Thursday, October 30, 2003

Center for mentally ill gets cool reception (Washington)
Story in The Olympian - "While elected officials agree there's a gap in Thurston County's mental health services, they don't think a 100-bed treatment center is the solution. That's according to a statement released Wednesday by the mayors of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Yelm, Tenino and Rainier, along with Thurston County Commission Chairwoman Cathy Wolfe and Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee. Representatives from the Thurston and Mason counties chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill have suggested the 100-bed treatment center as an alternative to a proposed 640-bed jail scheduled for a public vote in the spring."  
  

Group: Ban the Anti-Depressant Serzone
AP story at Yahoo - "The antidepressant Serzone, about to be pulled off the market in Canada and long gone in Europe, should be banned in the United States because of cases of deadly liver failure, a consumer advocacy group told the government Wednesday. It's impossible to predict which patient will develop liver failure, an unacceptable risk considering Serzone works no better than older antidepressants that don't come with that side effect, Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen told the Food and Drug Administration..."