Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Secret US report surfaces on antidepressants in children
British Medical Journal news story - "Internal memos and a secret government report about the negative effects of antidepressants in children—suppressed by the US Food and Drug Administration—have surfaced publicly. The Alliance for Human Research Protection, a national network dedicated to ensuring ethical standards in medical research, published the documents on 26 July. The published documents confirm earlier news accounts that a government expert with the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, Dr Andrew Mosholder, found that children taking antidepressants were twice as likely to become suicidal as children taking placebo. He reportedly urged the agency to follow the lead of British health authorities by warning doctors that the risks of the newer antidepressants, except fluoxetine, might outweigh the benefits when used in children..."  
  

Eastpointe diversification plans change (North Carolina)
Kinston Free Press story - "The Eastpointe Board of Directors will not contract with a nonprofit agency that only exists in name to help with administrative services. The four-county mental health and substance abuse agency will continue to be responsible for its own administrative services and not contract with Upper Cape Fear Human Services Inc. ..."  
  

Mentally ill losing services because of Los Angeles cuts
Brief story at KESQ-TV - "Thousands of mentally ill people are losing treatment and medication because of a 28-point-six (m) million dollar cut in Los Angeles County's mental health services.The cuts affect all sectors of the county's public mental health system, including outpatient clinics that treat walk-in clients and psychiatric units at state hospitals."  
  

Survey: Soldiers Suffer Stress Disorder
AP story at FortWayne.com (and many other newspapers) - "Fort Bragg paratroopers coming back from serving in Iraq suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder at almost the same rate as Vietnam War veterans, according to a military survey. The survey of about 1,300 paratroopers from the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division 2nd Brigade that have returned from a year of service found 17.4 percent of soldiers have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. The 3,000 soldier brigade was part of the invasion force and spent most of its time in Baghdad. The numbers are similar to those published in a New England Journal of Medicine study that found that 16 percent of Iraq veterans reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression or severe anxiety..."