blogs created to prevent or detect a crime http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970040_en_1

This blog is brougt to you consistent with subsection 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act - i.e. blogs created to prevent or detect a crime http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970040_en_1



Friday 28 September 2012

NARCONON - employees are trading drugs in exchange for sex with patients.

McALESTER, Oklahoma - An Oklahoma drug rehab facility is being forced to hand over records that could possibly disclose that some employees are trading drugs in exchange for sex with patients.




The Oklahoma Supreme Court denied Narconon Arrowhead's request to keep those documents protected.

http://www.newson6.com/story/19601161/narconon-to-release-records-that-might-prove-employee-misconduct

The documents will soon be released to the attorney representing the family of a young woman who overdosed after being released from the facility in 2008.





That attorney said the facility considers employee records confidential, because many are former patients, so releasing them would violate Narconon's physician-patient privilege.



The attorney will not be able to disclose the details within those documents with the public, at this time, but he said they may contain evidence of employee misconduct.





7/22/2012 Related Story: Father Calls Daughter's Death At McAlester Rehab Facility Preventable



It's been more than four years since Heather Landmeier went from a bubbly, free-spirited 20-something to a woman, in a vegetative state, fully dependent on another's care.



"We're definitely blessed to have her still here, but it's definitely exhausting and it's such a challenge every day," said Heather's sister, Hilary Landmeier.



Heather was a drug addict. Hilary said Heather got hooked on heroine after high school.



It was something her family never would have imagined.



"[She was] the popular girl, just loved by everybody, and you could never think that she could have anything going wrong in her life. It was her little kept secret that she didn't tell anybody about," Hilary said.



Heather went to Narconon Arrowhead to get help.



It's a drug and alcohol rehab center near McAlester that treats with teachings inspired by the Church of Scientology.



Heather tried treatment at Narconon three separate times.



During her third stint at the facility, her family claims she fell back into the grip of addiction—this time at the hands of Narconon employees.



"It got to the point where she had relapsed and was being provided drugs by these two different full-time staff members in exchange for sex," said the Landmeiers' attorney, Donnie Smolen, II.



8/25/2012 Related Story: Narconon CEO Talks About Allegations As Protesters Gather



Smolen said when Heather tested positive for drugs and she was kicked out of the program on March 5, 2008, no one in her family was called.



Within hours of her release, Heather had overdosed in a Tulsa hotel room. She's now in a persistent vegetative state.





"The facility knows how much drugs is going through that place, how much sex is going on, and they allow it to keep occurring," Smolen said.



Heather's family has filed a civil lawsuit against Narconon Arrowhead.



Smolen said he believes there are more cases like Heather's, but they have been swept under the rug, hidden in employee records.



Tuesday 25 September 2012

Sweeney Sues Scientology-Based Clinic for his Suicide Attempt - we dare FIDDAMAN to cover this story?

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - A man tried to kill himself at a Scientology-affiliated detox clinic after its "purification rundown" took him off his prescribed medicines in a "quick taper," the man claims in court.




William Sweeney sued Pur Detox, and Dr. Allan Sosin in Orange County Superior Court, alleging negligence, medical malpractice and negligent supervision.



 http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/patient-sues-scientology-based-clinic



Sweeney says he "suffered severe personal injuries" when he jumped off a third-floor balcony at the Dana Point clinic, where he had checked in for drug and alcohol problems. He claims the clinic weaned him off his psychiatric medications through Scientology's "purification rundown," which uses exercise, vitamins and long stints in the sauna.



"Pur Detox Inc. is a Church of Scientology-affiliated facility which has a policy of quickly weaning clients off of psychiatric medications," the complaint states. Sweeney says the clinic "uses the detoxification program known as the Purification Rundown, which was developed by Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard."



After a 20-minute consultation with Sosin, Sweeney says, he was weaned off his medications, including the anti-opiate Suboxone and the anti-psychotic Seroquel.



During that week, Sweeney claims, he was often left unsupervised, Sosin saw him only once, and never asked if he was suffering from withdrawal.



"On or about December 11, 2011, during the 'quick taper' period, Pur Detox staff members took plaintiff to the third floor of the residence. Plaintiff was led out onto a third floor balcony and told to do certain 'visualization' exercises. After the exercise on the balcony plaintiff returned downstairs, where he was left alone," the complaint states.



"Instead of monitoring an observing plaintiff, the staff member assigned to him went to sleep on another level of the residence. At approximately 6:00 p.m. plaintiff returned to the unsecured third-floor, went out onto the unsecured balcony through an unlocked and unalarmed sliding door, and attempted suicide by jumping off the balcony."



Sweeney says the fall left him with multiple fractures and a 4-week stay in a hospital.



He seeks punitive damages, medical and incidental costs, and lost and impaired future earnings.



He is represented by Gordon Phillips.



Thursday 13 September 2012

What were Bob Fiddaman plans when he hoped to get the GSK Seroxat compensation?

Under 5 years old child deaths around the world = 7 million in 2011

Child deaths around the world below 7 million in 2011


The number of children under the age of five who die annually fell to less than 7 million in 2011, but around 19,000 boys and girls around the world are still dying every day from largely preventable causes, the UN said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/children_shealth/9540335/Child-deaths-around-the-world-below-7-million-in-2011.html   A report by the United Nations Children's Fund said that four-fifths of under-five deaths last year occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. More than half the pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths – which together account for almost 30 per cent of under-five deaths worldwide – occur in just four countries: Congo, India, Nigeria and Pakistan, it said.



"Given the prospect that these regions, especially sub-Saharan Africa, will account for the bulk of the world's births in the next years, we must give new impetus to the global momentum to reduce under-five deaths," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in the report.



He said children from disadvantaged and marginalised families in poor and fragile nations are the most likely to die before their fifth birthday, but their lives can be saved with vaccines, adequate nutrition and basic medical and maternal care.



"The world has the technology and know-how to do so," Lake said. "The challenge is to make these available to every child."



UNICEF said the rate of decline in under-five deaths has drastically accelerated in the last decade, from 1.8 per cent per year during the 1990s to 3.2 per cent per year between 2000 and 2011

Saturday 8 September 2012

Paralympian sailor Helena Lucas - no thumbs, mother took morning sickness pill,

Olympics 2012:

Paralympian sailor Helena Lucas
And sports-mad Helena Lucas has her heart set on securing selection to represent Great Britain on home waters in 2012.

The Paralympian got her first taste of the electric atmosphere of the Games in Athens as a reserve and finished seventh in Beijing so for her a Paralympic podium place is unfinished business.

Speaking from the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), Helena, 35, said: “I came seventh in Beijing, and I was really disappointed with the result but I learned an awful lot from the mistakes I made.

“That’s what’s really driven me for this campaign to get it right and hopefully get on the podium.”


Helena, who is campaigning in the 2.4m keelboat class, was born without thumbs but adapted quickly as a child and said ‘I can’t think of anything I can’t actually do, you find your own little way.’ The 35-year-old, from Southampton, added: “I grew up through the Olympic classes and able-bodied sailing and knew very little about disabled sailing.

“When I first started I was amazed by how able everybody is.

“Guys in wheelchairs were getting in boats and I was impressed with how as soon as everybody gets on the water it’s almost like everyone’s disabilities disappear.”



Helena’s disability was the side effect of her mother taking a morning sickness pill during pregnancy but the positive athlete just feels ‘extremely lucky’ not to have been worse affected.



The ‘sport fanatic’ was in the hockey and netball team at school and also loves swimming, cycling, skiing and running.



Helena is pleased to have had the opportunity to familiarise herself with the ‘topsy turvy’ Games environment.



She said: “The difference between the Paralympics and a normal regatta is often the venues seem just massive, with a lot less athletes as there’s only one representative per country for each class.



“Plus, there’s increased publicity and you’re suddenly part of a much bigger team you’ve never been part of before.



“The sailing venues of Athens and Beijing were ridiculously large but WPNSA is just perfect, it’s a lot smaller but it’s absolutely spot on, last year at Sail for Gold, which was a big, big regatta there was still plenty of space on the slipway.”



Her biggest rival for selection is Portland’s Megan Pascoe.



She said: “The trials will probably come down between me and Meg; at the moment we’re training and working well together.



“We both realise the ultimate goal is a medal but when it comes to the trials we’ll have to go our separate ways and fight it out on the water.”



Tuesday 28 August 2012

Downpatrick psychiatric drug trial GP Dr Hugh McGoldrick uses Lockerbie Bomb solicitors Kevin R Winters

see -  click link




" ....we have also developed a niche for criminal defence forensic analysis, and have provided advice and assistance to the Scottish lawyers of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted for involvement in the Lockerbie Bombings "









source  - http://bobfiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/kevin-r-winters-co-solicitors-belfast.html

see also - http://kevinrwinters.com/home


other high profile cases inc £26.5 million robbery of the Northern Bank
http://kevinrwinters.com/cases?page=1

Kevin R Winters & Co - Solicitors Belfast & Downpatrick

Kevin R Winters & Co is one of Ireland’s leading law practices. Established in 2001, we have offices in Belfast City Centre and Downpatrick and have been instructed in some of the most significant and high profile cases in this jurisdiction. To read more on some of these cases please click here.




Providing expert advice to our clients throughout Ireland, we specialise in the areas of Advocacy, Criminal Law, Human Rights, Judicial Review, Prison Law and Civil Litigation. In addition to this we also offer a 24hr call out service providing round the clock attendance in police stations.


In recent years, we have also developed a niche for criminal defence forensic analysis, and have provided advice and assistance to the Scottish lawyers of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted for involvement in the Lockerbie Bombings, particularly in relation to the integrity of exhibit management and continuity, and also to the English lawyers of the family of Madeleine McCann, by whom we were approached to provide our opinion with regards to the validity of the now condemned forensic science of Low Copy Number DNA.

Indeed, we have been cited by the world renowned guide to the legal profession, Chambers and Partners which lists the top lawyers in 175 countries, with independent rankings and editorial commentary. We are ranked in their top band, Band 1 for our expertise in public law, and criminal practice. The key to the success of their legal directories and the validity of their awards is the in-depth, unbiased research conducted by their team of highly qualified and experienced researchers. On the basis of this research, they identify the world's top lawyers.



http://kevinrwinters.com/

Setting new standards in best practice we offer the highest quality of service and advice to our clients.

Saturday 25 August 2012

SEROXAT litigation latest ....see FIDDAMAN blog link SeroxatUSERgroup is a litigants group

 The Comission met with Counsel, Dr. Sarah-Jane Richards and prospective  solicitors in July 2012 to discuss the practical issues of continuing the litigation.  Any litigant who has not discontinued his/her claim should contact Janice at the  Seroxat User Group (janice@seroxatusergroup.org.uk) for further information.  For further information please contact Dr. Sarah-Jane Richards at  RichardsSJ@CapitalResearchAssociates.co.uk or   telephone +44 (0)2920 786577


http://capitalresearchassociates.co.uk/seroxat.html

Friday 24 August 2012

ATOS in the dock yet again ...........see FIDDAMAN blog for details

Sickness benefit contractor Atos Healthcare to review lettersBy Andrew Fagg




BBC News





Atos Healthcare carries out fitness-to-work tests Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

Fitness-to-work contract 'flawed'

Ministers admit benefits backlog

Incapacity benefit change warning

The government contractor Atos Healthcare has said it will review all the correspondence it sends to people claiming sickness benefits.



The announcement follows a "mistaken comment" in a letter - seen by BBC News - to a claimant with depression.



Atos incorrectly told the claimant that assessors were not required to be specifically trained in mental health.



The private firm said it would ensure that its letters were "clear and easy to understand" in future.



Atos carried out nearly three quarters of a million face-to-face assessments last year on people claiming the new sickness benefit, Employment and Support Allowance.



'Panic attack'



One of the claimants, Claire Whitwell, from Stockton on Tees, prompted Atos's review.



Ms Whitwell has social anxiety disorder and depression, but was declared fit to work following a medical assessment last year. The decision was later overturned by an appeals tribunal.



Continue reading the main story



Start Quote

The person who did my last two medicals was stated as a registered nurse. She clearly didn't have any mental health training”

End Quote

Claire Whitwell

Sickness benefit claimant

In June, she was asked to attend another assessment to see whether her condition had changed.



Ms Whitwell said she had a panic attack, in part because she said the assessor did not know anything about depression, and complained to Atos over the incident earlier this month.



In the reply on 13 August, seen by BBC News, an Atos customer relations manager explained there was no requirement for assessors to be specifically trained in mental health.



However, an Atos spokeswoman has now said this comment was "mistaken", insisting that all assessors do have specific mental health training.



"We have improved the way we assess those with fluctuating and mental health conditions," the spokeswoman said.



"All our doctors, nurses and physiotherapists have received specific training in mental health and there are now mental function champions in place across our centres to offer.



'No training'



But Ms Whitwell said Atos had made a terrible mistake and was now trying desperately to backtrack.



"The person who did my last two medicals was stated as a registered nurse. She clearly didn't have any mental health training," she said.



"The [Department for Work and Pensions] may as well have got a decision from a dentist."



Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said her case raised the broader issue of how people with mental illnesses are assessed.



He said: "Over a third of people apply for Employment and Support Allowance because they have mental health problems. We know that many are wrongly declared fit for work.



"We want the government to make sure that the health professionals assessing people with mental health problems have an appropriate level of mental health expertise."



In statements, the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos said they were working with disability groups to improve the medical tests, known as the Work Capability Assessment, and had recruited 60 "mental function champions" to give advice to the doctors and nurses carrying out the tests

Parents sue over woman's death at Scientology Narconon facility - FIDDAMAN backers Kill

McALESTER - The parents of a 21-year-old Texas woman who died this spring after spending two days at an Oklahoma rehab facility rooted in Scientology filed a lawsuit against the organization Thursday, court records show.




Hillary Holten of Carrolton, Texas, died April 11 after entering Narconon Arrowhead, a nonmedical drug-detoxification facility on Lake Eufaula near McAlester.



Holten is one of three Narconon Arrowhead patrons to die since October. As a result of those deaths, the facility is being investigated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office and the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.



Other recent deaths at the facility include those of Stacy Murphy, 20, of Owasso on July 19 and of Gabriel Graves, 32, of Claremore on Oct. 26.



The lawsuit involving Holten is the first and only lawsuit filed since the investigation began, records show.



The suit, which lists Holten's parents, Matthew and Suzan Holten, as plaintiffs, alleges negligence by the organization for accepting Holten into their program given Holten's medical condition.



Holten's autopsy report has not yet been released by the state Medical Examiner's Office, the Holtens' attorney, Michael Atkinson, said.



"Plaintiffs contend that the agents, servants and employees of Narconon Arrowhead lacked sufficient training to properly evaluate and understand the serious nature of Hillary's condition," the lawsuit alleges.



Listed as defendants are Narconon of Oklahoma, Narconon International and the Association for Better Living and Education International.



According to the lawsuit, Holten had congenital adrenal hyperplasia and required daily medication.



Also, Holten tested positive for drugs while she was a patient in a Texas hospital about nine days before going to Narconon, the lawsuit says.



While at the hospital, she was in intensive care and on a ventilator, the lawsuit says.



Personnel at Narconon assured Holten's parents that the facility had adequate staff, including registered nurses and a medical director, to manage the condition, the lawsuit alleges.



The U.S. National Library of Medicine says people with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an adrenal gland disorder, "usually have good health" when treated.





Original Print Headline: Parents sue over woman's death at Narconon facility



Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20120824_11_A17_McALES753313

Tuesday 21 August 2012

citalopram lundbeck - Shane Clancy was in a "Unaldurated seething jealous rage"


anne hannigan

April 2, 2012 at 11:23 am


as one who knew shane clancy, he did have an obsession with jen hannigan, for 5 months before the outrage he made her life unbearable but jen tried to keep things quiet for his sake, she knew he was hurting badly and was jealous of seb. On that evening he was with a friend of sebs who he also knew, and they unfortunately all ended up together, he waited around all evening even though he didint drink and his friend had left the pub, insisted on driving him home, was invited in for tea and then when he asked for a knife to fix his shoe was asked to leave by seb, only to return with a set of knives and manipulate his way in by texting jen and saying he was dying and to get seb to help, seb opened his door and was stabbed throught the heart. Unaldurated seething jealous rage. this is a short synopsis of a night that has destroyed many peoples lives



source - http://www.universitytimes.ie/?p=351

Drs Hannah and McGoldrick Pound Lane break-in - back-up disks being kept at the same location as the original information

Access Denied To Stolen GP Records




There is little chance of personal medical records stolen in Co Down over Christmas being read by the thieves.

http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=106324

The break-in happened at the surgery of Drs Hannah and McGoldrick at Pound Lane, Downpatrick, over the Christmas period, but the details of 5,400 patients on two computer hard disk drives and several DVDs were securely encrypted.

The news has only today been revealed with the South Health and Social Care Board insisting that security measures on the disks and the fact the DVDs were encrypted, made it unlikely the files could be accessed.

The police are investigating the theft of the records, and have also been probing an earlier blaze at the surgery, on 9 November, when thousands of patient files at the same practice were damaged in a fire.

It has also emerged that there was another fire at the surgery just over a week later.

SDLP Health spokesperson Conall McDevitt said the Minister for Health Michael McGimpsey should order a review of data security in GP surgeries following the theft of the patient records

"Investigation of this incident should not be left at the level of the Board. People across the north are entitled to reassurance about security features to prevent unauthorized access.

"But there is also the issue of back-up disks being kept at the same location as the original information. It is very serious that the Board has been unable to reconstruct important patient information from other sources," he said.

"I understand there have been incidents of arson at other practices in the area, with the potential for total loss of information.


"The Minister should review data security systems for all GP surgeries and other holders of medical information both from the point of view of potential unauthorized access and sensible back-up and data recovery at separate locations," he concluded.



(BMcC/GK)

Fire at Downpatrick health centre - Dr Hugh McGoldrick & others

Fire at Downpatrick health centre




There has been a second fire at a health centre in Downpatrick

Police are investigating a second fire at a health centre in Downpatrick.



Substantial damage was caused to the premises at Pound Lane when it was first set alight on Sunday 9 November.



Damage was caused to the store room in the latest fire that was reported at 1550 GMT on Tuesday by a member of staff.



Police said the fire on 9 November had been started deliberately. The latest fire has been brought under control by the Fire and Rescue Service.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7736600.stm

Sunday 19 August 2012

MMR class action ...new lawyers sue previous lawyers ...see FIDDAMAN blog


Panel rules MMR jab made girl deaf - but not enough for payout

By Mail On Sunday Reporter

PUBLISHED: 23:09, 18 August 2012
UPDATED: 23:09, 18 August 2012

Comments (93) Share



..

Loss of hearing: Katie Stephen was left deaf by an MMR jab

A woman has won her fight to prove she was left deaf by the MMR jab – only the second time it has been linked to disability.



But a medical assessment panel ruled Katie Stephen, 21, will not receive compensation because she is not considered disabled enough.



Katie was given the measles, mumps and rubella jab in 1991 when she was 15 months old.



But she developed a fever and irreparable damage to the nerve between her brain and ear, and is deaf on her left side.



Officials at the Vaccine Damage Payment Unit accepted the vaccine was the likely cause of her hearing problems.



But the body, run by the Department for Work and Pensions, ruled out compensation as she was only ‘20 per cent disabled’.



Katie, of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, said: ‘If my disability can be cast aside so easily, why have I suffered so many difficulties in my life as a consequence? This has put me in a negative place.’



Injection: Katie had the measles, mumps and rubella jab when she was just 15-months-old

She was part of a group action. However, her case was never heard because the lawyers only pursued cases involving children with autism.

An alleged link with the condition has since been discredited.



The family is now involved in a new group action being brought by Blacks Solicitors, pursuing their ex-lawyers for professional negligence.



A spokesman for the DWP would not comment on the case.





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2190391/Panel-rules-MMR-jab-girl-deaf--payout.html#ixzz241OIAUIJ

Friday 17 August 2012

Alasdair McDonnell MP - director Medevol

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=11402


THE BLIND LEADING THE SICK


SDLP leader, and Sir Les Patterson look-a-like Dr Alasdair McDonnell

Colette Donaghy Chief Operating Officer at Medevol - Linkedin - Pfizer, Upjohn, Pharmica

Chief Operating Officer Medevol Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Research industry


http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/colette-donaghy/15/255/76b?trk=pub-pbmap

July 2009 – Present (3 years 2 months)



Clinical Programme Manager Pfizer Public Company; 10,001+ employees; PFE; Pharmaceuticals industry



September 2004 – June 2009 (4 years 10 months)



Principal Clinical Research Site Manager Pfizer Public Company; 10,001+ employees; PFE; Pharmaceuticals industry



September 2003 – September 2004 (1 year 1 month)



Clinical Team Leader Pharmacia

January 1996 – August 2003 (7 years 8 months)



Senior Clinical Research Associate Upjohn Ltd

September 1992 – January 1996 (3 years 5 months)



Dr Hugh McGoldrick ran trials for MEDEVOL NI040375 - Current directors and secretaries

Current directors and secretaries

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/NI040375



Current Directors Appointed Total Appointments Current Historical

Dr Mark John James Gormley 02-07-2001 1 1 0

Mr Gerry Moore 11-04-2008 6 3 3

Dr James Gray Riddell 20-01-2004 4 2 2

Dr Alasdair Dr McDonnell 05-10-2001 3 2 1

Mr Stephen Philip Prenter 13-06-2002 7 5 2

Mr Brendan Mullan 08-03-2001 8 6 2



Current Secretaries Appointed Total Appointments Current Historical

Mr Eric James Thompson 07-11-2008

Dr McGoldrick Downpatrick - Patient files damaged in a fire

Patient files damaged in a fire




The fire at the surgery was discovered on Sunday evening

Thousands of patient files have been damaged in a fire at a County Down doctor's surgery.



The fire started on Sunday evening at Pound Lane in Downpatrick.



It is estimated that up to 6,000 files may have been damaged. The health trust said patients' details were kept on computer and regularly backed-up.



"We're trying to let clients know what is happening and when we can get services up and running to them again," said GP Hugh McGoldrick.

Police forensic teams have searched to try to establish the cause of the fire.



Local photographer Gerard Smyth, who witnessed the blaze, said the building was still standing but the interior was badly damaged.



"Quite a lot of doctors and other staff were at the scene - one of their main concerns was that patients' records may have been lost in the fire," he said.



The surgery is operating an emergency service at nearby premises. It is hoped the surgery will be fully functional on alternative premises shortly.



Dr McGoldrick Downpatrick - 5,400 medical files stolen in Downpatrick break-in

5,400 medical files stolen in Downpatrick break-in




The surgery was damaged by two fires last November





Medical records of 5,400 patients have been stolen from a doctors' surgery in Downpatrick.



The break-in happened at the surgery of Drs Hannah and McGoldrick at Pound Lane over the Christmas period.



They were in two computer hard disk drives and several DVDs containing back-up copies of the records.



The Health and Social Care Board said security measures on the disks and the fact the DVDs were encrypted, made it unlikely the files could be accessed.



The practice and the board have been working since the break-in to establish whether the stolen information could be retrieved or recovered from other sources. However, they said this has not proved possible.



The practice contacted patients by letter, to advise them of the steps being taken and how they can help in having their records restored as soon as possible.



It has also been working with other health care providers in the Downpatrick area, including pharmacists, to ensure that prescriptions continue to be dispensed as normal.



Police are investigating the theft of the records.



On 9 November last year, thousands of patient files at the same practice were damaged in a fire.



There was another fire at the surgery just over a week later



Wednesday 15 August 2012

Dr Jon Jureidini, child psychiatrist describes FIDDAMAN book as "comic and tragic" - but not scientific

The Foreword is by Dr Jon Jureidini, child psychiatrist and clinical Professor, Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, South Australia.


source - http://fiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/seroxatpaxil-book-launched.html



I owe Jon a great debt as it was he who set up the whole editing process [from Kindle version to paperback]



Here's his foreword.



Bob Fiddaman’s account of his interaction with the Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) over the antidepressant Seroxat (and of his blogging of that interaction) is comic and tragic in equal measures.



Charles Medawar, whose Antidepressant Web was godparent to Fiddaman’s blog, spoke of a ‘conspiracy of goodwill’ arising out of the wish of all parties (doctors, funders, manufacturers and users) that antidepressants be safe and effective. Fiddaman shows us that there is also ‘bad will’ in this case, identifying cynical and exploitative behaviour by those who we should be able to trust.



Around half of serious adverse affects of drugs are not identified until the medication has been used for a considerable time. This delay is understandable because research to bring a drug onto the market only involves hundreds or thousands of patients, whereas a successfully marketed drug will be taken by millions. Therefore rarer adverse effects sometimes do not become apparent for several years after a medication becomes widely available. By this time many may have been adversely affected by the drug without they or their doctors recognising that it is harmful. And when a drug is very widely prescribed (millions were taking Seroxat), every delay of a day in discovering harms means that thousands more people will suffer. Therefore pharmacovigilance (the detection and analysis of adverse effects of medications once they come into widespread use) has to be central to drug development and research if we are to reduce harm from medication.



But in spite of the fact that pharmaceutical companies have an obligation to monitor adverse effects of their drugs, they invest only a trivial sum in pharmacovigilance. Their priority is the much more profitable enterprise of developing and especially marketing new drugs, where they make huge investment. This imbalance is understandable (though not acceptable) in the light of their need to turn a profit, and reflects the lack of any significant disciplining of their activities by regulatory bodies.



One person’s reported experience with a drug proves little but Fiddaman shows us what we can learn when we collect together the experience of many users. Patients’ collective experiences with their drugs constitute a gold mine of information for the health system and pharmaceutical industry, but we doctors and scientist make barely any effort to collect the data and make sense of it. It is left to small heroes like Bob Fiddaman to irritate the system. A more rigorous and informative examination of patients’ experiences with drugs could prevent countless crippling adverse events. If we do ever achieve a truly effective system of pharmacovigilance, then Bob Fiddaman’s blog will have played an important part in this outcome.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Psychiatric drug withdrawal ...does Bobby Fiddaman really think he can advise medical professionals?

Bobby Fiddaman


Bobby is a researcher and blogger and the author of The Evidence However is Clear: The Seroxat Scandal. Bobby’s book documents his struggle to withdraw from the psychiatric drug Seroxat (Aropax in New Zealand) and the work he has done to
raise awareness of the harms of psychiatric drugs, challenge the failure of international regulators to safeguard consumers and expose the fraudulent marketing practices of the pharmaceutical companies.

Bobby has developed a withdrawal protocol to support those withdrawing from psychiatric drugs and provide advice to medical professionals, counsellors and other professionals assisting those people.

Workshop: Safe Withdrawal from Psychiatric Drugs

This workshop will provide information on the development and marketing of psychiatric drugs and processes which result in most adverse reactions being identified only after their release in the market. It will present the evidence on addiction,
withdrawal and discontinuation syndrome associated with antidepressants, outline current and best practice in safe withdrawal including information and advice on managing suicide risk during the withdrawal period.


source - http://www.casper.org.nz/sites/default/files/homepage-promo/Conference%20Programme%20Final.pdf


Monday 13 August 2012

What right does CCHR have to comment about Suicide - Scientologists who have commited Suicide - FIDDAMAN

Patients, relatives and their representatives who gave evidence to the EWG - inc FIDDAMAN group


Invited experts who presented evidence to the EWG


Professor David Healy

Professor of Psychological Medicine, Hergest Unit, University of Wales, Bangor

Dr Andrew Herxheimer

Emeritus Fellow at the UK Cochrane Centre in Oxford

Mr Charles Medawar

Social Audit

Professor Munir Pirmohamed

Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, Liverpool University


Patients, relatives and their representatives who gave evidence to the
EWG

Seroxat User Group

Online Seroxat Support Group

Mr Graham Aldred     source - http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/pl-p/documents/drugsafetymessage/con019472.pdf   page 13

Remit of Expert Working Group into SSRI ......note review was not exclusive to SEROXAT

The remit of the EWG, which was agreed at its first meeting of 23 May 2003, was as

follows:




• To consider the currently available evidence with regard to behavioural disorders,
particularly suicidal behaviour, suicide attempt and suicide and a possible causal
association with SSRIs;

• To consider the currently available evidence on withdrawal reactions and possible
dependence associated with SSRIs and any implications for the risk:benefit balance;

• To consider the adequacy of the current product information for SSRIs and to make
proposals to strengthen this if necessary;

• To consider the need for wider communication on the safety of SSRIs;

• To advise the Committee on Safety of Medicines of their conclusions.



Members of the EWG are listed in section 1.5 and include members with specialist
expertise in psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, epidemiology and statistics, as
well as lay representation. The EWG met 17 times over the period May 2003 to

November 2004.     source - http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/pl-p/documents/drugsafetymessage/con019472.pdf   see page 7

Friday 10 August 2012

Sarah Venn gets shoot yourself in the foot award as review shows Seroxat is NOT worst drug





The Seroxat Users Group was unhappy about the conflict of interest on the review  team and its apparent reluctance to look at evidence of the side-effects suffered by its 4,000 members. Sarah Venn, of the group, said: "I think it is a decision that had to be made. The review members that they had were put in an untenable position faced with personal conflicts.




"But we definitely want the review to take place. The most important thing we want them to do is take account of the patient experiences, which the review has not yet agreed to do. We got as far as an agreement that they would meet with us."

Sunday 5 August 2012

Seroxat Paxil birth defects settled = 1500 ........not exactly the plague FIDDAMAN claimed ?

Michael Baum, a partner at Baum-Hedlund, a Los Angeles firm that handled some of those cases, told me about 1500 had settled and a few remained. Both he and Sean Tracey, the Houston attorney whose firm handled most of the birth-defect cases, declined to estimate the value of the settled cases because they were made secret under the terms of the settlements.



source - http://www.forbes.com/sites/robwaters/2012/07/12/glaxosmithklines-3-billion-hit-deterrent-or-business-expense/2/

Documentary claims Jimmy Savile sexually abused teenage girls - by Mark Williams-Thomas who ignored FIDDAMAN


Documentary claims Jimmy Savile sexually abused teenage girls, including one aged 13, during the Seventies

By Chris Hastings

PUBLISHED: 00:12, 5 August 2012
UPDATED: 00:12, 5 August 2012

Comments (259) Share



..





Predatory: Jimmy Savile allegedly abused teenage girls in the Seventies

A new television documentary will claim Sir Jimmy Savile sexually abused teenage girls while at the height of his fame in the Seventies.

The programme, based on research by a former Surrey police officer, includes interviews with women, now in their 40s and 50s, who will claim they were subjected to abuse by the veteran presenter.

The documentary is being developed by ITV Studios, which also produces shows for rival broadcasters. Senior sources at ITV say they have made no decision on whether to broadcast the film – which one programme insider said would ‘shock the nation’.

The alleged victims have been tracked down by Mark Williams-Thomas, a former detective constable with Surrey Police who is now a successful TV presenter specialising in child protection issues.

The insider said some of the women, one of whom was just 13 at the time of the alleged abuse, were terrified of Savile for decades afterwards.

He said: ‘Jimmy Savile was predatory in that he used his hit shows as a vehicle to get to those young girls.

‘All of those who have been interviewed for the documentary were under the age of consent at the time of the abuse. The youngest one was just 13 years old.’

The insider said the documentary also included testimony from people who worked with the Jim’ll Fix It star, while a production source says at least one of the women taking part has waived her right to anonymity so she can talk openly about the abuse.

It is still uncertain if any broadcaster will buy the rights or screen the show.

Mr Williams-Thomas has collaborated with the commercial broadcaster on several recent productions. In 2009, he fronted the acclaimed documentary, To Catch A Paedophile, which involved him confronting a former Catholic priest who admitted on camera to trying to groom a child over the internet.



Jimmy Savile became a national treasure following his stint on Top of the Pops and spent much of his life raising money for charity

Savile, who never married, raised millions of pounds for charity during his lifetime and the allegations will shock his huge army of fans. But it is not the first time Savile, who also fronted the Clunk Click road safety campaign, has been linked to allegations of child sex abuse.



Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas said he has interviewed women who say Savile sexually abused them

In 2007, Surrey Police launched an investigation after complaints that the star had abused pupils at the now-defunct Duncroft Approved School for Girls in the Seventies.

Savile was a regular visitor to the school and is alleged to have taken girls on visits to BBC Television Centre in return for sexual favours. He is also alleged to have made advances on them while taking them for drives in the countryside.

The police investigation was dropped after a Crown Prosecution Service lawyer who was reviewing the investigation advised that no further action be taken.

In January, it emerged that BBC2’s Newsnight programme had launched its own investigation into the same allegations, shortly after the star’s death at the age of 84 in October 2011.

Reporters from the flagship news show are believed to have interviewed three former pupils from the school.

One woman is said to have waived her right to anonymity so she could talk about her ordeal on Newsnight. A subsequent decision by the BBC not to broadcast the report led to allegations of a cover-up, but a spokesman insisted the story was dropped for editorial reasons.

A spokesman for Surrey Police said: ‘In 2007, Surrey Police received a historic allegation of indecent assault which is alleged to have occurred at a children’s home in Staines during the Seventies.

‘The allegation was investigated by police but no further action was taken against any individual





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183840/Documentary-claims-Jimmy-Savile-sexually-abused-teenage-girls-including-aged-13-Seventies.html#ixzz22i41Qr7B

Wednesday 1 August 2012

FIDDAMAN - readers can't get enough of the truth about so called antidepressant killer Shane Clancy

London, United Kingdom Multiline URLs




www.google.ie — nuala creane


www.google.ie — nuala creane

1 Aug 11:00:47 bobfiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/

1 Aug 11:01:55 books.google.co.uk/books?id=tmrORVkvsXMC&pg=PT155​&​lpg=PT155​&​dq=shane clancy ​%2B inquest​&​source​=bl&​ots=tn02d1V​_5Q&​sig=lJeD​-uxeCCH6XMd​ZISntiYpQuRU​&​hl=en​&​sa=X&​ei=DCAYUMjOG​-nL0QXr9oGIBQ​&​ved=0CF4Q6AEwCTgo#v​=onepage​&​q=shane​%20clancy​%20%2B​%20inquest​&​f=false

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1 Aug 11:03:12 1.bp.blogspot.com/-xl-VwGXScKY/UBgjOGR76iI/AAAAAAAABXs​/JRq3DdFUHe8​/s1600​/Shane Clan​cy disturb​ed in the ​depths of ​obsession ​with ex gi​rlfriend.jpg

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www.google.co.uk — shane clancy+inquest

1 Aug 11:11:42 bobfiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/shane-clancy-victims-mother​-nuala.html

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1 Aug 11:12:05 bobfiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/bob-fiddaman-blog-most-​popular​-post.html

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1 Aug 11:13:15 bobfiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/

1 Aug 11:13:54 books.google.co.uk/books?id=tmrORVkvsXMC&pg=PT155​&​lpg=PT155​&​dq=shane clancy ​%2B inquest​&​source​=bl&​ots=tn02d1V​_5Q&​sig=lJeD​-uxeCCH6XMd​ZISntiYpQuRU​&​hl=en​&​sa=X&​ei=DCAYUMjOG​-nL0QXr9oGIBQ​&​ved=0CF4Q6AEwCTgo#v​=onepage​&​q=shane​%20clancy​%20%2B​%20inquest​&​f=false

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1 Aug 11:16:01 books.google.co.uk/books?id=tmrORVkvsXMC&pg=PT155​&​lpg=PT155​&​dq=shane clancy ​%2B inquest​&​source​=bl&​ots=tn02d1V​_5Q&​sig=lJeD​-uxeCCH6XMd​ZISntiYpQuRU​&​hl=en​&​sa=X&​ei=DCAYUMjOG​-nL0QXr9oGIBQ​&​ved=0CF4Q6AEwCTgo#v​=onepage​&​q=shane​%20clancy​%20%2B​%20inquest​&​f=false

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1 Aug 17:53:01 4.bp.blogspot.com/-7a8VUtHMDSM/UBkoY5hHSTI/AAAAAAAABZI​/hHLrjD3zEY0​/s1600​/Aug 01 201​2 ...Shane​ Clancy ci​talopram k​iller cove​rage go's ​megga on F​IDDAMAN blog.jpg

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1 Aug 17:53:39 bobfiddaman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/irish-killer-shane-clancy​-made​-to-take.html

Irish killer Shane Clancy made to take antidepressant citalopram by his mammy ...see FIDDAMAN blog


source e-book here - click link

Aug 01 2012 ...Shane Clancy citalopram killer coverage go's megga on FIDDAMAN blog

Saturday 28 July 2012

Creane - mother delivers passionate funeral eulogy ...could FIDDAMAN learn from this?

IN A CHURCH overflowing with young people for the funeral Mass of Sebastian Creane (22), the student stabbed to death in his Bray home, his mother Nuala Creane asked mourners to rise above fear, blame and anger, to cast out negativity and to honour her son’s life by “co-creating the most enlightened lives you can”.


http://irishtimes.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

In a composed, powerful and passionate eulogy at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, Bray, Co Wicklow, with her surviving son, Dylan, standing supportively behind her, Ms Creane explained how she had tried to rationalise “this incomprehensible act which took place in our home . . . this tragic incident which caused mayhem in all our lives and robbed D [Dylan] of a younger brother he was so proud of”.



Dylan, Sebastian and their friends Jennifer Hannigan and Laura Mackey had “faced a presence of demonic proportions that manifested through Shane Clancy”. Two boys died that morning when Clancy stabbed Sebastian to death and left Dylan and Jennifer – Clancy’s former girlfriend – severely wounded before taking his own life.



She noted the similarities between them. They were both 22; both had the same initials; both were entering their final year in college and looked set, even in these recessionary times, to have fruitful careers. “So many similarities. Yet on the morning of August 16th, my God of Small Things said to me, one boy represented the light, the other the darkness, as they both played their parts in the unfolding of God’s divine plan. And as a result, we – my beloved J [her husband James] and I – and all of you are faced with a choice. Do we continue in darkness, seeing only fear, anger, bitterness, resentment, blaming, bemoaning our loss, always looking backwards, blaming, blaming, blaming,” she asked passionately, “or are we ready to transmute this negativity? We can rise to the challenge with unconditional love, knowing that we were born on to this earth to grow.”



She also called on those present to support Jennifer Hannigan, asking them first to fill their hearts with memories of a happy moment in their lives and then to “bring your attention to Jen”. “She blames herself. Bathe her heart in that happiness and then forgive yourselves. The light that shone in Seb shines in you also, in its own special way. Let it shine and be at peace.”



Sebastian Creane was later taken to Leigue Cemetery in Ballina, Co Mayo, for burial after a service in St Muredach’s Cathedral on the banks of the River Moy. 10am Mass began – heralded by Bridge over Troubled Water sung by Tommy Fleming and accompanied by Phil Coulter – many of Sebastian’s old friends from St Gerard’s, Bray, and from college in Dún Laoghaire, huddled in the porch around the scrapbook of memories, tributes and photographs they would later present as offertory gifts.



The offerings also included a guitar – “a symbol of his love of music, one of the many bonds between him and [his brother] Dylan”; a camera; and – symbols of the “fun times” – a Nintendo console and a collection of photographs, including one of Sebastian sky-diving with his mother, Nuala.



Phil Coulter followed these with his own offertory gift – a specially composed, sweet piano lament.



Later six of Sebastian’s friends walked to the lectern to offer prayers for the faithful, thanking God for their friend’s creativity, for his “contagious enthusiasm”, for his willingness to take time out for those around him, for his music, skateboarding and photographs; they honoured his brother Dylan’s courage “in coming to the aid of Sebastian”.



Fr MacHale added a prayer for the family of Shane Clancy, making a brief reference to that time “when beauty disappears and only the demonic takes over”.



In his homily, Fr MacHale referred to Sebastian’s parents, James and Nuala, as people who summed up “very vividly” the depth of the psalm The Lord is my Shepherd.

“On Thursday, James said ‘It’s like I’m in a tsunami but I’m okay’. And then here on Saturday, as we prepared this liturgy . . . Nuala said ‘I grieve, I don’t suffer, I don’t believe we’re sent here to suffer.’”



Fr MacHale described Sebastian’s love of music as his act of thanksgiving and quoted from the writings of the poet and philosopher John O’Donohue:



“Though your days here were brief,/ Your spirit was alive, awake, complete:/ Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,/ As close to us as we are to ourselves.”



Sebastian’s music lives on from inside that rhythm of life and binds him to his parents, to Dylan, Laura and Jen and all his friends, Fr MacHale said, quoting another John O’Donohue prayer:



“Let us not look for you only in memory/ Where we would grow lonely without you,/ You would want us to find you in presence.”



One of Sebastian’s closest friends, Daragh Coulter, read from the Book of Wisdom: “Length of days is not what makes age honourable, nor number of years the true measure of life . . . They have been carried off so that evil may not warp their understanding or treachery seduce their souls; for the fascination of evil throws good things into the shade, and the whirlwind of desire corrupts a simple heart.”



The second reading from St Paul urged its listeners to “fill your minds with those things that are good and deserve praise, things that are true, noble, right, pure and lovely and honourable”.



At Communion, Something Inside so Strong, the Labi Siffre song written about Nelson Mandela and apartheid, was sung by Tommy Fleming, followed by a recording of Neil Hannon’s Songs of Love, during which tears fell freely:



“So while you have time/ Let the sun shine down from above/ And fill you with songs of love.”



At that point, Nuala Creane, accompanied by her surviving son Dylan, who was also severely injured in the incident, rose to deliver a eulogy rich in faith and encouragement, much of it clearly directed at the many young people in the church.



“The light that shone in Seb shines in you also, in its own special way. Let it shine and be at peace,” she said.



To the strains of Phil Coulter and Tommy Fleming singing Steal Away, the coffin was borne from the church and from there to Sebastian’s final resting place at Leigue Cemetery in his parents’ native Ballina, Co Mayo.

Thursday 26 July 2012

1991 SCIENTOLOGY spent $ millions on anti PROZAC advertising ....see FIDDAMAN blog archive

Scientologists Take Aim At Drug Prozac


July 8, 1991
By MICHAEL TACKETT, Chicago Tribune

When Joseph Wesbecker stormed a printing plant in Louisville, Ky., nearly two years ago, killing eight people and himself with an AK-47 rifle, he unwittingly fired the first shots in another kind of assault.



A coroner`s examination revealed that Wesbecker had been taking a prescription anti-depressant drug called Prozac.



The disclosure did not generate much public concern. Wesbecker`s doctor had asked him to enter a hospital and to stop taking Prozac, speculating that it might have aggravated his unstable condition.



But there was little reason to think that Prozac, made by Eli Lilly & Co., was harmful. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and numerous medical experts said it was safe. About 4 million people take the product worldwide.



For the Church of Scientology, however, the shootings rang out a different message. Long an ardent opponent of psychiatric drugs, the church was particularly opposed to Prozac, a runaway sales success and the first innovation in psychiatric drugs in many years.



Wesbecker`s attack was the foundation for a blistering assault launched by the church on Lilly and those who had anything good to say about the drug.



At first, the church provided information to people seeking to sue Lilly over the drug`s effects. Church leaders also hit the talk show circuit and fee-based public relations wire services.



Its 20-month campaign rose to unprecedented levels soon after Time magazine ran a highly critical cover story about the church in early May. The church`s theory, denied by Lilly and Time, was that Lilly planted the story.




The church bought full-page advertisements in USA Today for two weeks, one week to attack Lilly, the other to attack Time. They were followed by a series of ads last month to promote Scientology. Each series was followed by a glossy booklet insert, one decrying Time and Lilly, the other lauding church founder L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology.




Lilly executives, who at first ignored the Scientology campaign, now express shock at its ferocity and effectiveness. ``Take the nastiest negative campaign in politics you have ever seen and cube it,`` said Mitchell Daniels, Lilly`s vice president for corporate affairs and former political director in the Reagan White House.



``A strong case can be made that we should have confronted this from the beginning,`` Daniels said. But ``the real question is, why did they go nuclear?``



The overall campaign, which cost more than $2 million, seems to have been brutally effective. Lilly`s Prozac sales have dropped in the United States, and so has its market share.




Heber Jentzsch, president of the Church of Scientology, responded: ``They have a multibillion-dollar killer drug on the market, and they want to keep it no matter how many people die on it.`` Jentzsch said the church believed it ``couldn`t trust the media to get it right`` about its opposition to Lilly and Prozac, so it used ``advocacy advertising`` to make its point.



Lilly, a multibillion-dollar corporation that has been in the pharmaceutical business for more than a century, invested nearly $250 million in its quest to make Prozac a safe drug approved by federal regulators. Prozac, introduced in early 1988, produced sales of more than $770 million in 1990.



Dr. John Csernansky, a psychiatrist and professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has prescribed Prozac for several patients. Because of the ads, he said, some of his patients are now afraid to take the drug.



``They interpret these newspaper reports as saying these are ordinary people taking Prozac who become raving maniacs, and these are a complete misrepresentation,`` Csernansky said.



``Suicide is a common, tragic complication of depression. Effective anti- depressants reduce that number (of suicides); they don`t increase them.``



Before the Scientology campaign, analysts said sales might reach $1 billion this year.



For its part, the church opposes the drug because of the longstanding contempt for psychiatry infused into the creed of Scientology by Hubbard, who died in 1986.



The late science fiction writer and philosopher`s best-known work, which describes Scientology`s philosophy, is the book Dianetics. Scientologists consider psychiatric drugs destructive, and part of their doctrine is to show no mercy toward an enemy.



But the fight also exposes a dark side of the information era. Well- financed groups such as the Scientologists can buy advertising and televised air time to send information instantly and uncritically around the world. The mere existence and power of such a campaign can overshadow the accuracy of its charges.



Lilly`s approach had been to communicate with its customers, most of them physicians, about Prozac`s safety, but Scientology`s campaign was directed at patients.



Since being introduced into the U.S. market in early 1988, Prozac -- Newsweek called it a ``miracle drug`` in a cover story -- has been the engine driving Lilly`s record profitability. Now, some analysts say, it will never regain its overwhelming popularity. ``Prozac will never again regain the sales growth it had before the Scientologists hit,`` one said.



Lilly has had problems with other drugs. The company pleaded guilty to 25 misdemeanor charges for failing to report to the FDA deaths and illnesses of patients who took its anti-arthritis drug Oraflex.



It also sold, along with other companies, DES, a drug criticized as triggering cancer in women taking it to prevent miscarriage.



1991 SCIENTOLOGY full page anti PROZAC advert ...see FIDDAMAN blog

SCIENTOLOGY Prozac scare stories for over 20 years ...how could they become more convincing - FIDDAMAN blog?

Scientology's Prozac Scare Campaign


Dallas Operation Fronts for Church

Under Guise of Consumer Rights

By Mike Sullivan

One of the International Church of Scientology's most visible front groups is the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), which has been in business for over 20 years trying to recruit new members into the cult and turn public opinion against conventional psychiatry. In the past few years, the Church has mounted a huge campaign to discredit the safety of the prescription drug Prozac.

CCHR advertises on cable TV channels in Dallas under the pseudonym "Psychiatric Abuse Line", urging people to call for information on Prozac. CCHR hopes to attract depressed individuals to Scientology's bizarre "therapy" after frightening them with stories about an alleged link between Prozac and suicides.



This is in line with the Church's view that conventional medicine in general and psychiatry in particular is evil and unnecessary once one achieves "clear", the Church's euphemism for total understanding of the Dianetics training.



Prozac, a brand of fluoxetine hydrochloride developed and marketed by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Company, is widely prescribed to treat severe depression. So far, the Church tactics have not resulted in decreased sales of the drug, but Lilly executives and top government medical officials are disturbed and frustrated by the misinformation campaign spearheaded by the Church.



In an April 19, 1991 Wall Street Journal article, staff reporter Thomas Burton told how Lilly introduced Prozac in 1988 after nearly 20 years of development, and how it quickly became the market leader. With 1990 sales of $777 million, Prozac is one of Lilly's top products, second in sales to the antibiotic Ceclor.




Burton also reported:



How the Church's misinformation about a man who killed 12 co-workers and himself in Louisville in 1989 and the alleged link to Prozac has scared hundred of depressed patient off the drug against the orders of their doctors.

A Harvard psychiatry professor says the Church's campaign has caused a potentially serious public health problem.

How the Church twists the facts reported in a Harvard medical school study to extrapolate that 14,000 Americans are suicidal as a result of Prozac; the study's author says the Church's use of his work is "absolutely irresponsible" and that he considers the proper use of Prozac safe and effective.

More than 3.5 million people are using Prozac safely and with great benefit.

The U.S. government's top psychiatrist called Prozac "a miracle, the first medication to rescue them from the living hell we call depression."

How a former Church minister says that Scientology is out to derail psychiatry and drug companies as a way to gain more followers for their Dianetics training.

According to John Blamphin, director of public affairs for the 37,000-member American Psychiatric Association in Washington, D.C., Prozac has been proven effective in treating severe depression, with over 3 million prescriptions written worldwide since its introduction.

In a telephone interview for this article on June 6, Blamphin said the suicide rate for severely depressed individuals is one in six, whether or not medications are used. "Like all drugs," Blamphin said, "Prozac isn't 100 percent effective. No drug is. But I would be more surprised to find that no one who ever used Prozac had committed suicide."



Blamphin says that many APA member doctors contacted the organization after Prozac was given what he says was a very one-sided treatment by CCHR officials on the Donohue TV show. Blamphin says that APA tried to get a representative on the show to provide some balance, but the show's producer turned them down.



Self-Fulfilling Prophesy

Blamphin said that patients with severe depression are likely to do almost anything, even when being treated with medications. He said that he knew of at least one case of a patient, concerned about the unfounded Prozac allegations, who discontinued using the drug and later committed suicide. In this way, Blamphin said, the Scientology campaign could probably result in a self-fulfilling prophesy.



"We have no statement on Scientology. They can say or do anything they wish, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone," Blamphin said. "What we are concerned with is when any organization makes statements or does things that scare people into discontinuing medication that is prescribed by their doctor. Prozac is a beneficial drug. It simply gives the doctor another tool to use."



could Prozac have caused teen on teen attack ...SCIENTOLOGY have claimed this for 20 years !

Teenager's girlfriend attack blamed on antidepressant side effects


A teenager who attacked his girlfriend at school may have lost control because of the medication he had been prescribed, Perth Sheriff Court has heard.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Perthshire/article/24140/teenager-s-girlfriend-attack-blamed-on-antidepressant-side-effects.html



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Published in the Courier : 26.07.12

Published online : 26.07.12 @ 01.36pm

Send link At the time of the assault, Jack Brooks had been taking fluoxetine as part of efforts to combat mental health difficulties.



The 18-year-old's solicitor, Erica Watson, revealed that the side effects of the antidepressant include hallucinations and agitation.



She added that her client had ''no recollection'' of the attack, which took place in a library at Breadalbane Community Campus in Aberfeldy where the couple were both students.



On Wednesday, Brooks was ordered to pay his victim £300 compensation and was placed on a community payback order for a year.



The court heard how the incident was sparked by the complainer, who was 17 at the time, ending their relationship due to an apparent change in Brooks' behaviour towards her.



The pair had no further contact that day until 2.50pm when they both had a free period. At this point, the accused made efforts to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend and when she refused to change her mind he ''lost control''.



Brooks, of Amulree, punched the girl on the left side of her head with such force that it caused her to stumble backwards against a fire exit door. The impact caused the door to open and the complainer fell through it onto the ground outside, hitting her head.



As his victim was lying down, Brooks kicked her on the head, shouting that she had ''ruined his life'' before grabbing her by the hair, pulling some out.



Ms Watson told the court that the incident had been described by a number of teachers as ''completely out of character'' and that since then her client had stopped taking fluoxetine.



She also revealed that he will not be able to take up his place at university because he was unable to return to school.



Brooks admitted that on December 6 last year he assaulted a girl by repeatedly kicking her on the head, grabbing her and pulling her by the hair, causing some to fall out.



Sheriff Michael Fletcher advised the teenager that he had narrowly avoided a custodial sentence due to the nature of the assault

SSRI news - could ZOLOFT sertraline Fight Fungal Meningitis - see FIDDAMAN blog for details

POWERFUL PILL: Texas A&M Biologists Prove ZOLOFT Packs Potential to Fight Fungal Meningitis



COLLEGE STATION -- New research conducted by biologists at Texas A&M University suggests that ZOLOFT®, one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world, also packs a potential preventative bonus -- potent mechanisms capable of inhibiting deadly fungal infections.


http://www.science.tamu.edu/articles/915/


The findings are the result of a two-year investigation by Xiaorong Lin, assistant professor of biology, and Matthew S. Sachs, professor of biology, involving sertraline hydrocholoride (ZOLOFT) and its effects on Cryptococcus neoformans, the major causative agent of fungal meningitis -- specifically, cryptococcal meningitis, which claims more than half a million lives worldwide each year, according to a 2009 Center for Disease Control (CDC) report.





Their research, funded with grants from the American Heart Association (AHA), the Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is published in the June issue of the American Society of Microbiology journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Their research team includes Ph.D. candidate Bing Zhai and postdoctoral fellows Cheng Wu and Linqi Wang.





"The point here is that if there is a drug that already exists, is known to be well-tolerated, and has alternative uses, that's a good thing," Sachs says. "The billion dollars it would take to bring a drug to the market -- that's already done."





C. neoformans is a potentially dangerous fungal pathogen found in many soils throughout the world that may cause systemic infections, particularly involving the central nervous system. In most cases, the microscopic, airborne fungal cells of C. neoformans cause asymptomatic colonization in the lungs. However, Lin says the fungus is particularly aggressive in people with weakened immune systems and can spread to other parts of the body, such as the brain and spinal cord, resulting in cryptococcal meningitis -- a condition that, in absence of treatment, is fatal.





Lin participated in a previous study to screen a collection of FDA-approved drugs in a John Hopkins Clinical Compound Library to determine if any contained fungicidal agents. Although sertraline was shown to only moderately inhibit the effects of common fungal strains like Aspergillus nidulans, a genus of common mold often found on spoiled food, and Candida, a genus of yeast often associated with mammals, sertraline was found to be particularly effective against C. neoformans.





A follow-up investigation of sertraline in a mouse model of systemic cryptococcosis revealed that it combats infection similar to fluconazole, an antifungal drug used commonly since the early 1990s. Moreover, a drug combination of sertraline and fluconazole was found to work more efficiently than either drug alone.





Lin says that even though the infection ultimately proved fatal in the mice study, sertraline as a cryptoccol treatment still holds promise. Because sertraline reduced the overall fungal burden within the mice and also possesses the desirable ability to cross the blood-brain barrier as an antidepressant, there is still hope it can be altered to serve as a viable treatment option.





"The problem for many current antifungal drugs is that many cannot go to the brain, and it's very difficult for a lot of compounds to reach the brain in the first place," Lin says. "So, you run into the problem of not killing all the fungus or having a very low level of fungus still exist. The fact is, this antidepressant can cross the blood-brain barrier and can get into the tissue at high concentrations."





It remains unclear exactly what dosage and concentration of sertraline is necessary to completely eliminate cryptococcosis, especially cryptococcal meningitis, but Lin and Sachs hope those answers will come to light with further testing.





"If this becomes useful, it could represent a truly significant increase in our ability to help people with brain cryptococcal infections," Sachs adds.





Click here to read the Texas A&M team's paper.





For more information about Lin's and Sachs' respective research programs, go to http://www.bio.tamu.edu/FACMENU/FACULTY/LinX.htm or http://www.bio.tamu.edu/FACMENU/FACULTY/SachsM.php.





-aTm-





Contact: Shana K. Hutchins, (979) 862-1237 or shutchins@science.tamu.edu; Dr. Xiaorong Lin, (979) 845-7274 or xlin@bio.tamu.edu; or Dr. Matthew Sachs, (979) 845-5930 or msachs@bio.tamu.edu



Wednesday 25 July 2012

David Leeman - CITALOPRAM murder ... evidence thrown out of court ....just like FIDDAMAN

A Devon businessman who shot dead his estranged wife after learning of her affair has been jailed for 12 years.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-18829351


David Leeman, of Higher Cowley Farm, Parracombe, shot wife Jennie, 44, five times at close range in September 2011.



The 60-year-old, who had denied murder, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of loss of control at Exeter Crown Court.



Mr Justice Butterfield said he was "wholly unimpressed" with the evidence that Leeman had been affected by prescription medication he was taking.




'Terrible tragedy'



The court heard after the couple separated Mrs Leeman began an affair with 40-year-old Norman Laramy.



Leeman said he wanted to protect his four children from Mr Laramy as he believed he was a paedophile, although no evidence of sexual offending was found by Devon and Cornwall Police.



Leeman killed his wife on 18 September with a semi-automatic pistol he had kept illegally hidden for years in a secret compartment at their farm near Barnstaple in north Devon.



After the killing, he claimed he had done it after losing control because she refused to listen to his warnings about her new lover.



During sentencing, the judge, Mr Justice Butterfield, said Mrs Leeman's death was a "terrible tragedy" and a "precious life needlessly lost".



He said Leeman had become obsessed with his belief that Mr Laramy was a paedophile, but told him the basis of that belief was "flimsy in the extreme".





Jennie Leeman was shot five times at point blank range He added that he did not accept evidence given during the trial that medication Leeman was taking had any effect on his behaviour.



He said: "You were not out of control when you recovered the gun, you were not out of control when you cleaned it and you were not out of control when you put it in your pocket.



"You took out the loaded gun and pointed it at her. You were not, in my judgment, out of control even though you were in a highly charged emotional state.



"But she laughed at you, and you did lose control, and pumped five bullets into her at point blank range."



Mr Butterfield said any degree of provocation from Mrs Leeman was low and she presented no threat, but the defendant acted out of "anger and frustration".



Jennie Leeman's family said earlier they were disappointed with the verdict, claiming that justice had not been done.



Leeman earlier admitted possessing the firearm. He was sentenced to an additional five years to run concurrently.



Mr Butterfield said that 296 days Leeman had already served would be taken into account, and he would spend half the sentence in prison before being released on licence