offered no benefits over the competition in terms of reducing schizophrenia symptoms. Indeed, other drugs tended to outperform Seroquel.
How Can These Data be Managed? Shortly after the internal meta-analysis was completed, AstraZeneca employees discussed how to handle the negative results. An AstraZeneca publications manager, John Tumas, wrote in an email:
The data don't look good. I don't know how we can get a paper out of this. My guess is that we all (including Schulz) saw the good stuff, ie the meta-analysis of responder rates that showed we were superior to placebo and haloperidol and then thought further analyses would be supportive and that a paper was in order. What seems to be the case is that we were only highlighting the good stuff and that our own analysis support the "view out there" that we are less effective than haloperidol and our competitors."
AND
"It would appear that an earlier analysis provided positive results which did not hold up during the internal meta-analysis. "Schulz" almost certainly refers to Dr. Charles Schulz, a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota. In a press release from the year 2000, Dr. Schulz was quoted:
I hope that our findings help physicians better understand the dramatic benefits of newer medications like SEROQUEL because, if they do, we may be able to help ensure patients receive these medications first. The data suggest that SEROQUEL is an effective first- choice antipsychotic.
This press release was based on Schulz's presentation at the American Psychiatric Association convention in May 2000. The email from John Tumas discussed earlier noted that a group at AstraZeneca needed to meet soon "because Schulz needs to get a draft ready for APA and he needs any additional analyses we can give him well before then." It is unclear if Schulz ever received the analyses that showed Seroquel was less effective than Haldol. Regardless, in the press release, he was also quoted as saying: "Almost 50 years later, however, many patients are still taking these medications [such as Haldol], even though more effective treatments like Seroquel exist." While he was stumping for Seroquel in a press release, AstraZeneca's internal data painted a completely different picture.
Schulz, in his role as primary author, would typically be expected to demonstrate a solid understanding of the data underlying his presentation. It raises troubling questions when an independent academic author presents results that are in direct opposition to the underlying data. Such issues have been mentioned previously on this site."
Read the article from Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look, HERE.
---
Spinning the data, the tangled web of corruption, lies and deceit to the public
"At the same time, Schulz acknowledged that his own study did not really show that Seroquel was more effective than the older drug. "That's a bit of a misunderstanding," he said. "I think the overall message is that it works about the same."
In a statement, AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell said Schulz accurately presented the data at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting in 2000, and "clearly explained the methodology he used.''-March 2009 Star Tribune MN article HERE.
When is the public going to say enough is enough with AstraZeneca and the company corporate lies and deceipt?
AstraZeneca was fined $520 million dollars by the US Department of Justice for illegal marketing of Seroquel, there are 26,000 lawsuits pending. (and not resolved according to my source quoting 2 of the lawfirms involved in the settlement--which goes against the Bloomberg reporting of the lawsuits settled for about 10K per person.--not so say the lawfirms, nothing is negotiated with their clients for agreement to settle at that sum as of yet)
Seroquel has a black box warning for diabetes boasts a host of other side effects that the company KNEW about before the drug was for sale. This drug was a cash cow, for AstraZeneca, marketed for use against the data delivery, all for profit and at the expense of the human beings health who took the drug and still are taking the antipsychotic.
Seroquel's patent expires in March 2012 and it's being trialed against placebo in the XR version for blushing, menopausal depression, social anxiety, for childhood depression, for anorexia nervosa, just to name a few (link to that post in recent articles on this blog).
Based on internal documents, which show corruption and total disregard for ethics and public safety, one must ask:
WHY is this drug still on the market? WHY is Dr.Charles Schulz trialing the drug again sponsored by AstraZenca, and why is the University of Minnesota, already embroiled in Conflicts of Interest scandal from the past studies---still doing this?
The public is at risk for taking an antipsychotic that has not proven efficacious for schizophrenia treatment, and being re-marketed as an antidepressant and for a host of other diagnosis. If a woman goes to her OB/GYN and says she is depressed, and leaves with a rx of Seroquel for depression or menopausal depression, does this drug suddenly become efficacious without side effects? If a person has anxiety for public speaking, does Seroquel suddenly become a wonder drug, not the scandalous antipsychotic that did not help Schizophrenics tune out their voices and quell their delusions?
The bottom line with Seroquel is the profit AstraZeneca earns for its shareholders and the company net worth. This is not about public health and safety or concern for well being of innocent people.
Imagine standing in line at the market and discussing Schizophrenia, dementia, psychosis, blushing, anxiety, anorexia, depression, menopause, childhood bipolar depression and all of the people respond: "I take Seroquel for that". Just what AstraZeneca wanted from that patent.
"The data don't look good," an AstraZeneca official, John Tumas."
*image from StarTribuneMN article
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Dr. Neil Shulman ('Doc Hollywood') speaks with passion with Senator Vincent Fort at Grady Hospital Dialysis Crisis vigil August 26, 2010- Video
Dr. Neil Shulman ('Doc Hollywood') speaks with passion with Senator Vincent Fort at Grady Hospital Dialysis Crisis vigil August 26, 2010- Video
Dr. Neil Shulman: "these are human beings!" "Did Mother Teresa ask for a bonus?!"
Prayer service, Sunday, August 29, 2010, Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, 118 Second Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030, at 10 AM. A meeting of the patients and staff of ARxC will follow in Fellowship Hall at 11AM.
Dr. Neil Shulman: "these are human beings!" "Did Mother Teresa ask for a bonus?!"
Prayer service, Sunday, August 29, 2010, Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, 118 Second Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030, at 10 AM. A meeting of the patients and staff of ARxC will follow in Fellowship Hall at 11AM.
U.S. FDA cracks down on drug trials using placebo: Seroquel XR vs.placebo trials should be investigated
VIA a Reuters articleU.S FDA gets tough with drug trials using placebos to compare efficacy in drugs already on the market, and in new drugs against ones already use.
AstraZeneca and the marketing of Seroquel and Seroquel XR needs scrutiny in my opinion
In my opinion this should apply to AstraZeneca. Currently trialing their extended release version Seroquel XR (Seroquel is a well-established antipsychotic already on the market) against placebo in several studies, including a current one at the University of Minnesota.
Various trials for menopausal depression, and anorexia using Seroquel vs. placebo are prime example reasons for the FDA to tighten AstraZeneca's attempt at trialing and marketing the antipsychotic Seroquel in a way that is an obvious multiple purpose use target drug--a push for approval of the drug before the patent expires in 2012.
AstraZeneca Seroquel/Seroquel XR trials vs.placebo --link to several trials of Seroquel/Seroquel XR for various (absurd at times!) uses, such as blushing, public speaking phobia, anorexia, and more. The study of an antipsychotic for such a variety of use is questionable, very questionable, and leads to one conclusion: profits and patent extension.
Read the Reuter's article here:
"Additionally, the GAO (Government Accountability Office) said that repeatedly using non-inferiority trials for certain kinds of drugs can lead to "biocreep," in which successive approvals lead to drugs that are less and less effective and eventually "no more effective than a placebo."
AstraZeneca and the marketing of Seroquel and Seroquel XR needs scrutiny in my opinion
In my opinion this should apply to AstraZeneca. Currently trialing their extended release version Seroquel XR (Seroquel is a well-established antipsychotic already on the market) against placebo in several studies, including a current one at the University of Minnesota.
Various trials for menopausal depression, and anorexia using Seroquel vs. placebo are prime example reasons for the FDA to tighten AstraZeneca's attempt at trialing and marketing the antipsychotic Seroquel in a way that is an obvious multiple purpose use target drug--a push for approval of the drug before the patent expires in 2012.
AstraZeneca Seroquel/Seroquel XR trials vs.placebo --link to several trials of Seroquel/Seroquel XR for various (absurd at times!) uses, such as blushing, public speaking phobia, anorexia, and more. The study of an antipsychotic for such a variety of use is questionable, very questionable, and leads to one conclusion: profits and patent extension.
Read the Reuter's article here:
"Additionally, the GAO (Government Accountability Office) said that repeatedly using non-inferiority trials for certain kinds of drugs can lead to "biocreep," in which successive approvals lead to drugs that are less and less effective and eventually "no more effective than a placebo."
Grady Dialysis patients prayer service: August 29, 2010 : Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, Decatur, GA.
Petition to save Grady Dialysis reaches 507 signatures and the results have been delivered to the persons of interest.A prayer service is set for Sunday, August 29, 2010
Message from the Save Grady Dialysis petition author, Haley Stolp, from The Advocates for Responsible Care: (via email to all who signed) Update:
The Petition to Save the Grady Dialysis Patients is now closed. Thank you to all who signed the petition. The petition letter, signatures, and personal comments of the undersigned were sent to the CEOs and Presidents of the targeted private dialysis providers of Atlanta, GA on August 27, 2010. To follow the progress made on finding ongoing dialysis treatment for the 33 uninsured immigrant patients please go to Advocates for responsible care site.
Advocates for responsible Care Dialysis Crisis press release August 24, 2010
"Fresenius’ absence and the merciless withholding of these new contracts negotiations leave the Grady Dialysis patients frantic for an answer as to where they will receive their treatments September 1, 2010. It has also created an unbearable impasse to a viable solution of life-supporting care for these dialysis patients so close to a deadline that will inevitably cost the patients their lives, the hospitals and taxpayers more money and Georgians the hope of being stewards of accessible and quality health care in the future.
ARxC attorney Mr.Lindsay Jones has arranged for ARxC to participate in a prayer service, Sunday, August 29, 2010, Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, 118 Second Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030, at 10 AM. A meeting of the patients and staff of ARxC will follow in Fellowship Hall at 11AM.
Press and Media attending please contact Dorothy and Rev. Nibs Stroupe at 404-378-6284."
-----------
About
*Haley Stolp (Petition author)
In August 2010, Haley was awarded as the Emerging Student Leader for the National Summit of Clinicians for Healthcare Justice for her commitment to health justice and the work that she has accomplished with the dialysis crisis in Altanta, GA. She has been invited to share the testimony of her work on the dialysis crisis with other dynamic clinical leaders at the National Summit in Washington, DC.
*Mr.Lindsay Jones is a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota, in which capacity he served as an advisor to the Minnesota Attorney General on civil rights public policies and presently an adjunct professor of law at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.
The people behind the scenes for Grady dialysis patients.
Directions to Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, Decatur, GA.
Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, directions and website.
Dr. Neil Shulman ('Doc Hollywood') speaks with passion with Senator Vincent Fort at Grady Hospital Dialysis Crisis vigil August 26, 2010
Dr. Neil Shulman: "these are human beings!" "Did Mother Teresa ask for a bonus?!"
Message from the Save Grady Dialysis petition author, Haley Stolp, from The Advocates for Responsible Care: (via email to all who signed) Update:
The Petition to Save the Grady Dialysis Patients is now closed. Thank you to all who signed the petition. The petition letter, signatures, and personal comments of the undersigned were sent to the CEOs and Presidents of the targeted private dialysis providers of Atlanta, GA on August 27, 2010. To follow the progress made on finding ongoing dialysis treatment for the 33 uninsured immigrant patients please go to Advocates for responsible care site.
Advocates for responsible Care Dialysis Crisis press release August 24, 2010
"Fresenius’ absence and the merciless withholding of these new contracts negotiations leave the Grady Dialysis patients frantic for an answer as to where they will receive their treatments September 1, 2010. It has also created an unbearable impasse to a viable solution of life-supporting care for these dialysis patients so close to a deadline that will inevitably cost the patients their lives, the hospitals and taxpayers more money and Georgians the hope of being stewards of accessible and quality health care in the future.
ARxC attorney Mr.Lindsay Jones has arranged for ARxC to participate in a prayer service, Sunday, August 29, 2010, Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, 118 Second Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030, at 10 AM. A meeting of the patients and staff of ARxC will follow in Fellowship Hall at 11AM.
Press and Media attending please contact Dorothy and Rev. Nibs Stroupe at 404-378-6284."
-----------
About
*Haley Stolp (Petition author)
In August 2010, Haley was awarded as the Emerging Student Leader for the National Summit of Clinicians for Healthcare Justice for her commitment to health justice and the work that she has accomplished with the dialysis crisis in Altanta, GA. She has been invited to share the testimony of her work on the dialysis crisis with other dynamic clinical leaders at the National Summit in Washington, DC.
*Mr.Lindsay Jones is a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota, in which capacity he served as an advisor to the Minnesota Attorney General on civil rights public policies and presently an adjunct professor of law at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.
The people behind the scenes for Grady dialysis patients.
Directions to Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, Decatur, GA.
Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, directions and website.
Dr. Neil Shulman ('Doc Hollywood') speaks with passion with Senator Vincent Fort at Grady Hospital Dialysis Crisis vigil August 26, 2010
Dr. Neil Shulman: "these are human beings!" "Did Mother Teresa ask for a bonus?!"
Friday, August 27, 2010
Preschool Depression: is it hype? conflict of interest researchers and puppets
Joan Luby researcher and pharmaceutical company paid speaker from the Early Emotional Development Program at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is back in the news one year after her puppetry skills for diagnosing preschool age children with depression was a hot topic.
She was noted by several journalists as not disclosing industry income, and she responded in March 2010 with a Letter to the Editor of the Archives of General Psychiatry, admitting the AstraZeneca income et al.
The entire story can be found HERE, where the NYTimes is called to task for unbalanced news reporting by mental health blogger, Stan. His article contains all of the links to the back story of Joan Luby and her preschool depression, COI and mea culpa in the Archive of General Psychiatry. Check it out.
In my opinion
The NYTimes has a duty to report all facts, as a print media coverage of mental health issues and other health stories. The article has left out vital information for the reader to come to their own conclusion about the topic.
The NYTimes article is disease-mongering, fear mongering and hype, which can result in people believing their hype statement, "84,000 of America’s 6 million preschoolers may be clinically depressed." as well as believing preschoolers can be diagnosed clinically depressed, which of course can lead to medications being prescribed that are not approved for use in children under age 10. This is now a public safety issue, and a red flag for parents to watch for over-diagnosing of children with psychiatric labels and alarm for medications such as antipsychotics used in children under age 10. The drugs are potent chemicals not studied long term for use and outcome in children with dangerous side effect profiles.
She was noted by several journalists as not disclosing industry income, and she responded in March 2010 with a Letter to the Editor of the Archives of General Psychiatry, admitting the AstraZeneca income et al.
The entire story can be found HERE, where the NYTimes is called to task for unbalanced news reporting by mental health blogger, Stan. His article contains all of the links to the back story of Joan Luby and her preschool depression, COI and mea culpa in the Archive of General Psychiatry. Check it out.
In my opinion
The NYTimes has a duty to report all facts, as a print media coverage of mental health issues and other health stories. The article has left out vital information for the reader to come to their own conclusion about the topic.
The NYTimes article is disease-mongering, fear mongering and hype, which can result in people believing their hype statement, "84,000 of America’s 6 million preschoolers may be clinically depressed." as well as believing preschoolers can be diagnosed clinically depressed, which of course can lead to medications being prescribed that are not approved for use in children under age 10. This is now a public safety issue, and a red flag for parents to watch for over-diagnosing of children with psychiatric labels and alarm for medications such as antipsychotics used in children under age 10. The drugs are potent chemicals not studied long term for use and outcome in children with dangerous side effect profiles.
Senator Vincent Fort, GA presents VP of Emory University a request of care for 33 dialysis patients
Georgia State Senator Vincent D. Fort presents Gary S. Hauk, vice president and deputy to the president of Emory University a letter to Emory on the behalf of 33 dialysis patients in dire need of a new contract for care to save their lives.
The patients have had a contract with Fresenius since the closing of the Grady Hospital dialysis clinic a year ago.
Without dialysis these people face death.
Plain and simple. dialysis is keeping these people alive, able to live their lives, be with their families and loved ones and have the care they deserve, after a hospital closes its doors to them. 50% of the patients who left this country last year have DIED as a result of the Grady Memorial dialysis clinic closing.
There are only 33 people left.
I have no idea what facing death without dialysis treatment feels like.
The 33 patients in need of treatment and a contract of renewal of care do.
AUGUST 31, 2010 COULD BE THEIR LAST TREATMENT AND DEATH WILL SOON FOLLOW.
from Dr. Doug Bremner's blog:
"...we converged at Emory University to present a letter to President Jim Wagner requesting that Emory join with other dialysis centers in Atlanta, GA to help provide care for the 33 dialysis patients whose extension of life-saving dialysis ends next week.
We then traveled to the Fresenius Dialysis Center at 231 14th St in Atlanta, where treatment of the patients is ending Aug 31 2010, to present a similar letter.
Today there was a protest at Grady Hospital.
Time is running out for these patients and it is really disheartening that money is thrown after expensive medical procedures in this country that do not clearly work, while something like dialysis that means the difference between life and death is denied to some people."
-Dr. Doug Bremner,Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology at Emory University School of Medicine and Atlanta VA Medical Center, a researcher, writer, blogger and activist for healthcare rights.
Contact information:
Gary Hauk Emory University 404.727.6021
Fresenius Dialysis Center at 231 14th St in Atlanta,GA.404-892-8554
Senator Vincent Fort 404-656-5091
Atlanta Fox 5 news 404-875-5555, news tips 404-898-0100
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) Georgia
ACLU of Georgia
1900 The Exchange
Suite 425
Atlanta, GA 30339
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION
504 signatures as of 8-27-10 7:30AM PST HERE on the petition to Save Grady Dialysis Patients!
*photo courtesy of Doug Bremner, posted at his blog
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Grady Dialysis patients need a new life saving contract: Please don't let my Grandpa die
Without dialysis 33 people will die.
Dr. Doug Bremner's blog has the update of the 33 Grady Hospital Dialysis patients, the photos and plea from one child: "Please Save My Grandpa" on a poster she held for her Grandfather at a protest Protest at Fresenius Dialysis Clinic.
SIGN the petition HERE and join the 500! other people who have given their signatures in support of saving 33 lives.
33 patients left without dialysis treatment due to a hospital closing, and the contract for care about to expire on 8-31-10.
'click label Grady Memorial Hospital Dialysis' below for more background and read the Dr. Doug Bremner blog for the history of this story.
Dr. Bremner is Doug Bremner MD is Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology at Emory University School of Medicine and Atlanta VA Medical Center, a researcher, writer, blogger and activist for healthcare rights.
Dr. Doug Bremner's blog has the update of the 33 Grady Hospital Dialysis patients, the photos and plea from one child: "Please Save My Grandpa" on a poster she held for her Grandfather at a protest Protest at Fresenius Dialysis Clinic.
SIGN the petition HERE and join the 500! other people who have given their signatures in support of saving 33 lives.
33 patients left without dialysis treatment due to a hospital closing, and the contract for care about to expire on 8-31-10.
'click label Grady Memorial Hospital Dialysis' below for more background and read the Dr. Doug Bremner blog for the history of this story.
Dr. Bremner is Doug Bremner MD is Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology at Emory University School of Medicine and Atlanta VA Medical Center, a researcher, writer, blogger and activist for healthcare rights.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Seroquel the wonder drug: AstraZeneca's golden egg
Well i think this sums up the AstraZeneca goal to use Seroquel, an antipsychotic for as many dx as possible before patent expiry.
Seroquel for anorexia nervosa
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00584688?term=quetiapine+appetite&rank=1
Seroquel for veterans PTSD
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00292370?term=quetiapine+veterans+ptsd&rank=1
Seroquel for menopausal depression
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00723970?term=quetiapine+insomnia&rank=4
Seroquel for insomnia in Alzheimers
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00232570?term=quetiapine+insomnia&rank=2
Seroquel for alcohol relapse prevention
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00561587?term=quetiapine+alcohol&rank=1
Seroquel for cocaine use reduction
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00631748?term=quetiapine+cocaine+dependence&rank=2
Seroquel for blushing
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00773162?term=quetiapine+social+phobia&rank=3
Seroquel for public speaking phobia
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00407199?term=quetiapine+social+phobia&rank=1
Seroquel for social anxiety
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00606541?term=quetiapine+social+phobia&rank=4
Seroquel for Fibromyalgia
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00983320?term=quetiapine&rank=50
Seroquel for preschool children
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00181883?term=quetiapine&rank=54
Seroquel for frequent heavy drinkers
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00674765?term=quetiapine&rank=123
Seroquel for decreasing smoking in chronic schizophrenia
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00231101?term=quetiapine&rank=168
TEVA
http://www.wikipatents.com/US-Patent-7071331/synthesis-of-quetiapine-and-pharmaceutically-acceptable-salts-thereof/Page-1
Polymorphs of quetiapine fumarate
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7238686/description.html
Seroquel for anorexia nervosa
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00584688?term=quetiapine+appetite&rank=1
Seroquel for veterans PTSD
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00292370?term=quetiapine+veterans+ptsd&rank=1
Seroquel for menopausal depression
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00723970?term=quetiapine+insomnia&rank=4
Seroquel for insomnia in Alzheimers
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00232570?term=quetiapine+insomnia&rank=2
Seroquel for alcohol relapse prevention
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00561587?term=quetiapine+alcohol&rank=1
Seroquel for cocaine use reduction
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00631748?term=quetiapine+cocaine+dependence&rank=2
Seroquel for blushing
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00773162?term=quetiapine+social+phobia&rank=3
Seroquel for public speaking phobia
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00407199?term=quetiapine+social+phobia&rank=1
Seroquel for social anxiety
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00606541?term=quetiapine+social+phobia&rank=4
Seroquel for Fibromyalgia
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00983320?term=quetiapine&rank=50
Seroquel for preschool children
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00181883?term=quetiapine&rank=54
Seroquel for frequent heavy drinkers
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00674765?term=quetiapine&rank=123
Seroquel for decreasing smoking in chronic schizophrenia
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00231101?term=quetiapine&rank=168
TEVA
http://www.wikipatents.com/US-Patent-7071331/synthesis-of-quetiapine-and-pharmaceutically-acceptable-salts-thereof/Page-1
Polymorphs of quetiapine fumarate
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7238686/description.html
University of Minnesota: Dr. Charles Schulz, COI and AstraZeneca Seroquel trials
Who is Dr. Charles Schulz?
S Charles Schulz, MD
Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Disclosure: Consultant: AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Pfizer Inc.;
Grant/Research Support: AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Abbott;
Speakers' Bureau: AstraZeneca, Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen.
A few answers from this Alliance for Human Research Protection article, March 2009
"By early 2000, Seroquel had been on the market for three years. Psychiatrist Charles Schulz MD--who received hundreds of thousands of dollars as a paid consultant to AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly--presented a report at the APA meeting that he said was based on his analysis of 1,800 patients in four separate trials. His conclusion: patients on Seroquel were more likely to show marked improvement...that Seroquel was significantly superior to other drugs.
However, the company's analysis of the data contradicted his pronouncements. Minnesota press reports describe internal emails by AstraZeneca officials, such as John Tumas, warning on March 23, 2000, after an internal company analysis of the raw data that:
"The data don't look good...What seems to be the case is that we were highlighting the only good stuff... It is clear that a claim of superiority for Seroquel over Haloperidol (Haldol) could not be generated using these data...In fact, I don't think we can even get a paper out of this."
Nevertheless, when Dr. Schulz presented his report, AstraZeneca issued a news release headlined "An analysis suggests Seroquel (R) has greater efficacy than Haloperidol." It quoted Schulz saying: "I hope that our findings help physicians better understand the dramatic benefits of newer medications like Seroquel.''
Glen Spielmans, an assistant professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University, who has reviewed the documents smelled something fishy: "These two things, they don't go together. Either the (company) analysis was wrong or Schulz's presentation was wrong."
Question is: "Was Schulz fooled?" or, "Was he complicit?"
Article:AstraZeneca Documents Contradict Positive Spin of Seroquel Data by Prominent Psychiatrist March 2009 Alliance for Human Research Protection
Friday, August 20, 2010-Corporate crime in America: Seroquel trial gone bad, ethics strained at University of Minnesota-part 1 soulful sepulcher blog
2002 trial:A Comparative Study of New Medications for Psychosis in Adolescents: Seroquel, Risperdal, Zyprexa
Ages Eligible for Study: 12 Years to 18 Years -AstraZeneca, Schulz- 2002 U of MN
Charles Schulz, MD, Principal Investigator:University of Minnesota trials Seroquel XR for Borderline Personality Disorder - CAFE study lingers in the shadows part 2 soulful sepulcher blog -2010
Thursday, March 19, 2009-AstraZeneca - Seroquel: Dr S Charles Schulz and study 15-March 2009, PharmaGossip
Dan Markingson had delusions. His mother feared that the worst would happen. Then it did. March 2008 Dan Markingson was Subject 13 in the University of Minnesota CAFE trial
March 2010-UPDATE - AstraZeneca - Seroquel the anti-psychotic turned anti-depressant, how lies and misleading marketing work-Stan's blog
From the above post on Stan's blog I left this comment, which takes an excerpt from a news article( go to the above post for that reference)
"Full participation required Markingson to take one anti-psychotic drug for up to a year and to appear at the U for checkups. Markingson received AstraZeneca's Seroquel. As Subject 13, Markingson was worth $15,000 to the U, with some of that going to Olson's salary and the psychiatry department. Switching or adding medications could have disqualified Markingson and halted payments to Olson and the department from AstraZeneca."
"The state ombudsman raised concerns after Markingson's suicide, including the method of ensuring that patients were taking their pills and the ethics of one doctor both recruiting and treating a patient. The report also questioned whether Markingson was truly eligible for the study, because he wasn't diagnosed with schizophrenia until several weeks after he had enrolled."
---
"We know how "informed consent" works in these places, what a tragic nightmare."
*image hat tip pharmagossip.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Dr.Charles Schulz: University of Minnesota trials Seroquel XR for Borderline Personality Disorder - CAFE study lingers in the dark shadows
Charles Schulz, MD, Principal Investigator:University of Minnesota trials Seroquel XR for Borderline Personality Disorder - CAFE study lingers in the shadows
Carl Elliott has written an article for Mother Jones, "Making a Killing". Reference my post from August 20 linked as part 1 here for details and links regarding the article.
The article references a young man, Dan Markingson who killed himself 6 months after being enrolled in a psychiatric drug study trialing Seroquel, at the University of Minnesota in 2003. Dan's mother endured the death of her son and became the witness to the ethics and pharmaceutical industry dark side, as I would imagine as a mother, this was a journey she did not ever want to travel.
Seven years later, Seroquel XR is being trialed at the University of Minnesota, sponsored by AstraZeneca and the Principal Investigator is Dr. Charles Schulz. A mother's nightmare re-visited, a death of a son lingering in the shadows of an unethical scandal.
It's business as usual for AstraZeneca and the University of Minnesota. Now moving the product forward in trials for the XR version of Seroquel.Dan's story the last few years faded into the background....until now.
Friday, August 20, 2010-Corporate crime in America: Seroquel trial gone bad, ethics strained at University of Minnesota-part 1
"Making a Killing", by Carl Elliott August 2010 Mother Jones
Full pdf viewing to read the article HERE:
"The study was designed and funded by AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Seroquel, and it called for 400 subjects experiencing their first psychotic episode to take one of the three drugs for a year. AstraZeneca called it the “cafe” study, which stood for “Comparison of Atypicals in First Episode.”
AND
"Mary tried to get Dan out of the study or have his treatment changed. She called Olson and tried to see him. She wrote long, detailed letters expressing concerns about everything from Dan’s diet and sleep habits to his medications. In total,she sent five letters to Olson and Dr. Charles Schulz—the chairman of the university’s psychiatry department and a
co-investigator on the cafe study—communicating her alarm about Dan’s condition, especially his inner rage."
--
August 2010 currently recruiting drug trial
University of Minnesota
Seroquel Extended Release (XR) for the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Seroquel Extended Release (XR) for the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
This study is currently recruiting participants. Verified by University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute, February 2010
Sponsors and Collaborators
University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
AstraZeneca
University of Iowa
Mclean Hospital
Investigators
Principal Investigator:
S. Charles Schulz, MD University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
--
The Marketing of Seroquel: Business as usual
Personally, I find this current study at the U of MN a disturbing reminder of the pharmaceutical industry goal, of profit over human life. AstraZeneca's patent for Seroquel expires in 2012 and the company is pushing it into all areas of psychiatric diagnosis criteria, while the faces and names of people such as Dan are lost in the shuffle.
Profits outweigh the human side of psychiatry, an industry in itself that has no soul.
Where is the solace for Mary Weiss? What does Dr. Charles Schulz have to say to her, and the rest of us about the CAFE trial--and most importantly, why is the current Seroquel XR trial being conducted at all?
Who approved this at the University of Minnesota? why is AstraZeneca's hand in the cookie jar for COI for this trial? what about the results? how ethical are the results when the drug company sponsors the trial?
Do you trust the trial data? the University? or Dr.Schulz?
Or the FDA? You're a marketing target in a drug trial, not a patient. You enroll and you are simply helping to increase AstraZeneca's profits.
When will it stop?
Carl Elliott has written an article for Mother Jones, "Making a Killing". Reference my post from August 20 linked as part 1 here for details and links regarding the article.
The article references a young man, Dan Markingson who killed himself 6 months after being enrolled in a psychiatric drug study trialing Seroquel, at the University of Minnesota in 2003. Dan's mother endured the death of her son and became the witness to the ethics and pharmaceutical industry dark side, as I would imagine as a mother, this was a journey she did not ever want to travel.
Seven years later, Seroquel XR is being trialed at the University of Minnesota, sponsored by AstraZeneca and the Principal Investigator is Dr. Charles Schulz. A mother's nightmare re-visited, a death of a son lingering in the shadows of an unethical scandal.
It's business as usual for AstraZeneca and the University of Minnesota. Now moving the product forward in trials for the XR version of Seroquel.Dan's story the last few years faded into the background....until now.
Friday, August 20, 2010-Corporate crime in America: Seroquel trial gone bad, ethics strained at University of Minnesota-part 1
"Making a Killing", by Carl Elliott August 2010 Mother Jones
Full pdf viewing to read the article HERE:
"The study was designed and funded by AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Seroquel, and it called for 400 subjects experiencing their first psychotic episode to take one of the three drugs for a year. AstraZeneca called it the “cafe” study, which stood for “Comparison of Atypicals in First Episode.”
AND
"Mary tried to get Dan out of the study or have his treatment changed. She called Olson and tried to see him. She wrote long, detailed letters expressing concerns about everything from Dan’s diet and sleep habits to his medications. In total,she sent five letters to Olson and Dr. Charles Schulz—the chairman of the university’s psychiatry department and a
co-investigator on the cafe study—communicating her alarm about Dan’s condition, especially his inner rage."
--
August 2010 currently recruiting drug trial
University of Minnesota
Seroquel Extended Release (XR) for the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Seroquel Extended Release (XR) for the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
This study is currently recruiting participants. Verified by University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute, February 2010
Sponsors and Collaborators
University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
AstraZeneca
University of Iowa
Mclean Hospital
Investigators
Principal Investigator:
S. Charles Schulz, MD University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
--
The Marketing of Seroquel: Business as usual
Personally, I find this current study at the U of MN a disturbing reminder of the pharmaceutical industry goal, of profit over human life. AstraZeneca's patent for Seroquel expires in 2012 and the company is pushing it into all areas of psychiatric diagnosis criteria, while the faces and names of people such as Dan are lost in the shuffle.
Profits outweigh the human side of psychiatry, an industry in itself that has no soul.
Where is the solace for Mary Weiss? What does Dr. Charles Schulz have to say to her, and the rest of us about the CAFE trial--and most importantly, why is the current Seroquel XR trial being conducted at all?
Who approved this at the University of Minnesota? why is AstraZeneca's hand in the cookie jar for COI for this trial? what about the results? how ethical are the results when the drug company sponsors the trial?
Do you trust the trial data? the University? or Dr.Schulz?
Or the FDA? You're a marketing target in a drug trial, not a patient. You enroll and you are simply helping to increase AstraZeneca's profits.
When will it stop?
AstraZeneca trials Seroquel XR on 10-17 yr olds: "Pediatric Bipolar Depression"
AstraZeneca trials Seroquel in 10-17 year olds validating the Pediatric Bipolar Depression.
The pharmaceutical industry does drug trials, gets them approved by the FDA and no one questions whether or not the diagnosis actually exists, based on medical diagnostic criteria.
The criteria for children being diagnosed with bipolar disorder is based on the existing adult criteria, and guidelines written by groups such as Child Adolescent Bipolar Foundation. The principle investigator in this study, is sponsored by AstraZeneca, is Robert Findling.
Robert Findling is on the scientific advisory council at C.A.B.F. and a board member at Medscape.
Robert Findling
Robert L. Findling, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Received grants for clinical research from: Abbott Laboratories; Addrenex; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Forest Laboratories Inc; GlaxoSmithKline; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C; Eli Lilly and Company; Neuropharm; Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd; Pfizer Inc; Shire; Supernus Pharmaceuticals; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Served as an advisor or consultant for: Abbott Laboratories; Addrenex; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Biovail Corporation; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Forest Laboratories, Inc; GlaxoSmithKline; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.; KemPharm; Eli Lilly and Company; Lundbeck Research USA, Inc; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Organon Pharmaceuticals USA Inc; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Pfizer Inc.; sanofi-aventis; Sepracor Inc.; Shire; Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Supernus Pharmaceuticals; Validus; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Served on the speakers bureau for: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.; Shire
--
Pediatric Bipolar Depression
Pediatric Bipolar Depression-Seroquel
Pediatric Bipolar Depression
This study is ongoing, but not recruiting participants.
Sponsor: AstraZeneca
Information provided by: AstraZeneca
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00811473
The purpose of this study is to determine if quetiapine fumarate extended-release (quetiapine XR or SEROQUEL® XR) 150 to 300 mg/day taken by itself is effective and safe in treating children or adolescents aged 10 to 17 with bipolar depression and if so, how it compares with placebo (a non-active tablet, like a sugar pill, that looks like quetiapine).
Investigators
Study Director: Michael Castiglione AstraZeneca
Principal Investigator: Robert L. Findling
University Hospitals Case Medical CenterCase Western Reserve University School of Medicine
--
Conflict of Interest (COI) (my opinion)
Robert Findling has received income from AstraZeneca, sits on the board of CABF which promotes pediatric bipolar disorder and medication based paradigm. AstraZeneca as the sponsor has an obvious financial interest in the outcome of this trial of Seroquel XR.
How do you think the data outcome will be? positive for the input to be proposed to the FDA for approval? Approval of Seroquel XR for use in children 10 and older for the treatment of bipolar depression?
How far will the drugging of American children go? as far as the approval process allows, data results from a drug company and a researcher with a personal agenda, a belief in a theory, brought to us by his colleague, Dr. Joseph Biederman, infamous for his Risperdal trial in kids, on the advisory board of CABF and under investigation by Senator Charles Grassley for non disclosure of pharma company income.
Seroquel has a black box warning for diabetes, it is an antipsychotic being re-marketed as an antidepressant. AstraZeneca was fined $520 million dollars by the DOJ for illegal marketing of Seroquel. The drug remains on the market, in studies and being promoted for a multitude of off-label uses, and being trialed on children who do not have to give informed consent. (adults spoke for them).
I am just a small voice in the darkness. I have witnessed my own child (now an adult) on this drug and other antipsychotics. I have seen the horror of side effects, the weight gain, the insomnia in paradoxical reaction. I have held her as she sobbed. I've witnessed her decline.I have witnessed other adults in psychiatric hospitals with permanent movement disorders from neuroleptics, the lip smacking, and their hollow eyes looking back at me.
Their souls all but removed, having slipped away into a drugged abyss.
Pediatric Bipolar Depression Trial for Seroquel XR, the drug industry's talons are deep in the flesh of the children of America.
--
*Update Robert Findling in ProPublica 'Dollars for Docs' database
Dollars for Docs-Findling:
FINDLING, ROBERT L. Ohio Cleveland Eli Lilly $4,125 2009
Q1-Q4 Advising/Consulting and International Education Programs: $4125.0 FINDLING, ROBERT L.
FINDLING, ROBERT LAWRENCE Ohio Beachwood Pfizer $2,380 2009
Q3-Q4 Professional Advising: $2340.00, Meals: $40.00 FINDLING, ROBERT LAWRENCE
Findling, Robert Ohio Cleveland GSK $350 2010
Q1-Q3 Consulting: $350.00 Speaking: $0.00 ROBERT FINDLING MD
Creating a teenage wasteland - listen Seroquel XR the taloned grip of pharma on American kids read
The pharmaceutical industry does drug trials, gets them approved by the FDA and no one questions whether or not the diagnosis actually exists, based on medical diagnostic criteria.
The criteria for children being diagnosed with bipolar disorder is based on the existing adult criteria, and guidelines written by groups such as Child Adolescent Bipolar Foundation. The principle investigator in this study, is sponsored by AstraZeneca, is Robert Findling.
Robert Findling is on the scientific advisory council at C.A.B.F. and a board member at Medscape.
Robert Findling
Robert L. Findling, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Received grants for clinical research from: Abbott Laboratories; Addrenex; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Forest Laboratories Inc; GlaxoSmithKline; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C; Eli Lilly and Company; Neuropharm; Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd; Pfizer Inc; Shire; Supernus Pharmaceuticals; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Served as an advisor or consultant for: Abbott Laboratories; Addrenex; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Biovail Corporation; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Forest Laboratories, Inc; GlaxoSmithKline; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.; KemPharm; Eli Lilly and Company; Lundbeck Research USA, Inc; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Organon Pharmaceuticals USA Inc; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Pfizer Inc.; sanofi-aventis; Sepracor Inc.; Shire; Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Supernus Pharmaceuticals; Validus; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Served on the speakers bureau for: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.; Shire
--
Pediatric Bipolar Depression
Pediatric Bipolar Depression-Seroquel
Pediatric Bipolar Depression
This study is ongoing, but not recruiting participants.
Sponsor: AstraZeneca
Information provided by: AstraZeneca
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00811473
The purpose of this study is to determine if quetiapine fumarate extended-release (quetiapine XR or SEROQUEL® XR) 150 to 300 mg/day taken by itself is effective and safe in treating children or adolescents aged 10 to 17 with bipolar depression and if so, how it compares with placebo (a non-active tablet, like a sugar pill, that looks like quetiapine).
Investigators
Study Director: Michael Castiglione AstraZeneca
Principal Investigator: Robert L. Findling
University Hospitals Case Medical CenterCase Western Reserve University School of Medicine
--
Conflict of Interest (COI) (my opinion)
Robert Findling has received income from AstraZeneca, sits on the board of CABF which promotes pediatric bipolar disorder and medication based paradigm. AstraZeneca as the sponsor has an obvious financial interest in the outcome of this trial of Seroquel XR.
How do you think the data outcome will be? positive for the input to be proposed to the FDA for approval? Approval of Seroquel XR for use in children 10 and older for the treatment of bipolar depression?
How far will the drugging of American children go? as far as the approval process allows, data results from a drug company and a researcher with a personal agenda, a belief in a theory, brought to us by his colleague, Dr. Joseph Biederman, infamous for his Risperdal trial in kids, on the advisory board of CABF and under investigation by Senator Charles Grassley for non disclosure of pharma company income.
Seroquel has a black box warning for diabetes, it is an antipsychotic being re-marketed as an antidepressant. AstraZeneca was fined $520 million dollars by the DOJ for illegal marketing of Seroquel. The drug remains on the market, in studies and being promoted for a multitude of off-label uses, and being trialed on children who do not have to give informed consent. (adults spoke for them).
I am just a small voice in the darkness. I have witnessed my own child (now an adult) on this drug and other antipsychotics. I have seen the horror of side effects, the weight gain, the insomnia in paradoxical reaction. I have held her as she sobbed. I've witnessed her decline.I have witnessed other adults in psychiatric hospitals with permanent movement disorders from neuroleptics, the lip smacking, and their hollow eyes looking back at me.
Their souls all but removed, having slipped away into a drugged abyss.
Pediatric Bipolar Depression Trial for Seroquel XR, the drug industry's talons are deep in the flesh of the children of America.
--
*Update Robert Findling in ProPublica 'Dollars for Docs' database
Dollars for Docs-Findling:
FINDLING, ROBERT L. Ohio Cleveland Eli Lilly $4,125 2009
Q1-Q4 Advising/Consulting and International Education Programs: $4125.0 FINDLING, ROBERT L.
FINDLING, ROBERT LAWRENCE Ohio Beachwood Pfizer $2,380 2009
Q3-Q4 Professional Advising: $2340.00, Meals: $40.00 FINDLING, ROBERT LAWRENCE
Findling, Robert Ohio Cleveland GSK $350 2010
Q1-Q3 Consulting: $350.00 Speaking: $0.00 ROBERT FINDLING MD
Creating a teenage wasteland - listen Seroquel XR the taloned grip of pharma on American kids read
Monday, August 23, 2010
AstraZeneca wants my face for a drug trial, you have to be kidding: Seroquel vs. sugar pill for blushing
Being a fair skinned person, I tend to blush, in fact in meetings the shades of pink can intensify, leading me in the past to use make up ahead of time, to prevent the flushing, the blushing the ever-pink presence from taking over. No thank you, AstraZeneca, I'll pass on the neuroleptic and appreciate my glow without an antipsychotic that has a black box warning for diabetes and a host of other side effects.
This trial, is over the top
An antipsychotic, Seroquel vs.Sugar Pill for blushing.
Yes, you heard that right folks. AstraZeneca is at it again, long live the patent extender Seroquel! the wonder drug.
I love how they try and create an illness out of blushing, call it disease mongering, with an antipsychotic.
I've got news for you, blushing and anxiety are normal and do not need drugs. If you need a drug for coping with blushing, then go for it, Seroquel will knock you out for 14 hour sleep sessions, of which you'll have missed your power point presentation and lost your job as a result, but hell, you'll be pale as a ghost...right? (wtf?)
Flushing in Social Anxiety Disorder on Seroquel via Clinical Trials dot gov
Flushing in Social Anxiety Disorder on Seroquel
Sponsor: START Clinic for Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Collaborator: AstraZeneca
Information provided by: START Clinic for Mood and Anxiety Disorders
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00773162
To add to our understanding of the relationship between blushing, symptom severity and potential mechanisms that underlie blushing in patients with Social Phobia (SP), the investigators propose comparing SP patients' vascular responses to topical m-N pre and post treatment with Seroquel or placebo."
--
Pharma needs to become consumer savvy, and go into the candy making business, so those sugar pills needed to resemble Seroquel in this study are ready to go, you know, like Tic Tacs, or other tiny sugary things. Just when you think they cannot trial Seroquel for one more thing, think again. What's next? sprinkles for those difficult patients that are addicted to donuts? Seroquel sprinkles might be a hit for Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme. Let's think outside of the box now. Pass the Dermablend, I think I may be beet red.
Disclaimer
*I have not been compensated in any way shape or form or monetarily for any food, pill, candy or make up product listed here, and any reference to my face being on the dart board of the AstraZeneca board room is just false rumors, or so they say.
This trial, is over the top
An antipsychotic, Seroquel vs.Sugar Pill for blushing.
Yes, you heard that right folks. AstraZeneca is at it again, long live the patent extender Seroquel! the wonder drug.
I love how they try and create an illness out of blushing, call it disease mongering, with an antipsychotic.
I've got news for you, blushing and anxiety are normal and do not need drugs. If you need a drug for coping with blushing, then go for it, Seroquel will knock you out for 14 hour sleep sessions, of which you'll have missed your power point presentation and lost your job as a result, but hell, you'll be pale as a ghost...right? (wtf?)
Flushing in Social Anxiety Disorder on Seroquel via Clinical Trials dot gov
Flushing in Social Anxiety Disorder on Seroquel
Sponsor: START Clinic for Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Collaborator: AstraZeneca
Information provided by: START Clinic for Mood and Anxiety Disorders
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00773162
To add to our understanding of the relationship between blushing, symptom severity and potential mechanisms that underlie blushing in patients with Social Phobia (SP), the investigators propose comparing SP patients' vascular responses to topical m-N pre and post treatment with Seroquel or placebo."
--
Pharma needs to become consumer savvy, and go into the candy making business, so those sugar pills needed to resemble Seroquel in this study are ready to go, you know, like Tic Tacs, or other tiny sugary things. Just when you think they cannot trial Seroquel for one more thing, think again. What's next? sprinkles for those difficult patients that are addicted to donuts? Seroquel sprinkles might be a hit for Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme. Let's think outside of the box now. Pass the Dermablend, I think I may be beet red.
Disclaimer
*I have not been compensated in any way shape or form or monetarily for any food, pill, candy or make up product listed here, and any reference to my face being on the dart board of the AstraZeneca board room is just false rumors, or so they say.
Doc Hollywood interviews Grady Hospital Dialysis patient about to lose treatment
Doc Hollywood, also known as Dr. Neil Shulman, interviewed Ade Abner. One of 33 dialysis patients left in the fall out from the closing of the clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital one year ago. There are 33 end stage renal disease patients that have been cared for the last year via a contract for care set up with Fresenius. That contract will expire on 8-31-10. Without a renewal of contract for care, these patients face death without dialysis to sustain their lives.
Doc Hollywood interviews Ade Abner
The petition is a voice. An instrument to help others we cannot help otherwise, the Grady 33 need us. They need to send a strong message to the corporate side of health care. 33 people, the size of an average school classroom. 33 lives depending on dialysis, to remain alive to care for their families, and be here for their loved ones to love and enjoy. This is simply the best way you can take a few minutes to show renewed faith in humanity, lend a hand, by using your voice with your signature.
~
"In the end, all we have to show for our lives are the actions we took, the way we lived and who we helped along the way."-Stephany
~
SIGN THE PETITION HERE
Dr. Neil Shulman is an Associate Professor in the Dept of Medicine at Emory University Medical School.
Doc Hollywood interviews Ade Abner
The petition is a voice. An instrument to help others we cannot help otherwise, the Grady 33 need us. They need to send a strong message to the corporate side of health care. 33 people, the size of an average school classroom. 33 lives depending on dialysis, to remain alive to care for their families, and be here for their loved ones to love and enjoy. This is simply the best way you can take a few minutes to show renewed faith in humanity, lend a hand, by using your voice with your signature.
~
"In the end, all we have to show for our lives are the actions we took, the way we lived and who we helped along the way."-Stephany
~
SIGN THE PETITION HERE
Dr. Neil Shulman is an Associate Professor in the Dept of Medicine at Emory University Medical School.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Petition to save 33 dialysis patients from Grady Memorial Hospital 470/500! SIGN TODAY!
The goal of 500 signatures to save 33 lives of people needing life saving dialysis is almost met. At this writing of this post there are 470 of the 500 signature goal.
JOIN ME in this simple act of human kindness, by signing the petition. Your name can remain anonymous if you choose, and all personal information is not disclosed.
33 people without insurance, left in the fall out of the closing of Grady Memorial Hospital in September 2009 are in need of a renewal of care contract given to them when the hospital closed its doors a year ago. The contract of care is about to expire on August 31, 2010.
Without dialysis and without a way to pay for it, 33 people will die.
Send a message to health care corporations that 33 lives are worth saving, be a voice to 33 people who do not have a voice and are at the mercy of dialysis to live each day.
**Please SIGN HERE. **
THANK YOU!
*As the day progresses, I am updating the total!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dialysis-crisis/
Further reading
Emory University Dr.Doug Bremner, "Petition to Save the Grady Dialysis Patients and the entire back story on his blog.
Advocate, Bob Fiddaman gives the petition a shout out, thank you!
Addendum: Ade Abner Grady Dialysis Patient Speaks Out - Part 1
Advocates for Responsible Care
JOIN ME in this simple act of human kindness, by signing the petition. Your name can remain anonymous if you choose, and all personal information is not disclosed.
33 people without insurance, left in the fall out of the closing of Grady Memorial Hospital in September 2009 are in need of a renewal of care contract given to them when the hospital closed its doors a year ago. The contract of care is about to expire on August 31, 2010.
Without dialysis and without a way to pay for it, 33 people will die.
Send a message to health care corporations that 33 lives are worth saving, be a voice to 33 people who do not have a voice and are at the mercy of dialysis to live each day.
**Please SIGN HERE. **
THANK YOU!
*As the day progresses, I am updating the total!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dialysis-crisis/
Further reading
Emory University Dr.Doug Bremner, "Petition to Save the Grady Dialysis Patients and the entire back story on his blog.
Advocate, Bob Fiddaman gives the petition a shout out, thank you!
Addendum: Ade Abner Grady Dialysis Patient Speaks Out - Part 1
Advocates for Responsible Care
Friday, August 20, 2010
Corporate crime in America: Seroquel trial gone bad, ethics strained at University of Minnesota
Corporate Crime in America: revealing the dark side with 2 book recommendations
Let me begin with a blog recommendation, written by Gary Schwitzer, the publisher of Health News Review. Gary has a 30 year career in health journalism. HealthNewsReview reviews news reports as the heading of his site states, "Holding Health and Medical Journalism Accountable".
In this post on his blog, Schwitzer writes about the preview of an article in Mother Jones due out at the end of August, written by Carl Elliott. Carl Elliott, as written about in this article by Susan Perry is a professor of bioethics at the University of Minnesota.
Elliott has a new book coming out, White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine. He discusses the dark side of medicine, and the death of the man in the Seroquel trial is just the tip of the iceberg.
From Perry's article at the Minnesota Post:
"In the September issue of Mother Jones magazine, Dr. Carl Elliott, a professor of bioethics at the University of Minnesota, writes about the suicide in 2004 of 26-year-old Dan Markingson, who was enrolled at the time in a U of M industry-funded clinical trial of the antipsychotic drug Seroquel (quetiapine).
It’s a disturbing tale (the unsuccessful efforts of Markingson's mother to get her son released from the trial and into other treatment are particularly heartbreaking) and one that, as Elliott acknowledges, was first told in the Pioneer Press by Jeremy Olson and Paul Tosto.
But Elliott’s purpose in writing the article wasn’t only to revisit the tragic details of Markingson's story. “[T]he more I examined the medical and court records, the more I became convinced that the problem was worse than the Pioneer Press had reported,” he writes. “The danger lies not just in the particular circumstances that led to Dan’s death, but in a system of clinical research that has been thoroughly co-opted by market forces"...
Howard Brody
writes the blog Hooked:Ethics, Medicine and Pharma has a review of Elliott's new book:
"Carl is concerned about the cast of characters that populates the "dark side of medicine" where business and market values seem to have taken over from any sort of professional commitment to the care and well-being of patients, with a special focus on Pharma. His chapters deal, respectively, with professional guinea pigs who volunteer for one research study after another;
the "ghosts" who actually write ghost-written articles; drug reps; medical "key opinion leaders"; marketers; and finally, a group that Carl has practically made a career of irritating, bioethicists like Carl and me who (unlike Carl and me) get seduced into signing on with corporate boards and taking corporate cash, assuming that the corporations actually want us to tell them what's ethical, and might listen if we tell them (while meanwhile we get to fly to their meetings first class and stay in five-star hotels)."
Robert Whitaker
Robert Whitaker's recent book, Anatomy of an Epidemic was released in April 2010, and covers the lifetime mental health disability crisis, the over diagnosing of children, with stories highlighting adults and children who have suffered at the hands of a pharmaceutical industry driven paradigm for mental health treatment in America: drugs.
~
The heavy hand the pharmaceutical industry plays in America's health and mental health treatment paradigm, is not a coincidence in my opinion.
The companies have internal documents that are occasionally let loose into public viewing, and for what that is worth, there is much more the average citizen does not know. Behind the scenes are corporate espionage, crime and corruption, a loss of ethic and moral compass, only to end up with the innocent victims suffering at the hands of the industry, tragic stories that often end in death or permanent disability.
The dark side of medicine indeed.
Lilly and AstraZeneca, the makers of Zyprexa and Seroquel have been in litigation for buried and skewed data, for marketing drugs that are still on the market with knowledge the drugs could have caused diabetes and weight gain.
I highly recommend Whitaker's book, and from what I read about Elliott's book, it sounds like a page turner. The 2 books together will surely place the pharmaceutical industry in proper perspective for readers.
The corporate profit has been placed ahead of patient health and safety, and it is time for the industry to be stopped from running America's health care system.
If you ever wondered why you are offered a medication for your angst, woes and other ailments, don't think twice about why.
It's all about profit, and you're the target. My daughter was a corporate crime victim, when she was given Zyprexa at age 11 off-label, as a result of Lilly's targeting of children via a marketing campaign.
Don't be a victim. Be informed, and that means look into the dark shadows for answers and bring it out to the light for discussion.
Update:
Continuing Our All-Carl-Elliott Issue: More on the Dan Markingson Case -Hooked: Ethics, Medicine and Pharma blog
..."more detail in an article in the current Mother Jones, "Making a Killing." (To access, go to the Mother Jones current issue website, http://motherjones.com/toc/2010/09, and look for the title "Making a Killing." Click on that and you'll get a screen that will allow you to register for free access.)"
VIA Pharmagossip, click here for a link to download and read the Mother Jones article, "Making a Killing", by Carl Elliott
Further reading
The Periodic Table on Carl Elliot's Making a Killing
Period Table article VIA Alliance for Human Research- Making a Killing--Marketing Exercises that Put Lives At Risk by Dr. Carl Elliott
Read the Carl Elliott, Mother Jones "Making a Killing" article in pdf HERE, no registration required, it's ready for reading.
Seroquel trial gone bad
"the priest extended his hand out and said, ‘Mary, I’m here to tell you that Dan passed away.’ And Mary just literally fell down to her knees and started
to shriek and cry, and just started begging,‘Please, no, no, don’t let this happen.’”
Dan had stabbed himself to death in the bathtub with a box cutter, ripping open his
abdomen and nearly decapitating himself.
Let me begin with a blog recommendation, written by Gary Schwitzer, the publisher of Health News Review. Gary has a 30 year career in health journalism. HealthNewsReview reviews news reports as the heading of his site states, "Holding Health and Medical Journalism Accountable".
In this post on his blog, Schwitzer writes about the preview of an article in Mother Jones due out at the end of August, written by Carl Elliott. Carl Elliott, as written about in this article by Susan Perry is a professor of bioethics at the University of Minnesota.
Elliott has a new book coming out, White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine. He discusses the dark side of medicine, and the death of the man in the Seroquel trial is just the tip of the iceberg.
From Perry's article at the Minnesota Post:
"In the September issue of Mother Jones magazine, Dr. Carl Elliott, a professor of bioethics at the University of Minnesota, writes about the suicide in 2004 of 26-year-old Dan Markingson, who was enrolled at the time in a U of M industry-funded clinical trial of the antipsychotic drug Seroquel (quetiapine).
It’s a disturbing tale (the unsuccessful efforts of Markingson's mother to get her son released from the trial and into other treatment are particularly heartbreaking) and one that, as Elliott acknowledges, was first told in the Pioneer Press by Jeremy Olson and Paul Tosto.
But Elliott’s purpose in writing the article wasn’t only to revisit the tragic details of Markingson's story. “[T]he more I examined the medical and court records, the more I became convinced that the problem was worse than the Pioneer Press had reported,” he writes. “The danger lies not just in the particular circumstances that led to Dan’s death, but in a system of clinical research that has been thoroughly co-opted by market forces"...
Howard Brody
writes the blog Hooked:Ethics, Medicine and Pharma has a review of Elliott's new book:
"Carl is concerned about the cast of characters that populates the "dark side of medicine" where business and market values seem to have taken over from any sort of professional commitment to the care and well-being of patients, with a special focus on Pharma. His chapters deal, respectively, with professional guinea pigs who volunteer for one research study after another;
the "ghosts" who actually write ghost-written articles; drug reps; medical "key opinion leaders"; marketers; and finally, a group that Carl has practically made a career of irritating, bioethicists like Carl and me who (unlike Carl and me) get seduced into signing on with corporate boards and taking corporate cash, assuming that the corporations actually want us to tell them what's ethical, and might listen if we tell them (while meanwhile we get to fly to their meetings first class and stay in five-star hotels)."
Robert Whitaker
Robert Whitaker's recent book, Anatomy of an Epidemic was released in April 2010, and covers the lifetime mental health disability crisis, the over diagnosing of children, with stories highlighting adults and children who have suffered at the hands of a pharmaceutical industry driven paradigm for mental health treatment in America: drugs.
~
The heavy hand the pharmaceutical industry plays in America's health and mental health treatment paradigm, is not a coincidence in my opinion.
The companies have internal documents that are occasionally let loose into public viewing, and for what that is worth, there is much more the average citizen does not know. Behind the scenes are corporate espionage, crime and corruption, a loss of ethic and moral compass, only to end up with the innocent victims suffering at the hands of the industry, tragic stories that often end in death or permanent disability.
The dark side of medicine indeed.
Lilly and AstraZeneca, the makers of Zyprexa and Seroquel have been in litigation for buried and skewed data, for marketing drugs that are still on the market with knowledge the drugs could have caused diabetes and weight gain.
I highly recommend Whitaker's book, and from what I read about Elliott's book, it sounds like a page turner. The 2 books together will surely place the pharmaceutical industry in proper perspective for readers.
The corporate profit has been placed ahead of patient health and safety, and it is time for the industry to be stopped from running America's health care system.
If you ever wondered why you are offered a medication for your angst, woes and other ailments, don't think twice about why.
It's all about profit, and you're the target. My daughter was a corporate crime victim, when she was given Zyprexa at age 11 off-label, as a result of Lilly's targeting of children via a marketing campaign.
Don't be a victim. Be informed, and that means look into the dark shadows for answers and bring it out to the light for discussion.
Update:
Continuing Our All-Carl-Elliott Issue: More on the Dan Markingson Case -Hooked: Ethics, Medicine and Pharma blog
..."more detail in an article in the current Mother Jones, "Making a Killing." (To access, go to the Mother Jones current issue website, http://motherjones.com/toc/2010/09, and look for the title "Making a Killing." Click on that and you'll get a screen that will allow you to register for free access.)"
VIA Pharmagossip, click here for a link to download and read the Mother Jones article, "Making a Killing", by Carl Elliott
Further reading
The Periodic Table on Carl Elliot's Making a Killing
Period Table article VIA Alliance for Human Research- Making a Killing--Marketing Exercises that Put Lives At Risk by Dr. Carl Elliott
Read the Carl Elliott, Mother Jones "Making a Killing" article in pdf HERE, no registration required, it's ready for reading.
Seroquel trial gone bad
"the priest extended his hand out and said, ‘Mary, I’m here to tell you that Dan passed away.’ And Mary just literally fell down to her knees and started
to shriek and cry, and just started begging,‘Please, no, no, don’t let this happen.’”
Dan had stabbed himself to death in the bathtub with a box cutter, ripping open his
abdomen and nearly decapitating himself.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Petition to save 33 dialysis patient lives: Grady Memorial Hospital -SIGN TODAY
Emory University's Dr.Doug Bremner has been writing, and campaigning a personal fight for the 33 patients about to lose dialysis treatment at Grady Memorial Hospital--click here in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 33 patients do not have insurance and their lives depend on the dialysis, if left untreated they will face death. The hospital closed in September 2009, leaving the care in a contract of care and promised for one year from Fresenius dialysis.
"- On August 31, 2010 the Grady Memorial Hospital – Fresenius contract expires.
- To date, no alternative source of dialysis treatment has been made available to the remaining thirty-three patients.
- The patients will die within weeks of the August 31st deadline if they are not provided with ongoing dialysis treatment.
As advocates for human life, please sign the petition below to encourage the private dialysis providers of Atlanta, Georgia, to supply the 33 indigent patients of Grady Memorial Hospital with life saving dialysis care."
**SIGN THE PETITION HERE.
You can choose to have your name not displayed and all personal information is NOT posted for public viewing. It takes a few minutes, and as I write this there are approximately 146 signatures left to reach the goal of 500.
*If you have a computer glitch as I did attempting to sign and not get the confirmation page then keep trying, as I did and I was able to sign and support the 33 patients today with my voice of support--my signature.
Join me!
If just the readers who clicked on my blog today signed it would have been completed!
Let's help save 33 lives!
Further reading about the Grady Hospital closing and the patients in dire need
HERE is the backstory on Dr.Doug Bremner's blog, Before You Take That Pill
The 33 patients do not have insurance and their lives depend on the dialysis, if left untreated they will face death. The hospital closed in September 2009, leaving the care in a contract of care and promised for one year from Fresenius dialysis.
"- On August 31, 2010 the Grady Memorial Hospital – Fresenius contract expires.
- To date, no alternative source of dialysis treatment has been made available to the remaining thirty-three patients.
- The patients will die within weeks of the August 31st deadline if they are not provided with ongoing dialysis treatment.
As advocates for human life, please sign the petition below to encourage the private dialysis providers of Atlanta, Georgia, to supply the 33 indigent patients of Grady Memorial Hospital with life saving dialysis care."
**SIGN THE PETITION HERE.
You can choose to have your name not displayed and all personal information is NOT posted for public viewing. It takes a few minutes, and as I write this there are approximately 146 signatures left to reach the goal of 500.
*If you have a computer glitch as I did attempting to sign and not get the confirmation page then keep trying, as I did and I was able to sign and support the 33 patients today with my voice of support--my signature.
Join me!
If just the readers who clicked on my blog today signed it would have been completed!
Let's help save 33 lives!
Further reading about the Grady Hospital closing and the patients in dire need
HERE is the backstory on Dr.Doug Bremner's blog, Before You Take That Pill
Imagine the possibilities, untreated ADHD
Evel Knievel
Daniel Boone
Davy Crockett
Huck Finn
Tom Sawyer story VIA Pharmagossip
Amelia Earhart
The Wright Brothers
Christopher Columbus
Left untreated and undiagnosed or labeled: they dared to dream, they dared to live life.
*click on the names to read the wikipedia links
Bob Fiddaman also wrote about this. Here's my comment I left on Fid's Seroxat Sufferers blog:
Intuniv advert scrolling in the box below as I type. I clicked on it and it's a drug company site for the ADHD med offering a free trial. INTUNIV™ is a once-daily, extended-release formulation of guanfacine hydrochloride http://www.rxlist.com/intuniv-drug.htm It's a blood pressure drug re marketed as an ADHD drug. Just another example of the medicalizing of emotions, behaviors, quirky and adventurous personalities, risk takers and dreamers. Once the imagination and risk taking is snuffed out of children and teens, we then will have lost the future to a drug based paradigm, based on pharma profits and greed.
Amelia Earhart, Christopher Columbus, The Wright Brothers
Labels I can live with: "goes against the grain", "questions authority", "lives on the edge", "never a dull moment", "free spirit". Sitting still in class is a big issue for conformity in a school setting, where teachers fall short of encouraging these kids, instead they condemn them for being that way, punished and sent to the principal, which in turn in the U.S. parents are contacted and a meeting occurs, kid gets tested, sent to a doc, and returns to class on medications which then become mandatory for school attendance.
Life time patients are created that way, and it's the pharma marketing plan for their long term financial benefit where the risk of losing a free spirited child out weighs their bottom line.
Who will be the next astronaut? the next computer wiz? the next fiction author? the next Olympic athlete? what happens when the dreams are dulled down with meds or their hearts give out while taking them?
*pic of a DTC CD for Strattera I picked up off of a doctor's magazine rack a few years ago
August 2010, PharmaGossip: Lilly loses patent for Strattera which will now go generic
Daniel Boone
Davy Crockett
Huck Finn
Tom Sawyer story VIA Pharmagossip
Amelia Earhart
The Wright Brothers
Christopher Columbus
Left untreated and undiagnosed or labeled: they dared to dream, they dared to live life.
*click on the names to read the wikipedia links
Bob Fiddaman also wrote about this. Here's my comment I left on Fid's Seroxat Sufferers blog:
Intuniv advert scrolling in the box below as I type. I clicked on it and it's a drug company site for the ADHD med offering a free trial. INTUNIV™ is a once-daily, extended-release formulation of guanfacine hydrochloride http://www.rxlist.com/intuniv-drug.htm It's a blood pressure drug re marketed as an ADHD drug. Just another example of the medicalizing of emotions, behaviors, quirky and adventurous personalities, risk takers and dreamers. Once the imagination and risk taking is snuffed out of children and teens, we then will have lost the future to a drug based paradigm, based on pharma profits and greed.
Amelia Earhart, Christopher Columbus, The Wright Brothers
Labels I can live with: "goes against the grain", "questions authority", "lives on the edge", "never a dull moment", "free spirit". Sitting still in class is a big issue for conformity in a school setting, where teachers fall short of encouraging these kids, instead they condemn them for being that way, punished and sent to the principal, which in turn in the U.S. parents are contacted and a meeting occurs, kid gets tested, sent to a doc, and returns to class on medications which then become mandatory for school attendance.
Life time patients are created that way, and it's the pharma marketing plan for their long term financial benefit where the risk of losing a free spirited child out weighs their bottom line.
Who will be the next astronaut? the next computer wiz? the next fiction author? the next Olympic athlete? what happens when the dreams are dulled down with meds or their hearts give out while taking them?
*pic of a DTC CD for Strattera I picked up off of a doctor's magazine rack a few years ago
August 2010, PharmaGossip: Lilly loses patent for Strattera which will now go generic
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Need an intervention? Pot for Seroquel! Study of Quetiapine Treatment for Cannabis Dependence
Study of Quetiapine Treatment for Cannabis Dependence
Currently recruiting! are you addicted to marijuana? want to kick the habit? how about the antipsychotic SEROQUEL instead? You'll have less munchies attacks ---or not? Seroquel has been known to increase weight and result in diabetes, as a side effect.
Seroquel is a neuroleptic, a chemical created for Schizophrenia, and cannabis is by all accounts a natural substance, a weed that reduces pain in chronic pain sufferers such as MS patients.
Seroquel vs. pot. Just in case you thought AstraZeneca was finished milking the patent before it expires! Seroquel the wonder drug, will wonders never cease, pass the Cheetos!
You cannot participate if you already are diabetic or overweight, or have elevated lipid levels, because hell that would create a statistic nightmare of who gained weight on Seroquel or became diabetic in the trial vs. who showed up that way. Never mind that trialing Seroquel could cause those things to happen to healthy volunteers.
Study of Quetiapine Treatment for Cannabis Dependence
Sponsor: New York State Psychiatric Institute
Collaborator: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Information provided by: New York State Psychiatric Institute
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00954681
Purpose
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. However, the treatment options for cannabis dependence are limited; notably, no effective pharmacotherapy has been developed. Conceptually, the ideal medication treatment for cannabis dependence would:
1.be safe when administered to patients actively using cannabis
2.reduce cannabis intake and promote abstinence
3.treat the symptoms of cannabis withdrawal
4.reduce craving and relapse risk
5.have a low abuse liability.
Conceptually, the pharmacodynamic and clinical actions of quetiapine suggest that it may be useful for cannabis dependence. By antagonizing dopamine, quetiapine may interfere with the reinforcing effects of cannabis, while serotonin type 2A, histamine type 1, and adrenergic receptor antagonism may reduce cannabis withdrawal symptoms, primarily by sedating and anxiolytic effects. The proposed research project is an open-label pilot study to evaluate the tolerability and ideal target dosing range for quetiapine treatment of cannabis dependence over an eight-week period. The purpose of this pilot study is to obtain preliminary data regarding the potential efficacy, tolerability and safety of quetiapine treatment of cannabis dependence before conducting a larger double-blind trial.
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
1.Between the ages of 18-65
2.Meets DSM-IV criteria for current cannabis dependence
3.Seeking treatment for cannabis dependence
4.Reports using cannabis an average of five days per week over the past 28 days
5.Capable of giving informed consent and complying with study procedures
Exclusion Criteria:
1.Lifetime history of DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
2.Current DSM-IV criteria for any other psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require either pharmacological or non-pharmacological intervention over the course of the study
3.Receiving prescribed psychotropic medication
4.Known history of allergy, intolerance, or hypersensitivity to quetiapine
5.Pregnancy, lactation, or failure to use adequate contraceptive methods in female patients who are currently engaging in sexual activity with men
6.Unstable medical conditions, such as poorly controlled diabetes or hypertension, which might make participation hazardous
7.Current DSM-IV diagnosis of substance dependence other than cannabis or nicotine dependence
8.Are legally mandated to participate in a substance use disorder treatment program
9.Increased risk for suicide
10.Diabetes (whether controlled or not), hyperglycemia (fasting glucose > 100 mg/dl), obesity (BMI > 30) and elevated lipids (cholesterol > 200 mg/dl; triglycerides > 150 mg/dl).
Principal Investigator: John J Mariani, MD Columbia University
--
Further reading , AstraZeneca wants to help with your booze addiction too
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Quetiapine Addiction? Letter to the Editor, American Journal of Psychiatry- 2007 (Seroquel)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Seroquel: Treatment for alcoholism : Wayne MacFadden, AstraZeneca funded study
I wonder, what Philip Dawdy, author of the Furious Seasons (which is currently in a hiatus of sort due to being the co author of the initiative campaign for legal marijuana in Wa State)--would think about Seroquel replacing cannabis?
Or, would that be Suzie-Q vs. Mary Jane?
Currently recruiting! are you addicted to marijuana? want to kick the habit? how about the antipsychotic SEROQUEL instead? You'll have less munchies attacks ---or not? Seroquel has been known to increase weight and result in diabetes, as a side effect.
Seroquel is a neuroleptic, a chemical created for Schizophrenia, and cannabis is by all accounts a natural substance, a weed that reduces pain in chronic pain sufferers such as MS patients.
Seroquel vs. pot. Just in case you thought AstraZeneca was finished milking the patent before it expires! Seroquel the wonder drug, will wonders never cease, pass the Cheetos!
You cannot participate if you already are diabetic or overweight, or have elevated lipid levels, because hell that would create a statistic nightmare of who gained weight on Seroquel or became diabetic in the trial vs. who showed up that way. Never mind that trialing Seroquel could cause those things to happen to healthy volunteers.
Study of Quetiapine Treatment for Cannabis Dependence
Sponsor: New York State Psychiatric Institute
Collaborator: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Information provided by: New York State Psychiatric Institute
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00954681
Purpose
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. However, the treatment options for cannabis dependence are limited; notably, no effective pharmacotherapy has been developed. Conceptually, the ideal medication treatment for cannabis dependence would:
1.be safe when administered to patients actively using cannabis
2.reduce cannabis intake and promote abstinence
3.treat the symptoms of cannabis withdrawal
4.reduce craving and relapse risk
5.have a low abuse liability.
Conceptually, the pharmacodynamic and clinical actions of quetiapine suggest that it may be useful for cannabis dependence. By antagonizing dopamine, quetiapine may interfere with the reinforcing effects of cannabis, while serotonin type 2A, histamine type 1, and adrenergic receptor antagonism may reduce cannabis withdrawal symptoms, primarily by sedating and anxiolytic effects. The proposed research project is an open-label pilot study to evaluate the tolerability and ideal target dosing range for quetiapine treatment of cannabis dependence over an eight-week period. The purpose of this pilot study is to obtain preliminary data regarding the potential efficacy, tolerability and safety of quetiapine treatment of cannabis dependence before conducting a larger double-blind trial.
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
1.Between the ages of 18-65
2.Meets DSM-IV criteria for current cannabis dependence
3.Seeking treatment for cannabis dependence
4.Reports using cannabis an average of five days per week over the past 28 days
5.Capable of giving informed consent and complying with study procedures
Exclusion Criteria:
1.Lifetime history of DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
2.Current DSM-IV criteria for any other psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require either pharmacological or non-pharmacological intervention over the course of the study
3.Receiving prescribed psychotropic medication
4.Known history of allergy, intolerance, or hypersensitivity to quetiapine
5.Pregnancy, lactation, or failure to use adequate contraceptive methods in female patients who are currently engaging in sexual activity with men
6.Unstable medical conditions, such as poorly controlled diabetes or hypertension, which might make participation hazardous
7.Current DSM-IV diagnosis of substance dependence other than cannabis or nicotine dependence
8.Are legally mandated to participate in a substance use disorder treatment program
9.Increased risk for suicide
10.Diabetes (whether controlled or not), hyperglycemia (fasting glucose > 100 mg/dl), obesity (BMI > 30) and elevated lipids (cholesterol > 200 mg/dl; triglycerides > 150 mg/dl).
Principal Investigator: John J Mariani, MD Columbia University
--
Further reading , AstraZeneca wants to help with your booze addiction too
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Quetiapine Addiction? Letter to the Editor, American Journal of Psychiatry- 2007 (Seroquel)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Seroquel: Treatment for alcoholism : Wayne MacFadden, AstraZeneca funded study
I wonder, what Philip Dawdy, author of the Furious Seasons (which is currently in a hiatus of sort due to being the co author of the initiative campaign for legal marijuana in Wa State)--would think about Seroquel replacing cannabis?
Or, would that be Suzie-Q vs. Mary Jane?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
