POLICE: Mom arrested for selling 4 y/o's prescription drugs

Westbrook Police say they arrested a woman for allegedly trying to sell her own child's prescription drugs.

POLICE: Mom arrested for selling 4 y/o's prescription drugs

Top 25 Psychiatric Prescriptions for 2009

These are the top 25 psychiatric medications by number of U.S. prescriptions dispensed in 2009, according to IMS Health. I’ve also provided their 2005 ranking. To put the percent change into perspective, the U.S. total population rose approximately 4 percent from 2005 to 2009.

Top 25 Psychiatric Prescriptions for 2009

'Anatomy Of An Epidemic': Could Psychiatric Drugs Be Fuelling A Mental Illness Epidemic?

A few years ago, while writing an article about the merits of psychiatric medications, I looked at whether the number of adults receiving a federal disability payment due to mental illness had significantly changed since 1987, which was the year that Prozac was introduced. Our society's use of psychiatric medications, of course, has soared since that time, and here's what I discovered: The number of adults, ages 18 to 65, on the federal disability rolls due to mental illness jumped from 1.25 million in 1987 to four million in 2007. Roughly one in every 45 working-age adults is now on government disability due to mental illness.

'Anatomy Of An Epidemic': Could Psychiatric Drugs Be Fuelling A Mental Illness Epidemic?

The Pfizer Geodon Trial And Physician Mishaps

The Pfizer Geodon Trial And Physician Mishaps

Earlier this month, the FDA sent Pfizer a warning letter for failing to properly monitor pediatric clinical trials in which at least 13 children with bipolar disorder experienced overdosing that led to restless legs, tremors, involuntary facial movements and a serious skin disorder.

AstraZeneca Agrees To Fines: Ct To Get $3.15 Million

AstraZeneca Agrees To Fines: Ct To Get $3.15 Million

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Michael P. Starkowski announced that Connecticut will receive $3.15 million under an agreement in principle with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP for alleged off-label marketing of Seroquel, and antipsychotic drug, for uses unapproved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Adderall benefits and side effects in ADHD usage

It’s a long list of benefits for Adderall but we must not forget about the side effects in ADHD.According to a new study released by the New York Medical College of Family Medicine, the Adderall is linked to heart attacks and sudden death in children and young adults. This remedy is prescribed to treat attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD), a disease can diagnosed 15 percent of school-age children. Although the incidence of heart attacks and sudden death is higher in children treated regularly with Adderall, they also concern former users.

Adderall benefits and side effects in ADHD usage

Correction: Children overdosed during Pfizer drug study; FDA issues warning

Legal news for drug-related injury attorneys. FDA issues warning to Pfizer for faulty testing procedures in drug trials.

Correction: Children overdosed during Pfizer drug study; FDA issues warning

Drug Giant AstraZeneca to Pay $520 Million to Settle Fraud Case

Drug Giant AstraZeneca to Pay $520 Million to Settle Fraud Case

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will pay $520 million in fines to settle charges by the federal government that it illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel to children and elderly patients for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

US military concerned about 'over-medication' of troops

The US Army's surgeon general on Monday expressed concern about "over-medication" of soldiers returning from combat, saying the military is closely tracking how drugs are prescribed to troops.

US military concerned about 'over-medication' of troops

Television review: 'The Vaccine Wars' on PBS

The documentary focuses on the growing number of parents choosing not to vaccinate their kids over fear of autism and other disorders and the public health officials who find this trend alarming.

Television review: 'The Vaccine Wars' on PBS

Children Who Watch R-rated Movies More Likely to Drink Alcohol

If your kids are going out to see R-rated movies, they might also be prone to drinking alcohol, according to a study from Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H.

Children Who Watch R-rated Movies More Likely to Drink Alcohol

State let danger linger after foster kid’s drug death

Denis Maltez, a 67-pound wisp confined to a state-licensed group home, suffered the debilitating effects of his startling drug cocktail.

State let danger linger after foster kid’s drug death

Adderall Associated with Serious, Life-Threatening Side Effects

Adderall and Adderall XR, schedule II controlled substances composed of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, have several Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved uses. However, both prescribed and recreational use of these drugs, especially among young people, is associated with serious, life-threatening side effects.

Adderall Associated with Serious, Life-Threatening Side Effects

Things You Should Know About Children Taking Paxil

Today is not uncom­mon to see chil­dren suf­fer­ing from depres­sion or other men­tal dis­or­ders. Many doc­tors pre­scribe drugs is now as Paxil to improve men­tal health dis­or­der or con­di­tion of the child. But what many do not know is that the U.S. Food and Drug Admin­is­tra­tion (FDA) never approved treat­ment or use of Paxil for chil­dren. The FDA does not reg­u­late med­ical pro­ce­dures and med­ical med­i­cine to chil­dren solely on their expe­ri­ence and the find­ings require.

Things You Should Know About Children Taking Paxil

Mentally ill mom can choose son's meds, D.C. appellate court rules

The District's foster care officials were right to refuse to give a mentally ill boy his medication after the boy's biological mother objected, the District's Court of Appeals has ruled.

Mentally ill mom can choose son's meds, D.C. appellate court rules

Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide, and Crime

In Medication Madness, psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin, M.D., describes how people taking psychiatric medication can experience abnormal behavioral reactions, including suicide, violence, emotional breakdowns, and criminal acts. Dr. Breggin explains his concept of ?medication spellbinding?: individuals taking psychiatric drugs may have no idea whatsoever that their mental conditions are deteriorating and that their actions are no longer under control.

Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide, and Crime

Pharmaceutical injury alert: FDA slams Pfizer with warnings for deadly clinical trials

Legal news for drug-related injury attorneys. FDA issues warning to Pfizer for faulty testing procedures in drug trails.

Pharmaceutical injury alert: FDA slams Pfizer with warnings for deadly clinical trials

Chief medical officer tells doctors to stop giving seasonal flu shots to kids after some children developed fever and suffered fits

Chief medical officer tells doctors to stop giving seasonal flu shots to kids after some children developed fever and suffered fits

DRUG regulators are urgently investigating whether the seasonal flu vaccine is safe for children, after the nation's top doctor said they shouldn't receive it.

The Psychiatric Drugging of Children: Inventing Disorders

The Psychiatric Drugging of Children: Inventing Disorders

Of all the harmful actions of modern psychiatry, “the mass diagnosing and drugging of children is the most appalling with the most serious consequences for the future of individual lives and for society,” warns the world-renowned expert, Dr Peter Breggin, often referred to as the “Conscience of Psychiatry.”

Psychedelic drugs get a second look from science

One speaker introduced his mother. Another thanked his wife and children. And at the closing ceremony of the Psychedelic Science conference in San Jose, the crowd of 1,000 stood up and applauded in appreciation of one another.

Psychedelic drugs get a second look from science

Controversial Miami psychiatrist dropped from Medicaid program

State healthcare regulators have booted from the state Medicaid program a Miami psychiatrist who had prescribed a cocktail of potent mental health drugs to an autistic, 12-year-old boy who later died of complications from over-medication.

Controversial Miami psychiatrist dropped from Medicaid program

U.S. warns Pfizer after children overdosed in study

U.S. health regulators have warned Pfizer Inc over a series of failures that led to the overdosing of at least 13 children in a clinical trial of its antipsychotic drug Geodon, according to a letter made public on Tuesday.

U.S. warns Pfizer after children overdosed in study

House Bills to Create Ovesight for Michgian Emergency Financial Manager of failing schools

House Bills to Create Ovesight for Michgian Emergency Financial Manager of failing schools

Study cautions: Psychotropic medications overprescribed to children

Study cautions: Psychotropic medications overprescribed to children

A new study from the Journal of Marital & Family Therapy warns of the dramatic rise in the use of psychotropic medications for children. One in every fifty Americans is now considered permanently disabled by mental illness, and up to eight million children take one or more psychotropic drugs.

Psychiatric Drugging Of Infants And Toddlers In The US - Part I

Psychiatric Drugging Of Infants And Toddlers In The US - Part I

The United States has become the psychiatric drugging capital of the world for kids with children being medicated at a younger and younger age. Medicaid records in some states show infants less than a year old on drugs for mental disorders.

Psychiatric Drugging of Infants and Toddlers in the US - Part II

TeenScreen - Controversial and Unscientific

Red flags overlooked in prescription drug death of 12-year-old

Red flags overlooked in prescription drug death of 12-year-old

Born with autism, 12-year-old Denis Maltez was “hyper, needy, pesty,” his psychiatrist wrote following a May 2007 visit.

Dr. Steven L. Kaplan solved the 70-pound boy’s problems with a prescription pad, writing orders for two different anti-psychotic drugs along with a tranquilizer and a mood stabilizer — three of them in the highest doses recommended for adults, records show.

Some thoughts on psychiatric medications and children:

Some thoughts on psychiatric medications and children:

Behavioural rewards 'work like drugs' for ADHD

Behavioural rewards 'work like drugs' for ADHD

The brains of children with attention-deficit disorders respond to on-the-spot rewards in the same way as they do to medication, say scientists.

Louis Theroux looks at America's prescription culture

In the US, an increasing number of parents are turning to psychoactive medication to help them cope with the challenging behaviour of their children. So is this an understandable path to take, or a worrying shortcut, asks Louis Theroux.

Louis Theroux looks at America's prescription culture

Storms amends bill on psychiatric drug treatment for children

One of the largest providers of inpatient psychiatric care for Florida foster kids successfully pushed for an amendment to a bill that will make it easier for group homes and treatment centers to medicate foster children without the consent of a parent or judge.

Storms amends bill on psychiatric drug treatment for children

Pill Popping Kids of America

PUTTING children with behavioural conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on prescription drugs is rife in the US. In his latest documentary, Louis Theroux travelled to the Western Psychiatric Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a leading centre in the treatment of children with mental health problems, to meet the kids, the families and the doctors who believe medication is the only way to tackle their conditions. It is estimated that between five to eight per cent of all American school children have been diagnosed with ADHD. In the UK the figure is 500,000, with around 60,000 of those taking medication. Louis Theroux: America's Medicated Kids, is on BBC2 at 9pm on Sunday. Here, Louis, 39 - who has two sons aged four and two - gives TV Features Writer KATE JACKSON his verdict on the issue and, on the right, we look at three of the children featured on the show.

Pill Popping Kids of America

Children's Mental Health: Alabama's Foster Care System

In the late 1980's, a child who's come to be known as R.C. was removed from his home because of allegations of abuse and neglect. R.C. was sent to a series of psychiatric institutions, even though he was not diagnosed with any serious emotional problems. Lawyers sued the Alabama Department of Human Resources on behalf of R.C. And in 1991, a federal court issued the R.C. Consent Decree. It required a massive overhaul in the way DHR provides mental health treatment to foster children in Alabama. The state is now lauded as a national model, but as Les Lovoy reports there are still big challenges.

Children's Mental Health: Alabama's Foster Care System

Children and Prescription Drug Errors

Prescription drug error is a fairly common medical mishap. Thousands of Americans are affected by prescription drug errors every year. Children are particularly vulnerable to prescription errors because of their small physical size and limited ability to metabolize high doses of drugs.

Children and Prescription Drug Errors

Limits On Psychiatric Medication For Foster Kids Under Consideration

Florida legislators are considering new restrictions on the use of psychiatric medication among foster children a year after a 7-year-old child in state care hung himself.

Limits On Psychiatric Medication For Foster Kids Under Consideration

Hooked on prescription drugs

Did you know you're more likely to be prescribed prescription drugs for anxiety or depression than counselling or psychotherapy?

Hooked on prescription drugs

Antidepressants Pose Similar Suicide Risks for Kids

While antidepressants are known to offer relief to patients suffering from depression and anxiety, a wide variety of studies and reports point to the medications’ risks in a growing array of demographics. Now, Reuters Health, writes that while antidepressant medications do work in pediatric patients, they can increase suicidal behavior, regardless of a particular medication’s component or brand.

Antidepressants Pose Similar Suicide Risks for Kids

MISINTERPRETING BRAIN DAMAGE AS PROGRESS

MISINTERPRETING BRAIN DAMAGE AS PROGRESS

I recall a child who came to me for an evaluation for wraparound services. This was my first encounter with the child. He entered the room staggering and swaying, barely unable to keep his eyes open. He almost fell out of his seat and his speech was slurred. When I commented to the parent that the child looked highly sedated, the parent responded, ‘well, at least he’s not aggressive.” This led me to conclude that this parent was actually looking at this child’s miserable state as progress.

Judge approves $110M settlement in E-Ferol case

A federal judge has approved a $110 million class-action settlement against the manufacturer and distributor of an intravenous vitamin E supplement that federal officials have linked to the deaths of dozens of premature infants in the mid-1980s.

Judge approves $110M settlement in E-Ferol case

Child dies in hospital from accidental overdose

Florida Senators Discuss Psych Drugs on Kids

Part 1


Part 2

Who should prescribe psychiatric drugs?

Who should prescribe psychiatric drugs?

I love reading the Psychiatric Times . The long-form articles nearly always express cogent arguments about controversial subjects in the field, and the short-form pieces point out news items I might have otherwise missed.

La. gets $20 million in Eli Lilly drug settlement

Louisiana will receive $20 million in a settlement with pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly and Co. over its marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa, the state attorney general said Wednesday.

La. gets $20 million in Eli Lilly drug settlement

Psychiatrists say that being angry is a mental illness

Proposed updates to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) are prompting many to question whether or not the psychiatric profession itself has gone crazy.

Psychiatrists say that being angry is a mental illness

Family drug court a worthy investment

Since its inception nine years ago, the family drug court has become an integral part of the Bexar County judicial system.

Family drug court a worthy investment

Wisconsin immunization law requires vaccinations for certain grade levels

The Wisconsin immunization law requires students entering grades six and 12 to show proof of having received two doses of chickenpox vaccine, or a reported history of having chicken pox.

Wisconsin immunization law requires vaccinations for certain grade levels