Psych Observer - Exposing Bad Psychiatrists

By Bruce E. Levine, AlterNet
Posted on July 23, 2008, Printed on July 24, 2008

American psychiatry has been rocked by Congress. Congressional investigators first exposed the financial relationships between high-profile psychiatrists and drug companies. “But now the profession itself is under attack in Congress,” reported the New York Times on July 12, 2008.

Specifically under attack is psychiatry’s premier professional organization, the American Psychiatric Association. The New York Times stated, “In 2006, the latest year for which numbers are available, the drug industry accounted for about 30 percent of the association’s $62.5 million in financing. About half of that money went to drug advertisements in psychiatric journals and exhibits at the annual meeting, and the other half to sponsor fellowships, conferences and industry symposiums at the annual meeting.”

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AstraZeneca’s CEO to be Deposed in London on Friday, June 20, 2008 NEW YORK, June 19

NEW YORK, June 19 /PRNewswire/ — Weitz & Luxenberg, PC, one of the
leading plaintiffs’ litigation law firms in America, filed a lawsuit today
against pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on behalf of a New York City Fire
Department Emergency Medical Technician whose diabetes was allegedly caused by
AstraZeneca’s drug Seroquel. The plaintiff, EMT Ernest Armstead, was one of
the many brave responders on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was
severely injured when the World Trade Center’s North Tower collapsed as he was
helping victims at the foot of the buildings.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today exercised its new authority under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA) to require manufacturers of “conventional” antipsychotic drugs to make safety-related changes to prescribing information, or labeling, to warn about an increased risk of death associated with the off-label use of these drugs to treat behavioral problems in older people with dementia.

In 2005, the FDA announced similar labeling changes for “atypical” antipsychotic drugs. At that time, Boxed Warnings, the FDA’s strongest, were added. The Boxed Warning will now be added to an older class of drugs known as “conventional” antipsychotics. The warning for both classes of drugs will say that clinical studies indicate that antipsychotic drugs of both types are associated with an increased risk of death when used in elderly patients treated for dementia-related psychosis.

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New York psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman has heard Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) sales pitch for the new anti-schizophrenia drug Invega, but he’s not too impressed.

Problem is, Invega isn’t much different than one of J&J’s best-selling drugs, the antipsychotic Risperdal. In late June, Risperdal is scheduled to lose its U.S. patent protection, clearing the way for competing generic copies that are cheaper than Invega, which could further diminish Invega sales, already characterized as a disappointment by J&J.

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A Canadian study has found that prescribing antipsychotic drugs for elderly people may be dangerous.

Antipsychotic therapy is widely used to manage behavioural problems such as aggression which is sometimes associated with dementia; they are often prescribed prior to admission to a nursing home.

They are commonly used to treat psychosis with conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, mania and delusional disorder.

The researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Ontario say elderly patients who are given antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of having an event that is serious enough to lead to hospitalization or death within a month of starting the therapy.

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From staff and wire reports

AstraZeneca PLC, which has its U.S. headquarters in Fairfax, was sued by Arkansas for falsely claiming its antipsychotic medicine Seroquel was safer than less-expensive drugs and failing to warn of its risks.

AstraZeneca has engaged in a “course of corporate misconduct and misrepresentation” in violating numerous state laws, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said in a lawsuit filed yesterday on behalf of the state’s behavioral health and Medicaid divisions.

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Say goodbye to benzodiazepines and say hello to Anti-psychotics!

URL: http://in.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idINL0869893920080508

LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it had applied to U.S. regulators to sell its schizophrenia drug Seroquel XR as a treatment for anxiety.

If approved, Seroquel XR would be the first atypical antipsychotic medicine cleared for the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder.

Seroquel XR — a follow-on extended release version of AstraZeneca’s older $4 billion-a-year seller Seroquel — was approved in the United States for schizophrenia in 2007. AstraZeneca is also seeking clearance to sell the new drug for bipolar disorder. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler)

Goodie! now everyone would be “hooked” on an anti-psychotics if this is approved by our good friends at the FDA office.

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An academic psychiatrist whose ties to AstraZeneca got called out by a U.S. senator a couple of weeks ago is getting a more scrutiny from her university.

AstraZeneca told Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that the value of its payments to Melissa DelBello between 2005 and 2007 was $238,000 — some of which she apparently hadn’t reported to her bosses at the University of Cincinnati. DelBello has published research on the company’s antipsychotic drug Seroquel in children, including a 2002 study that concluded kids did well on the medicine.

Now DelBello has to review all of of her industry interactions with her department chairman, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Her personnel file will also reflect that she didn’t tell the university about some of her outside funding.

“It’s to protect her,” the university’s VP of research, Sandra Degen, told the paper. “Basically, we were documenting that there were some discrepancies in what was reported.”

DelBello declined to comment for the Enquirer’s article. Deven said there was no evidence that the funding affected the substance of DelBello’s research. “The main point is how the perceived conflict of interest is disclosed,” Degen told the paper. “As long as you disclose it, then it’s fine.”

Hat Tip: Jack Friday at PharmaGossip

Photo: iStockphoto