Friday, March 18, 2011

Mortal Sin Sells or "Malpractice In Action!"





This article I write as a concerned scientist, and I am a psychiatrist, among other things. I don't watch much TV (none) but when I do I see something so immoral and deceptive, that I finally had to write about it. 

 It is the direct marketing of prescription drugs to the public, via commercials that promise vague solutions for vaguely described problems. Basically, in a commercial for citalopram or some such anti-depressant, it show a woman with a pained look on her face, and someone holding her, and saying "ask your doctor if "KureItAll" is right for you!"

 This started during the fascist Reagan years...got pushed through a Republican dominated House and Senate---so the drug companies knew they'd finally paid enough for a carte blanche. They ran quick 6 week studies to "quickly approve" drugs for treatment for long-term, often for the rest of the patient's life though the drug has never been tested in humans for that long a period. The FDA rubber-stamped these unwaveringly over and over. Also, many existing drugs, especially those whose patents were about to expire, the drug companies ramrodded again quick shoddy studies to "use the drug for other indications." Problem is, most of these drugs do not help the depression at all--it just sedates the client more, and thus turns off the higher functions of the brain. 

 Some horrific and scientifically unsound and immoral abuses include approving neurileptics like Quetiapine or Aripiprazole as first line treatments for Bipolar Disorder! Might as well give them reserpine and wrap them in sheets and spray cold water on them while applying leaches! This is barbaric malpractice of the worst sort--government approved! 

 This type of "new indication" for drugs we know are very toxic, brain-disabling compounds with serious and often PERMANENT side effects, meaning brain damage, movement disorders (your body moves and shakes and you can't control it), Parkinson-like syndrome (like giving someone Parkinson's disease) as the "treatment" for a number of vague mythical "diseases" that are often little more than people emerging from the haze of the lie-matrix that has been presented to us and forced down our throats as "reality." In other words, they are waking up to who they really are, and the shrinks misguidedly shut it down, and consign that person to a life of marginalization, stigma and certain poverty.

Does anyone else see something's wrong here! Natural medicines, phytomedications, and healing plants such as medical cannabis and opium poppies are much much safer and often provide the same or superior relief to many of the so-called "psychiatric disorders." 

Down with big Pharma--those of you with stock, divest for sake of human rights! Those who can, boycott psychiatrists who just write scripts and take no interest in you or your issues--that make no attempt at some sort of at least "supportive therapy." Lastly exercise your right as educated clients/patients to know about ALL POSSIBLE treatments for your disorder, even if it is not yet legal (like psilocybin for cluster headaches and end of life issues.) They may be able to get into a study of these natural non-toxic plant-derived compounds.

The times, they are-a-changin'---let's all push back at those in control and take back our rights!

Andre S. Lange, MD
Sacramento 

Monday, March 14, 2011

A Real Hero Of Mine Passes this from Shady Backflash, info allegedly from Phil Lesh

Shady Backflash 
allegedly from phil lesh:

Fare thee well, Bear Karma: 8
#921 5 minutes ago
A Beautiful Mind

I received a text in the middle of last night that Bear Stanley has died in a car accident in Australia. Bear, for me, was a true kindred spirit; when we first met, it was as if I had met a long-lost brother from another lifetime. I am heartbroken and devastated at his passing.

He was a friend, a brother, an inspiration, and our patron at the very beginning of our creative lives. We owe him more than what can be counted or added up- his was a mind that refused to accept limits, and he reinforced in us that striving for the infinite, the refusal to accept the status quo, that has informed so much of our work.

He never gave up his quest for pushing the limits of whatever he was working on. We had just been discussing his concept of point-source sound reinforcement in relation to a new project of mine, and his vision incorporated the latest developments in technology and perceptual research.

My heart goes out to his family, for whom he had such love and pride- his wife Sheilah, his children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren- who have lost their patriarch.

A mind like Bear’s appears very rarely, and it’s been my privilege and honor to have known and lovedtwo such minds- Jerry and Bear. I always laugh when I think about what Jerry once said about Bear: There’s nothing wrong with Bear that several billion fewer brain cells wouldn't fix.

I am eternally grateful for all of the gifts that Bear brought to the scene and to the music.
Fare you well; I love you more than words can tell.

- Phil
15 hours ago ·  ·  1 person

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Excellent Article about the Abuses of Big Pharma and It's Favorite Destructive Bedfellow, Psychiatry.

When Daniel Carlat, a psychiatrist in Massachusetts, was flown to New York with his wife by Wyeth, the “training” weekend he attended in a luxury hotel was topped off with a Broadway show. It was early 2001 and he had just agreed to the US pharmaceuticals company’s proposal that he give talks to doctors about its antidepressant Effexor.


See full article at Citizen's Commission On Human Rights International!  Please consider 
donating to this essential and very worthy cause, Thanks, Dr. Lange

http://www.cchrint.org/2011/03/09/a-sugared-pill/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010

Philanthropist Pledges $250,000.00 to MAPS study of PTSD treatment for War Veterans

On Dec. 1, 2010, philanthropist Peter Lewis pledged to donate $250,000 in 2011 to MAPS’ U.S. study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in war veterans. This generous pledge brings us to $319,000 out of the projected $500,000 needed to fund the entire study. We wish to extend our sincere gratitude to Peter Lewis for recognizing the value of this research and committing to fund it!
The first two veterans in our newest MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study are now scheduled for their experimental sessions in January. Clinical Investigators Michael Mithoefer, M.D., and Annie Mithoefer, B.S.N., are leading this MAPS-sponsored study at their private office in Charleston, SC. In this study we are only enrolling veterans suffering from war-related PTSD who have tried other treatments and failed. In preparing the study, we found that veterans are different from survivors of sexual abuse and assault in that they are more likely to be taking opiate medications for pain. In the current protocol, we are using fixed dosages and cannot increase the dose of MDMA if the opiates blunt the effect. The team was concerned that opiates could cause MDMA to be less effective. When we learned that one of the potential subjects was prescribed opiate pain medication, our clinical team conferred with medical monitor Julie Holland, M.D., to create a policy for enrolling patients with chronic pain. We decided we would enroll subjects who are currently taking opiate medications for pain as long as they agreed to forego or reduce their medication on the day that they receive MDMA. We’ll use what we learn in this pilot study to decide whether, and under what conditions, it makes sense in future studies to continue to enroll subjects on opiate pain medications. 

Thursday, December 16, 2010

I Support The Citizens Commission On Human Rights Intl!


Make a Donation to CCHR's Fight For Kids
Dear Supporter,
A major thrust of CCHR's work this year has been to curb and halt the widespread psychiatric labeling and drugging of children. Please take a moment to watch this short video on child drugging, created by CCHR to raise awareness of this critical issue, and then please make a tax-deductible year-end donation to CCHR to help continue the fight for kids.
Here are a few successes from parents due to CCHR's work in raising public awareness about psychiatric labeling and drugging:
Thank you for the CCHR website and the wealth of information. My 10-year-old son was displaying many ADD symptoms and his teacher recommended drugs. I opposed this immediately but felt like I had nothing to back me up. I have found that now. Now I am having my son tested for allergies and learning more about vitamins and nutrition. Thank God I found you.
P. K., father
My 14-year-old son and I have gone through hell for years because every doctor said he had ADD, then no ADD, then Bipolar and prescribed a drug. When he had a violent episode and we attributed this to the medicine the doctors said it wasn't caused by the drug. Then a Chief of Police brought me your literature and I was amazed to find out so much information. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. We are now trying a different approach.
N. W., mother
It is through your generous funding that CCHR is able to provide parents everywhere with the knowledge to protect their children from psychiatric labels and drugs.
We thank you for your continued support and look forward to further success in reforming the field of mental health in 2011.
Sincerely,

Fran Andrews
Executive Director
CCHR International

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Coca and cocaine can be used with moderation. If you learn how.

Last Updated: Thursday, 6 March 2008, 11:53 GMT 
Bolivia and Peru defend coca use
Tonnes of coca leaves grown illegally in the village of Huaculi, central Bolivia, are burnt (Dec 2007)
The UN lists coca as a controlled substance like cocaine or opium
Bolivia and Peru have defended the continued, traditional use of coca leaves after they were criticised by a UN drugs agency report.The UN report concentrated on coca cultivation as the basis for cocaine production, they said.
It failed to recognise that coca leaves had been used by indigenous peoples for medicinal and religious purposes for centuries, they added.
Peru and Bolivia are second only to Colombia as world cocaine producers.
Peru said a balance was needed between allowing cultivation for traditional uses while preventing it for cocaine production.
"One of the principles of humanitarian law is the respect of traditional customs, recognised by the national constitution," said Jose Belaunde, Peru's foreign relations minister.
"The United Nations lacks respect for the indigenous people of Peru and Bolivia who have used the coca leaf since forever," said Peruvian Congresswoman Maria Sumire.
"For indigenous people, coca is a sacred leaf that is part of their cultural identity," she said.
Everyday use
The International Narcotics Control Board released an annual report on Wednesday that reminded the two governments that use and possession of coca leaves, the main ingredient in cocaine, were limited to medical and scientific purposes.
The two countries should "abolish or prohibit activities... such as coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea", the report said.
People in the Andes use coca leaves to alleviate hunger and tiredness, for medicinal purposes and in religious rituals.
UN conventions list coca as a dangerous controlled substance, along with cocaine and opium.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has been lobbying for it to be taken off the list when the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs meets in 2009.