RESEARCH ARTICLE Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence
Towards Others Thomas J. Moore , Joseph Glenmullen, Curt D. Furberg
ConclusionsActs of violence towards others are a genuine and serious adverse drug event associated with a relatively small group of drugs. Varenicline, which increases the availability of dopamine, and antidepressants with serotonergic effects were the most strongly and consistently implicated drugs. Prospective studies to evaluate systematically this side effect are needed to establish the incidence, confirm differences among drugs and identify additional common features.http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0015337 (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - September 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Vanity Came Knocking: Being Safe with My Bipolar
I nearly checked myself into the mental ward recently. I’ve been once, and it is no vacation.
But, one ordinary day in September, I was in that much pain. And I didn’t trust myself enough to be safe — all over some vanity and pride.
For the most part, over the years, my bipolar disorder has been tamped down with medication, therapy and stress reduction. And, until that day, I thought I was in remission.
But I was wrong.
Remission for me meant experiencing episodes that weren’t much worse than having a bad cold. I didn’t have any mixed episodes, full-blown mania or crushing depression.1 I like the idea ...
Source: World of Psychology - September 15, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Meaghan Tags: Bipolar Brain and Behavior Depression Disorders General Mania Medications Mental Health and Wellness Personal Treatment Arrogance Blah Bp Breadwinner Chantix Daily Basis Day In September Ego Failed Attempt Medication Source Type: blogs
Electronic Cigarettes Commentators Fail to Disclose Financial Conflicts of Interest with Big Pharma
The New York Times "Room for Debate" section Wednesday featured a debate about electronic cigarettes. I was one of six commentators who provided their perspectives on the issue. After reviewing the other commentaries, the first thing that struck me was the failure of one of the commentators to disclose an important financial conflict of interest: his receipt of funding from Big Pharma to study the effectiveness of a competitive product to electronic cigarettes.The commentary was written by Dr. Andrew Strasser, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Med...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - August 23, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Gallup Poll Shows that Cold Turkey is Overwhelmingly the Most Successful Quitting Strategy, With NRT Making Little Contribution
A July Gallup poll asked former smokers to identify the strategies or methods they used to successfully quit smoking. Based on their smoking cessation recommendations to the public, if you ask any anti-smoking organization what they think would be the most common answer to this question, they will most likely say:a. Nicotine patch;b. Nicotine gum;c. Nicotine inhaler; ord. Prescription drugs.But the public's answer to the question was essentially "None of the above." Overwhelmingly, the method identified by ex-smokers as most effective for quitting was "cold turkey."Nearly half of successful quitters (48%) identified cold t...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - August 13, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Pharma Marketers Should Hire the Directors of the Documentary Off Label to Do "Real Patient DTC" Ads
Coming soon (August 8 or 9) to a theater that may be near you - if you live in Missoula, MT (or in a few other lesser or greater cities) - is the documentary Off Label, which asks the question: "What's in your medicine cabinet?"If your medicine cabinet contains psychotropic drugs such as Adderall, Ambien, Zoloft, and Prozac, you may want to see this movie. "Often these drugs are combined in polypharmacy cocktails or are given out for unapproved or untested indications, leading to abuse, dangerous side effects, and heavy dependence," says the movie synopsis (here).The movie premiered last year in East and West Coast Intern...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - July 31, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: off-label promotion FDA social media DTC Advertising Chantix movie Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... The Weekend Nears
Once again, another working week is about to draw to a close. And not a moment too soon. After a long week of high temperatures, we are ready to daydream about weekend plans. In fact, we are getting a head start, since we are rolling in the sidewalks this morning in order to take a few hours off to spend with Mrs. Pharmalot and one or more short people. We are also looking forward to catching up on some reading, puttering around the official Pharmalot grounds and socializing with other humans. And what about you? Perhaps the great outdoors are beckoning or this is an opportunity to reach out to someone special. You could a...
Source: Pharmalot - July 19, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Pfizer's "Don't Go Cold Turkey" Campaign Highlights Widespread Misunderstanding of the Scientific Evidence on Quitting
Pfizer - the maker of Chantix - is running a "Don't Go Cold Turkey" campaign which "aims to ensure smokers who want to quit are aware of the help available to them from their healthcare professional and understand how taking the right approach can significantly increase the chances of successfully breaking the cycle of nicotine dependence."According to the press release: "Dr Sarah Jarvis, medical broadcaster and practising GP, says: “As a GP, my main aim is to get people to look at leading healthier lifestyles and one of the most important lifestyle change is stopping smoking. I’m aware that the vast majority of ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - July 17, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Physician Who Opposes Electronic Cigarettes Fabricates Scientific Information to Deter their Use
On a television news segment that aired last Wednesday on WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC), Dr. Adam Goldstein - director of the University of North Carolina's Tobacco Dependence Program - attacked electronic cigarettes by publicly claiming that they expose users to vapor that can be several thousand degrees when it hits the lungs.The implication, of course, is that using an electronic cigarette is extremely dangerous because the scalding hot temperature of the inhaled vapor can damage the lungs.The exact quote: "It [the vapor] can be several thousand degrees when it hits your lungs."The Rest of the StoryIf this were true, then the m...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - June 25, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
New Cochrane Review of Smoking Cessation Drugs Hides the Truth from Readers
A new, comprehensive, 51-page review of multiple meta-analyses summarizing the effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and other drugs for smoking cessation concludes that these drugs are highly effective in helping smokers quit.(See: Cahill K, Stevens S, Perera R, Lancaster T. Pharmacological interventions for smoking cessation: an overview and network meta-analysis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 5. Art. No.:CD009329.DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009329.pub2.)The review was extensive, covering hundreds of studies and tens of thousands of subjects: "The authors combined the findings of existin...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - June 3, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
If Physicians Prescribing a Drug Need to Monitor Those Patients for Death, What Business Does the FDA Have Approving that Drug?
Today, the Rest of the Story is questioning the wisdom of keeping a drug on the market when its required black box warning admonishes doctors to observe their patients for death.Here is the start of the black box warning that appears on Chantix:"All patients being treated with CHANTIX should be observed for neuropsychiatric symptoms including changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicide-related events, including ideation, behavior, and attempted suicide."Attempted suicide? Let's get this straight. Physicians are instructed by the FDA to monitor their patients for attempted suicide, which i...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - May 1, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Why is the FDA Lying About Chantix Health Risks?
The FDA recently announced on its tobacco web site a new online resource dedicated to smoking cessation. The FDA describes this site as containing "resources" for those who are "trying to quit smoking." The site encourages smokers trying to quit to use drugs, and one of the drugs recommended is Chantix. On the Chantix information page, readers are informed that side effects of Chantix may include "nausea, trouble sleeping, change in dreaming, mood swings, depression, and suicidal thoughts." Readers are also informed that: "There have been rare reports of mood swings, depression, and suicidal thoughts."The Rest of the Story...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - April 29, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
American Legacy Foundation Sounds Alarm About Electronic Cigarette Use Among Young People, Calling for a Ban on Flavored E-Cigarettes, But Fails to Document a Single Youth Using These Products
In a press release issued this week, the American Legacy Foundation sounded the alarm about electronic cigarette use among young people, arguing that new data show that electronic cigarette companies are targeting youngsters with their flavored varieties. The press release concludes and recommends that the FDA ban flavored electronic cigarettes in order to protect young people. According to the press release, entitled "FDA Should Extend Ban on Flavors to Other Products to Protect Young People" (Legacy includes electronic cigarettes among these "other products"):"In 2009, the U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Contr...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - April 5, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
According to the American Legacy Foundation, There's No Evidence that Smoking is More Harmful than Using Non-Tobacco Electronic Cigarettes
In 2013, even the tobacco companies have acknowledged for more than a decade that cigarette use is very hazardous to health and refrain from minimizing the risks of smoking by comparing it to clearly less hazardous activities such as using non-tobacco products.Not so for one of the leading national anti-smoking organizations: the American Legacy Foundation.In its apparent zeal to squelch the phenomenon of smokers using something that looks like a cigarette to potentially save their lives, the American Legacy Foundation is telling smokers, and the public, that there is no evidence that cigarette smoking is any more hazardou...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - March 27, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
American Legacy Foundation Gives Medical Advice to Smokers About Cessation Drugs, But Fails to Disclose Conflict of Interest with Makers of the Recommended Drugs
In a public statement of February 28, the American Legacy Foundation has this medical advice for smokers who are considering quitting using electronic cigarettes: Don't. Instead, use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or Chantix.According to the statement: "Given the poor quality control of these products, consumers are taking unknown risks by using e-cigarettes, with few proven benefits. Until adequate research and regulation is in place, users should be wary of using e-cigarettes, and smokers who want to quit should pursue science-based effective cessation tools, such as nicotine replacement products, free counselin...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - March 22, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Wisconsin Smoking Research Center Hiding Financial Conflicts of Interest with Big Pharma
Yesterday, I revealed that the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI) is hiding its own conflict of interest with Big Pharma as well as that of its director on its page where it recommends the use of Chantix for smoking cessation. Today, I reveal that the Center is hiding its funding conflicts throughout its website and even in its annual reports. Most of the individual web pages, including the home page, on the UW-CTRI site fail to disclose its support from Big Pharma and fail to identify the specific pharmaceutical companies supporting the Center. Only if you read the fine print - ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - March 13, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
