FDA Guidelines- Some of the Major Problems
One of the courses of action recommended by traditional mental health professionals and even primary care physicians and physicians from various specialty fields is the use of psychotropic drugs. This is related to psychiatric diagnosis, because virtually never is a psychotropic drug prescribed unless some professional has given the patient a psychiatric diagnosis. It is essential that the Food and Drug Administration in the United States and similar bodies in other countries maintain the highest standards in deciding which drugs to approve for which problems, but at least for the FDA, that is far from the case. Here below are four articles dealing with aspects of this concern.
Safety First
We'll never be able to trust the drugs we take until they are developed acording to proper safety guidelines. Says Paula J. Caplan and Emily H. Cohen. Download pdf document here ››
More About the FDA's Poor Standards for Anti-Depressant Drug Approval
Prepared by Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., Harvard University and Emily Cohen, B.A., Yale University
The Food and Drug Administration sets Guidelines for drug companies about the research they must do to get a new drug approved[1]. The Guidelines for anti-depressant drugs, for instance, were created in 1977 with the specification that "a re-review" to keep the Guidelines current would be performed "approximately every 18-24 months." But no update has been done (FDA website), and unfortunately, the Guidelines are riddled with problems. The following are brief descriptions of 23 of the problems with the anti-depressant Guidelines, and these represent only a sample of the their deficiencies. Of course, FDA Guidelines for all drugs should be analyzed in this way. Read More ››
New Scientist 8 March 2008 page 18
Comment and analysis
The Pills that Make Us Fat
Psychiatric drugs are adding to the obesity epidemic, says Paula J. Caplan
WALK down any street in America and you'll see the effects of the "obesity epidemic". Two-thirds of adults, more than 130 million people, are now considered overweight, and nearly half of these are classified as obese. Those who are overweight by 45 kilograms or more are the fastest-growing group of the overweight in the US. Accompanying these skyrocketing figures are increases in diabetes, heart problems and deaths. Read More ››
The Mystery Suspect in the American "Obesity Epidemic"
by Paula J. Caplan Women’s Media Center, March 27, 2008
If you wanted to make someone feel helpless, hopeless, even crazy, one good way to do it would be this: Teach them that others will value them mostly for being thin and being nurturant, put them in situations where they are too agitated or sad to be cheerleaders and caretakers for family and friends, and when they ask for help in getting back to their duties, give them a pill that may calm them down or pep them up but will have a good chance of increasing their weight. This has been the fate of women in untold numbers but certainly in the millions, and women’s position in American society makes them more likely than men to feel ashamed for their part in what is being called this country’s obesity epidemic.
Safety First
We'll never be able to trust the drugs we take until they are developed acording to proper safety guidelines. Says Paula J. Caplan and Emily H. Cohen. Download pdf document here ››
More About the FDA's Poor Standards for Anti-Depressant Drug Approval
Prepared by Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., Harvard University and Emily Cohen, B.A., Yale University
The Food and Drug Administration sets Guidelines for drug companies about the research they must do to get a new drug approved[1]. The Guidelines for anti-depressant drugs, for instance, were created in 1977 with the specification that "a re-review" to keep the Guidelines current would be performed "approximately every 18-24 months." But no update has been done (FDA website), and unfortunately, the Guidelines are riddled with problems. The following are brief descriptions of 23 of the problems with the anti-depressant Guidelines, and these represent only a sample of the their deficiencies. Of course, FDA Guidelines for all drugs should be analyzed in this way. Read More ››
New Scientist 8 March 2008 page 18
Comment and analysis
The Pills that Make Us Fat
Psychiatric drugs are adding to the obesity epidemic, says Paula J. Caplan
WALK down any street in America and you'll see the effects of the "obesity epidemic". Two-thirds of adults, more than 130 million people, are now considered overweight, and nearly half of these are classified as obese. Those who are overweight by 45 kilograms or more are the fastest-growing group of the overweight in the US. Accompanying these skyrocketing figures are increases in diabetes, heart problems and deaths. Read More ››
The Mystery Suspect in the American "Obesity Epidemic"
by Paula J. Caplan Women’s Media Center, March 27, 2008
If you wanted to make someone feel helpless, hopeless, even crazy, one good way to do it would be this: Teach them that others will value them mostly for being thin and being nurturant, put them in situations where they are too agitated or sad to be cheerleaders and caretakers for family and friends, and when they ask for help in getting back to their duties, give them a pill that may calm them down or pep them up but will have a good chance of increasing their weight. This has been the fate of women in untold numbers but certainly in the millions, and women’s position in American society makes them more likely than men to feel ashamed for their part in what is being called this country’s obesity epidemic.
