Thursday, December 18, 2003

British Ignite Debate in U.S. on Drugs and SuicideNew York Times story - "Many American psychiatrists were taken by surprise last week when British drug regulators told doctors to stop writing prescriptions for all but one of a newer generation of antidepressant drugs to treat depressed children under 18. Now the psychiatrists are trying to figure out how to advise the parents of the young patients who come to them for help. Some parents, the doctors say, are calling to ask if the drugs their children are taking are really safe." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Lawsuit Targets Maker of Paxil ; 65 Coloradans Say They Weren't Told of Withdrawal RiskRocky Mountain News story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Sixty-five Coloradans sued the maker of the antidepressant Paxil in federal court Friday, claiming the company failed to warn them that the drug can produce dependency, addiction and painful withdrawal symptoms. ... The Colorado lawsuit, filed in Denver U.S. District Court as a proposed class action, said the company's advertisements state falsely that Paxil is not habit-forming. "  
  

States Try to Limit Drugs in Medicaid, but Makers Resist Tuscaloosa News story - "Kentucky's Medicaid program was $230 million in the red last year, and drastic cuts were on the table. A state panel proposed excluding Zyprexa, an antipsychotic medication that is the state's single biggest drug expense, from the Medicaid list of preferred medications. That was when the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Kentucky Consumer Advocate Network swung into action. The two groups, which are nonprofit, bused scores of protesters to a hearing in Frankfort, the state capital; placed full-page ads in Kentucky newspapers attacking the proposal; and sent angry faxes to state officials. What the advocacy groups did not say at the time was that the buses, ads and faxes were paid for by Eli Lilly & Company, Zyprexa's manufacturer..."