Concern over anti-psychotic drug given to soldiers
ABC News
Lateline By Michael Vincent
April 24, 20113
Updated 11 minutes ago
Psychiatrists in Australia and the United States are calling for a review of the use of anti-psychotic medications to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
Australia's Department of Defence has confirmed an almost 600 per cent increase in the use of one particular anti-psychotic, Seroquel, in just five years.
Soldiers have told Lateline the drug, originally intended to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, is being prescribed just to help them sleep.
Lateline spoke to special forces soldiers from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. All have PTSD, and some have received psychological counselling, but others have not.
All say military doctors or GPs sanctioned by the Defence Department prescribed them Seroquel as a sedative.
One soldier, who Lateline has called Trooper M to protect his identity, has been a user of the drug for the past year.
He is only 23 and served as a special forces soldier on one tour of Afghanistan that left him with anxiety and nightmares.
Trooper M sought help when the nightmares became too much.
"So the mental health nurse liaised with one of the medical officers and from that... before I saw a psychiatrist or anything like that, they decided that Seroquel would be the choice of medication."
He says he does not know why, and just followed what he was being told.
One night, he accidentally took 400mg.
"I didn't wake up for over 24 hours. It was a bit of a wake-up call," he said.
read more here
Showing posts with label Seroquel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seroquel. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Military Suicides and the money behind them
Military Suicides and the money behind them
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 2, 2013
When you read about suicides going up, think of all the money spent on "doing" something to prevent them. Here's a good place to start.
Warnings Ignored on “Soldiers’ Fitness”
from The Warrior SAW, Suicides After War
It should come as no surprise that Resilience Training was a failure after reading more and more committed suicide. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone but few noticed the connection.
In 2006 the Army released a warning that redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50% and it was reported in the Washington Post. It was however treated as the “answer to all” by the Department of Defense despite many mental health professionals pointing to the deplorable results this “training” created. Midway through 2012, the deadliest suicide year, a group of psychiatrist felt compelled to write about this program calling it “flawed” and a “dangerous idea.”
The report went on to say that “Master Resilience Trainer” is placed into an Army unit after 10 days of training. They were “charged with equipping fellow soldiers with thinking skills and strategies intended to help them more effectively handle the physical and psychological challenges of military life, including, most especially, combat operations.” The analysis added this, “However, the public that has paid over $100 million for the CSF program and, even more, the one million soldiers who are involuntarily subjected to CSF’s resiliency training deserve much better than the misrepresentations of effectiveness aggressively promoted.”
That’s how we got to where we are today. In the following chapters you will read where the news went from bad to worse.
But that is not the worse report from 2012. In October the Department of Defense Military Suicide Research Consortium decided they had $677,000 laying around and thought it would be good to spend in on finding out how 100 military families felt after the suicide loss of someone they loved and it would be worth the two years it would take thee the University of Kentucky to do it. You read that right. $677,000. (Study seeks out families touched by suicide, Mark Brunswick Star Tribune October 31, 2012) Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky happens to be on the Department of Defense Committee as well as Appropriations, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.
But then you also have the contracts the DOD has been paying for medications.
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 2, 2013
When you read about suicides going up, think of all the money spent on "doing" something to prevent them. Here's a good place to start.
Warnings Ignored on “Soldiers’ Fitness”
from The Warrior SAW, Suicides After War
It should come as no surprise that Resilience Training was a failure after reading more and more committed suicide. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone but few noticed the connection.
In 2006 the Army released a warning that redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50% and it was reported in the Washington Post. It was however treated as the “answer to all” by the Department of Defense despite many mental health professionals pointing to the deplorable results this “training” created. Midway through 2012, the deadliest suicide year, a group of psychiatrist felt compelled to write about this program calling it “flawed” and a “dangerous idea.”
Concerns raised by critics span a wide range of significant issues (and led to Congressional inquiries last year): the questionable empirical evidence behind the rapid creation and implementation of CSF; indications that CSF is actually a research study involuntarily imposed upon troops without appropriate protections such as independent ethical review and informed consent; the possibility that CSF may distract attention from addressing the documented adverse effects of multiple and lengthy deployments and high levels of combat exposure; potential negative effects of CSF, common in prevention programs, that have not been carefully considered or monitored; concerns as to whether the “spirituality” component of CSF is inappropriately promoting religion; the insufficient examination of ethical questions posed by efforts to build “indomitable” soldiers; issues concerning the awarding of a $31 million no-bid contract to Seligman’s positive psychology center at the University of Pennsylvania for CSF development; and the seemingly uncritical embrace and promotion of CSF by the American Psychological Association (of which Seligman is a past president). (Psychology Today June 4, 2012 by Roy Eidelson, Ph.D.)
The report went on to say that “Master Resilience Trainer” is placed into an Army unit after 10 days of training. They were “charged with equipping fellow soldiers with thinking skills and strategies intended to help them more effectively handle the physical and psychological challenges of military life, including, most especially, combat operations.” The analysis added this, “However, the public that has paid over $100 million for the CSF program and, even more, the one million soldiers who are involuntarily subjected to CSF’s resiliency training deserve much better than the misrepresentations of effectiveness aggressively promoted.”
That’s how we got to where we are today. In the following chapters you will read where the news went from bad to worse.
But that is not the worse report from 2012. In October the Department of Defense Military Suicide Research Consortium decided they had $677,000 laying around and thought it would be good to spend in on finding out how 100 military families felt after the suicide loss of someone they loved and it would be worth the two years it would take thee the University of Kentucky to do it. You read that right. $677,000. (Study seeks out families touched by suicide, Mark Brunswick Star Tribune October 31, 2012) Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky happens to be on the Department of Defense Committee as well as Appropriations, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.
But then you also have the contracts the DOD has been paying for medications.
OFF-LABEL USE SOARS
Prescriptions for Seroquel have exploded in the past decade, especially in the armed forces, where it often is prescribed off-label as a sleep aid.
In 2003, service members were diagnosed with insomnia at a rate of 30 per 10,000; by 2009, the rate had risen to 226 per 10,000. Prescriptions for Seroquel, or quetiapine, have subsequently soared, multiplying 27-fold in the same time period.
The drug is known to cause drowsiness and chase away nightmares associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Navy Capt. Mike Colston of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs said medications become popular as providers learn about them and as they receive new approvals for use by the Food and Drug Administration — in the case of quetiapine, as an add-on therapy for antidepressants.
Yet questions have been raised over whether its off-label use for insomnia was more than a grass-roots movement by physicians. In April 2010, manufacturer Astra-Zeneca agreed to pay $520 million to the federal government to settle a civil suit alleging that it illegally marketed Seroquel for a host of off-label uses such as Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, PTSD and sleeplessness.
According to The Associated Press, in 2009, the Pentagon spent $8.6 million on the drug, while the Veterans Affairs Department spent $125.4 million.
Here are some more contacts the DOD spent money on at the same time the troops are worried about cuts to what matters to them under sequester. Department of Defense Contracts over $6.5 million they have to report
More contracts from the Department of Defense for March 2013
CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Wayne, N.J., was issued a modification exercising the first option year on contract SPM2D0-12-D-0002/P00006. The modification is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum $49,401,788 for various pharmaceutical products. Location of performance is New Jersey with a March 5, 2014 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 Warstopper funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
Tennier Industries*, Boca Raton, Fla., was awarded contract SPM1C1-13-D-1028. The award is a fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract with a maximum $15,551,438 for universal camouflage patterned jackets. Locations of performance are Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia and Georgia with a Feb. 28, 2014 performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2014 Defense Working Capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
Exide Technologies, Milton, Ga., was awarded contract SPM7LX-13-D-0029. The award is a fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract with a maximum $6,754,515 for procurement of storage batteries. Locations of performance are Iowa and Georgia with a Feb. 24, 2014 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2012 Defense Working Capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio.
AIR FORCE
DLT Solutions, Herndon, Va., is being awarded a $23,212,706 firm-fixed-price contract (FA8771-13-F-8100) for procurement of software maintenance and support for perpetual enterprise Oracle software licenses. The location of performance is Herndon, Va. Work is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2014. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/HIK, Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex, Ala.
L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace L.L.C., Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $8,076.281 contract modification (FA3002-09-C-0006, P00022) for aircraft flightline maintenance for the F-16 aircraft in support of Taiwan's F-16 program. The location of performance is Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. Work is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2014. Type of appropriation is international funding. The contracting activity is AETC CONS/LGCI, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. Contract involves Foreign Military Sales.
NAVY
General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a $14,648,643 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00024-10-C-4401) to exercise options for repairs and alterations for the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) non dry-docking fiscal year 2013 chief of Naval operations (CNO) availability. The CNO availability consists of various repairs and alterations such as engine replacement/repair, jacket water cooler, lagging and insulation, ballast tank repair/preserve, well deck repair, cylinder head and components, etc. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Va., and is expected to be completed by August 2013. Fiscal 2013 funding in the amount of $14,648,643 will be obligated at time of award, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Norfolk Ship Support Activity, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.
Canadian Commercial Corp., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is being awarded a $9,839,099 firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for services and supplies for land and sea-based modeling, testing and risk reduction flights for the U.S. Navy and the governments of Australia, Spain, Japan, South Korea and Norway. In support of these efforts, the contractor will utilize a Vindicator II System comprised of contractor-owned unmanned air vehicles and high-speed maneuvering unmanned surface vehicles, as well as a contractor-owned helicopter radar signature simulator. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), Pt. Mugu, Calif. (30 percent); the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii (30 percent); NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. (15 percent); Virginia Capes, Dam Neck, Va. (15 percent); NAWCWD China Lake, Calif. (5 percent); and Key West, Fla. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2018. Fiscal 2013 Operations and Maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $262,723 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to the FAR 6.302-1. This contract combines purchase for the U.S. Navy (8,264,844; 85 percent) and the governments of Australia ($314,851; 3 percent); Spain ($314,851; 3 percent); Japan ($314,851; 3 percent); South Korea ($314,851; 3 percent); and Norway ($314,851; 3 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., is the contracting activity (N68936-13-D-0005).
DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY
HRL Laboratories L.L.C., Malibu, Calif., is being awarded a $10,150,974 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (HR0011-13-C-0027). This work is under the Structural Logic program, which seeks revolutionary structural designs that make up the basis for modern military platforms and systems by passively adapting to varying loads and simultaneously exhibiting high stiffness and high damping over a wide dynamic range. The goal of the Structural Logic Phase II is to demonstrate that this radically new approach to structural design can be applied to relevant and real world tactical systems. During Phase I of the program a wide range of relevant tactical applications were evaluated for the Structural Logic concepts and technologies including: space, armor, aerodynamic, hydrodynamic and civil engineering structural systems. The government has selected a hydrodynamic application, in particular a high speed boat (watercraft) for the Phase II demonstration. Work will be performed in Malibu, Calif. (34.3 percent); Baltimore, Md. (26.6 percent); Champaign, Ill. (18.6 percent); Chesapeake, Va. (8.2 percent); Austin, Texas (6.8 percent); Akron, Ohio (4.0 percent) and Portland, Maine (1.5 percent). The work is expected to be completed by Feb. 27, 2015. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is the contracting activity.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Veterans, PTSD and Seroquel
Veterans, PTSD and Seroquel - Atty. Stephen Sheller on "Wakeup Call" WBAI NY
Atty. Stephen Sheller of Sheller, P.C. joins the program "Wakeup Call" discussing the topic of "The Killing Fields for Returning Soldiers: Veterans, PTSD and Seroquel."
"Never been approved for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."
"Never been approved for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."
Friday, April 20, 2012
Medicated military focus of Tribeca film
'OFF LABEL': Tribeca Film Captures Our Insatiable Appetite for Prescription Drugs
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
April 18, 2012
Andy Duffy's first encounter with the world of drugs was as an Army medic at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq where he forced resistant prisoners to endure excruciating pain.
Sgt. Duffy says superior officers ordered him to inject the veins of prisoners with 14-gauge needles to hydrate -- and to intimidate -- them during hunger strikes.
"These needles are used for really massive trauma … not in the veins but to put a hole through the chest to relieve pressure," he said.
The Iowa City boy had signed up just days after his 17th birthday -- March 19, 2003 -- in the midst of war lust after 9/11.
Then in a 2006 attack by rebels, shrapnel tore apart his lower right flank and back as Americans readied to hand the prison over to Iraqi authorities. "They mortared us instead," said Duffy.
Many of his fellow soldiers never made it back. Duffy did in October of 2006, but with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a mountain of prescription drugs that he says only made him worse.
"It was obvious altering the chemicals in my brain was not the answer," he said. "My [PTSD] was not an imbalance, but from an experience."
read more here
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
April 18, 2012
Courtesy Andy Duffy
Andy Duffy, 26, was prescribed dozens of drugs for post-traumatic stress, but they nearly destroyed his life.
Andy Duffy's first encounter with the world of drugs was as an Army medic at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq where he forced resistant prisoners to endure excruciating pain.
Sgt. Duffy says superior officers ordered him to inject the veins of prisoners with 14-gauge needles to hydrate -- and to intimidate -- them during hunger strikes.
"These needles are used for really massive trauma … not in the veins but to put a hole through the chest to relieve pressure," he said.
The Iowa City boy had signed up just days after his 17th birthday -- March 19, 2003 -- in the midst of war lust after 9/11.
Then in a 2006 attack by rebels, shrapnel tore apart his lower right flank and back as Americans readied to hand the prison over to Iraqi authorities. "They mortared us instead," said Duffy.
Many of his fellow soldiers never made it back. Duffy did in October of 2006, but with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a mountain of prescription drugs that he says only made him worse.
"It was obvious altering the chemicals in my brain was not the answer," he said. "My [PTSD] was not an imbalance, but from an experience."
The film is dedicated to Mary Weiss of Minneapolis, whose son Dan Markingson was admitted in 2003 to a psychiatric hospital with delusions and was prescribed the antidepressant Seroquel by his attending physician, who was involved in the marketing study of that drug.
Weiss said she believed her son was going to hurt himself and begged doctors to take him out of the study.
"He was legal age, so we couldn't," says Weiss in the film. "But he was deteriorating and gaunt and believed he was plagued by devils. He was psychotic."
After five months in the trial, at age 27, Markingson, slashed himself to death in a gruesome suicide. "They let him die," says his mother, Mary Weiss.
read more here
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Parents of Dead Soldiers Say US Military Needs to Come Clean
Seroquel or Suicide? Parents of Dead Soldiers Say US Military Needs to Come Clean
Thursday, 23 February 2012
John Lasker
“If you know the one thing that causes people to commit suicide, please let us know because we don’t know” – General Peter Chiarelli
In the aftermath of Vietnam War, 150,000 veterans from that war committed suicide, meaning more soldiers died after the war than from the actual war itself, say experts. In 2010, more enlisted US soldiers committed suicide (468) than died in combat (462), as reported by mainstream media watchdog Project Censored, which has designated military suicides as the media’s top-censored story for 2010 and 2011. In November, the VA said 18 veterans a day are taking their own life.
The suicide trend among American troops and veterans is repeating itself. But are the reasons behind today’s military suicides different than what happened after the US left Vietnam?
A growing number of soldier advocates, mostly parents of deceased soldiers, have tried to tell the military and Congress what may be behind today’s suicide surge.
Some believe the military and the VA are over medicating troops and veterans with a combination of antidepressants and antipsychotics. This is a drug cocktail that has tragic side effects, such as sudden cardiac arrest, and because the military and Big Pharma are desperate to keep these side effects a secret, a convenient explanation to get both of the hook is “suicide.”
read more here
Thursday, 23 February 2012
John Lasker
“If you know the one thing that causes people to commit suicide, please let us know because we don’t know” – General Peter Chiarelli
In the aftermath of Vietnam War, 150,000 veterans from that war committed suicide, meaning more soldiers died after the war than from the actual war itself, say experts. In 2010, more enlisted US soldiers committed suicide (468) than died in combat (462), as reported by mainstream media watchdog Project Censored, which has designated military suicides as the media’s top-censored story for 2010 and 2011. In November, the VA said 18 veterans a day are taking their own life.
The suicide trend among American troops and veterans is repeating itself. But are the reasons behind today’s military suicides different than what happened after the US left Vietnam?
A growing number of soldier advocates, mostly parents of deceased soldiers, have tried to tell the military and Congress what may be behind today’s suicide surge.
Some believe the military and the VA are over medicating troops and veterans with a combination of antidepressants and antipsychotics. This is a drug cocktail that has tragic side effects, such as sudden cardiac arrest, and because the military and Big Pharma are desperate to keep these side effects a secret, a convenient explanation to get both of the hook is “suicide.”
read more here
Saturday, January 28, 2012
A father’s anguish: Military killed my son with prescription pad for Seroquel
A father’s anguish: Military killed my son with prescription pad
By John Lasker - The Daily Caller 01/28/2012
A father who has lost two sons to war told The Daily Caller that the U.S. Central Command’s policy of allowing troops to deploy with a 180-day supply of the antipsychotic Seroquel has contributed to the deaths of troops and veterans. Seroquel, he said, has tragic side effects that military leaders have ignored in their quest to combat insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among fighting men and women.
The father, West Virginia school principal Stan White, said there are better ways to treat troops and veterans who suffer from PTSD. But because the maker of Seroquel, London-based AstraZeneca, has so much influence over Congress and the military, he insisted, that peer counseling and other treatment options are being shoved aside in favor of low doses of the drug.
White’s suspicions are slowly being validated by a series of studies, legal settlements, and military rulings — including a recommendation from the Department of Defense’s own advisory body on pharmaceuticals.
“I think AstraZeneca is so strong and has so much power that no one can speak out,” said White, who has remained stoic despite his losses. “Money talks. I truly believe AstraZeneca and other big pharma companies have control over Congress.”
His first son, Army Sgt. Robert White, died in combat in Iraq. When Robert’s younger brother Andrew returned from his own tour in the Middle Eastern country, a Veterans Administration doctor prescribed a combination of Seroquel and antidepressants for his PTSD.
read more here
By John Lasker - The Daily Caller 01/28/2012
A father who has lost two sons to war told The Daily Caller that the U.S. Central Command’s policy of allowing troops to deploy with a 180-day supply of the antipsychotic Seroquel has contributed to the deaths of troops and veterans. Seroquel, he said, has tragic side effects that military leaders have ignored in their quest to combat insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among fighting men and women.
The father, West Virginia school principal Stan White, said there are better ways to treat troops and veterans who suffer from PTSD. But because the maker of Seroquel, London-based AstraZeneca, has so much influence over Congress and the military, he insisted, that peer counseling and other treatment options are being shoved aside in favor of low doses of the drug.
White’s suspicions are slowly being validated by a series of studies, legal settlements, and military rulings — including a recommendation from the Department of Defense’s own advisory body on pharmaceuticals.
“I think AstraZeneca is so strong and has so much power that no one can speak out,” said White, who has remained stoic despite his losses. “Money talks. I truly believe AstraZeneca and other big pharma companies have control over Congress.”
His first son, Army Sgt. Robert White, died in combat in Iraq. When Robert’s younger brother Andrew returned from his own tour in the Middle Eastern country, a Veterans Administration doctor prescribed a combination of Seroquel and antidepressants for his PTSD.
read more here
Monday, November 7, 2011
Hundreds of Soldiers & Vets Dying From Antipsychotic--Seroquel?
PRESS RELEASE
Nov. 7, 2011, 12:00 p.m. EST
Hundreds of Soldiers & Vets Dying From Antipsychotic--Seroquel
Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD & Stan White (Father of Deceased Veteran, Andrew White) disclose the following:
EL CAJON, Calif., Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- As a neurologist who has discovered and described medical diseases, I (FAB) read the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder drugs die in sleep," and opened and financed my own investigation into these unexplained deaths.
Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson, all in their twenties, were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008. There were no signs of suicide or of a multi-drug "overdose" leading to coma, as claimed by the Inspector General of the VA. All had been diagnosed "PTSD"--a psychological diagnosis, not a disease (physical abnormality) of the brain. All were on the same prescribed drug cocktail, Seroquel (antipsychotic), Paxil (antidepressant) and Klonopin (benzodiazepine) and all appeared "normal" when they went to sleep.
On February 7, 2008, Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker, had announced there had been "a series, a sequence of deaths" in the military suggesting this was "often a consequence of the use of multiple prescription and nonprescription medicines and alcohol."
However, the deaths of the 'Charleston Four' were probable sudden cardiac deaths (SCD), a sudden, pulseless condition leading to brain death in 4-5 minutes, a survival rate or 3-4%, and not allowing time for transfer to a hospital. Conversely, drug-overdose coma is protracted, allowing time for discovery, diagnosis, transport, treatment, and frequently--survival.
Antipsychotics and antidepressants alone or in combination, are known to cause SCD. Sicouri and Antzelevitch (2008) concluded: (1) "A number of antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs can increase the risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death," (2)"Antipsychotics can increase cardiac risk even at low doses whereas antidepressants do it generally at high doses or in the setting of drug combinations."
read more here
Nov. 7, 2011, 12:00 p.m. EST
Hundreds of Soldiers & Vets Dying From Antipsychotic--Seroquel
Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD & Stan White (Father of Deceased Veteran, Andrew White) disclose the following:
EL CAJON, Calif., Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- As a neurologist who has discovered and described medical diseases, I (FAB) read the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder drugs die in sleep," and opened and financed my own investigation into these unexplained deaths.
Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson, all in their twenties, were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008. There were no signs of suicide or of a multi-drug "overdose" leading to coma, as claimed by the Inspector General of the VA. All had been diagnosed "PTSD"--a psychological diagnosis, not a disease (physical abnormality) of the brain. All were on the same prescribed drug cocktail, Seroquel (antipsychotic), Paxil (antidepressant) and Klonopin (benzodiazepine) and all appeared "normal" when they went to sleep.
On February 7, 2008, Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker, had announced there had been "a series, a sequence of deaths" in the military suggesting this was "often a consequence of the use of multiple prescription and nonprescription medicines and alcohol."
However, the deaths of the 'Charleston Four' were probable sudden cardiac deaths (SCD), a sudden, pulseless condition leading to brain death in 4-5 minutes, a survival rate or 3-4%, and not allowing time for transfer to a hospital. Conversely, drug-overdose coma is protracted, allowing time for discovery, diagnosis, transport, treatment, and frequently--survival.
Antipsychotics and antidepressants alone or in combination, are known to cause SCD. Sicouri and Antzelevitch (2008) concluded: (1) "A number of antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs can increase the risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death," (2)"Antipsychotics can increase cardiac risk even at low doses whereas antidepressants do it generally at high doses or in the setting of drug combinations."
read more here
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
By MATTHEW PERRONE (AP)
WASHINGTON — Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including a potent anti-psychotic called Seroquel.
Thousands of soldiers suffering from PTSD have received the same medication over the last nine years, helping to make Seroquel one of the Veteran Affairs Department's top drug expenditures and the No. 5 best-selling drug in the nation.
Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate.
In White's case, the nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel. At one point, the 23-year-old Marine corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.
A short time later, White died in his sleep.
read more of this here
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
read some more collected reports from this blog
By MATTHEW PERRONE (AP)
WASHINGTON — Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including a potent anti-psychotic called Seroquel.
Thousands of soldiers suffering from PTSD have received the same medication over the last nine years, helping to make Seroquel one of the Veteran Affairs Department's top drug expenditures and the No. 5 best-selling drug in the nation.
Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate.
In White's case, the nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel. At one point, the 23-year-old Marine corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.
A short time later, White died in his sleep.
read more of this here
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
read some more collected reports from this blog
Links to medications suspected with non-combat deaths Sunday, January 13, 2008
Vets taking PTSD drugs die in sleep Saturday, May 24, 2008
"Vets' Sudden Cardiac Deaths Are Not Suicides or Overdoses" says doctor Tuesday, May 19, 2009
But this one really stands out
Seroquel fine to be paid but what about the rest of the story? Wednesday, April 28, 2010
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals took advantage of the government and has agreed to pay a fine. The problem is, the FDA, another branch of the government, did not approve Seroquel for "uses that were not approved by the FDA as safe and effective (including aggression, Alzheimer’s disease, anger management, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar maintenance, dementia, depression, mood disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleeplessness)." Why isn't anyone asking the VA why they used them without checking to see if the company was telling them the truth or not? It's great to hold the companies accountable, but who is holding the VA and other agencies accountable?click the links to read more of these stories
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Seroquel fine to be paid but what about the rest of the story?
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals took advantage of the government and has agreed to pay a fine. The problem is, the FDA, another branch of the government, did not approve Seroquel for "uses that were not approved by the FDA as safe and effective (including aggression, Alzheimer’s disease, anger management, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar maintenance, dementia, depression, mood disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleeplessness)." Why isn't anyone asking the VA why they used them without checking to see if the company was telling them the truth or not? It's great to hold the companies accountable, but who is holding the VA and other agencies accountable?
Pharmaceutical Giant AstraZeneca to Pay $520 Million for Off-label Drug Marketing
AstraZeneca LP and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP will pay $520 million to resolve allegations that AstraZeneca illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services’ Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) announced today. Such unapproved uses are also known as "off-label" uses because they are not included in the drug’s FDA approved product label.
The Wilmington, Del.-based company signed a civil settlement to resolve allegations that by marketing Seroquel for unapproved uses, the company caused false claims for payment to be submitted to federal insurance programs including Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE programs, and to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program and the Bureau of Prisons.The United States alleges that AstraZeneca illegally marketed Seroquel for uses never approved by the FDA. Specifically, between January 2001 through December 2006, AstraZeneca promoted Seroquel to psychiatrists and other physicians for certain uses that were not approved by the FDA as safe and effective (including aggression, Alzheimer’s disease, anger management, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar maintenance, dementia, depression, mood disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleeplessness). These unapproved uses were not medically accepted indications for which the United States and the state Medicaid programs provided coverage for Seroquel.
read more here
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
"Vets' Sudden Cardiac Deaths Are Not Suicides or Overdoses" says doctor
Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD Announces: Vets' Sudden Cardiac Deaths Are Not Suicides or Overdoses
EL CAJON, Calif., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD today announced the results of his research into the "series" of veterans' deaths acknowledged by the Surgeon General of the Army.
Upon reading the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder drugs die in sleep," Baughman began to investigate why these reported deaths were "different." And, why they were likely, the "tip of an iceberg."
Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008. Baughman's research suggests that they did not commit suicide and did not overdose as suggested by the military. All were diagnosed with PTSD. All seemed "normal" when they went to bed. And, all were on Klonopin (a benzodiazepine), Paxil (an SSRI antidepressant) and Seroquel (an antipsychotic).
On January 15, 2009, the New England Journal of Medicine (Ray et al), reported that antipsychotics double the risk of sudden cardiac death.
On February 7, 2008, Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker, said there has been "a series of deaths in Warrior Training Units" -- "often as a consequence of the use of multiple prescription and nonprescription medicines and alcohol ... we all saw the unfortunate death of Heath Ledger, the 'Brokeback Mountain' star, who died from an accidental overdose."
But Ledger was not on any heart-toxic medication. When found, his pulse and respirations were intact! When found, none of the veterans were breathing or had pulse. There's, most likely, were sudden cardiac deaths!
go here for more
Vets Sudden Cardiac Deaths Are Not Suicides or Overdoses
=
EL CAJON, Calif., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD today announced the results of his research into the "series" of veterans' deaths acknowledged by the Surgeon General of the Army.
Upon reading the May 24, 2008, Charleston (WV) Gazette article "Vets taking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder drugs die in sleep," Baughman began to investigate why these reported deaths were "different." And, why they were likely, the "tip of an iceberg."
Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008. Baughman's research suggests that they did not commit suicide and did not overdose as suggested by the military. All were diagnosed with PTSD. All seemed "normal" when they went to bed. And, all were on Klonopin (a benzodiazepine), Paxil (an SSRI antidepressant) and Seroquel (an antipsychotic).
On January 15, 2009, the New England Journal of Medicine (Ray et al), reported that antipsychotics double the risk of sudden cardiac death.
On February 7, 2008, Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker, said there has been "a series of deaths in Warrior Training Units" -- "often as a consequence of the use of multiple prescription and nonprescription medicines and alcohol ... we all saw the unfortunate death of Heath Ledger, the 'Brokeback Mountain' star, who died from an accidental overdose."
But Ledger was not on any heart-toxic medication. When found, his pulse and respirations were intact! When found, none of the veterans were breathing or had pulse. There's, most likely, were sudden cardiac deaths!
go here for more
Vets Sudden Cardiac Deaths Are Not Suicides or Overdoses
=
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Vets taking PTSD drugs die in sleep
May 24, 2008
Vets taking PTSD drugs die in sleep
Hurricane man's death the 4th in West Virginia
By Julie Robinson
Staff writer
By Julie Robinson
jul...@wvgazette.com
A Putnam County veteran who was taking medication prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder died in his sleep earlier this month, in circumstances similar to the deaths of three other area veterans earlier this year.
Derek Johnson, 22, of Hurricane, served in the infantry in the Middle East in 2005, where he was wounded in combat and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while hospitalized.
Military doctors prescribed Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel for Johnson, the same combination taken by veterans Andrew White, 23, of Cross Lanes; Eric Layne, 29, of Kanawha City; and Nicholas Endicott of Logan County. All were in apparently good physical health when they died in their sleep.
Johnson was taking Klonopin and Seroquel, as prescribed, at the time of his death, said his grandmother, Georgeann Underwood of Hurricane. Both drugs are frequently used in combination to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Klonopin causes excessive drowsiness in some patients.
go here for more
http://wvgazette.com/News/200805230640
linked from
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36129
Vets taking PTSD drugs die in sleep
Hurricane man's death the 4th in West Virginia
By Julie Robinson
Staff writer
By Julie Robinson
jul...@wvgazette.com
A Putnam County veteran who was taking medication prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder died in his sleep earlier this month, in circumstances similar to the deaths of three other area veterans earlier this year.
Derek Johnson, 22, of Hurricane, served in the infantry in the Middle East in 2005, where he was wounded in combat and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while hospitalized.
Military doctors prescribed Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel for Johnson, the same combination taken by veterans Andrew White, 23, of Cross Lanes; Eric Layne, 29, of Kanawha City; and Nicholas Endicott of Logan County. All were in apparently good physical health when they died in their sleep.
Johnson was taking Klonopin and Seroquel, as prescribed, at the time of his death, said his grandmother, Georgeann Underwood of Hurricane. Both drugs are frequently used in combination to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Klonopin causes excessive drowsiness in some patients.
go here for more
http://wvgazette.com/News/200805230640
linked from
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36129
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Links to medications suspected with non-combat deaths
This is a reposting to go with the Ambien post. We need to consider all of these as well.
Suspected Lariam links
Suspected Seroquel
Taking SEROQUEL
A bipolar disorder treatment, SEROQUEL for the treatment of depressive episodes and acute manic episodes in bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder
Suspected Lariam links
April 27, 2004DoD, VA to study malaria drug’s side effectsAssociated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.
The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs will study the side effects of Lariam, a drug given to servicemen to prevent malaria, Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner said.
The use of Lariam came up in investigations of murders and murder-suicides involving Fort Bragg soldiers in the summer of 2002, when four soldiers were accused of killing their wives. Two of those soldiers committed suicide immediately and a third killed himself in jail.
The three soldiers who killed themselves had served in Afghanistan, where Lariam is routinely used by U.S. troops. The fourth, who is still awaiting trial, did not serve there.
A November 2002 report by the office of the Army Surgeon General said two of the four soldiers had taken Lariam, but the Army would not say which. The report said Lariam probably did not factor in the killings.
Turner said a subcommittee of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board met two weeks ago to consider ways to study the use of Lariam among service members. A Veterans Affairs spokeswoman said the VA will review the issue but has not issued a report on the study.
Lariam, which is also known as mefloquine, is routinely prescribed to soldiers working in countries where malaria is a problem. Some people have blamed it for causing psychotic reactions, including depression, hallucinations and thoughts of suicide.
http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/1-292925-2862062.php
Doctor: Anti-malarial drug may be harmful
In the past six weeks, Dr. Michael Hoffer has treated nine service members who returned from Iraq or Afghanistan unable to walk a straight line or stand still without staggering. Some said objects appeared to spin around them for more than an hour at a time.
A Navy commander and director of the Department of Defense Spatial Orientation Center at Naval Medical Center, San Diego, Hoffer believes the problems are linked to a drug called Lariam "known generically as mefloquine" that the military gives to troops to prevent malaria.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has urged the Pentagon to set a timeline for a Defense Department study, announced in March, of negative effects from Lariam and other anti-malarial drugs.
http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/0-ARMYPAPER-2980109.php
Suspected Seroquel
According to the AP, Private First Class Steven Green told military
psychiatrists he was angry about the war, desperate to avenge the death of
comrades and driven to kill Iraqi citizens. The AP reports medical records show Pentagon doctors prescribed Green several small doses of Seroquel – a drug to regulate his mood – and directed him to get some sleep. One month after the examination, Green reportedly again told his battalion commander that he hated all Iraqis. He also allegedly threw a puppy from the roof of a building and then set the animal on fire while on patrol. But through it all, he was kept on duty manning a checkpoint in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq. Through it all, the U.S. military kept him in combat
http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=10313
Taking SEROQUEL
A bipolar disorder treatment, SEROQUEL for the treatment of depressive episodes and acute manic episodes in bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder
What is Seroquel?
Seroquel is an antipsychotic medication. It works by changing the actions of chemicals in the brain.
Seroquel is used to treat the symptoms of psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depression).
Seroquel may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide
Important information about Seroquel
Seroquel is not for use in psychotic conditions that are related to dementia. Seroquel has caused fatal pneumonia or heart failure in older adults with dementia-related conditions.
Stop using Seroquel and call your doctor at once if you have the following symptoms: fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats, uncontrolled muscle movements, symptoms that come on suddenly such as numbness or weakness, severe headache, and problems with vision, speech, or balance.
You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Your doctor will need to check you at regular visits for at least the first 12 weeks of treatment.
Call your doctor at once if you have any new or worsening symptoms such as: mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.
If you have any of these conditions, you may not be able to use Seroquel, or you may need a dosage adjustment or special tests during treatment.
Seroquel may cause you to have high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). Talk to your doctor if you have any signs of hyperglycemia such as increased thirst or urination, excessive hunger, or weakness. If you are diabetic, check your blood sugar levels on a regular basis while you are taking Seroquel.
You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Tell your doctor if you have worsening symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts during the first several weeks of treatment, or whenever your dose is changed.
http://www.drugs.com/seroquel.html
Pfc. Robert A. Guy 26 Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Willards, Maryland Died due to a non-hostile incident near Karma, Iraq, on April 21, 2005 "Any little thing they do is a help," said Ann Guy of Willards, Md., whose son, Marine Pfc. Robert A. Guy, killed himself in Iraq on April 21, 2005 - a month after he was prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft with no monitoring.http://www.optruth.org/index.php/images/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2232&Itemid=116
Melissa Hobart, the East Haven native who collapsed and died in June 2004, had enlisted in the Army in early 2003 after attending nursing school, and initially was told she would be stationed in Alaska, her mother, Connie Hobart, said. When her orders were changed to Iraq, Melissa, the mother of a 3-year-old daughter, fell into a depression and sought help at Fort Hood, Texas, according to her mother. "Just before she got deployed, she said she was getting really depressed, so I told her to go talk to somebody," Connie Hobart recalled. "She said they put her on an antidepressant." Melissa, a medic, accepted her obligation to serve, even as her mother urged her to "go AWOL" and come home to Ladson, S.C., where the family had moved. But three months into her tour in Baghdad - and a week before she died - she told Connie she was feeling lost. "She wanted out of there. She said everybody's morale was low," Connie recalled. "She said the people over there would throw rocks at them, that they didn't want them there. It was making her sad." Around the same time, Melissa fainted and fell in her room, she told Connie in an e-mail. She said she had been checked out by a military doctor. The next week, while serving on guard duty in Baghdad, Melissa collapsed and died of what the Army has labeled "natural" causes. The autopsy report lists the cause of death as "undetermined."
Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren 44 Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Armor Cavalry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team, Oregon Army National Guard La Grande, Oregon Died of non-combat related injuries at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, on January 31, 2005 suicide When Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren was diagnosed with depression soon after his deployment to Iraq, a military doctor handed him a supply of the mood-altering drug Effexor.
All three were given antidepressants to help them make it through their tours of duty in Iraq - and all came home in coffins.Warren,44, and Guy, 26, committed suicide last year, according to the military; Hobart, 22, collapsed in June 2004, of a still-undetermined cause.The three are among a growing number of mentally troubled service members who are being kept in combat and treated with potent psychotropic medications - a little-examined practice driven in part by a need to maintain troop strength.Interviews with troops, families and medical experts, as well as autopsy and investigative reports obtained by The Courant, reveal that the emphasis on retention has had dangerous, and sometimes tragic, consequences
On Aug. 7, Robert Ziarnick, 25, was accused of shooting at Greenwood Village police and carjacking a 2005 Acura before fleeing to Cherry Creek State Park. Seven months earlier, Ziarnick used a knife to cut the words "kill me" into his abdomen. His wife told police he had served in Iraq and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
http://www.democraticwarrior.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2798
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