Canadian Regulation on Fetal Exposure to Psychotropic Drugs – Public Input Needed

Amery and Christiane Schultz have been asked to provide input on proposed recommendations regarding psychotropic drugs in pregnancy in Canada. Amery & Christiane are hard-working activists affiliated with UNITE and MADNAP. Please send any comments you may have to amy@uniteforlife.org by Thursday of this week (November 10, 2011), or call 817-793-8028.

See the following note from Amery:

I am looking for input as to what you feel should be included in recommendations for establishing protocols surrounding women being treated with and babies exposed to psychotropic medications during pregnancy. These recommendations will be presented to both the Canadian Pediatric Association as well as the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. We have found a good ally who is proposing that we address the National Conference of the Canadian Pediatric Association.

Filed under: antidepressants, Pregnancy

Indiana, Isaac, Andrea, Pathways, Watchdog Radio and The MOTHERS Act

Happy Birthday Indiana (7/26/08)
R.I.P.

Here is a quick recap of what’s been going on since the last time we posted an article.

Dr. John Breeding and I have an article out this Summer in Pathways Magazine, “The Pill Merchants: The Relentless and Tragic Marketing of Psychiatric Drugs.” It is the featured cover story. Dr. Breeding did a video interview titled, “Drugged: Before the Cradle to the Grave,” which you can watch on their site and on their YouTube channel. Pathways To Family Wellness is widely read by families and health care practitioners who have a holistic approach to wellness. Our longer version of the article was originally published on this blog and the UNITE website.

While we’re talking about anniversaries…

July 8, 2011 – my son turned 7! Hooray for Isaac, and thank you to everyone who spoke out about what antidepressants did to you or your loved ones. We owe you!

July 31, 2007 – Andrea Roberts and her entire family died because of Zoloft.

Today, CCHR Watchdog Radio has a podcast with an interview I did concerning The MOTHERS Act.

I recommend googling Maria Bradshaw and CASPER out of New Zealand. Maria’s son Toran Henry was a victim of psychiatric drug-induced suicide. Maria has done a tremendous amount of activism and research to benefit others, teaming up with the likes of Sheila Matthews and Bobby Fiddaman. She has recently gotten heavily into the research on antidepressants and infant deaths as well.

Along that line I would like to commend Amery Schultz for his continued efforts to bring light to the dangers of antidepressants amongst doctors in Canada.

And Bobby Fiddaman has been absolutely tremendous on just about every front in this regard.

Last but not least, a quick shout-out to Dr. Doug Bremner who is making waves with his new book The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg.

And a quick note to let everyone know that although this blog has been quiet, much is going on behind the scenes. There are a couple of major things coming within the next several months. Last summer my time was mostly spent doing legal research on laws like the New Jersey Mothers Act. This summer has been spent trying to settle into a new house and get some trial experience while winding down in law school. I’m happy to report that I am learning a lot, although I am working way too many hours!

Stay tuned because we have some great things coming down the pipeline.

Please share this post in honor of Indiana Delahunty, and Andrea Roberts and her family.

-Amy

Filed under: antidepressants, Congress, Melanie Stokes, mothers act, PPD, Pregnancy, suicide

TIME Magazine on Psych Drugs and Violence

Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence

By Maia Szalavitz Friday, January 7, 2011

When people consider the connections between drugs and violence, what typically comes to mind are illegal drugs like crack cocaine. However, certain medications — most notably, some antidepressants like Prozac — have also been linked to increase risk for violent, even homicidal behavior.

A new study from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices published in the journal PloS One and based on data from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System has identified 31 drugs that are disproportionately linked with reports of violent behavior towards others.

Please note that this does not necessarily mean that these drugs cause violent behavior. For example, in the case of opioid pain medications like Oxycontin, people with a prior history of violent behavior may seek  drugs in order to sustain an addiction, which they support via predatory crime. In the case of antipsychotics, the drugs may be given in an attempt to reduce violence by people suffering from schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders — so the drugs here might not be causing violence, but could be linked with it because they’re used to try to stop it.

Nonetheless, when one particular drug in a class of nonaddictive drugs used to treat the same problem stands out, that suggests caution: unless the drug is being used to treat radically different groups of people, that drug may actually be the problem. Researchers calculated a ratio of risk for each drug compared to the others in the database, adjusting for various relevant factors that could create misleading comparisons.

10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) An antidepressant which affects both serotonin and noradrenaline, this drug is 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

9. Venlafaxine (Effexor) A drug related to Pristiq in the same class of antidepressants, both are also used to treat anxiety disorders. Effexor is 8.3 times more likely than other drugs to be related to violent behavior.

8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) An antidepressant that affects serotonin (SSRI), Luvox is 8.4 times more likely than other medications to be linked with violence

7.Triazolam (Halcion) A benzodiazepine which can be addictive, used to treat insomnia. Halcion is 8.7 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs, according to the study.

6) Atomoxetine (Strattera) Used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Strattera affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline and is 9 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to the average medication.

5) Mefoquine (Lariam) A treatment for malaria, Lariam has long been linked with reports of bizarre behavior. It is 9.5 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs.

4) Amphetamines: (Various) Amphetamines are used to treat ADHD and affect the brain’s dopamine and noradrenaline systems. They are 9.6 times more likely to be linked to violence, compared to other drugs.

3) Paroxetine (Paxil) An SSRI antidepressant, Paxil is also linked with more severe withdrawal symptoms and a greater risk of birth defects compared to other medications in that class. It is 10.3 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs.

2) Fluoxetine (Prozac) The first well-known SSRI antidepressant, Prozac is 10.9 times more likely to be linked with violence in comparison with other medications.

1) Varenicline (Chantix) The anti-smoking medication Chantix affects the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, which helps reduce craving for smoking. Unfortunately, it’s 18 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs — by comparison, that number for Xyban is 3.9 and just 1.9 for nicotine replacement. Because Chantix is slightly superior in terms of quit rates in comparison to other drugs, it shouldn’t necessarily be ruled out as an option for those trying to quit, however.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/#ixzz1APrGSh5M

Filed under: antidepressants, violence, Chantix, homicidal, prescription drugs, psychiatric drugs, TIME Magazine, violence

Peggy O’Mara’s Response to Letter to the Editor of Mothering Magazine

Following the email on November 23 from Peggy O’Mara which stated:

We have not recommended Zyprexa in any of our articles.
Peggy

I wrote Peggy a reply the same day. Her reply to me follows that on December 20. Since she has asked that I share it with everyone I am posting both here for your benefit so that her reply will be in context. I apologize for the delay – I have been extremely busy the past three weeks and out of town, etc. Our letter to the editor (a revised version) is being considered for the March/April edition of Mothering magazine.

On 23 Nov, 2010, at 11:31 PM, Amy Philo wrote:

Dear Peggy,Thank you for responding to this letter to the editor from another activist. Did you receive the letter that John Breeding and I sent you several weeks ago? After we received no response we published it as an open letter. I did see the letter published in this month’s issue which refers readers to Katherine Stone’s Postpartum Progress and claims that nothing short of medication can help PPD. Perhaps you are still considering publishing further, more accurate information for your readers.

I could have misremembered the use of the term Zyprexa from your article and inserted it in my mind into the excerpt which tells moms to use antipsychotic drugs and continue breastfeeding in 2007. If that is the case I apologize.  I recently gave away my copy of that month’s issue before seeing your September / October article which promotes antidepressants to breastfeeding mothers, so if I am mistaken then that is my fault for getting rid of your magazine before your September edition came out, which necessitated another letter.

I would be happy to clarify the Zyprexa issue in our letter to the editor and modify it to say simply that your magazine recommended the use of “antipsychotic drugs” if it’s true that the word Zyprexa or Olanzapine has not been mentioned in any Mothering articles / posts as a choice that moms should consider.

I do remember after reading your 2007 article, going to Thomas Hale’s website and looking for any studies relating to antipsychotics and discovering that he was recommending Zyprexa on the basis of a study of the blood of six babies.

I gave my copy of your May 2007 article to a friend at a speech I gave in April so I don’t have the hard copy. However this is what I found online regarding the information that you forwarded on antipsychotics. 

These quotes below are from the excerpt that was included with the “Losing It” article from 2007 (I guess you may have had another title like “Overcoming Postpartum Psychosis” or “Victory Over Postpartum Psychosis” or something to that effect on the cover.)

Here is the Losing It article where Sarah Fields from Postpartum Support International writes about how she was on antipsychotics while breastfeeding and refers readers to Thomas Hale.http://mothering.com/health/losing-it

“Self-Care: According to Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, PhD, IBCLC, postpartum depression can be eased by use of an “adjunct treatment to help the body heal itself, but not necessarily as primary treatment. With psychosis, medications are necessary to stabilize symptoms. After that, adjunct treatments can help prevent another episode. That would be the safest course.”8

Kendall-Tackett encourages mothers who want to continue breastfeeding to do so, even through a psychotic episode. To facilitate breastfeeding, she advises: “Mothers need a supportive environment, where mom and the baby can stay together but the baby is safe. Mothers and their care providers also need to know about which medications are compatible with breastfeeding.” The best resource for that is Dr. Thomas W. Hale’s book, Medications and Mothers’ Milk.9″

Filed under: antidepressants, antipsychotics, Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Mothering Magazine, Peggy O'Mara, pharmacology, Postpartum Progress, Sarah Fields, Zyprexa

My Bad – Mothering Magazine Promotes “Antipsychotics” Not Just Zyprexa

Note

For background you should read the following blog posts:

• Mothering Magazine Publishes Letter Reaming Them for Being So “Anti-drug”
• Open Letter to the Editor of Mothering Magazine – Re: “Beat The Baby Blues” by John Breeding and Amy Philo

Recently John Breeding and I published an open letter to the editor of Mothering Magazine. After reading an unsettling letter to the editor which promoted Katherine Stone’s Postpartum Progress in the next edition of Mothering, I sent out an alert to everyone that they should express their disapproval with the magazine for promoting antidepressants and Zyprexa.

Even though the editor, Peggy O’Mara, had not responded to our letter when John Breeding emailed it to her (for weeks), she did choose to respond to one of the other letters to the editor (within three hours) as follows:

We have not recommended Zyprexa in any of our articles.
Peggy

My first reaction was, “OMG she is so full of it, yes they did.”

So I set out to find the old article. Unfortunately, I no longer have the hard copy because I gave it away at my speech in April in Austin. I searched for everything online and then I realized that I had probably made a technical mistake. I eventually figured out how it happened – that I had mistakenly come to think of their May 2007 article as one where they recommended Zyprexa. What I found online was a categorical statement that moms can take antipsychotics while breastfeeding and that antipsychotics are required for psychosis. I then remembered that at one point, in disbelief at Mothering’s promotion of antipsychotics for breastfeeding, I went to Thomas Hale’s website and searched for antipsychotics, and found that he was recommending Zyprexa for breastfeeding. Then, over time the two pieces of advice began to merge in my mind as I talked and wrote about them. What can I say, I’ve had a pretty busy 3 1/2 years and rewired lots of brain cells to devote large portions of my mind to the task of cramming for law school finals every semester. My bad.

Filed under: adverse drug reactions, antidepressants, pharmacology, Postpartum Progress, Postpartum Support International, PPD, antidepressants, Beat the Baby Blues, Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding and Depression, breastfeeding on antidepressants, breastfeeding on antipsychotics, Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, meds, Mothering Magazine, Paxil, Peggy O'Mara, SSRI, Thomas Hale, Wellbutrin, Zachary Stowe, Zoloft, Zyprexa

Mothering Magazine Publishes Letter Reaming Them for Being So “Anti-drug”

Note

Please see an update to this entry on the following blog post:

• My Bad – Mothering Magazine Promotes “Antipsychotics” Not Just Zyprexa

Today I received Mothering magazine in the mail. On this month’s front cover, their motto is “Inspiring Natural Families since 1976.”

Several years ago I was a subscriber and, after a personal encounter with Mothering’s online censorship of information on the side effects of psychiatric drugs posted to their discussion board, and their ridiculous endorsement of Zyprexa for nursing mothers, I wrote requesting that my subscription be canceled. Yet they continue to send me their magazine which, honestly, I meet at the mailbox with more annoyance than I do junk mail and bills.

In the September / October edition another article was published on breastfeeding helping moms to “Beat The Baby Blues.” John Breeding and I composed a letter to the editor criticizing them for endorsing SSRIs and Zyprexa for breastfeeding. After receiving no response from Mothering Magazine, we published it as an open letter. Today I received the November / December issue. (Thanks for killing trees with the free reading materials, Peggy.)

In the letters to the editor this month they chose to publish one letter from a somewhat anonymous “Christina A.” of Ottowa, Ontario. In this letter Christina A., who cannot apparently brave the use of her own last name, claims emphatically that natural health methods cannot help PPD and she knows this because she tried them all. She says that after nine weeks without sleep (nine weeks without any sleep “at all,” she claims), she went on meds and weaned her baby.

I applaud Christina A. for being brave enough to protect her baby from drug exposure and for standing up to people who would tell her that she should have kept breastfeeding. She captured perfectly the tremendous insanity that is making its way through communities of breastfeeding advocates -that because we know breastfeeding is awesome, then we must all continue breastfeeding no matter what psychiatric drugs we decide to take.

Yet it is astounding that they chose to publish this letter which, in addition to ridiculous claims that there are not any natural health methods that can treat PPD, at the end endorses Postpartum Progress… the blog of Katherine Stone, who was exposed for financial conflicts of interest in Evelyn Pringle’s series on The MOTHERS Act.

Kinda makes you wonder if Mothering Magazine is working with Cohn & Wolfe just like Zach Stowe, or if they were just waiting for an opportunity to promote PSI and Katherine Stone.

I decided to ask everyone to send in their own letter to the editor. You can actually post it directly on their Facebook page (unless they decide to delete it). If you will send me a copy I will publish a few on the cause websites.

Here’s the information:

Activism Opportunity – Mothering Magazine tells readers to breastfeed on antidepressants and Zyprexa

I have posted our open letter to the editor of Mothering Magazine on their own discussion board. Here is the link:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=19073&uid=50053357208

To show Mothering Magazine how you feel about their endorsement of antidepressants and Zyprexa for breastfeeding moms, please go to the Mothering Magazine facebook page, and you may have to click “Like.”

Then click on the link above (assuming that they don’t delete it) and reply to the message that I posted. The message simply has a short intro followed by the open letter.

Unfortunately, Mothering Magazine has not yet published our letter, but they have chosen to publish one reaming them for claiming that natural health methods could help PPD. Apparently the only criticism that they are open to is that which criticizes them for not being even more pro-psychiatric drugs for nursing moms.

Here is our letter: http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/open-letter-to-the-editor-of-mothering-magazine-re-beat-the-baby-blues-by-john-breeding-and-amy-philo/

To send a letter to the editor yourself, write to: letters@mothering.com;

Copy: peggyo@mothering.com; melissac@mothering.com; cynthiam@mothering.com

Please also Bcc: amyphilo@yahoo.com. I will publish several on the cause websites myself.

Thanks for your help.

Filed under: antidepressant side effects, antidepressants, Katherine Stone, pharmacology, Postpartum Progress, Postpartum Support International, PPD, Katherine Stone, Mothering, Mothering Magazine, Peggy O'Mara, Postpartum Progress