soulful sepulcher

Friday, November 27, 2009

a ranch with 35 horses

she loves horses. she considers herself a free spirit. she was an active humane society volunteer. she ran the front desk at a food bank. she won art and photography awards.
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she has had psychosis strangle the life out of her mind in a tortuous manner. on thanksgiving day she once again talked of a ranch with 35 horses. she loves horses and always wanted a barn with dogs, horses and freedom. if we were to truly listen to her, she would have that. not a lifetime of drugs and options for mental health wellness we have in the U.S. she would have that ranch to run free on, feel her feelings and live with psychosis, and maybe, shall we entertain the idea of being well off of drugs? i reach for the answers from above and they do not come to me. i climbed a mountain only to realize that i only began the journey once i reached the top.
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this is one of her favorite songs, so this is for her. the photographs are mine, one of wild horses in montana, and of the one on the horse that i titled, "my hero". the other, in a locked down psych ward.
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i cannot imagine her being back in that institution, and if it happens, she will be there on Christmas and on her birthday---New Year's Eve. If I had a wish, it would be for my daughter to have her place, the place she deserves that i cannot provide. wide open spaces.

ambrosia, is this heaven?

this morning i took another container of my daughter's favorite fruit salad to her. she was very tired, groggy. they changed her room last night because she had an aggressive roommate prior--the one who elbowed her aggressively as she walked past our table yesterday. i had to report it to staff, my daughter didn't react and she should have at least flinched, or yelled for help anything. this raises my concern for her in a place like western, where i have been with her for 21 days 6 hours a day guarding her, literally, i was used as staff because they are short-staffed. one of the most violent predators got past me and the staff in 2006 and that's when i wrote letters and she was discharged with a letter of apology. letters of apology of bad care, from the one place they all get sent to, isn't a good way for this to be revisited.
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the fruit salad

one of the staff said she was asleep this morning, and another one went and told her mom was there with her fruit salad. she got up. "i feel like i am in a coma, in a permanent nightmare", she said.
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my daughter hasn't said much lately that makes sense, but hell that does. i told her we are there for her and she will be OK. she appeared disheveled and looked like she didn't sleep well. being bullied and having a new room doesn't help that. nothing does, nothing helps this. she is so right, this is a living nightmare.
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dear God

God, you can take me off of the trials and tribulations list now, i think i and my daughter both don't need to suffer or witness such pain anymore. if i am here to do something about this, please give me the courage, strength and words to change things for everyone in the mental health system here. Because, i have been given a job, and i take it seriously. i am a mother. and i want change.

i want my daughter well. i want a miracle and i think you can make that happen. you know the people, the outcome, i am just an instrument. give me grace when i feel anger. give me peace when i feel despair. give me courage when i have fear. give me strength when i am tired. grace me with the words of wisdom i need. give me the voice i need when i need it.

protect my daughter wherever she goes, surround her with angels and keep her safe. provide her with peace and flood her mind with love, and clarity. let her be, please. she is my youngest daughter, my bright and sunny child, my precocious reader. she deserves to experience more, and she deserves freedom from this grip psychosis has on her mind.

Amen.

my heart cries, home

there are notorious patients who resided at western state hospital, one of them is Frances Farmer. the building is an old brick institution, and it's a long way from home. it's where they want to send my daughter for "long-term care".
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this story isn't about Frances Farmer, or lobotomies, or ECT, or patients waiting to leave for lack of housing, lack of advocates and existing in an underfunded, understaffed high stress and dangerous environment.

this story, is about a man who was part of a recent cover up by the hospital, and part of a Federal report.

"Gordon's family has filed a lawsuit, seeking justice, truth and compensation.

Phyllis Gordon recently told Halsne the state has always been evasive about what really happened to Anthony in the moments leading up to his death. That’s why she called KIRO TV and that’s why her family sued.

“They (Western State Hospital) continue to try to cover it up with a new lie and a new lie and a new lie.”

This latest independent investigation states "had Mr. Gordon's bed been secured to the floor of his room, he would have been deprived of the means of hanging himself."

That’s the same conclusion KIRO Team 7 Investigators came up with 6 months ago. We discovered the bed was supposed to be suicide-proof, designed to keep mentally ill patients from harming themselves. Public records we found show those safeguards were not installed by Western State. Basically, the hospital didn’t bolt the bed down to the floor until four days after Gordon killed himself.

Now, taxpayers might pay a hefty price for the failures listed in this report.

The Washington Department of Health and Human Services, which is the state agency that oversees Western State, won’t comment due to pending litigation. The Attorney General’s office has been assigned to defend the mental hospital in ongoing legal proceedings."
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Department of Health and Human Services and the state are the ones who run the group home my daughter was discharged to on October 20th, 2009, where, on October 24, I received a phone call she was missing and a statement that "we are not calling police for 24 hrs, and she has been missing 3 hours".

In fact, when I called police and found her with the police after missing 7 hours, half-clothed on a 44 degree night at midnight---the police officer handed me his card and told me she in fact was missing 6 hours "the last 3 nights, my partner and I have found her". She was only there 4 nights when he told me that.

Now she is re-committed in the psych ward, and more psychotic, no one knows what happened to her while she was missing for hours and hours and no one I talk to can understand one minute why that group home would not call police.

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the mental health system is so dysfunctional, so unable to truly care for clients other than medication based treatment--so underfunded for housing--and based on lies and cover ups, that there truly is no where my daughter can be sent where she will be safe, unless they send her home.

I love my daughter and as an advocate for her, I also demand that the state care for a client better than this. She is a human being, and in their care, and she is just one of many, many faces in the system. Another case file number.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

behind the scenes

i always listen acutely--to the reasons they give me for their "side" of the case they will be presenting to court. last time it was nothing to do with my daughter. the doctor (same one ironically 2 years ago)said residential vs. the state institution would only "give grieving parent false hope", and he called her "poor prognosis". i listened, and then took action to represent her. she, did have the right to reside in a least restrictive environment. i found a place, and i alongside the attorney won in court and she was discharged.
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the doctor's voicemail yesterday

gave reason as :

1. hospital is an acute care facility only

in the past she has been there almost 4 months before being discharged

2. she skipped a few meds

3. her clozaril level is low and he will look that over

4. basically no good reason except "time's up here"
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today

discharge planner finds me

i talk in length to -planner who is in charge of calling the state hospital after monday's proceedings.

key words he used:

"we're up for utilization review"

not much more about my daughter's wellness. it, again appears to be all about the hospital, the review process and what he said, "we're under a lot of pressure" (to conform to controllers of the hospital)

i state my concerns:

1. moving my daughter causes a transition set back to wellness
2. just as we see her begin to improve this week, why move her?
3. extend/continue the care there for at least 2 weeks more, give her a chance to stabilize even further and then review her case again

so, as usual, i listen and process it all. then i look it up:

Tips to Help Take the Hassle Out of Inpatient Utilization Review

"There are also a couple of things you should be sure that no utilization reviewer ever sees or hears. Never state that a patient should be discharged if certain criteria are met and then fail to discharge when those criteria are met without explaining why. And finally, never state that "the patient wants to stay."

"The time still will come when you disagree with a utilization reviewer's decision. What then? First of all, don't take it personally; the reviewer isn't criticizing you but is exploring more cost-effective paths to the same destination you want to reach."
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there is nothing this time just like last time that they have said to me to "prove their case" as a good reason to send her to the state institution. they do not talk about her success in the community, about her wellness, they do not and did not include her in a meeting, they did not give me a formal meeting. the doctor left a voicemail the day before a holiday and the discharge planner confirmed he is gone all weekend. no possibility for a discussion. court on monday, where the hospital reps will present there "case" to the judge.
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last time, i had one phrase: "she has the right to reside in the least restrictive environment".
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1.she is not a danger to self or others

2.she has the right to reside in an appropriate setting, and sending her to a long term facility that she was discharged from via a letter to the Governor is not an option.
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it's all about the money--move them out, intake new patients--they come back, again and again. it's not about her care, it's not about her.

it is about a system, politics and money.

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last time i didn't write about this part. this time i am. understand how the system works and wonder why i criticize it. do i believe this place is that great where she is at? it is better than the state institution, where and i quote a nurse 2 years ago:" Oh my God, if she would have been sent there she would be dead by now". when i told her how i won in court last time. she's right. it's a snake pit she won't survive in, she barely did for 21 days the last time a psychiatrist did this to her.
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my daughter is more important that their internal politics. do the right thing.

golden moments

she was very happy to see my friend and i, she smiled and gave me a big hug when i walked out of the elevator. i had the goodies in bags and told her i had good stuff she likes, and she looked like a happy kid at a party closing her eyes while sitting at the table to see what i would get out of the bag.

i opened up a festive napkin and made ourselves a centerpiece, with a quart of eggnog, a big plastic gold cup, her favorite home made (she always made it as a kid) mandarin orange/pineapple/marshmallow fruit fluff in containers and a cheese, cracker and little round sliced ham all in a little party tray.

we brought a deck of cards and i brought a turkey coloring sheet. she drank ALL of the eggnog, ate all of the food, M&Ms and a chocolate truffle. she was happily enjoying all of it and sat with us at a table for over 2 hours. the longest, calmest visit in a month.

i was so glad we were there, i was and am very thankful i could spend this day with her there.

so very glad.
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i told her my friend has helped me by reminding me--to remain at the "one day at a time" mode, when i told her to take it one day at a time, i wanted her to know, that i was doing it too.

yesterday, i honestly flipped out after receiving that voicemail from the doctor. i was awful, received the news terribly, went to the grocery store, cried in there, came home and went to another store, my mind whirling fast and furious with barbs of "it's all my fault" "i'm a terrible mother" kind of thoughts stabbing my heart.

as my friend told my daughter today about her thoughts (she keeps saying "I have bad thoughts") , he told her to just let them be background noise, and choose what ones to listen to. i'm going to take that advice too.
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she sorted and stacked playing cards, and folded a newspaper, read Job in the bible, stuck with us eating and sitting at the table, but it's not organized thoughts or games, in case anyone wonders, it's all pretty abstract behavior and words. she hears us though, for sure.

one thing concrete is her laughter---she laughs at the jokes made at my expense, she loves it if someone makes fun of me. i love her. i sat there enjoying the moment, and was so glad she was having a calm day, so she could relax. all the while we were there, of course the psych ward patients are there too, the tv was on football.
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faith, hope

the best thing that has happened since august when the hospitalization started, is that she is still talking and we are hearing her laughter. that is a good thing to remember when reading here...she was mute for 2 years. little miracles amidst the storm clouds.

another blessing in disguise

today is official mental health court date, where the attorney has been requesting a continuance of care (rather than the long term institution) week by week all of this time. today would have been court, but Thanksgiving delayed it until Monday. that just gave her the weekend where she is at. so, as i write this, i also can take a breath and place it elsewhere in my mind, because monday is an eternity away for now. (because if there is a bed open at the institution the judge could order her to go there immediately if the judge agrees w the hospital's plan). so this is a breather, a gift of time. that's what i hope to gain in court on monday. more time where she is at is better than one minute in that snake pit.

feathers

the other day i walked out of the elevator and she came running and crying, holding onto me with such a grip i had to walk with her attached to me down to a craft room so we could be in a space where she could cry and away from other patients. one patient was in there, already playing the piano and singing. i had not met the patient yet, he already knew her name, and then introduced himself to me when he was finished playing the song. i was able to get her to sit in a chair next to me. she was sobbing uncontrollably with her head on my shoulder, and said, "if i am an angel, i have lost my feathers". i told her she didn't need feathers to be one.
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please take a few minutes and read this article, about the place they want to send my daughter.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

she wants eggnog

calling on angels. she asked me for eggnog on tuesday. the hospital wants the state institution.

the lines across the sky photograph taken in march 2008. two months after my dad's private plane he piloted crashed in a nose dive.
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bed number 26
march 2006 children's hospital sent her to the state institution in a holy war of psychiatry vs. what's wrong with this world. at age 18, she was discharged to my care after 21 days in a violent ward, where they asked me upon her arrival, "can she say no to sexual assault?" "no, she's non verbal" i responded and promptly wrote letters to the Governor. she was discharged with a letter of apology for that.
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new year's eve 1987
she was the tiny baby born on a brilliant day. "what are we looking for"? several months earlier the tech asked me. "a heartbeat", my words sounded so matter of fact. there was a heartbeat. when she was born there wasn't. but they revived her.
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thanksgiving day 2009
i was in a mood all morning and made an attempt to change it, by taking a shower and getting dressed to go to the grocery store. i had a list.on tuesday she wanted eggnog.she loves it. in 2007 when i worked with an attorney and found a housing situation on my own, it was against medical advice. we won. she was discharged to an unlocked care facility, still in high need she proved them all wrong.
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thanksgiving 2007
she was still very fragile.she had lost a lot of weight in the psych ward (the same one she resides today)and just weeks after being saved from the state institution, she was OK. she was safe. i didn't bake a turkey that year. i wrote a post here called an 'empty canvas'--something like that. because, my life at that point was an empty canvas waiting to be filled with bright and brilliant colors, experiences, joy and happiness, sadness and love.
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december 2007
she drank a lot of eggnog. it placed a smile on her face like no other. she was free from hospitals. i had purchased a package of gold color plastic cups and when i took her on a drive, i stopped and bought eggnog and she drank it, with the biggest smile on her face.
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tuesday of this week

you are going to be here, in the hospital on Thanksgiving. do you want me to bring you something?, i asked her as we sat at the table. in her hands held a newspaper advertisement for grocery stores. flower bouquets, golden brown baked turkeys and other trimmings. that's when i knew she knew. it's Thanksgiving.
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"eggnog".

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wednesday, november 25, 2009

the inpatient doctor left me a voicemail on my cell phone telling me that they decided to send her to the state institution because she is not improving, though the doctor said on the message her "clozaril blood levels are low", though, ........"not stabilized"..."we are an acute"....*save to saved messages, press 9*
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press 9, then my number

i reminded her on tuesday, and told her i would be there for thanksgiving on thursday.
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today

i didn't handle the news well. wtf is that doctor thinking of any one's feelings the day before fucking thanksgiving and leaving that message on some one's phone? do you play God for a living? why? why the fucking ass hell would you entertain sending someone like my daughter to western state hospital (again)? have you no mercy? pain? attempt and understanding what happens to your patients after you do this?
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God, give me an answer. i am no longer able to be gracious about it.

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i will be in court on monday, send your thoughts, and prayers there that day, because there will be one person deciding this outcome. a judge. who is a judge in a mental health court? does she know my daughter? she saw her on a gurney strapped down while i sat there being appointed "her voice".
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God, please give me her voice.

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who are you?

girls in white dresses
soft
in the summer sun
reflect
give solace
in the darkness of winter
the snow fades.
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"i dream you in my sleep. free spirits fall fast and rise up quickly, never really hitting the ground". -december 2007

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

a thousand tears in a reflecting pool

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'Only once have I been made mute. It was when a man asked me, "Who are you?"'--Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam

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the healing power of touch

life isn't always a comfortable place to be. what a shock when last night i had a restless and sleepless night, and by 4am experienced an explosion of emotion upheaval, it was as if i was vomiting up emotions, blowing my nose, coughing and hysterically crying, something had surged up to the top, and i was not a pretty sight. grief is a powerful inner turmoil that festers up, i've tried to keep it together, the fear of falling apart lingers and looms. trying to be on top of it, and then upset because i felt the gut heaving surge of emotions. i presume it will be for a good reason, and i hope really it doesn't come back. i thought about my facial/massage and wondered in my mind if that released some of this, let's call it emotional poison. my body releasing and cleansing itself of a decade of angst. moments of clarity, facing reality, letting go. maybe in life, we can call ourselves a work of art in progress.
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i stand with

a thousand hands upon my soul

a thousand angels surrounding my heart

a thousand arms draped around my shoulders

a thousand sunsets in my eyes reflection

a thousand tears in a reflecting pool

i stand.

--stephany

thanks for this song, Borepatch.

Monday, November 23, 2009

lingering in the silver lining

i think that my trip with my middle daughter is best described as hanging out in the silver lining of the storm clouds. that silvery bright edge that shines through when the sun comes out during a storm. on the train the ride was smooth, and quiet. and at one point the landscape was water on both sides, the tracks appearing to just float on the water, with beautiful trees and a rocky terrain ahead, there was a pitch black tunnel entrance in the mountain.
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i was in awe of the scenery and aware of the tunnel by seeing it-- which made me think about how if we knew the dark times were ahead that we all have at one time in our lives (or more, as i have seemed to have the last few years) , would we live our lives each day in appreciation or dread? would it matter if we knew when the tunnel would come? how long we would remain inside of it before seeing the exit of light?
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as the train exited the tunnel, i knew my daughter would be there.

having someone there for us, during the dark hard times, is beneficial, because we can be in the darkness and not be truly alone. i think about that and visiting my youngest daughter this morning.

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i didn't see my youngest on saturday or sunday. of course, being true to myself of conflicted and constantly streaming emotions, i fretted and had to remind myself (and i did repeat this in my mind several times) of everyone telling me to go take a break, it's OK to take one and all of that stuff. my youngest is fine today, gave me a big hug (I gave her the biggest hug, it was such a relief to know she was OK)

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the arrival at the station saturday morning

i got off of the train feeling excited to see my daughter. i was being given a gift of time with my daughter and guess what we did? she took me to a spa and we had facials! it was an hour long facial loaded with lots of organic yummy scents, and massage on head, neck, hands, arm. i could barely walk to the relaxation area after that for being SO relaxed. i looked at my daughter, as we sat in white puffy robes, by a fire place looking out a window with water falls---and said, "oh my God, this is mandatory for survival". i hugged her too. we drank tea, and relaxed. it was wonderful and i have never had a break like that in years and years. i'm very grateful. we ate dinner, went to a museum, it was a grand time.

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today, i embraced how my youngest will be in the hospital on Thanksgiving. we sat with her this morning and had a good visit, with her telling so many things from her thoughts, but she was calm and she laughed a few times, she knows it's Thanksgiving, and it was a relief for me to tell her she would be there this week for it, somehow i really hadn't paid attention to how it is here, and well it's hard for me, maybe harder for me than her. don't know.
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for now, i'm lingering in my silver lining.

Friday, November 20, 2009

friday's most read posts

"Me, a name I call myself"

i will be offline from the wee morning hours saturday until i return.

until i'm back enjoy this video. maybe i'll do that in the morning at the train station. bye! the trip is a present that has been given to me.

for those wondering what the? where's she going?

it's an early b-day gift, i'm traveling alone.

i go in the morning via train, to go do something i have no idea what is happening, a surprise orchestrated by one of my daughters apparently my 2 daughters and a friend conspired to give me this gift. i will be with one of my daughters once i get there.

maybe i will have a story about it when i get back. as i write this i'm supposed to be dying my hair and attempting to look like hell hasn't opened up toward my very existence. maybe i'll write a novel on the train in my mind about a mother who goes on a train trip and finds the "me, she calls herself".

maybe i'll look like this! damned anxiety, i bet she had it too.

bright lights to dull and lifeless, God help me

i've just returned from the inpatient locked psych ward visiting my daughter. she was calmer today, actually no words. no effect. she drank the chocolate milk i brought her, ate candy and some crackers and wandered back to her room. where i found her later, once i assumed she wasn't coming back out to visit. i wanted to let her know i was leaving. she was sitting on her bed, just sitting there. yesterday a new patient was very animated, almost annoying me getting to close to us, interrupting the time i had with my daughter. i admit the place starts to wear a person down, and i'm not even a patient. today that new animated patient was in a drugged stupor, pale and wobbly. it was just like i see every time someone enters there coherent, maybe a bit whacked out (honestly speaking here)but to see the answer in a drugged up stupor form, breaks me, it breaks my heart, my spirit, my soul. i sat there listening to a radio playing overhead and sat there wondering how the hell would i feel in there if i was a patient trying to feel better. it wouldn't. it's awful in there, and i am at a breaking point. i'm sick of the pharma insiders attacking me on various blogs and forums because my voice ruffles their stock market price ideals,(go to hell) give me a break we are talking about human beings. i won't give up, but let me tell you the system is shit, the care is crap and i wonder what the hell Obama would do if one of his children ended up like mine?!

NHS goes after American website over a Zyprexa and other brochures

Via Furious Seasons blog (support the winter fundraiser of this non-pharma-funded independent journalist's work):

The Bonkers Institute website has hosted brochures from the British NHS (National Health Service) telling kids and teens what to expect when they take their drug, for example ZYPREXA.

ZYPREXA/Olanzapine by Eli Lilly, and the drug that caused my 11 year old when she took it for 6 years to gain 100lbs, have drug withdrawals and pretty much ruined her life, is one of the brocheres the NHS wants Bonkers to remove from Internet viewing.
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From Furious Seasons, Philip Dawdy investigative news reporter

"Wow, the British government charges for these brochures? I wonder what groups use them and under what circumstances. And don't you just love the irony of the British government trying to censor an American website? Good luck with that!"

I agree!

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The fine print of the Zyprexa brochure/leaflet found at Bonkers Institute site

Your Medicine is called Olanzapine

British National Health Service leaflet, 2007.

Medicines ~ Information NHS Your Medicine is called Olanzapine Pronounced "o-lan-za-peen

"Many children, teenagers and young people need to take medicines prescribed by doctors to help them stay well and healthy. People take medicines for many different reasons and some medicines can be used for more than one reason.What does olanzapine look like? Your olanzapine may be small tablets that you swallow. Or may be tablets that dissolve on your tongue. If you find it hard to swallow tablets, try taking them with a cold drink, or ask your doctor if you can try the type that dissolve on the tongues. How do I take olanzapine? Olanzapine is taken once a day. It is a good to take olanzapine at bedtime, as it can make some people feel sleepy.

Why am I taking olanzapine?

It can help if you are having thoughts that leave you feeling frightened or confused, or if you are hearing upsetting or annoying voices when nobody is there. It can also help if you are worried or frightened, or confused, and if you are finding it hard to concentrate on doing normal everyday tasks.What does olanzapine do? It works in the brain to help you feel calm, and not feel anxious or worried or confused.Are there any other effects?

When you first start taking olanzapine it may make you feel a bit sleepy, but this should wear off after a few days.

It may make you feel like eating more food.

If this happens, try not to eat more than usual, and talk to an adult or your doctor about this.

How long do I need to take olanzapine for?

You will need to keep taking olanzapine until your doctor tells you to stop. It helps to keep you well, so you should keep taking it even if you feel better. If you have any questions or worries about medicines talk to your parent, an adult, your doctor or a pharmacist.Please refer to the manufacturer's patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine for more information and the full list of side effects and precautions.This leaflet gives you some information about this medicine. It does not replace the expertise or judgement of a doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional. It is not a manufacturer's patient information leaflet and is not to be taken as a substitute for, or an endorsement of, the manufacturer's information or advice in respect of any medicine referred to in this leaflet. You might find more information in other leaflets or books, or on the Internet but remember, the Internet is not always accurate.Whilst every care has been taken in the compilation of this leaflet, CNWL is not responsible for any loss or damage howsoever caused as a result of any inaccuracy or error contained in this leaflet, including (for the avoidance of doubt) in relation to breach of contract, misrepresentation or negligence whether of CNWL or any other person; but nothing in this leaflet shall exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence.The information given in this leaflet is current as at the publication date.This leaflet has been written by Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust, Pharmacy Department, Greater London House, Hampstead Road, London, NW1 7QY www.cnwl.nhs.uk Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust Publication Number: CNWL/MMC002 Publication Date: September 2007 Copyright 2007
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Disclaimer

*This information is freely passed on throughout the Internet, cached once it is published. I take no credit or responsibility for writing the brochure, or finding it. The opinion stated here is mine, that Zyprexa caused, based on truth and fact my daughter's body grave harm when it was prescribed to her as a teenager, and as a parent I would never promote this drug being given to children under age 17, and adults should use wise informed consent. The drug has a black box warning on it in the USA for diabetes. I do not have any affiliation with any drug company, the NHS or the FDA or other entity/agency. Just a mother of a daughter disabled by psychiatric medications who sees her daughter suffer every single day. I am not promoting taking or not taking your pills if you take them, ask your doctor what to do to go off of them.

**The photograph is mine. I took it in my kitchen. It's of the Zyprexa my daughter took, the Zyprexa was all prescribed to a child under age 17 in the USA. She gained 100lbs in less than one year. The drug was not approved for her age by the FDA. Notice the 5mg. bottle. She was instructed to take the pill at 5pm. "5 at 5 o'oclock", "Viva Zyprexa" Lilly marketing campaign slogan, which my daughter was a victim. See the label "VivaZyprexa" below.

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Further reading about the NHS leaflets:

Some of these blogs/websites have the leaflet photograph on their site also as a result of Ben Hansen's efforts, thanks Ben for bringing these brochures to our attention!

Pharma and British National Health Service (NHS) - Stop going after the kids with your poisons and propaganda

Pediatric Zyprexa Brochures Embarrass British Health Service

NHS Loses Fight Over Publication of Antipsychotic Meds Brochures for Kids

Thursday, November 19, 2009

there she stood looking out the window

after a very difficult morning at the hospital. she is being tortured by her thoughts, they are like super bad nightmares (as she described some) while wailing and sobbing and crying this morning. then i looked up from the parking lot after the visit and there was her face in the window looking down at me. God, really be still my heart, it's hard to not let it completely break. i told her she got through this before and she will again, and i have to tell it to myself too. it's dark and raining today, and it's just crap. i hate pain and agony she is suffering in her mind.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

looking out windows

today, i looked through the tiny windows of my front door, the images of the trees and autumn leaves were separated by the wooden frame.

"it's finally happened", "i can't go there anymore", i said. i felt massive fatigue and anxiety as i leaned forward, slumped over my plate of bacon and eggs this morning.

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my friend drove me to the hospital to see my daughter. when she saw my friend, i saw a smile from her glow from 50 feet down the tiled hallway. what a relief to see her smile.

it is with a very weary mind and body that i sit and write this. having the mental health system, the hospitals, the people in the system wear a person down so damn hard that it's impossible to imagine getting dressed to go see my daughter is unbearable.

she had the aggressive moment when i saw her on sunday. i admit to that taking me down for the count. it left me feeling in such a numb and dark pit, remembering--as a result--many years of very horrible days with my daughter. at the mercy of her mind, she was living a nightmare based on medication induced moods. she was often someone she vocally admitted to not liking, which is a horrible way to live. crying to me "is it me or the meds?". i was heartbroken then and i am now.

it would leave me feeling hopeless, helpless and physically worn out. it takes its toll.

--
in the hospital today

i saw a man who had ironically been on staff with my daughter at a previous hospital. what a nice, gentle spirit he had, i always like how he worked with the patients. today he stood taking a photo from the window. he is there on a short-term project.

while my friend and i sat with my daughter in a wonderful "stop time because it's good " moment, chatting and seeing her smile and yes she believes she has super-powers!, so i said i should make her a cape--i watched the man taking the photo with the camera up against the window photographing the view outside.

as i watched him adjust the camera, i sat there thinking, "he should really be taking that photo from a few feet away, to actually show how there are window panes".

because the locked down hospital does have obstructed views of scenery. not too many angles and glimpses of what's really happening outside. each view of the landscape does have a window frame around it. that is reality. the place is locked down and restricted.

---

my daughter was at the hospital where that person worked a very long time ago, at least 4 years have passed. familiar faces in times like these and especially, knowing my daughter was seeing someone kind from years ago was good. then he told me, that the place he works still has her photo i gave them on their wall.

--

"waive her presence in court tomorrow," was the voicemail i left for her mental health attorney this afternoon.

--

no gurney ride to court with wrist and leg straps.

----

"see you tomorrow", i said this morning, as i waved before entering the elevator.

AS, i drove toward the state institution nearly 4 years ago, this song (by The Pretenders) was on the radio. it was winter.the sky was full of storm clouds. i would leave home at 2pm to arrive at 4pm when visiting time started. every day for 21 days that sky opened up in a brilliant, radiant glow over the grounds of the state institution. a heavenly glow.
--
it was that hospital, where the person who took the photo today worked, and was attending the current hospital on special project (not affiliated with the old hospital)that sent her to the institution. there are so many layers, and memories that contain so much pain from the last several years, i wondered to myself this morning if she could ever find it in herself to kick some ass and come back to us.

--
it has been a really long haul.

i told her today, "you're my hero, as always".

she heard me say that every single day i drove her to school until she couldn't attend school due to the internal voices in her head. nothing was quieted with her radio headset.---that was always the last thing she heard me say when she got out of the car.

"you're my hero".

---

click on the label "in the psych ward" and follow (many posts still saved to draft until this latest crisis is over) the recent journey that, after 2 years without inpatient hospitalization began without warning, in august 2009. i miss the country drives and thursday hot dogs and stone skipping at the river.
--
this is the photo i copied for every person i ever met,when i reached out to shake a hand and talk about my daughter---this is what they received.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

happy dogs! greeting returning soldiers they love

Want a boost to make you smile? watch these amazing videos of excited and loving dogs seeing their loved one return from war, try and not cry tears of happiness. dogs are so loyal and such good friends, and they smile and love unconditionally! dogs are natural therapists!

Watch more of these videos here at the news site KTLA in Los Angeles.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Letter to Editor, Chicago Tribune, "Effective and appropriate treatment", says Tony Jewell, AstraZeneca, Seroquel

November 16, 2009

Opinion, Chicago Tribune

Effective and appropriate treatment

"In a series of recent articles, the Tribune incompletely characterizes the benefits and risks associated with Seroquel, a medicine that has been on the market for more than a decade and has been prescribed to millions of patients in the United States.

Since first approved in 1997 for the treatment of schizophrenia, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Seroquel as safe and effective for three indications in bipolar disorder, as well as in a new formulation for additional treatments in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Today Seroquel and Seroquel XR are the only medicines approved as monotherapy by the FDA to treat both the acute depressive and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder.

The safety and efficacy of Seroquel has been evaluated in clinical trials with thousands of patients and AstraZeneca has shared all required data with the FDA, both before and after the agency approved it as safe and effective.AstraZeneca believes the totality of the science around Seroquel -- including company-sponsored studies, research sponsored by the federal government and physician experience -- confirms it is an effective and appropriate treatment choice for many patients who suffer from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.The company has worked diligently with the FDA to ensure that the safety profile of Seroquel is reflected appropriately in the prescribing information so that health care professionals can weigh the risk and benefit of medicines when making treatment decisions.More information on Seroquel can be found at http://www.seroquelfacts.com/."

-- Tony Jewell, senior director, Corporate Communications, AstraZeneca,
Wilmington, Del.
---
Doctor-drugmaker ties: Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein received nearly $500,000 from antipsychotic drug's manufacturer-Chicago Tribune-November 11, 2009:

"If he is in fact worth half a billion dollars to (AstraZeneca)," the company's U.S. sales chief wrote in 2001, "we need to put him in a different category." To avoid scaring Reinstein away, he said, the firm should answer "his every query and satisfy any of his quirky behaviors."

Putting aside its concerns, AstraZeneca would continue its relationship with Reinstein, paying him $490,000 over a decade to travel the nation promoting its best-selling antipsychotic drug, Seroquel. In return, Reinstein provided the company a vast customer base: thousands of mentally ill residents in Chicago-area nursing homes." --Chicago Tribune
----

Tony Jewell appears to be writing a public relations page for the AstraZeneca site, completely ignoring the facts that AstraZeneca/Seroquel is in litigation for the injury and harm done to patients via diabetes and weight gain, off-label use and marketing the drug with knowledge of those side effects prior.

--------

In another Letter to the Editor, February 2009, Tony Jewell again, defends AstraZeneca as a result of a news story that ran in The St.Petersburg Times:

Letter to Editor

Drugmaker AstraZeneca shares required data

In Print: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"The St. Petersburg Times' story on legal proceedings related to Seroquel did not include relevant information about the medicine and litigation provided to the newspaper by AstraZeneca.

The story, echoing attorneys for the plaintiffs and selectively quoting from AstraZeneca's court filings, fails to note that the company has studied Seroquel extensively and shared all appropriate and required data with the Food and Drug Administration, both before and after the agency approved the drug as safe and effective."
Finally and most important, Seroquel has helped and continues to help millions of people suffering from debilitating mental illnesses, and has allowed many to lead more productive lives."

Tony Jewell, senior director, AstraZeneca, Wilmington, Del.

---
Seroquel maker wants to seal info from you, "for" you-By Kris Hundley, Times Staff Writer, In Print: Sunday, February 15, 2009 -St.Petersburg Times

"AstraZeneca, maker of the blockbuster antipsychotic Seroquel, is battling to keep information about the drug out of the public's view … for the public's own good.

This month in Orlando, lawyers for the drugmaker will argue that unsealing company documents, including unpublished clinical trial data and letters from the FDA, could harm "a vulnerable patient population."

"This (disclosure) could jeopardize public safety by causing confusion and alarm in patients, who may then discontinue their medication without seeking the guidance of a medical professional,'' lawyers for the drugmaker said in a recent filing in federal court."-St.Petersburg Times

---

Sunday, November 15, 2009

did they have visitors?

Via Dr.X's blog , New Scientist has a photo gallery of images from Christopher Payne's book Asylum: Inside the closed world of state mental hospitals. (rows of unclaimed copper cremation urns at Oregon State Hospital)
--
today at the psych ward several people had visitors, 4 total including my daughter. that was nice to see, as for the last several years i am often the lone visitor. there is so much to say about looking out a window to a limited view of the trees without leaf, or the rain. i stood there looking out the window and saw the traffic light down the hill where the light notoriously turns red and i am forced to wait. that's where the tears always flow. i stood there looking at that distant light and thought, "the crying place". today i took her ice cream as i told her i would yesterday. she has a lot of internal stimuli, voices, delusions. "i have bad thoughts", she said. i simply sat and watched the movie with her and the hour really was the longest she was calm in a month. i don't know why she jumped out of her chair and charged toward me, punching my arm until the staff dragged her away into the seclusion room. i felt my face turn hot and i heard someone say, "go somewhere else", as i was trying to go toward the elevator door one staff had waiting, and open. at least 6 people took her into that room, and all i could do as i walked past, was say "you're OK".
--
the crying place

burning, hot tears flowed down my face. i stifled it. i went to the grocery store and i came home.
--

This image: Christopher Payne)

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc, new FANAPT anti psychotic, stock woes

NOVARTIS PHARMA ACQUIRES EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FROM VANDA PHARMACEUTICALS FOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF FANAPT™ IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

Update : November 16th per my request/report the message board management removed the comment that originally linked to my blog.
-------
The people with a monetary investment in the success of their new drug Fanapt have my blog in a financial message board.

They aren't happy that I found them, and are tiring of my relentless back and forth with them.

Until they remove my blog link to their thread:

"Wow sure a lot of sad stories about mental illness!Let us hope "Best in it's Class" Fanapt properly prescribed both on and off label will finally get to help the many suffering and give most some normal time."http://bipolarsoupkitchen-stephany.blogs.../

jaked.canine

14-Nov-09 07:06 pm
-----------
They will have to listen (read) or cast aside my comments in their forum. They are concerned that I am a plant who has come there to "depress stock prices". LOL!

I franky wish I had that much time on my hands to care about something so heartless.

I know who I am replying to in that forum, I don't expect much to come of it at all, except one thing:

DON'T USE MY DAUGHTER'S STORY AS A WAY TO PIMP YOUR SORRY ASS DRUG. REMOVE THE LINK TO MY BLOG AND THAT ENTIRE THREAD.
-------
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS125750+20-May-2009+BW20090520

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Pink Sheets:TTNP) today announced the re-engagement of key prior senior executives of the company, effective May 17th, to manage theongoing activities of Titan following the FDA`s marketing approval for Fanapt(Iloperidone), as well as to assist the board of directors in identifying andevaluating future plans.

Marc Rubin, M.D. has been appointed as the Executive Chairman, Sunil Bhonsle has been appointed as the President and Kate Beebe,Ph.D. has been appointed as the Sr. Vice President of Clinical Development &Medical Affairs. The board and the management recognize the limited financial resources availableto the company at this time, and the employment agreements have been structuredto minimize the use of cash until the receipt of royalty payments that areexpected later this year or early next year. Dr. Rubin will receive stock options but will forgo a salary. Mr. Bhonsle will receive stock options and a reduced salary with all payments deferred until next year. Dr. Beebe will receive stock options and has also agreed to defer payment of a substantialportion of her salary until sufficient funds are available.
-------

Marc Rubin M. D.

http://search.messages.yahoo.com/search?.mbintl=finance&q=prospector2020&action=Search&r=Huiz75WdCYfD_KCA2Dc-&within=author&within=tm

Age 54

Total Annual Compensation $103,750

This person is connected to 17 board members in 2 different organizations across 1 different industries.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=7821491&ric=TTNP.PK

Director of Surface Logix, Inc. He served as Executive Director of Bayer Schering Pharma AG since July 7, 2003. Dr. Rubin served as Director of Medarex, Inc. from November 2007 to September 2009.

Sunil Bhonsle M.B.A.
$297,583

STOCK OPTIONS*
Exercisable Options
$946,898
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERSHIPS*
2009-Present
President, Secretary and Director
Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

400 Oyster Point Blvd.,

Suite 505

South San Francisco, CA

94080-1921

Tel: 650.244.4990

Fax: 650.244.4956
Communication regarding transfer requirements, stock certificates and changes of address should be directed to: Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company17 Battery PlaceNew York, NY 10004Tel: 212.509.4000Fax: 212.509.5150

On the web at: www.continentalstock.com

I suggest to the forum participants that they stop linking to my blog, until then have a nice day.

VIVA ZYPREXA: At age 11, she asked if she could wait until 7pm so she could read

The 5 o'clock pill

WHEN my daughter was misdiagnosed Early Onset Childhood Bipolar in October of 1999, she was sent home from that first hospitalization with a prescription for ZYPREXA. She was given 15 mg. of Zyprexa and the typed instruction sheet given to me by the case manager was taped to the kitchen cupboard for years, what time to take what pill. 5 pm.The other medications were Depakote and Zoloft. The "5 o'clock pill" became a catch-phrase in our house, and with much angst I write this.
---

She was an avid reader.By 2nd grade at age 8 was tested at age 29 college reading/comprehension level and she owned a library of advanced books.

BY age 13 she was in junior high school and could not read books to do homework because of the ocular dysfunction caused by Zyprexa. She noted herself that she felt agitated ON Zyprexa. The lower the dose, her eyes wouldn't "roll up and get stuck". For nearly 6 years this went on, with her packing her "5PM pill" in her purse, and often would ask me:

"Can I wait to take the pill after I read? after volunteering at the food bank? after (her sister's)choir concert?" , "Can I wait until 7pm to take the Zyprexa?" then, it would knock her out. What teenager was asleep at age 13, 15, 16 by 8pm? my youngest daughter.

She gained over 100lbs in a few months.
----

I find the Department of Justice's document linked here to be so very, very disturbing. I feel compelled to say, I am sorry to my daughter. I am so very sorry this happened to you. She listened to those doctors and she was religious about taking her medications on time and every day. I'm so sorry!

She lost her teens, friends and everyday life to these drugs and now suffers what many consider to be a permanent psychosis, brain damage from Zyprexa and other drugs.

The Humane Society Volunteer picnic the summer of 2005

She had taken her last 2.5mg of Zyprexa after a 3 month titration with a psychiatrist guiding her, at age 17 she had announced "No more". She didn't want the chance of diabetes, and she did her own research. A 4.0 GPA, Honor Society student in high school, she was to enter her Senior year and never made it. She loves dogs and spent several years bagging kibbles for senior citizens at the pet food bank. The day she went to that picnic was 2 weeks before she was inpatient in a psych hospital, after begging me to take her there, ripping her hair out in withdrawals. The picnic day she felt so free. No more medications and no "5 o'clock pill". That event, was the last thing she did, that was "every day". Since then, she has had a static, ever-present, chronic psychosis. It's like I've never seen her again. Just glimpses, that last a few minutes here and there.

---

PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY ELI LILLY TO PAY RECORD
$1.415 BILLION FOR OFF-LABEL DRUG MARKETING

Criminal Penalty is Largest Individual Corporate Criminal Fine

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and Acting
United States Attorney Laurie Magid today announced the filing of a criminal information1
against, and a civil settlement with, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company,
headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the off-label marketing of the anti-psychotic drug
Zyprexa. The monetary settlement, totaling $1.415 billion, is the largest amount paid by a single
defendant in the history of the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”).

page 2

Because
one of Zyprexa’s side effects is sedation, Eli Lilly directed its long-term care sales force to tell
doctors that Zyprexa would help patients with sleep problems, behavioral issues, and dementia.
They claimed this side effect was a therapeutic benefit, not an adverse event, with the sales
slogan “5 at 5,” that five milligrams of Zyprexa at 5 p.m. would help their patients sleep. Then in 2000, Eli Lilly expanded its illegal marketing to primary care physicians with its primary care sales force in the “Viva Zyprexa” campaign, adding even more sales representatives. The goal of the campaign was to make Zyprexa an “everyday agent in primary care” even though the company recognized that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were not viewed as conditions typically treated by primary care physicians. Lilly instructed the sales force to recommend Zyprexa for all adult patients with behavioral symptoms like agitation, aggression, hostility, mood and sleep disturbances, and depression.

DOJ Zyprexa info found here, Sidewiki -PharmaGossip
---

IF this is a criminal penalty for Lilly, then it means a crime happened to my daughter. By that company. There is no justice for her, is there?

PharmaGossip: Google Sidewiki entry :Questions for AstraZeneca, Seroquel Scandal

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Vanda, Fanapt: another marketing target: my daughter--back off

TITAN Pharma Inc. --a message board, pharma pimps --read it, they're using my daughter's story on this blog to pimp Fanapt.

Fanapt Pusher

"Wow sure a lot of sad stories about mental illness!Let us hope "Best in it's Class" Fanapt properly prescribed both on and off label will finally get to help the many suffering and give most some normal time."

My response on that finance message board:

Yes, and the saddest part of the story, is that pharmaceutical companies will use stories like my daughter's to make a profit.You forgot to compare Fanapt to Saphris, both of which have not been tested for safety and efficacy long term use, and people like myself know better than to trust a pharma companies "sympathetic" wish for people like my daughter.Please feel free to read my blog, and see how much I trust your company. I also seriously doubt that any one of your drugs will surpass Seroquel in sales.

and

Let's just say that the makers of Fanapt did not disclose information from drug trials, withheld the information and fast tracked it to the FDA in the US--what then? suddenly a drug company has a clean reputation?Give it a year or 2 and I'll be writing about Fanapt same as Zyprexa, Seroquel and Saphris. I'm sure there are no ghostwriters, or corrupt CEOs in the picture, nope, squeaky clean Fanapt, yeah right.

and

Antipsychotics cause permanent brain damage and have not proven efficacious for what they were designed for, that's why Seroquel is rx'd out off-label for insomnia, anxiety and more.The saddest part of this entire thread is the exploitation of someone injured by these drugs.Maybe you boys will learn something from me now.

In response to this person's pimping of Fanapt (by the way what's with that name?

"The Chicago Tribune a couple days ago, had a front page lead in to an almost full page article questioning data on Seroquel (quetiapine), another big time antipsychotic used in schizophrenia. It was also pointing out some curious connections with the manufacturer, like paying this guy to promote the product even though they weren't so sure his research was true. Huge weight gain and diabetes was also brought up. Check it out at ChicagoTribune.com and do a search. Looks like more room for Fanapt to me! Every day Fanapt is looking better."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/01/AR2009110101846.html

http://www.drugs.com/fanapt.html

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10497618/surprising-approval-for-vandas-fanapt.html

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702798

http://www.centerwatch.com/drug-information/fda-approvals/drug-details.aspx?DrugID=1021

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149132.php

http://chekhovsgun.blogspot.com/2009/05/fanapt-little-drug-that-could.html

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm149578.htm

http://in.reuters.com/article/Health09/idUSTRE5A851V20091109

Novartis rueful after Fanapt about-face-November 2009-Novartis,makers of CLOZARIL

Novartis Agrees To Market Vanda's Fanapt, But Where Does That Leave Titan Pharmaceuticals?,By: Vinny Cassano Tuesday, October 13, 2009 12:37 AM

"....would purchase the US and Canadian rights to Fanapt for an up-front payment of $200 million. According to the press release, Vanda could rake in an additional $265 million if certain developmental and commercial milestones are met. Vanda will also receive a royalty on sales of the product, although the royalty percentage has not yet been made public."

---
http://www.rxlist.com/fanapt-drug.htm

http://www.prescriptiondrug-info.com/drugs/fanapt.asp

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20091013/Vanda-Pharmaceuticals-Fanapt-to-be-commercialized-in-the-US-and-Canada-by-Novartis-Pharma.aspx

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Novartis-Gains-Rights-to-zacks-3737303764.html?x=0&.v=1

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS215710+14-May-2009+PRN20090514

http://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Vanda+(VNDA)+and+Novartis+(NVS)+to+Develop+Fanapt+in+US+and+Canada/5010870.html

http://resources.bnet.com/topic/fanapt.html

http://www.cnbc.com/id/30626660

"Vanda's M-O is to take other drug companies' trash in hopes of turning it into treasure. "

Friday, May 8, 2009, FDA fast tracks poison once again-Stan's blog

saturday's filing cabinet contents : what's in your purse?

while having a good laugh while reading this entry at Dr.Grumpy in the House, i came across ,The Life of a Suburban Princess in the comment section. Dr. Grumpy's staff dealt with a pharma rep in grand style.

Princess asks her readers, "What's in your purse?". Then proceeds to list her items in her purse.

---
I thought about how i always call my purse a "filing cabinet", because over the last several years it has appeared like one. cleaning out my purse can end up appearing like a time capsule, and the paperwork is nearly always bad karma stuff.

a few months ago, i cleaned out the center part of the purse that i had noticed contained the january 08 funeral paperwork from my dad's funeral, the business cards from the FAA, you know, those things that you need to just put somewhere else, not the purse, but somehow removing them becomes a closure of sort.

women and purses have such history. we don't leave without one, fear losing one, want new ones, love the scent of new leather, love cute and trendy ones, always own a standard lawyer's office or funeral one. we all have a favorite purse.

when i was in my teens and early 20's i changed purses with outfits, had cute purses, you know life has changed when you drag the old filing cabinet with you everywhere you go and wonder why it feels so heavy, when all you have in there is your ID, key chain and cell phone.

today's content of my purse

looking in the purse as i type, who knows what is on the bottom, maybe i'll look later

cell phone
wallet
3 mini candy bars i'm taking to my daughter today
police officer's business card from the night he found my daughter
key chain
mint tic tacs
notepad
pen
several documents given to me by the MHP who committed my daughter
the previous week's discharge paperwork of my daughter's
the court order my daughter was given to reside safely at her care facility
the MHP's paperwork from the ER revoking her court order, committing her again
tampons
my ticket stub from the 'no doubt' concert one of my daughter's took me to
the famous standing order for a monthly blood draw for my daughter's clozaril
the ER admit form i had to sign for my daughter when police took her there
package of ponytail holders
local take out pizza menu
kleenex
burt's bees lip gloss
i wondered where that checkbook was
--

there's more, but you get the idea. i need a life.

what's in your purse, wallet or backpack?

Friday, November 13, 2009

$64 million criminal fine paid by AstraZeneca will go to the Department of Justice’s Crime Victims Fund, VOCA --2003: Corporate Integrity Agreement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2003

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

CIV
(302) 573-6277

ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP PLEADS GUILTY
TO HEALTHCARE CRIME; COMPANY AGREES TO PAY
$355 MILLION TO SETTLE CHARGES

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, the Department of Health and Human Services Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General Dara Corrigan, Terrell L. Vermillion, Director, Office of Criminal Investigations, Food & Drug Administration, and SAIC Edward T. Bradley of the Northeast Field Office for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service announced that AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP (“AstraZeneca”), a major pharmaceutical manufacturer headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, today pleaded guilty in federal district court in Wilmington, Delaware to a healthcare crime and agreed to pay $355,000,000 to resolve criminal charges and civil liabilities in connection with its drug pricing and marketing practices with regard to Zoladex, a drug sold by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and used primarily for the treatment of prostate cancer. The general components of the global agreement are as follows:

AstraZeneca pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (“PDMA”) by causing to be submitted claims for payment for the prescription of Zoladex which had been provided as free samples to urologists. This criminal conduct caused losses of $39,920,098 to Medicare, Medicaid and other federally funded insurance programs. As part of the plea agreement, AstraZeneca agreed to pay a $63,872,156 criminal fine;

AstraZeneca agreed to settle its federal civil False Claim Act liabilities and to pay the U.S. government $266,127,844 to resolve allegations that the company caused false and fraudulent claims to be filed with the Medicare, TriCare, Department of Defense and Railroad Retirement Board Medicare programs as a result of AstraZeneca’s fraudulent drug pricing schemes and sales and marketing misconduct; AstraZeneca agreed to settle its civil liabilities to the Medicaid program by paying to the United States and the states a total of $24,900,000 to resolve allegations that it caused false and fraudulent claims to be filed with the states as a result of its drug pricing and marketing misconduct and that it failed to provide the state Medicaid programs AstraZeneca’s best price for those drugs as required by law. The National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units has reached an agreement in principle to settle the state portion of these liabilities on behalf of the state Attorneys General; and

AstraZeneca has agreed to comply with the terms of a corporate integrity agreement which ensures, among other things, that AstraZeneca will report to the Medicare and Medicaid programs the average sale price for drugs reimbursed by those programs and will promote, through internal training and other programs and policies, marketing and sales practices that are in full compliance with the law."-2003

"(i) Employees of AstraZeneca provided thousands of free samples of Zoladex to physicians knowing and expecting that certain of those physicians would prescribe and administer the free drug samples to their patients and thereafter bill those free samples to the patients and to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded insurance programs;

(ii) In order to induce certain physicians, physicians’ practices, and others to purchase Zoladex, AstraZeneca offered and paid illegal remuneration in various forms including free Zoladex, unrestricted educational grants, business assistance grants and services, travel and entertainment, consulting services, and honoraria;

(and)

"The entire amount of the nearly $64 million criminal fine paid by AstraZeneca will go to the Department of Justice’s Crime Victims Fund. The Fund was established in 1984 by the Victims of Crime Act (“VOCA”) and serves as a major funding source for victim services throughout the country. Victims of federal as well as state crimes are eligible to receive VOCA-funded services, and state Assistance programs use VOCA funds to provide or contract for services to victims of rape, drunk driving, child abuse, domestic violence, homicide, and other crimes."
---

November 2009

Corporate Integrity Agreement

AstraZeneca Pays Millions to Settle Seroquel Cases-NYTimes

"The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Thursday that it had reached a $520 million agreement to settle two federal investigations and two whistle-blower lawsuits over the sale and marketing of its blockbuster psychiatric drug Seroquel."
--

The definition of the word, integrity

in·teg·ri·ty

1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.

2. The state of being unimpaired; soundness.

3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.
---

Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA): An agreement between the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services and a health care provider or other entity as part of a settlement for alleged civil wrongdoing relating to Federal health laws.

The government may enter into a CIA with an entity instead of seeking to exclude the entity from Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal health care programs. Each CIA is unique to the entity, but a typical CIA will last for five years and will require the entity to implement procedures to comply with Federal health care laws, often including developing a compliance plan and hiring a compliance officer.

Several pharmaceutical manufacturers have entered into CIAs in connection with, among other issues, their determination of AWP and Medicaid best price.
---

"This above all: to thine own self be true".

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America(PhRMA) pays for pro-health reform TV ad: spent $20 million lobbying congress

Friday, July 17, 2009

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America(PhRMA) pays for pro-health reform TV ad: spent $20 million lobbying congress --soulful sepulcher blog

AstraZeneca earned over 4$billion dollars in 2008 from Seroquel, the anti psychotic in lawsuits for alleged diabetes injuries, and the latest add-on for "depression".

Placebo outperformed Seroquel in a teen bipolar study and has a black box warning for diabetes as a side effect, also known for adding unwanted weight gain.

The internal documents show that AstraZeneca knew of the risks before the drug went to market.

Health reform and PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) David Brennan Elected PhRMA Board ChairmanWashington, D.C. (April 3, 2009)

— David Brennan, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, was elected board chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) today at the trade association’s annual meeting.

Also elected were Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey B. Kindler as chairman-elect of the PhRMA Board of Directors and David Y. Norton, Company Group Chairman, Worldwide Commercial and Operations for the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Group, as board treasurer.

“The PhRMA member companies accomplished much this past year. We strengthened our marketing code, tightened our DTC advertising principles and voiced strong support of transparency of company interactions with physicians,” said Clark.

“I am also proud of PhRMA’s commitment in support of health care reform, including expanding coverage to all Americans.

In this time of economic turmoil, the last thing American families should have to worry about is their health care coverage.

No one should have to go without the medicines and vaccines they need.

"Mr. Brennan was named chief executive officer of AstraZeneca in January 2006. From 2001 through 2005 he was president and chief executive officer of AstraZeneca LP, the company’s North America subsidiary. In 2005, Mr. Brennan was appointed executive board director of AstraZeneca, with responsibility for all North American operations."

Friday, June 26, 2009,$1.2 million a day: Pharma lobbying Congress, using ex-Congressmen and Senators-soulful sepulcher blog

Open Secrets blog: Will $1.2 Million a Day Convince Congress to Buy Big Pharma's Rx for Change?

"Within this industry, the trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) leads the way on lobbying activities, spending more than $20.2 million last year, or $10,750 an hour that Congress was in session."PhRMA paid for this television ad, supporting health reform.

Feel like a pawn on a political platform masked as health reform? or a marketing target for PhRMA? you're right! it's all about profit$$, not you! --July 2009

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Geoff Birkett and David Brennan have many answers that I WANT.

To the U.S. FDA : Anti-psychotics need reviewing for safety for all patients

I've been a regular reader of Schizophrenia-A Carer's Journal for a long time now. The blog is authored by a father of a son, diagnosed with Schizophrenia. He keeps the journal about his son, and I often relate to much of his candid and poignant entries.

His son is currently residing in a locked psychiatric ward in the UK. He is allowed to visit family out of the hospital occasionally.Usually the outside passes are granted with much pressure from the family and usually not without some sort of mix up, due to complacent behavior from hospital staff. When the scheduled day outing arrives, I often sigh reading these stories, because just to see our adult children in these places is hard enough, and when they put the family through a trial by fire to visit, well it just creates such angst, and it is very tiring and wearing on a person's own well-being in a stressful situation.

Mike, the author and father wrote a piece on November 12, 2009 that I couldn't have written better myself.

He refers to this article, at BBC news,"Dementia drug use 'killing many'". The government in England has taken on the task to reduce the use of anti-psychotics, in the case of people diagnosed with dementia.

Mike wrote this on a BBC news blog, which he placed on his own blog:

"If it is unacceptable to give these dangerous, mind altering drugs with dangerous and potentially fatal side effects to elderly people it is also unacceptable to give them to young people diagnosed with 'schizophrenia'.

The withdrawal symptoms experienced when people stop taking anti-psychotics suddenly is like an extreme psychosis and has resulted in many tragedies.

Most of the positive research on the use of anti-psychotics is funded by the drug companies that are making a huge amount of money from selling them to the NHS. There is woefully little funding available to assess and trial non-medical approaches.

It is time that the use of this expensive and potentially dangerous medication of dubious benefit is reviewed for ALL patients." --Schizophrenia, a Carer's Journal

He writes on his blog, that his son has been prescribed about 10 anti psychotics over the last decade, and has had a few medical health scares as a result, and says his son though medicated with these drugs is still psychotic.

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Antipsychotics prescribed for my daughter in the last decade

Melleril
Risperdal
Zyprexa
Haldol
Abilify
Seroquel
Clozaril

At age 21 years old, my daughter deserves a review of safety of these drugs for long-term use, Mike's son deserves it, and so do the children and teens, and adults--who are being given these drugs.

Some patients are prescribed them as add-on depression treatment now and behavior issue treatments. The drugs are being used in such broad uses that it begs discussion of long-term safety and efficacy.

I would like the USA government to do a review of anti-psychotic safety in children (and adults), as I wrote back in March 2007 and again in August 2008.

Here's my article from August 2008 with links to the the 2007 article, which was highlighted at Furious Seasons mental health news blog, and the Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look blog.

March 2007

"'We have no data on these agents of what's a safe and effective dose in children,' he [FDA official] told The Times in an interview."

NOW I ask the FDA to question why adult psychiatric medications are used in children; and why this statement regarding OTC cold medications does not apply to psychiatric medications that carry black box warnings:

'We have no data on these agents of what's a safe and effective dose in children', said Ganley when talking about OTC cold remedies.

The FDA has some serious ethical issues in my opinion, the FDA is responsible, and to be held accountable; for any harm done to a child under age 18 taking psychiatric medications.

The FDA is at the top of the pyramid, in my opinion, that needs to be scrutinized; then pharmaceutical companies;then the PCP's that prescribe;then the psychiatrist's; and nurse practitioners, and so on."--soulful sepulcher blog

August 2008

Sunday, August 24, 2008

FDA: safety and efficacy of childrens cold medicine: why not Risperdal and Abilify?

I wrote about this before and it's back in the news again.

When the FDA pulled OTC cold medicines from the shelves,the concern was parents giving too much of the cold medicine. Now the revision is in discussion that could remove cold medicines for kids from the market.

The FDA questions regarding safety and efficacy, whether or not the cold medicines worked at all, and a group of pediatricians petitioned the FDA noting a lack of evidence "that they work and mounting evidence they can cause hallucinations, seizures, trouble breathing, heart problems and other complications including, occasionally, deaths."

AGAIN I ask the question:(and have been asking since March 2007)

Why are we not seeing this type of vigorous investigation into the safety and efficacy of antipsychotics that are being prescribed for children often under age 10?

There is no long term evidence that antipsychotics that carry a black box warning for diabetes are safe for children. Why OTC cold medicines gain so much attention from the FDA and pediatricians and antipsychotics don't --blows my mind.

Risperdal and Abilify have been approved by the FDA for use in children at age 10, and the danger in those drugs are far worse than the cold medicines. This is an outrageous and dangerous practice in my opinion, that the FDA seems to not understand how powerful antipsychotics are--compare Seroquel (Rebecca Riley died at age 4 with Seroquel in her system) to Dimetapp and wonder what is so wrong with this world.

I never thought I would see the day cough medicines were under review for safety and efficacy use in kids and antipsychotics are approved, without evidence of safety or long term results.

I think the FDA needs to review how they intend on keeping children safe from pharmaceutical injury.--soulful sepulcher blog
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November 2009

If enough of us inquire and demand action to be taken around the world, maybe our voices can make a difference for everyone regarding the safety and long-term use of anti-psychotic use in all patients of all ages.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

trials by fire, so hard to see a scene like the one i was in with my daughter

my daughter broke my heart today. it is planned that i continue seeing her on thursdays as i have even outside of the hospital at her care place. so today, i admit to being very tired, and wrapped a donut up for her and drove to see her. i got there and the nurse came down the elevator and told me many reasons why i can't go up. my daughter had a rough night, needed sleep, was ramped up. i simply stated that i was going up anyway as she was expecting me on this day and i would see her and leave if she got wound up or something, i was prepared for whatever mood she was in, after all i've lived with her the longest. well, she was sitting there at a table, and i greeted her and she jumped up and hugged me for dear life sobbing so loudly my ears were deafened by it. "mama,mama mama" over and over at the top of her lungs with her face buried into my shirt which ended up being soaking wet from her tears and drool when i left. i rubbed her back and she kept saying "don't die". while wailing, if you can imagine the scene, it was horribly painful to hear her. i talked calmly and rubbed her back as she hugged me and told her to breathe. finally i talked her into walking to her room and eating the donut, encouraging her to be calm and rest. she always believes she is abandoned, put up for adoption, or that i died when she is psychotic. this is one of the worst couple of last 2 weeks than she has had in years with this stuff. i stepped back and said, "look at me, it is thursday and i am right here i am ok and you are too, everything is ok, i will be back tomorrow." she calmed down and the staff had the elevator door open they weren't too happy with me calming her down and i don't care. this was heart wrenching crying then for me driving home, i ended up taking a country drive out to look at the mountains and trees and made myself feel better. i hope she is ok tonight. this stuff is painful, and when it happens like this to her it is very hard. she does come out of it eventually, at least other times. as you can read compared to the other day this is how it goes with her, up and down, and always based in fears of non-reality story lines in her mind. i just got back from the dog park and that was pleasant and the dogs always make me smile. i imagine the staff were stoic, as they need to remain calm in that situation.

*addendum at 8pm or so tonight:

the photo i added here is from last year on a country drive with my daughter. my own drive today looked similar. the week before this all broke loose in august she was home eating her favorite spaghetti dinner. it was such a great dinner here.

AstraZeneca pays $520 million to settle Seroquel lawsuits: I have questions and demand the truth

Who Should Be Named in The Seroquel Scandal ?

AstraZeneca has reached a settlement agreement of $520 million dollars to settle 2 lawsuits involving the drug Seroquel. --according to the New York Times

Seroquel is an antipsychotic drug that has weight gain and diabetes as possible side effects. Often prescribed off-label and in children the last decade, I find it unbelievable the drug remains on the market.

From the NYTimes:

"Tony Jewell, a company spokesman, declined to be more specific about the physicians or clinical trials under investigation. He said the company was in final negotiations to settle the whistle-blower suits and reach a corporate integrity agreement with the Justice Department.

The name of the whistle-blowers and other details of the suits remained sealed in federal court. Stephen A. Sheller, a lawyer in Philadelphia for the whistle-blowers, and Patricia Hartman, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney in Philadelphia, both declined to comment."

and

"AstraZeneca also said it had been served with 14,444 civil lawsuits over the drug as of Oct. 9. Ed Blizzard, a lawyer for some of the people suing AstraZeneca, said Thursday that many patients have developed diabetes and other health problems because of misleading marketing."
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I have questions

My letter to the Department of Justice

"I would like to know if any of the AstraZeneca upper level company officials will pay personal fines or serve time in prison for the knowledge of information that was withheld (even from the FDA, ie "study15") and continued to market the drug Seroquel with known weight gain and diabetes issues as side effects.

The recent recommendation by the FDA drug committee to give Seroquel approval for use in children with this background, is an assault on the health and safety of our children and teens. The drug should be removed from the market, considering litigation, it only makes sense."

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Further reading:

Tuesday, November 10, 2009,AstraZeneca paid Illinois psychiatrist $500,000 to promote SEROQUEL-soulful sepulcher blog

Wednesday, November 11, 2009,Archer Pharmaceuticals targets Alzheimers/Dementia: hope for Schizophrenia? Geoff Birkett, AstraZeneca-soulful sepulcher blog

I ask questions of former VP of marketing for AstraZeneca, Geoff Birkett

and

Thursday, November 12, 2009,AstraZeneca - Seroquel: FAO Marketing and Senior Management(past and present)Stephany has some questions!: at PharmaGossip blog

Insider (from PharmaGossip) has one more question to add: given the recent Stryker indictment which named company individuals guilty of wrongdoing, who should be named in The Seroquel Scandal?
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The public has a right to know, the health and safety of innocent people was placed in jeopardy by AstraZeneca and AstraZeneca made a profit at the expense of the health of people who deserve, and demand the TRUTH.