Bless Their Dear Dutiful Souls…
Today is the day for my injection of Risperdal Consta. I get grumpy just thinking about it. “Now, fix yourself up some,” my uppity father told me last night. “Take a shower, put on clean clothes, and by all means shave.” Got to keep up appearances, you know? Hyacinth Bucket would be proud. At least the crew down at Dr. Kamath’s office manages to make the whole process as painless as possible. I am in and out in usually under 15 to 30 minutes. My nurse, Rebecca, who I call the Elfin princess, will administer the shot and the receptionist, Dee Dee, will already have my new appointment setup as I walk by hea...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - October 17, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Investigating the fallout of a suicide - BMJ
This study was a comparison of atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of first episodes of schizophrenia (the CAFE study). The study’s structure was that of a Phase 4 randomized, double blind trial comparing the effectiveness of three different atypical antipsychotic drugs: Zyprexa (olanzapine), Risperdal (risperidone) and Seroquel (quetiapine), with each patient to be treated for a year.After about two weeks on study treatment in the hospital, Markingson was discharged to a halfway house. His mother, Mary Weiss, raised repeated concerns about his condition, questioning his involvement in the trial, but he eventually ...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 9, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are just fine, thank you, although as busy as ever, thanks to a calendar brimming with meetings and phone calls this week. In fact, we will be leaving a wee bit early today in order to chat with a high-level type at a large company. More on that later. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits, as usual, which we trust you will find useful. So, have a smashing day and do stay in touch...
Bayer Is Latest Target In China Bribery Probe (South China Morning Post)
Bristol's Yervoy Drug Falls Short In Prostate Cancer Study (Reuters)
Genentech Aims For Precedent With FDA OK For Breast Canc...
Source: Pharmalot - September 12, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Another day, another J&J recall ... Mold found in schizophrenia drug
forces Johnson & Johnson recall
By Bloomberg News on September 11, 2013 at 5:25 PM, updated September 11, 2013 at 5:27 PMJohnson & Johnson has recalled 5,000 vials of its long-acting drug for patients with schizophrenia. Bloomberg Johnson & Johnson is recalling 5,000 vials of its Risperdal Consta, a long-acting drug for patients with schizophrenia, after testing found the medicine was no longer sterile.Routine analysis showed one lot of the injected drug was contaminated with alternaria alternata, a common mold found in the environment, said Robyn Reed Frenze, a spokeswoman for the New Brunswick-based company’s Ja...
Source: PharmaGossip - September 11, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Breakthroughs in Bipolar Treatment
"We should continue to repurpose treatments and to recognise the role of serendipity" (Geddes & Miklowitz, 2013).That quote was from a recent review article in The Lancet, which did not hint at any impending pharmacological breakthroughs in the treatment of bipolar disorder. In other words, the future of bipolar treatment doesn't look much different from the present (at least in the immediate term). Bipolar disorder, an illness defined by the existence of manic or hypomanic highs, alternating with depressive lows, can be especially difficult to treat. And the mood episode known as a mixed state, where irritability, ex...
Source: The Neurocritic - August 2, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Johnson and Johnson Settles Suit Alleging Management Incompetence and Deception, Managers Continue to Prosper
Very quietly, pharmaceutical/ biotechnology/ medical device corporate giant Johnson & Johnson just settled another lawsuit. The most pithy version is by Ed Silverman on Pharmalot, although Reuters and Bloomberg published short accounts.The New Settlement Per Mr Silverman, the gist is:The health care giant agreed to resolve the dispute brought over allegations that J&J management shirked their responsibilities and allowed a chain of events that resulted in congressional probes; lost market share, consumer confidence and revenue, and a consent decree with the FDA. In the lawsuit, a shareholder charged that J&J b...
Source: Health Care Renewal - July 18, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: executive compensation deception Johnson and Johnson adulterated drugs legal settlements manufacturing problems Source Type: blogs
Guest blogger Dr. Manuel Mota-Castillo on the overdiagnosis of ADHD
We don't shy away from controversy here at Shrink Rap, and today, child psychiatrist Dr. Mota-Castillo joins us to discuss the idea that children with bipolar disorder are being misdiagnosed with attention deficit disorder and then being inappropriately treated with stimulants, which may be causing them more harm than good. I've already written about my thoughts on the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder as a catch-all category, and if you'd like to revisit that, see my article on Rethinking Bipolarity in Clinical Psychiatry News. And now for our guest blogger:
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Source: Shrink Rap - June 28, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
No More Injections, Please?
Dad called me very early this morning. It was about 7am. He told me he was cooking some strawberry muffins in the oven. I was scrambling some eggs and frying some bacon in the kitchen when I heard my phone buzz softly in the bedroom. I was in a generally pleasant mood at the time – eager to eat a good breakfast feeling famished. “Why don’t you go get your Risperdal Consta injection this Thursday?” my father asked trying to be helpful. “You seem to be struggling this week. You struggled last week, too! I just want to help. I will set everything up.” “I will be too sleepy to struggle or do anything if I ...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - June 11, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
The Sand Man Cometh
I am so miserably drowsy these days that I can barely stay awake. I had forgotten how Risperdal Consta effects me – I am this terribly sleepy mess of a human being right now and can't get much done. You betcha I'm not taking this junk next week. Dad is going to raise hell. Sometimes the medications for schizophrenia are worse than the disease itself. I wish more psychiatrists realized this.On a good note, it was grocery day today. My pantry is full of delicious food at the moment. Maggie and I each had a chicken pot pie for supper. Maggie and I thought they would never cool down enough to eat, though.I know my blogging e...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - May 13, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Quiet is the Word, Mum
It is quiet here today. Maggie is softly snoring on the couch in her usual fashion. I have some soft tunes on the home theater. Mom just quickly called to tell me we are eating Mexican tonight. That has been the only intrusive noise in over an hour.My crack dealing neighbor is having his locks changed after his big party last weekend. Oh, the company we keep. If I we're a crackhead, then I would want keys to the crack house as well.Today was my first day to start back getting my every two week injection of Risperdal Consta which is a long acting injection for schizophrenia. This was a concession to my father after my recen...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - May 2, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Risperdal Consta
(Source: The 4th Avenue Blues)
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - May 2, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
Medications that Increase the Risks of Patient Falls
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older.
Alzheimer's Reading Room
“Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older, and research suggests that those taking four or more medications are at an even greater risk than those who don’t – perhaps two to three times greater,” said Susan Blalock, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
In 2007, more than 21,700 Americans died as a result of falls and more than 7.9 million were injured by a fall including over 1.8 million older adults who had a fall-rela...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - February 14, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Possession Trance Disorder in DSM-5
American Horror Story: Asylum takes place in 1964 at Briarcliff Manor, a terrifying mental institution for the criminally insane. The show uses every over-the-top stereotype in the book — straightjackets, isolation cells, shock treatment, the chronic masturbator, the nymphomaniac, the sadistic nun, the evil mad doctor, unethical experimentation, wrongful commitment, alien abduction, demonic possession, you name it — yet it still manages to be scary and stylish and suspenseful.The episode about a poor soul possessed by the devil naturally includes an exorcism by Catholic priests. The afflicted boy becomes ugly and defor...
Source: The Neurocritic - January 20, 2013 Category: Neurologists Source Type: blogs
Saving autistics and the world: Skin shock at the 2009 ABA convention
We describe the use of supplementary Contingent Skin Shock (CSS) to address intractable behaviors other than aggression and self-abuse. From 2003 to 2006, CSS was added to the programs of 72 students. However, in June of 2006, the New York State Department of Education put into effect regulations that limited the use of skin shock to aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. Subsequently, a federal judge temporarily blocked these regulations at the request of the parents and treatment resumed for most of these students. Here we first describe the initial effect of adding CSS to the students programs. Second, we describe the...
Source: The Autism Crisis - May 17, 2009 Category: Child Development Source Type: blogs
