tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30569149005982377862024-03-13T01:15:56.107-06:00Abolish Suicide-Causing SSRI Anti-DepressantsCOPES Foundation
Coalition Of Parents Enduring Suicide
A MOTHER'S CRUSADE - FROM A MOTHER'S HEARTSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-42057297344388901442008-04-17T14:46:00.003-06:002008-05-02T16:55:41.987-06:00Since when has homicide become an acceptable side effect to a medication?!!Dr. Ann Blake Tracy's commentary on the David Ragsdale case:<br /><br />Combine simple math and common sense (which is far from common any longer!) and you have the answer that Grosser, Peterson, Paulson and Yau were unwilling to venture a guess as to whether David Ragsdale's medications could have caused him to kill his wife. <br /> <br />1. Recent research shows that antidepressants are of no more benefit than a sugar pill yet have page after page of adverse reactions along with reports of terrible withdrawal. <br /> <br />2. Look at package warnings for antidepressants and you find the most commonly prescribed antidepressant currently, Effexor, has the warning of "homicidal ideation" - obsessive thoughts of killing and how to kill. <br /> <br />Significant to note is that the company kept the data hidden for over 10 years before adding this to the drug information, leading one to ask just how many other manufacturers of antidepressants with different brand names, yet with similar action in the brain, are still hiding that information about their drugs? <br /> <br />(Next our society must ask ourselves, "Since when has homicide become an acceptable side effect to a medication?!!") <br /> <br />3. In August Dr. Thomas Insel, head of the National Institute of Mental Health admitted that antidepressants produce the same effect as Ketamine, a sister drug to PCP, and a dissociative anesthetic, yet they take a little longer to produce that effect. PCP and Ketamine are now known to produce psychosis coupled with incredible violence although they were initially thought to have "a large margin of safety in humans."<br /> <br />4. There is case history: Turn to the Donald Schell case in 2001 in WY. After consuming only two pills of one antidepressant, Paxil, which David Ragsdale was taking, this mild mannered loving husband and father shot his wife, daughter, infant granddaughter and then himself. After hearing all the evidence (the most damaging coming from the Paxil manufacturer's own expert) the jury ruled that the consumption of two Paxil pills was the main cause of this tragedy and awarded $6.4 Million to what was left of this family.<br /> <br />5. We have absolutely no idea what two drugs mixed together will do because they are never tested together, only individually. And we certainly have NO IDEA what taking 7 medications can do when mixed in a human body or brain!<br /> <br />6. Simple math: As Scott Peterson was candid enough to admit one drug taken with another can multiply the response, as well as side effects, by 10 times - exactly what Paxil and Doxepin do taken together. Multiply any of the possible side effects listed for either Paxil or Doxepin by 10 times and you see the extreme likelihood of medication-induced psychosis, mania, amnesia, seizure, etc.<br /> <br />Nurse Tamara Ragsdale, David's sister, listed the adverse effects produced by these drugs as "manic reaction, suicide, homicidal tendencies, hallucinations, delusions, psychosis, amnesia, panic and seizures." All one needs do is pull up the product information on each of these drugs and find those listed for most of the 7 mind altering medications David was taking.<br /> <br />One last point brought up by Dr. Grosser is that cases like David Ragsdale's are being trumpeted "as a demonstration of how dangerous these drugs are." I will agree that these case reports are exactly what gets any drug pulled from the market. And just as it was the missing arms and legs of the babies born to moms taking Thalidomide that kept that drug off the market in the US, it will be the Utah murder cases of David Ragsdale, Sergi Babarin, Sharon Al-Shimmary, Gloria Clements, Margaret Kastanis, JC Gardner, Debbie Loiselle, Ronald Cunningham, Mark Ott, Lenny Gall, Carl Lindeman, Christopher Jessop, Mitchell Sawaya, Brian Christopher Sullivan, Darrell Kinyon, Scott Ellison, Claudio Martinez, Art Henderson, etc., etc., etc. (www.drugawareness.org), not to mention the cases nationwide and worldwide, that will pull these deadly drugs from the market. <br /> <br />But beyond the homicides, another factor for their withdrawal will be all the suicides and the all too often fatal birth defects related to the heart and lung damage in the offspring born to moms who take these drugs. <br /> <br />[WARNING: The FDA has warned that any abrupt change in dose of an antidepressant can produce suicide, hostility or psychosis!]<br /> <br />Ann Blake-Tracy, PhD, Executive Director,<br />International Coalition for Drug Awareness<br />www.drugawareness.org & author of Prozac:<br />Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin NightmareSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-9848654450256971792008-04-17T11:58:00.003-06:002008-04-17T12:39:20.812-06:00Sarina's Voice supports the Health Ranger!When you search the internet and start to see the myriad of information available about Big Pharma; the FDA; the Legislature; mandatory drug screening; horror stories from victims; the direct to consumer advertising dangers; the dangers of SSRI anti-depressants and other prescription drugs in general, there are a few people that really stand out as being well educated, informed and generally concerned about society. Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, is one of those people. Sarina's Voice would like to support and thank Mike for all of his hard work!<br /><br />Here is a letter he wrote recently to NaturalNews:<br /><br /><br />Dear NaturalNews / NewsTarget readers,<br /><br />Due to widespread misreporting of the Illinois shooting incident by the mainstream media (MSM), I'm issuing a weekend e-mail alert that tells the truth about the link between psychiatric drugs and every school shooting that has taken place in the United States in the last decade. Here's the first section from the article posted today:<br /><br />(NaturalNews) It comes as no surprise to anyone who's been following school shootings all the way back to the Colombine High massacre in Colorado: Every young, male shooter that has gone on a killing spree in the United States also has a history of treatment with psychotropic drugs -- typically SSRI antidepressants. These shootings have three things in common: 1) The shooters are young males. 2) The shooters exhibit a mind-numbed disconnect with reality. 3) The shooters have a history of taking psychiatric drugs.<br /><br />This latest shooting by 27-year-old Stephen Kazmierczak shares the same three factors. Stephen was considered a "normal, undistressed person," according to press reports. He was considered "an outstanding student" and even received a Dean's Award for outstanding work in sociology. So what happened to Stephen's brain that caused him to snap and open fire on students in a college classroom?<br /><br />Psych meds make good people do bad things<br />Psychiatric drugs, of course, are well known to cause extremely violent thoughts and behavior in young males. This is actually acknowledged by the FDA and is found in the black-box warnings printed on the packaging for such drugs. In Europe, the prescribing of many such drugs to children and teens is actually illegal. But in the United States, where psychiatric medications have become the "new medicine" for American youth, nobody seems to pay attention to the simple fact that every school shooting we've seen in the last decade has been committed by a young male with a history of treatment with these dangerous mind-altering chemicals...<br /><br />Click here to continue reading this article at <a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/022656.html">NaturalNews</a><br /><br />Regards,<br />- Mike Adams, the Health RangerSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-52305465049285351732008-04-04T20:47:00.002-06:002008-04-04T20:53:35.090-06:00SEROXAT SUFFERERS - STAND UP AND BE COUNTEDSSRI’s like Paxil (Seroxat) are extremely dangerous , Bob Fiddaman is a Seroxat patient campaigner and he has been blogging about the Seroxat scandal for some years. Recently GSK (manufacturers of Seroxat – GlaxoSmithKline) have used threatening and intimidating tactics to try and suppress his voice. <br /><br />I am calling all mental health campaigners to highlight this on their blogs if they can. <br /><br /><a href="http://fiddaman.blogspot.com/2008/03/gsk-lawyers-target-seroxat-campaigner.html"><br />http://fiddaman.blogspot.com/2008/03/gsk-lawyers-target-seroxat-campaigner.html</a>Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-52554410420389097022008-03-26T14:07:00.006-06:002008-03-26T14:40:32.705-06:00Texting Mental Disorder - What's Next?Yet another push to inundate the world with psychotropic drugs. This petition's author put it this way:<br /><br />'We, the citizens of the United States who are sick and tired of your bogus, dangerous and self serving fraudulent enterprise; <br /><br />Do hereby tell the American Psychiatric Association and the blood thirsty, money sucking psych drug manufacturers: <br /><br />Texting is not a Mental 'disorder'. Take Your Mental Disorders and Your Psych Drugs and Your Unscientific Diagnostic & Statistical Manual and Shove Them!'<br /><br />And we agree.<br /><br />The doctor who invented this 'Texting Mental Disorder' stands to profit more than normal as he holds a patent that can be used to restrict computer access. <br /><br />We're all for 'Free Enterprise,' we just don't want to harm or even kill people in the process. I guess we're the crazy ones.<br /><br />Please sign this petition and pass it on.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Update on Ridiculous New 'Texting Mental Disorder'</span><br /><br />Sign the Brand New Petition - - Texting is not a Mental Disorder. Take Your Mental Disorders and Your Psych Drugs and Your Unscientific Diagnostic & Statistical Manual and Shove Them! Sign here: <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/textmess/petition.html"><br />http://www.petitiononline.com/textmess/petition.html</a><br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /> <br /> 26,299 Signatures Against TeenScreen: <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html"><br />http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html</a><br /> Video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY"><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY</a>Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-48137906514657417872008-03-23T11:41:00.005-06:002008-03-23T12:56:29.228-06:00It is a SICK WORLD<span style="font-weight:bold;">It is a sick world.</span><br />To most of us that means many people can be cruel, heartless and greedy no matter the effect on our fellow human beings or on other living things. To Big Pharma, and their cronies, it means we should all take drugs! Their drugs! The legal kind that aren't dangerous. OH WAIT! In the U.S. alone, more people die each year from unintentional deaths due to antidepressants, sleeping pills, and tranquilizers than all cocaine and heroin deaths combined. Not to mention all the lives ruined by the violent outbursts and irrational behavior that is spurred from mind altering drugs. The effects ripple through all society with such deadly and disastrous results that it makes second-hand smoke seem like a blast of fresh air straight from a rain forest. SSRI Anti-depressants and the like are forever making the world that much sicker.<br /><br><br />Thanks to Justice Lover for this latest thing that is considered a "Mental Illness".<br /><br><br />Sarina's Voice<br /><br><br /><a href="http://10thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/"><br />http://10thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br><br />BEWARE : A NEW "MENTAL ILLNESS" INVENTED BY THE SHRINKS. HAS BIG PHARMA THE "MEDICATIONS" FOR IT ? WOULD THEY BE "ANTIPSYCHOTICS" OR "ANTIDEPRESSANTS" ?<br />by Justice Lover<br /><br />Let us leave aside the internet for now , although it is apparently a major headache for the rulers (BIG BUSINESS) as it keeps spreading the truth and exposing their crimes against humanity, including those of psychiatry itself !<br /><br />What about the excessive nonstop lies by the rulers and by their stooges (like the shrinks, for example) ?<br /><br />What about the excessive nonstop lies by the rulers' trusted zionist allies who cannot survive without their horrendous lies ?<br /><br />What about the excessive greed and obsession with power of all those crooks, and their ambitions to rule the entire world at any cost, even if it means the destruction of life on our planet ?<br /><br />Surely, if merely surfing and communicating via the internet is a "mental illness", then the rulers and their allies and stooges are all psychotics who should be locked up in loony bins immediately TO SAVE HUMANITY, as their greed and obsessions are infinitely more dangerous ?<br /><br />The following is the official news from the bosses' media :<br /><br /><a href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23414957-2,00.html"><br />http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23414957-2,00.html</a>Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-80457413613409629082008-03-14T12:55:00.003-06:002008-03-14T16:43:53.979-06:00CHAADA / UNITE / COPES FOUNDATION / ICFDA OPPOSITION TO THE MOTHERS ACT, S. 1375 / H.R. 20<span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE DANGEROUS REALITY OF THIS BILL<br /></span><br /><br />March 3, 2008<br /><br />Contacts: <br /><a href="mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org">Amy Philo</a><br />214-705-0169 home, 817-793-8028 cell <br /><a href="http://www.chaada.org/">www.chaada.org</a>,<a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/">www.uniteforlife.org</a><br /><br />Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director of the ICFDA<br /><a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">www.drugawareness.org</a><br /><a href="mailto:atracyphd1@aol.com">Ann Tracy</a>, 801-209-1800 direct, 801-335-4727 fax<br /><br /><a href="mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/">Camille Milke</a><br />505-269-2286 direct or 505-213-0999 fax<br /><a href="http://www.copesfoundation.com/">www.copesfoundation.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">www.drugawareness.org</a><br /><br />The supporters of The MOTHERS Act have been engaging for the past few years in an aggressive attempt to pass an incredibly broad federal law which will transform the U.S. market for “antidepressant” or “antipsychotic” drugs from a voluntary pool of patients who are encouraged by commercials to seek help from their doctors, to a government-sponsored screening program to select patients who are deemed to need “antidepressant” or “antipsychotic” drugs from among the female childbearing-age population. These promoters of the bill have had vast resources and ample time to obtain support and backing from the legislators they have influenced. The bill has passed the U.S. House, and needs approval from the Senate, final agreement from the House if any changes are made, and a signature from President Bush. This could happen in a matter of days or weeks.<br /><br />The timing of the impending vote on this bill in the U.S. Senate is highly ironic in light of the tremendous amount of negative news we have seen on antidepressants and antipsychotics over the past several months. It is especially shocking to see it being promoted at a time when our society is being terrified by frequent shootings and murder-suicides which have been preceded by the perpetrator’s use and sometimes improper discontinuation of antidepressant drugs, and in the wake of several notable celebrities’ deaths which were the result of prescription drug toxicity. The evidence against these drugs is frightening, and the reality is that, if The MOTHERS Act is passed, those who are the most innocent and vulnerable and in need of protection FROM these drugs will instead be put ON these drugs, and placed in serious danger from all of the negative drug effects - including spontaneous abortion, a tenfold increased risk of psychosis for postpartum women, birth defects, suicide, and homicide (YES, THIS IS A LISTED ANTIDEPRESSANT SIDE EFFECT).<br /><br />The bill creates funding for development of new drugs at taxpayers’ expense. Doctors will be under greater pressure to prescribe drugs to pregnant and postpartum women due to federal law which would ensure the promotion of earlier “detection” and “treatment.” Despite the fact that the law admits that the causes of depression or psychosis can vary between many life situations and social realities, and perhaps some unknown biological factors, and the manufacturers’ own research (kept hidden for years but recently revealed) shows that antidepressants have no more benefit than a sugar pill, the bill endorses drugs and hospitalization as essential and necessary treatment options. Many women who seek treatment or reach out for help under this proposed legislation would be under the watchful eyes of the government rather than simply under the care and guidance of their doctors or counselors. The potential for creating violence, death, and destroying families through the administration of drugs combined with possible involvement of police, CPS, and the courts, as well as the invasions of privacy and individual freedoms that this bill would ensure, must not be accepted.<br /><br />Since we first issued our press release opposing S. 1375, The MOTHERS Act on February 11, thousands of people have been made aware of this bill, which at one time flew way under the public radar. Many people have come forward for the first time with sad stories of personal harm caused by the drugs, while a few others have, unfortunately, gone on to continue their support for a bill that threatens to bring about a dire and dangerous situation, sacrificing life, family, children, motherhood, freedom, and our future. <br /><br />Some people pushing for the bill have taken notice of our efforts, and in response simply told the public and the media that The MOTHERS Act is mainly about “education.” That sounds so innocuous and harmless that it’s nearly impossible for most people to disagree with the bill if they have not read its contents. But even if that were the true purpose, or if the Senate were to rewrite the bill and remove most of the negative wording, leaving ONLY education as its goal, let us consider this idea for a moment - what is the impact of an education or awareness campaign promoting certain psychiatric labels?<br /><br />In a 1996 study cited by Dr. Grace Jackson in her book, Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs, researchers discovered that an awareness campaign in the UK called “Defeat Depression” resulted in a significant increase in prescriptions for antidepressants, a change in physician practices of increased willingness to prescribe, and a large increase in agreement from the public that antidepressant drugs are effective and should be given to patients. Furthermore, to summarize from a follow-up study in 2001, researchers concluded that since there were still so many people who favored alternative treatments such as yoga, meditation and natural remedies over antidepressants, “further efforts to improve public knowledge about pharmacotherapy of mental disorders [were] needed.”<br /> <br />Would passing The MOTHERS Act in effect counter the ideas of those who have wised up to the drug companies, by creating a sense of legitimacy through governmental drug endorsements? By promoting earlier detection and treatment of postpartum depression or psychosis, or depression in pregnancy, it makes sense that we would see the numbers of prescriptions for antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs significantly increase in pregnant and postpartum women. This would be a boon to the drug industry, which has had to deal with the potential for decreasing sales since the FDA issued black box warnings on SSRIs for doubling the risk of suicide in 2004, and black box warnings on “antipsychotic” drugs for doubling suicides just a few weeks ago. Eli Lilly received a “Not Approvable” letter for their new injectable Zyprexa application several days ago. Also, a recent analysis of all studies submitted to the FDA prior to approval of many antidepressant drugs showed that the drugs overall were no more effective than placebo, but that most of the studies in which antidepressants did worse than placebo were never made public, or the results were misreported. <br /><br />With the truth stacked against the drugs and against this bill, we have no option other than to campaign vigorously against the passage of The MOTHERS Act. There are many steps you can take right now to help ensure its defeat and safeguard our women, unborn babies, and the innocent bystanders whose paths sometimes cross people who commit crimes during altered states while under the influence of prescription drugs. <br /><br />First, sign our petition against the MOTHERS Act <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act"><br />http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act</a><br /><br />Next, contact the U.S. Senate and demand that they consider the truth and stop this bill dead in its tracks. For phone and fax numbers for the Senate please go to <a href="http://uniteforlife.org/senatecontactlist.htm"><br />http://uniteforlife.org/senatecontactlist.htm</a><br /><br />Please share this information with everyone you possibly can and urge them to act now.<br /><br />Please also read the addendum to this press release, especially the excerpts which follow the links, and feel free to forward this entire information packet.<br /><br /> <br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Amy Philo<br />Founder, <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/">www.uniteforlife.org</a><br />Co-Founder, <a href="http://www.chaada.org/">www.chaada.org</a><br />Survivor of Zoloft-induced homicidality, suicidality, and psychosis during the postpartum period<br /><br />Camille Milke<br />Founder, <a href="http://www.copesfoundation.com/">www.copesfoundation.com</a><br />New Mexico State Director of the ICFDA <a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">www.drugawareness.org</a><br />Mother of a victim of psychiatric drug-induced suicide and grandmother to a now motherless child<br /><br />Dr. Ann Blake Tracy<br />Executive Director of the ICFDA<br /><a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">www.drugawareness.org</a><br />Author of Prozac: Pancaea or Pandora? Our Serotonin Nightmare<br /><br />======================================<br /><br />Addendum<br /><br />Blog and YouTube channel for Julie, whose son, Manie, was born with a life-threatening Paxil heart defect (Julie has 5 kids, 4 of whom are healthy, but she took Paxil during her pregnancy with Manie, her 4th child) <br /><a href="http://www.bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com/"><br />http://www.bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/jledgi">http://www.youtube.com/jledgi</a><br /><br />Moms in NJ (which has a similar law to the proposed MOTHERS Act) were treated like criminals for seeking help for PPD <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/ppdcriminals.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/ppdcriminals.htm</a><br /><br />Our original press release with an addendum, which includes references to medical studies on dangers, including pregnancy dangers and suicide / homicide dangers, toxicity dangers, and articles on PPD alternatives, actual safely treatable causes, and prevention:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/MOTHERpress.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/MOTHERpress.htm</a><br /><br />A lack of sufficient data to support the alleged safety of breastfeeding while using psychiatric drugs <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/breastfeeding.html"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/breastfeeding.html</a><br /><br />A decline in suicides since the FDA Black Box Warning <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/decline%20in%20sucicides.html"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/decline%20in%20sucicides.html</a><br /><br />Lowest level of suicides in 30 years as prescriptions for antidepressants drop by half (England, Wales) <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/englandwales.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/englandwales.htm</a><br /><br />A Swedish study revealing that psychiatric drug use preceded about 80% of all adult suicides <br /><a href="http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2008/03/antidepressants-linked-to-52-of.html"><br />http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2008/03/antidepressants-linked-to-52-of.html</a><br /><br />Antipsychotic drugs get slapped with black box warning for doubling suicides <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/socalledmoodstabilizersdoublesuicide.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/socalledmoodstabilizersdoublesuicide.htm</a><br /><br />Adrenal exhaustion as a cause of PPD (including information about thyroid conditions and the fact that antidepressants exacerbate adrenal problems): <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/adrenalppd.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/adrenalppd.htm</a><br /><br />Media coverage of the NEJM analysis revealing the data suppression and ineffectiveness of antidepressants <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/suppresseddata.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/suppresseddata.htm</a><br /><br />Flyer to use for massive advertising against the bill and to solicit petition signatures <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/flyermom.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/flyermom.htm</a><br /><br />An outreach letter that can be used for emails asking for support and endorsements of our efforts against this bill <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/requestforhelp.htm"><br />http://www.uniteforlife.org/requestforhelp.htm</a><br /><br />Amy Philo’s YouTube Videos including her personal story of Zoloft-induced psychosis and homicidal and suicidal urges during the postpartum period:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQW23XCmOCw"><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQW23XCmOCw</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4B8I_8wz6I"><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4B8I_8wz6I</a><br /><br />==================<br />Please read some of these excerpts from emails and blogs that we have found or received in the past few weeks:<br />================<br /><br />“I was on very low dose Desyrel for depression during pregnancy. But when I got tired of being tired, I took myself off. A year later they put me on Prozac. I felt better, but began behaviors that distressed me. They told me that I needed it. I switched to Zoloft. Later to Paxil. Each time I tried to get off of it, I had what I later learned was withdrawal effects, but they told me it was proof I needed it. Later, when I heard someone tell my story about the withdrawal effects, I took myself off cold turkey, knowing that I would get through it. And I did. During these years on SSRI's, I was diagnosed with Type II Bipolar Disorder (mild mania). When I got off of SSRI's those symptoms disappeared. My relationship with my son was permanently damaged by my behavior, and horrible 'legal' things happened to me as the result of my drug induced behavior. The psychiatric community denies this is why, but recently, my doctor was looking for something for my panic attacks and some depression and said that she wouldn't put me back on SSRI's because of the manic symptoms they induced... this is the doctor, one of them, who denied the SSRI's were causing my problems! I still have panic attacks, but never had them before these medications. I had depression, but not these panic attacks...which now may be something I'm going to have to deal with ongoing. <br /><br />I can't believe what incredible suffering some supposedly "human" beings can perpetrate on other human beings...FOR PROFIT!!! It's a disgusting legacy of a culture of greed and indifference, and is the cause of U.S. interference and imperialism...greed, power, profit. They have no conscience, no shame...no humanity!! <br /><br />The damage to my life was great...particularly to my relationship with my son, who has only known me with my behavior on those drugs...so, though we are close, and the relationship was loving and protective, I did behave badly at times. He has a lot of pain to deal with because of it...and it affects our relationship. It's a source of great pain, sorrow and shame for me. I didn't get off these drugs until he was out of the house at 18. He left before he graduated from high school.<br /><br />I worked with a young woman going through a crisis, brand new mom... she was 3 months post partum... something horrible happened and they arrested her, took her away from her child... she never got her back. She already had mental problems, but what they did to her made it worse. <br /><br />Doctors and law enforcement are lazy and indifferent...really jaded... and they have stopped caring. They rely on what they think they know and what is expedient. So laws like this will make it worse.” <br />– Lucy<br /><br />=================<br /><br />Excerpts from The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) <br /><br />December 9, 2007 Sunday <br />“Promised lifeline for new moms falls short <br />Postpartum depression law called a disappointment so far <br />BYLINE: SUSAN K. LIVIO, STAR-LEDGER STAFF<br /><br />…A `HORRIBLE' RESPONSE<br /><br /><br />Maxine Garcia of Sayreville says that when she asked for help she got a response that left her stunned. Police officers and rescue squad workers arrived unannounced at her home last year, an hour after she called the hotline to say she was six months pregnant and "depressed out of my mind." According to the police report, Garcia threatened to hurt herself, but she denies it. She and her two children were forced to go to the emergency room. "I felt like I had no rights," Garcia said. "I really just needed someone to talk to."<br /><br />Yolanda Iyube of Franklin in Somerset County says she confided to her gynecologist two years ago she was consumed with scary thoughts about her baby dying violently. Before she left the office, a police-escorted social worker took her to the emergency room. "They brought me in a police car to the hospital. It was horrible - everyone was looking at me like I had committed a crime."<br /><br />Venis said such responses can discourage women with postpartum depression from seeking help.<br /><br />...When the law took effect, there was an initial reluctance from physicians treating new mothers - a fear that "we won't be able to discharge anyone from the hospital," said Edward Wolf, vice chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.<br /><br />Wolf said the law added responsibilities for obstetricians already vulnerable to malpractice lawsuits. He said there was a fear of "I am going to get this thrown on my lap without help."”<br /><br />===================<br />Excerpts from Julie’s blog <a href="http://www.bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com/"><br />http://www.bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><br />“Manie is 3 years old.<br /><br />Was born with Transposition of the Great Arteries.<br /><br />Had a balloon procedure shortly after birth to keep him alive.<br /><br />Had open heart surgery at 1 week old.<br /><br />Had 3 cardiac caths to correct problems with collaterals.<br /><br />Has had several coils put in his collaterals.<br /><br />Has a leak in his valve.<br /><br /><br />Manie has to take medicine for high blood pressure.<br /><br /><br />Manie has also suffered from acid reflux<br /><br />Manie was on an adult dose of meds for acid reflux for six months.<br /><br />Because of the acid reflux Manie has bad teeth. His baby teeth are ruined.<br /><br />When Manie goes to the dentist he has to have dental work done with out Novocaine or nitrous oxide.<br /><br />The reason why Manie was born with a congenital heart defect was because of my ingestion of an antidepressant while I was pregnant. I took Paxil within the first three months that I was pregnant with Manie. At the time that I was pregnant with Manie Paxil was a class C drug. Now Paxil is a class D drug.<br /><br />What is a category D: Definite fetal risk, maybe given in spite of risk if needed in life-threatening conditions. What could be so important to risk a unborn baby's life? If something is life-threatening I would think a person should be under supervision as not to hurt them self or their unborn child. In Mosbys Drug Reference Paxil is a category B drug in 2003. Now I ask when did Glaxo know about paxil causing birth defects???????? Now that is a good question isn't it.<br /><br />This is what I have to say to any one who is pregnant or could become pregnant. If you are depressed get help indeed. However please think about this... Wouldn't it be better to seek some other kind of help for your depression? I have been through having a child with a birth defect and I will always be going through it. I can never turn back the hands of time and not take that pill. Unlike you I did not know. I did not have a clue. Until recently I did not know why Manie was born with a heart defect. I looked and looked for a reason why and always came up with nothing. Until one day I found out that it was because I took paxil. The guilt I feel will never go away even though it was not my fault. If you think that you are depressed now wait until your life is flipped upside down when your baby is born with a horrible birth defect like Manie was.<br /><br />==========<br />Manie has three sisters and one brother. Manie is number four out of five kids. Manie loves to hunt frogs and go fishing. Manie loves being outside in the summer time. I had a normal pregnancy with Manie. I even had a couple of ultrasounds done while I was pregnant with Manie. There were no clues that Manie had a rare heart defect. I had already 3 perfectly healthy kids and did not expect for Manie to be any different.<br /><br />As soon as Manie was born he began to turn blue. The more he cried the more he turned blue. Our doctor did not know what was wrong with Manie. The doctor thought that it might be his heart or his lungs.<br /><br />Manie was flown to a hospital an hour and a half away from where we live. I had to stay at the hospital where I had Manie. The doctors called me when Manie arrived and told me Manie had transposition of the great arteries.<br /><br />I was told that Manie had to have a procedure done to save his life. The doctors went through the artery on the inside of Manie's right leg. The doctors snaked a balloon all the way through the artery to Manie's heart. Once the doctors were in Manie's heart they blew the balloon up and ripped a hole in Manie's heart.<br /><br />In the days following the surgery Manie's leg and foot started to turn a dark purple. The doctors told us that Manie may have to have his leg amputated because the procedure damaged the artery in Manie's leg.<br /><br />Right before Manie's open heart surgery the doctors put Manie on blood thinners. Shortly after putting Manie on blood thinners they were able to detect a pulse in Manie's foot. Manie kept his leg.<br />=======<br /><br />(TGA means the aorta and pulmonary arteries in the heart are switched. When a child is born with TGA there is very little oxygen in the blood. The aorta receives the oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle, but it's carried back to the body without receiving more oxygen. The pulmonary artery receives the oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle but carries it back to the lungs.)<br />=======<br /><br />Manie loves to go to a lake by our house and hunt frogs and go fishing. Manie also likes to go to the park. Manie really likes to go to the mall and play video games. Manie also loves to dance especially to 80s music. <br /><br />=========<br /><br />When he first started going to the dentist at about a year old because his teeth were going bad and this was before we knew that he had been suffering with acid reflux I was blamed for it then too. I was told his teeth were bad because I was still nursing him and I needed to stop. So I have learned that they are just looking for someone to blame. I take care of my kids teeth. If I did not then why does Manie's older brother have perfect teeth and never had any cavities at all? I just took Manie's older brother and one of his older sisters to the dentist two weeks ago. Guess what no cavities and no problems. Hmmm what does that tell ya? So it looks like Manie is going back to the dentist in four months and at that time the student said "they will talk to me about putting him under to have all his teeth done at once." I am not going to worry about that right now I guess. I will keep on brushing and praying that his teeth will be fine. Manie made it through another dental appointment and he is such a brave little boy. I am so proud of him. This was just a small insite into what Manie has to go through. I wish I could take it all away and make it better for him, but all I can do is be there to love him.<br /><br />========<br /><br />…I do not care if it is 1% or a 100% of women who take antidepressants that have children born with birth defects the suffering these babies have to go through is too much. What woman would want to be that 1%? No one would, but they are saying take the chance if you need too. GSK PLEASE stop funding these studies and misleading woman. Have you not done enough already. Except the fact that you did wrong instead of trying to belittle what my son and others have gone through with these studies that say the risk is so small. You are just trying to take some of the heat off. GSK it seems to me you have just made a big ass out of your self again. I for one am not fooled by your attempts to lessen what you have done. I only hope that other women listen to the whole story instead of just the headlines and realize that antidepressants do cause birth defects.<br /><br />========<br /><br />Big Pharma has been abusing people for profits. This problem has been going on since the begining of Big pharma. We need to let "them" know that we are not going to tolerate this any longer. We need to let the government know that we demand something be done. Why is Big Pharma allowed to hurt people and get away with it. You have seen the pictures of Manie when he was born and you have heard me talk about the torture he has to deal with, if someone is responsible for his pain then why are they not punished? Do not think for a minute that something like this could not happen to you. Do something about it before it does. Write to your Senators let them know how you feel about what big pharma has done in the past. Encourage them to do something about this. It is clear that big pharma does not care about anyone. If they are willing to hurt babies their is nothing that is going to stop them. I say do some research on big pharma. Type big pharma into a search engine and see what comes up. Find out for yourself what has been going on that you do not know about. Be aware of what is going on take care of yourself because no one is looking out for you, but you.<br /><br />=======<br /><br />What does this mean for the future of our family minivacation tradition? It looks like Manie will be stuck riding the Infant Ocean for the rest of his life or sitting and watching as everyone else has fun on the rides. It might be that the family will just have to find a new family tradition. What happens when Manie becomes a teenager and wants to go with his friends? Will he ride the rides anyways and risk it all just to find out what it feels like to ride the Mixer or the Dragon.<br /><br />========<br />T<br />his vacation has left me thinking what else is there that Manie can't do because of his heart problems? I want to be able to tell Manie that he can do anything he wants and to never let his heart problems stop him, but in this case I can't say that because there are just somethings he will not be aloud to do. I hate using the word can't when it comes to any of my children. I always want my children to know they can do anything if they want it bad enough. I guess GSK has taken that away from Manie too.<br /><br />========<br /><br />I could not believe what I was reading this morning on seroxatsecrets blog. You have to be kidding me I thought. Apparently GSK has bought Reliant a pharmaceutical company that makes HEART MEDS! Is it me or does something smell a little fishy here. Go to <a href="http://seroxatsecrets.wordpress.com/2007/11/21/oh-the-irony-of-it-glaxo-buys-reliant-pharma-for-165billion/"><br />http://seroxatsecrets.wordpress.com/2007/11/21/oh-the-irony-of-it-glaxo-buys-reliant-pharma-for-165billion/</a> to read the post. Lets examine this situation. My son and others like him were born with HEART DEFECTS because of Paxil which came from GSK. Now these kids that are growing up with HEART CONDITIONS are going to need HEART MEDS probably for the rest of there life. Now GSK has bought a pharmaceutical company that makes HEART MEDS. Isn't there a law against profiting off of the tragedy that you have caused? Does anyone know? If you do please contact me and inform me. If there is not a law against this there should be. I am disgusted about this. I am disgusted because the same company that caused my son so much pain is now going to probably profit from what they have done.<br /><br />=========<br /><br />One Thing That Comes With the Territory<br />It amazes me how stupid some things just are. Like health insurance in America. Manie has government health insurance, called title 19. See here in America if you are poor enough for your child to get title 19 then you must stay poor to continue getting it. Manie's father and I are allowed $3,000.00 dollars in assets. How it works is we are allowed one car but if we have a second car they count it as an asset. We are allowed one house, which has to be the one we live in. The extra car, anything else of value, any income, and money in the bank can not ever exceed $3,000.00 or Manie will lose his health insurance. Manie is only allowed $2,000.00 in assets total. Now lets talk about health insurance. Manie can not go to the proper hospital because the health insurance in most cases will not cover out of state hospitals. When we have to take Manie to the hospital for heart checkup etc. we have to make sure we have an O.K. from our regular doctor first. Yeah like I am going to be just sitting around one day and think just for the hell of it I will go get my kid a cardiac cath. Manie's medication that he needs to keep him as healthy as he can be will not be covered by government insurance. Yet this same government insurance will cover a man to go on Viagra even if he has committed a sexual crime. Does this make any sense to anyone? What about private health insurance you might ask. Ha Manie had private health insurance through his fathers work when he was born. Can anyone say PREEXISTING CONDITION. Yep that's right just because he had the heart defect when he was born it is a preexisting condition and WA la they do not have to pay for anything. If it was not for government health insurance we would be screwed so I am grateful for what we have. I just don't understand why it works the way it does and why Manie can not get the proper care. If it seems like I am ungrateful for what we have I am not. I am very grateful, but I watch day after day as my son looks worse and worse and wonder if there is something wrong with him. See the hospital he goes to can not find anything wrong, besides the fact that he has a leak in his valve, which was caused by the open heart surgery. Last time I knew there was something wrong this same hospital told me Manie was fine and treated me like I was crazy. Months later they found the collateral's that had been growing off of Manie's heart. I had been right all along!(Not that I wanted to be, but a mother knows when there is something wrong) I think letting the collateral's go that long caused more problems then what they want me to know about. I just wanted to share a couple of issues that arise when having a child with a heart condition or any health problem. If there is anyone out there who thinks they are alone know that I am here and there are others out there who understand.Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-10524147624772969762008-02-24T13:21:00.004-07:002008-02-24T13:24:52.313-07:00Death, Destruction, Lies, Deceit, Bribes, CorruptionAll the makings of a good movie or a great novel? Where do you think writers get their inspiration? I say one week as a fly on the wall inside Big Pharma would give them enough material for a lifetime!<br /><br />Big Pharma execs and attorneys themselves would make the best authors and screen writers. Not only do the have the knowledge of all of these vile events (and many more) but think of the imagination and forward thinking they must also posses.<br /><br />From a business standpoint, it is almost admirable and awe-inspiring; the way Big Pharma controls the industry and the world to protect their cash cows. I said almost - if it wasn't for the fact that these loathsome and wicked acts are all too real. People become very creative when it comes to money; and money, of course, is what fuels this hideous beast known as Big Pharma. It stretches out like a multi-tentacled monster controlling, altering or completely blocking every harpoon hurled its direction. Money causes and in-turn enables the beast to infiltrate everywhere, everyone and everything.<br /><br />Imagine fighting an opponent that knows your next move even before you do. That has anticipated every path that you may use to harm it and has closed those paths down. That has intertwined itself and infiltrated every mean with which you may hope to get any form of a victory. <br /><br />Yes the beast has thought of that. Whether you are looking for the ultimate goal of destruction, some sort of recourse or just some honest answers from it, the road blocks are already in place.<br /><br />The beast’s tentacles reach from the White House to your house and everywhere in-between. To the news media, to your government officials, to the school systems, to your doctors, to your pharmacists and to your medicine cabinet. Plus many of its tentacles have off spring that bi-furcate to perform double duty. <br /><br />The tentacle that encases the FDA, for example comes in the front door promising miracle drugs and a better way of life while, at the same time, coming in the back with inaccurate test results, threats and bribes. The FDA is being used! They are a front for drug dealers with more cash to go around than any third world cartel ever had. If anyone questions Big Pharma, the FDA has placed itself to protect them and even take the fall if need be. Like some over zealous secret service agent taking one for the president they stand between anyone who would dare threaten their leader. Big Pharma just produces it. All the FDA has to do is approve it for use and be the front man. Forget the fact that approval was based on incorrect reporting of the facts; that many members of the FDA have ties that should be considered a conflict of interest or that Big Pharma is paying for all this! Big Pharma runs the FDA. It's no secret. All it takes is money.<br /><br />The tentacles have a grip on modern medicine too. Not just psychiatry either. We're talking about general practitioners, nurse practitioners and counselors who have all been empowered with mind altering psychotics. There are also the drug distributors, drug reps, salespeople, and pharmacists too. Big Pharma has everything from free lunches and promotional material to cash for prescribing their products more. They hide the truth with false reports, fixed studies, mislabeling of adverse reactions and non-reporting of negative test results. They also use their influence with the FDA and clever advertising to create the perceived need for every person to take their drugs. Most anyone who goes to the doctor today will walk out with "FREE SAMPLES" of the SSRI Antidepressant of the doctors choosing (in other words the one that has courted and wooed the doctor the most in any manner necessary).<br /><br />How convenient for them to market a drug labeled "Anti-Depressants" that actually cause depression! They also cause a large number of other horrific side effects such as suicide, homicide, diabetes, heart disease, mania and akethisia! The purported cure is making us sick! Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) Anti-Depressants by definition and by Big Pharma's own admittance raise levels of the "feel good" hormone Serotonin in the brain. Excess serotonin has been proven to cause mental disorders not prevent them! Through all the tests and trials and experiments on people, SSRI's have yet to be proven effective in treating depression. Effectiveness is not a concern of Big Pharma, however. They have positioned their drugs to sell and sell big whether they work or not. In fact the list of off-label prescriptions is growing so rapidly, Big Pharma is assured that this Beast they have created will be nearly impossible to defeat. As many as 75% of the prescriptions written for SSRI's were for treatments not approved by the FDA. SSRI's are being prescribed for such things as pain, insomnia, anxiety, shyness, menstrual discomfort, dementia, restless leg syndrome, eating disorders and many others (most if not all of which are just made up) with little or no proof of effectiveness. In addition, a sub-market is being created for hundreds of other drugs that are used to counter the side effects of the original drug! <br /><br />It's also extremely convenient for Big Pharma that these drugs are so very difficult to stop taking! Once on them, the worst thing you can do is stop abruptly. Too many times we hear in the news how the person who shot those people, drowned their child, murdered their parents or set themselves on fire recently stopped taking their medication. Big Pharma’s answer is don't stop! What type of sick and twisted company will take someone’s tragedy and spin it to promote the very thing that caused the problem? <br /> <br />Even our children are under direct attack by the tentacles of Big Pharma. When they go to school they are subjected to hundreds of other people who are on these medications. Any student or staff member on SSRI's has the potential to be a ticking bomb. What's more, when the ticking stops you don't know if they will implode or explode. Now our children are even being screened in the schools for potential disorders which, of course, are automatically treated with SSRI Anti-Depressants and other medications. 90% of our kids who have gone through the screening process walk out with a prescription! "Teen Screen" is supported, financially and otherwise, by Big Pharma in an effort to create more paying customers. Their goal is to screen all school age children; millions of which will end up on psychiatric drugs! <br /><br />Big Pharma is also trying to create patients in the womb! Another would be victim is the pregnant mother and her unborn child. The latest of the beast’s efforts to control the world is "The Mothers Act" Bill which would have Government mandated testing of as many pregnant women and new mothers as possible for depression and then treat them with antidepressants! This is despite the myriad of studies showing a link between antidepressants and violence, abortion and birth defects. Being pregnant or a new mom is stressful enough without being on a medication that has been proven to make people "crazy"! There are worse things than depression! On December 8, 2005, the FDA issued a public health advisory to report that women who take Paxil in early pregnancy are at an approximately 2-fold increased risk of having an infant born with a cardiac defect compared to the general population. Another study finds that infants exposed to SSRI's in late pregnancy showed a 6-times greater risk of developing the lung disorder known as persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a condition that, despite treatment, results in the death of approximately 10 to 20 percent of affected infants. <br /><br />Alert the public you say? Why not just tell them the truth about what Big Pharma is doing? They surely will not allow this to continue once they know, right? The beast has thought of that too. As always, we've been beaten to the punch. There's another tentacle that has already alerted the public! And they're telling us more nearly every day about the dangers of SSRI Anti-Depressants. They tell us this horrific news and reveal unconsciousable side effects but they do it with smiley faces and cartoon characters to create a rosy public perception. They use direct to consumer advertising to boost this perception to a point where the drugs are revered. So many organizations, such as ours, <a href="http://www.copesfoundation.com">"The COPES Foundation"</a>, <a href="http://www.drugawareness.com">"The International Coalition for Drug Awareness"</a> and many others are continually making attempts to educate the public of the horrors of Big Pharma and the caustic chemicals they promote but they ALREADY KNOW! They know because their best bud, Big Pharma, told them so! They don't see the mealy beast for what it is. They feel the tentacle around them but think it's comforting! They think it protects them! They don't know they are victims! Victims of Deceit, of Corruption, of Death and of Criminals with Forward thinking.<br /><br />Big Pharma has high ranking politicians, high powered lawyers, decision making officials in psychiatry, coveted news media and others in positions of power in place to defend it when needed. These tentacles seem to act separately and independently until called upon and then seamlessly become a part of the beast putting in or taking out legislation as need be; thwarting any attempts of litigation with counter suits, invasions of privacy and threats; inventing new illnesses and spewing the lies and propaganda of the drug companies to the unsuspecting public.<br /><br />Don't they care that people are killing themselves and others because of these medications? I think they do. Not for the normal, humanitarian reasons however. We see it as the loss of a loved one. The loss of our daughter, someone’s mother, someone’s sister. They see it is a loss of revenue! They care because each person who dies is one less potential customer. One less person to feed the thriving beast. <br /><br />What is to be done? Do we keep throwing stones just to see them be swatted away? Do we continue to tell people the information they don't want to hear? Do we alienate our friends and family by imposing this pile of information on them? Do we talk to legislators and the news media (those that may have not gotten wrapped in tentacles yet)? YES to all of the above. What options do we have? We won't sit idle. Others may but we won't. Remember what I said? People become very creative when it comes to money. The key to this is people. People have the power. Unfortunately, people are not as strong as we would like them to be. We've learned they can be a down right disapointment. But maybe things will be different. We will be here to support each other. We will not fade away! We will work together against the beast. I have to believe we will make a difference. I KNOW we WILL make a difference. For Sarina, for our family, for your families and for the world. I was going to say I've learned not to expect too much from people but that would be inaccurate. Now, more than ever, I expect so very much from all of us. Give me and the world a reason to hope. A reason to believe. WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN!<br /><br />Brian Milke<br />Father of Sarina Angel<br />COPES FoundationSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-33323100881322819602008-02-23T12:00:00.003-07:002008-02-23T12:21:11.235-07:00Dr Tracy on Post Partum Depression and The Mothers Act.Post Partum Depression is not a difficult problem to address. Simple dietary changes along with rest cure the majority of cases. The remainder are hormonal in nature. <br /><br />For those of you who have read my book you have seen the study in the beginning section which declares that science has known for decades that most mental illness is caused by blood sugar imbalances. This should not surprise us much because initially what was done to "cure" mental illness was to throw the patient into insulin shock. These drugs we are now told "cure" mental illness are designed to do basically the same thing with a pill, thus the high diabetic rate produced by them all. <br /><br />Since so many women go into gestational diabetes we need to stop and think how many more must be going into the beginning stages of pancreatic malfunction which is manifested in symptoms of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Depression is generally one of the first symptoms we see with low blood sugar. Therefore it should be clear that the majority of the cases of Post Partum stem from exhaustion and hypoglycemia brought on by the stress of the pregnancy and/or labor and delivery. <br /><br />There is great concern over Post Partum Psychosis as the blood sugar becomes even more disrupted as it is ignored as a cause, yet with the addition of antidepressants which interfere even more with the blood sugar balance, the chances of suffering Post Partum Psychosis jumps by TEN FOLD (Read the package insert)! <br /><br />The drugs they are planning to give all these young mothers who are screened and show signs of depression during and/or after pregnancy are the same drugs that Melanie Stokes (the mother the Mother's Act was named after) was taking when she jumped to her death. Her death was one of four suicides by young mothers in the Chicago area in a very short time period. Of the four three were taking antidepressants which we know at least double the rate of suicide. (Data was not available for the fourth mother.)<br /><br />These so called antidepressant medications also produce miscarriage and serious birth defects for which the manufacturers are facing close to a couple of hundred lawsuits currently that I am familiar with. <br /><br />This law is nothing more than additional intrusion into the lives of Americans and an attempt by the drug industry to drum up more customers. Clearly they are targeting the unborn in an attempt to get them hooked on their drugs before they ever get a chance to take their first breath! They can never seem to get enough money! <br /><br />Far fetched? Not at all. Look how many mothers were prescribed amphetamines in the late 60's early 70's to make sure these mothers did not gain too much weight during pregnancy. Although that is shocking to us now to hear, it happened. And now those babies are living in a world where meth=amphetamine has been of America's worst illegal drug problems. <br /><br />I had a neighbor who became addicted to amphetamines in the womb in this way who has suffered from this addiction his entire life. How many more were and who has bothered to investigate? I believe that this medical practice of drugging these mothers was a huge contributor to this meth problem that has cost this country so much, not only in finances, but in lost lives and lost productive lives. Are we ready to relive that history with these antidepressants that work so similarly to LSD or PCP? <br /><br />Go to <a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/">"www.drugawareness.org"</a> to learn more about the dangers of these drugs. And find below some additional information from Amy Philo who is working hard to get more information out on the impact of this bill. Then we ask that you please rush to the following link to sign the petition against implementing this act into law. The Senate is meeting on this very soon:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act">"http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act"</a><br /><br /><br />Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D., Executive Director, <br />International Coalition For Drug Awareness<br />Website: <a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/">"www.drugawareness.org"</a> & <br /><a href="http://www.ssristories.com/">"www.ssristories.com"</a> <br />Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare<br />& CD or audio tape on safe withdrawal: "Help! I Can't Get <br />Off My Antidepressant!" <br />Order Number: 800-280-0730<br /><br /><br />FROM AMY: <br />The Mother's Act is the new Teen Screen program but this time for new <br />mothers instead of teens. I found this on the ICSPP website <a href="http://www.icspp.org/">"http://www.icspp.org/"</a> with regard to Teen Screen. It says that 90% of Teen Screen Subjects walked out with a prescription. Now multiply that by the millions with all the new moms we have each year. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT IF THE MOTHER'S ACT IS SIGNED INTO LAW?!!! Teen Screen is not even GOVERNMENT MANDATED...THE MOTHER'S ACT WOULD BE. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THE MOTHERS ACT GOES THROUGH????????? GOD HELP US ALL!!!<br /><br />To a New Jersey newspaper where the Mother's Act is already in place:<br /> <br />I am aware that the mental health screening program in your state has been an utter disaster with moms being carted off to the hospital by police when they call the PPD hotline. I hope you will alert your reporters to this news item which pertains to a federal bill introduced by your State's Senator in the US Senate, Robert Menendez:<br />For those of you considering who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election you need to know that the co-sponsor of this bill, The Mother's Act, is no other than Barak Obama. And no, this is NOT saying that Hillary is any better. She is on the committee voting on this bill and is all for "government health programs" so it remains to be seen where she stands on this issue. <br />[Note from Dr. Tracy: I will take bets she stands right beside Obama on this one!!!! The only candidate that knows what is up with the FDA, big Pharma and all this drugging and is willing to do something about it is Dr. Ron Paul.]Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-1924399119844026222008-02-19T11:18:00.002-07:002008-02-19T11:29:56.339-07:00Since we know this to be true and Researchers know this to be true, Why is it still allowed to happen?OH MY GOSH JAY!!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! HOW DID I MISS IT BEFORE? I WATCH FOR ANYTHING EVER PUBLISHED ON RBD. WITH WHAT YOUR OWN SON WENT THROUGH IN TAKING A GUN TO SCHOOL AFTER BEING DROPPED ABRUPTLY FROM PAXIL & PUT ON EFFEXOR IT IS NO WONDER YOU WOULD NOTICE THIS STUDY BECAUSE THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO SOMEONE IN YOUR OWN FAMILY. YOU SHOULD BE IN FLORIDA ANSWERING REPORTER'S QUESTIONS FOR MR. KAZMIERCZAK UNTIL HE CAN HANDLE IT ON HIS OWN! AFTER LOSING HIS WIFE LAST YEAR AND NOW THIS? POOR MAN!!<br /> <br />KIM, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO DAVID WHEN HE TOOK THE LIVES OF TESS AND SAM AFTER DROPPING OFF PAXIL AND STARTING ON PROZAC.<br /> <br />AND RUSTY, YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ANDREA AFTER HAVING THE DOSE OF BOTH EFFEXOR AND REMERON ADJUSTED DRASTICALLY JUST TWO DAYS BEFORE SHE DROWNED YOUR CHILDREN. <br /> <br />AS I HAVE ALWAYS MAINTAINED, NONE OF YOUR LOVED ONES WERE CONSCIOUS WHEN THEY DID WHAT THEY DID ON THESE DRUGS OR IN WITHDRAWAL FROM THEM. THIS SLEEPWALK STATE IS NOT A CONSCIOUS STATE AS EVIDENCED BY THE BRAIN WAVE PATTERNS IN MY BOOK.<br /> <br />THIS STUDY IS VERY, VERY SIGNIFICANT AND IT SOUNDS AS IF THESE RESEARCHERS REALLY UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS POTENTIAL OF ANTIDEPRESSANTS TO PRODUCE THIS RBD EFFECT IN PATIENTS!!! FINALLY, IT APPEARS SOMEONE IS WAKING UP TO THE EXTREME SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS ISSUE AS A PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE - LIKE THE SHOOTING AT THE UNIVERSITY THURSDAY DID NOT HELP US TO SEE THAT?? (Although the charts did not come through when copied and pasted, you may pull up the file that is attached to see those.)<br /> <br />DR. TRACY<br />_________________________________________________________<br /> <br />Conclusions: Subjects taking serotonergic antidepressants had more<br />EMG activity in the submental lead during REM sleep than did controls.<br />This correlated with measures of REM suppression and age. Individuals<br />taking such medications may be at increased risk of developing REM<br />sleep behavior disorder, particularly with increasing age.<br /> <br /> . . . there are substantial potential public health implications<br />of REM sleep abnormalities in individuals taking serotonergic<br />antidepressants. Nearly 10 million people in the United States are taking<br />these medications on a routine basis. Increased awareness of RBD<br />among physicians who see individuals with sleep disorders, and among<br />those who prescribe serotonergic antidepressants, will allow for an accurate<br />estimate of sleep-related behavioral abnormalities observed as a<br />result of serotonergic antidepressants.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.journalsleep.org/Articles/270219.pdf">"http://www.journalsleep.org/Articles/270219.pdf"</a><br /> <br /><strong>SLEEP, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004 317 Serotonergic Antidepressants and REM Sleep—Winkelman and James<br /><br><br />Serotonergic Antidepressants are Associated with REM Sleep Without Atonia</strong><br />PARASOMNIAS<br /><br />John W. Winkelman, MD, PhD1; Lynette James2<br />1Divisions of Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass 02459, USA; 2School of<br />Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK<br /><br />Study Objectives: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder<br />(RBD) is generally observed in older men and in individuals with specific<br />neurologic diseases. There are case reports of RBD in individuals taking<br />serotonergic antidepressants. Our objective was to assess electromyogram<br />(EMG) activity during REM sleep in individuals taking serotonergic<br />antidepressants and in a matched control group not on such medication.<br />Design: Chart review of clinical and polysomnographic data.<br />Setting: Sleep laboratory affiliated with a general hospital.<br />Participants: 15 subjects taking a serotonergic antidepressant and 15<br />age-matched individuals not on such medication.<br />Measurements: Submental and anterior tibialis tonic and phasic EMG<br />activity during REM sleep, REM latency, time in REM, apnea-hypopnea<br />index, periodic leg movements of sleep index, and sleep-architecture<br />measures.<br /><br />Results: Tonic, but not phasic, submental EMG activity during REM sleep<br />was significantly more common in the antidepressant-treated group than<br />in the control group (P < .02). Tonic REM submental EMG activity correlated<br />with REM latency (r =.42, P = .02) and inversely with REM time (r =<br />-.36, P = .05). Subject age correlated with tonic REM submental EMG<br />activity (r = .58, P = .02) in the antidepressant group There were also<br />trends for more phasic activity in the anterior tibialis (P = .09) and submental<br />(P = .07) EMG in REM sleep in the antidepressant group than in<br />the control group.<br /><br />Conclusions: Subjects taking serotonergic antidepressants had more<br />EMG activity in the submental lead during REM sleep than did controls.<br />This correlated with measures of REM suppression and age. Individuals<br />taking such medications may be at increased risk of developing REM<br />sleep behavior disorder, particularly with increasing age.<br />Key Words: REM sleep, antidepressants, serotonergic, REM sleep<br />behavior disorder, EMG activity<br />Citation: Winkelman JW; James L. Serotonergic antidepressants are<br />associated with REM sleep without atonia. SLEEP 2004;27(2):317-21.<br />Disclosure Statement<br />No significant financial interest/other relationship to disclose.<br />Submitted for publication October 2003<br />Accepted for publication December 2003<br />Address correspondence to: John W. Winkelman, MD, PhD, Brigham and<br />Women’s Hospital, Sleep Health Center, 1400 Centre Street, Suite 109,<br />Newton Center, MA 02459; Tel: 617 527 2227; Fax: 617 527 2098;<br />E-mail: jwinkelman@sleephealth.com<br /> <br />INTRODUCTION<br /><br />ATONIA OF SKELETAL MUSCLES IS ONE OF THE CARDINAL<br />FEATURES OF RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (REM) SLEEP.<br /><br /> <br />Superimposed on this atonia is intermittent activity in both axial and<br />limb muscles. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is characterized by<br />excessive motor activity during REM sleep with acting out of dreams.1<br />The diagnosis of RBD is made by the appearance of elevated submental<br />electromyogram (EMG) tone during REM and/or excessive phasic submental<br />or anterior tibialis EMG activity, combined with polysomnographic<br />documentation or a history of frank movements during REM<br />sleep.2 RBD is more common in elderly men, and at least half of those<br />followed for 10 years develop Parkinson disease.3<br /> <br /> <br />Muscle-tone abnormalities in REM sleep may consist along a spectrum,<br />with maintenance of full atonia at one end and full RBD at the<br />other end. REM sleep without atonia has been described as an intermediate<br />condition, in which REM sleep atonia is reduced on polysomnography,<br />in the absence of reports of abnormal behaviors by the patient or<br />bed partner. This polysomnographic finding has also been called “subclinical”<br />RBD. Eisensehr’s recent report4 demonstrating that those<br />patients with subclinical RBD have an intermediate reduction of striatal<br />dopamine transporters, roughly halfway between normal individuals and<br />those with RBD, establishes the potential importance of this disorder.<br /><br /> <br />Antidepressants have substantial effects on REM sleep. Many studies<br />show that they prolong REM sleep latency and suppress REM sleep<br />time.5 They are also associated with reports of “vivid” dreams.6 In addition,<br />case reports dating back 30 years show that antidepressants can<br />induce RBD7 or reduce REM sleep atonia.8 In fact, medications with a<br />wide variety of mechanisms of action have been implicated in producing<br />loss of REM sleep atonia, including serotonergic reuptake blockers<br />such as fluoxetine,9 monoamine oxidase inhibitors,10 β-adrenergic<br />receptor blockers,11 the noradrenergic and 5-HT1A-mediated serotonergic<br />enhancer mirtazapine,12 and the tricyclic antidepressants.13 However,<br />no study has systematically assessed EMG tone during REM sleep in<br />individuals chronically taking antidepressants. Given the number of<br />individuals taking these medications, this issue is potentially of substantial<br />public health importance.<br /><br /> <br />The objective of this study was to compare tonic and phasic EMG<br />during REM sleep in individuals without a complaint of abnormal<br />behavior during sleep who were taking serotonergic antidepressants with<br />the REM characteristics of matched controls not taking such medications.<br />We hypothesize that serotonergic antidepressants will increase<br />tonic and phasic submentalis and anterior tibialis EMG activity during<br />REM sleep compared to the control population not taking such medications.<br /><br /> <br />METHODS<br /><br />Subjects were recruited from the polysomnography database of Sleep<br />Health Centers, Newton Center, Mass. All sleep studies between June<br />2001 and August 2003 were reviewed and excluded if any of the following<br />features were present: apnea-hypopnea index > 15 per hour;<br />REM-related apnea-hypopnea index > 10; continuous positive airway<br />pressure use during the sleep study; complaint of abnormal behavior<br />during sleep or abnormal behavior on polysomnogram; duration of REM<br />sleep < 20 minutes; active neurologic disease (other than migraine); or<br />benzodiazepine, antipsychotic, or anticonvulsant use.<br /><br /> <br />All subjects who met these criteria and were taking a serotonergic<br />antidepressant were included as the antidepressant group (n = 15). Five<br />subjects were taking fluoxetine (20-50 mg per day), 3 were taking<br />paroxetine (15-40 mg per day), 3 were taking citalopram (20-40 mg per<br />day), 3 were taking sertraline (100-225 mg per day), and 1 was taking<br />venlafaxine (400 mg per day). Two subjects in the antidepressant group<br />were taking bupropion (200 mg) in the morning in addition to their sero-<br />tonergic antidepressant. Duration of antidepressant treatment was<br />unknown, though subjects had been taking such medications for at least<br />2 weeks (based upon questionnaire data). Four of the 15 subjects in the<br />antidepressant group reported a history of depression only, and 4<br />described a history of an anxiety disorder only; 7 described a history of<br />both an anxiety and a depressive disorder. Fluoxetine equivalents were<br />calculated for antidepressant doses of all subjects by the following equation14:<br />fluoxetine = 5; sertraline = 1.2; paroxetine = 5; citalopram = 3.33;<br />venlafaxine = 1.<br /><br />An age- and sex-matched sample fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion<br />criteria and not taking an antidepressant or any other centrally acting<br />agent was identified as the control group. No subjects in the control<br />group reported a history of either depressive or anxiety disorders. Fiftythree<br />percent (8/15) of subjects in the control group and 40% (6/15) in<br />the serotonergic antidepressant group were women. All subjects were<br />referred to rule-out obstructive sleep apnea. Data from an extensive<br />sleep, psychiatric, and medical history questionnaire were entered into a<br />database for all subjects.<br /><br />All polysomnograms were performed in the same laboratory using<br />Alice 3 and 4 digitizing software (Respironics, Murrysville, Penn)<br />according to the following standard methods: left and right central and<br />occipital electroencephalogram (EEG) leads referenced to the opposite<br />ear; bilateral electrooculogram, submental EMG, bilateral anterior tibialis<br />EMG, and cardiorespiratory recordings consisting of nasal pressure<br />monitoring, nasal-oral thermistors, abdominal and chest effort, pulse<br />oximetry from the digit, and electrocardiogram.<br /><br />Sleep staging was performed according to standard criteria,15 though<br />scoring of REM sleep was modified according to the method of Lapierre<br />and Montplaisir.16 In this modification, a REM epoch is terminated for<br />an EEG arousal but not as a result of increased EMG submental tone.<br />Each REM period for each subject was assessed for both tonic and phasic<br />EMG activity. REM epochs in which an EEG arousal (scored according<br />to standard guidelines), snore artifact in the submental EMG, periodic<br />leg movement (in a group of 4, with a stable intermovement interval),<br />or a hypopnea was present were eliminated from all further analyses.<br />Tonic EMG activity for each 30-second REM epoch was scored as<br />present (or put another way, was scored as absence of atonia) if greater<br />than 50% of the epoch had submental EMG activity greater than 4 times<br />the lowest level in that REM period. The percentage of epochs without<br />atonia was computed for each REM period and averaged for each subject.<br />Phasic EMG was scored in 2-second bins separately for the submental<br />and bilateral anterior tibialis leads according to the method of<br />Lapierre and Montplaisir.16 Each 2-second bin containing EMG activity<br />lasting 0.1 to 5.0 seconds, which exceed 4 times the lowest EMG activity<br />in that epoch, was counted as a bin with phasic activity. The percentage<br />of bins with phasic activity in the anterior tibialis and submental<br />leads was computed for each REM period and then averaged for each<br />subject. Phasic activity was also scored by the method of Eisensehr,4 in<br />which “long” EMG phasic activity was quantified. EMG bursts were<br />defined as “long” when they exceeded 0.5 seconds. A 10-second epoch<br />of REM was considered to have “long” EMG activity when the total of<br />such long bursts exceeded 1.0 seconds (eg, either at least 2 bursts lasting<br />0.5 seconds or 1 burst exceeding 1.0 seconds). The percentage of such<br />10-second epochs was determined for each subject for each REM period<br />and then averaged for each subject.<br /><br />Statistical analyses were performed with the Student t test in normally<br />distributed data. The rank-sum test was used for variables that were<br />not normally distributed.<br /><br />RESULTS<br /><br />The 2 study groups did not differ in age, sex, body mass index, or<br />complaint that initiated the sleep study (see Table 1). On polysomnography,<br />subjects taking antidepressants had less REM time, longer REM<br />latency, greater sleep latency, a higher percentage of stage 2 sleep, and a<br />higher periodic limb movements of sleep index (see Table 1). No statistically<br />significant differences in apnea-hypopnea index (total or REMrelated)<br />or arousal index were noted between groups.<br /><br />Subjects taking antidepressants had significantly more 30-second<br />REM epochs without submental atonia (with submental tone) than control<br />subjects (P = 0.02) (Table 2). There were significant correlations<br />between the submental EMG tone during REM and the degree of REM<br />suppression in the total sample, such that REM latency was positively<br />correlated with submental EMG tone (r = .42, P = .02) (see Figure 1),<br />and REM time was negatively correlated with submental EMG tone (r =<br />-.36, P = .05). There was a significant correlation between age and submental<br />EMG tone during REM in the antidepressant group (r = .58, P =<br />.02) (see Figure 2). This association was not significant in the control<br />group. There was no correlation between submental EMG tone during<br />REM and antidepressant dose (in fluoxetine equivalents).<br /><br />There were trends for the subjects taking antidepressants to have more<br />2-second epochs in REM with phasic EMG activity in both the submental<br />(P = .07) and anterior tibialis (P = .09) leads than the control group<br />(see Table 2). There was a negative correlation between such phasic<br />activity in the anterior tibialis and REM time (r = -0.42, P = .02). There<br />was no correlation between either phasic submental or anterior tibialis<br />EMG activity in REM and medication dose (in fluoxetine equivalents).<br /><br />SLEEP, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004 318 Serotonergic Antidepressants and REM Sleep—Winkelman and James<br />Table 1—Demographic and Polysomnographic Features of<br />Antidepressant and Control Groups<br />Demographic or Control Serotonergic P value<br />Polysomnographic Feature Antidepressant<br />No. 15 15<br />Age (range), y 42.0 ± 14.1 (18-63) 45.5 ± 10.8 (26-60)<br />Men, no. (%) 8 (53) 6 (40)<br />BMI, kg/m2 25.0 ± 3.4 27.1 ± 5.5<br />Arousal index, arousals/h 15.3 ± 4.8 18.9 ± 9.7<br />Sleep efficiency, % 84.9 ± 11.9 81.7 ± 9.3<br />Sleep latency, min 13.0 ± 12.7 24.7 ± 14.4 .03<br />REM latency, min 68.8 ± 20.1 185.7 ± 73.7 < .001<br />PLM index, PLM/h 3.6 ± 6.3 18.8 ± 19.8 .08<br />Sleep stage, %<br />1 8.3 ± 5.9 9.05 ± 5.4<br />2 62.6 ± 6.8 69.6 ± 9.5 .03<br />3 6.1 ± 4.0 5.3 ± 3.7<br />4 7.2 ± 7.8 4.9 ± 7.4<br />REM 21.0 ± 4.8 14.4 ± 5.3 .001<br />REM time, min 79.1 ± 26.5 49.4 ± 21.3 .002<br />AHI, events/h 4.0 ± 2.5 4.7 ± 2.7<br />AHI during REM, events/h 5.6 ± 4.4 7.1 ± 5.4<br /><br />Data are presented as mean ± SD, unless otherwise noted. All P values are not significant<br />unless otherwise noted.<br /><br />BMI refers to body mass index; REM, rapid eye movement; PLM, periodic leg movement,<br />AHI, apnea-hypopnea index.<br /><br />Table 2—Submental and Anterior-Tibialis Characteristics in<br />Antidepressant and Control Groups<br />Epochs, % Control Serotonergic P value<br />(n = 15) Antidepressant<br />(n = 15)<br />30-second with<br />submental EMG tone* 2.36 ± 3.88 9.54 ± 9.06 .02<br />2-second with phasic EMG†<br />Submental 5.63 ± 5.31 10.74 ± 9.16 .07<br />Anterior tibialis 9.72 ± 8.64 16.82 ± 14.69 .09<br />10-second with long EMG‡<br />Submental 6.71 ± 6.06 13.39 ± 11.62 .03<br />Anterior tibialis 2.98 ± 2.63 8.94 ± 12.59 .06<br />Data are presented as mean ± SD, unless otherwise noted.<br /><br />*Electromyogram (EMG) tone considered present if more than 50% of the epoch had submental<br />EMG activity greater than 4 times the lowest level in that rapid eye movement<br />(REM) period.<br /><br />†Phasic EMG considered present if EMG activity lasted 0.1 to 5.0 seconds and exceeded 4<br />times the lowest EMG activity in that epoch.<br /><br />‡EMG considered present if the total of “long” bursts ( > 0.5 seconds) exceeded 1.0<br />seconds.<br /><br />The antidepressant group had significantly more 10-second REM<br />epochs with “long” phasic activity than the control group in both the<br />submental (P = .03) and anterior tibialis (P = .06) leads. REM latency<br />correlated with submental “long” EMG activity for the entire sample (r<br />= .52, P = .003).<br /><br />\The REM-period number (ie, 1 vs 2 vs 3) did not influence the degree<br />of EMG tone during REM in the submental lead or the extent of phasic<br />activity in the anterior tibialis or submental recordings.<br /><br />DISCUSSION<br /><br />Our results demonstrate that serotonergic antidepressants are associated<br />with a statistically significant and persistent reduction in REMsleep<br />atonia, even in individuals without overt clinical features of RBD.<br /><br />We have also demonstrated that the degree of REM sleep without atonia<br />is correlated with other evidence of antidepressant effects on REM sleep<br />(suppression of REM time and prolongation of REM latency). Previous<br />case reports have described RBD in individuals taking antidepressants<br />for depression,17-18 narcolepsy,19 or Parkinson disease.12 Two previous<br />reports describe absence of atonia in REM sleep with the use of the tricyclic<br />antidepressant clomipramine.20-21 Guilleminault20 reported that<br />EMG atonia was “generally absent” in his narcoleptic subjects taking<br />clomipramine. Niyama21 identified this sleep stage as 1-REM in his normal<br />control subjects given single doses of 25 to 50 mg of clomipramine.<br /><br />This is a retrospective study, and future studies of EMG tone after<br />medication treatments should address issues that we were unable to,<br />given this design. For instance, data on length of antidepressant treatment<br />and details regarding dream emotional quality and motor activity<br />would be of great interest. Further, increased numbers of subjects,<br />preferably in an age range that might be more vulnerable to REM sleep<br />without atonia (over 60 years), would also increase the power of such<br />studies. In addition, prospective studies of EMG tone before and after<br />chronic administration of a single serotonergic antidepressant are recommended<br />to confirm our findings and to better establish the precise<br />nature of this relationship.<br /><br />A number of limitations of our data exist, which should be considered.<br /><br />We did not evaluate the sleep of individuals prior to medication administration<br />and, thus, cannot definitely conclude that the serotonergic<br />antidepressants were responsible for the elevation in EMG activity during<br />REM sleep. Three of the subjects in the antidepressant group were<br />taking medication with effects beyond the serotonergic system: 2 were<br />taking bupropion, which enhances dopaminergic neurotransmission, and<br />1 was taking venlafaxine, which, in addition to its serotonergic properties,<br />produces noradrenergic reuptake blockade. It is possible that some<br />of our results may be a consequence of these other biologic effects. It is<br />also possible that depression or anxiety disorders themselves produced<br />these findings. It should be noted, however, that these findings have been<br />demonstrated acutely in normal volunteers.21 Similarly, these findings<br />were observed in our subjects treated for both depression and anxiety<br />disorders. Our subjects were not a random sample of individuals taking<br />serotonergic antidepressants but were recruited from individuals referred<br />for sleep study. To minimize this referral bias, we excluded individuals<br />with a description of behavioral abnormalities during sleep. All of our<br />subjects were referred to rule-out sleep apnea. Finally, we excluded subjects<br />taking medications such as benzodiazepines and anticonvulsants to<br />eliminate the potential effects of these medications on the polysomnogram<br />and to avoid a potential referral bias, as these medications may<br />have been used to treat sleep disruption resulting from the use of antidepressants.<br />This restriction may thus in fact have reduced the observed<br />prevalence of REM sleep abnormalities.<br /><br />For a diagnosis of RBD, the International Classification of Sleep<br />Disorders2 requires both (1) abnormal behavior and (2) “excessive” submental<br />EMG tone or “excessive” phasic submental or limb twitching<br />during polysomnography. Although the behavioral markers for RBD<br />may be relatively clear,22 the polysomnographic criteria for what constitutes<br />“excessive” submental or anterior tibialis EMG tone during REM<br />sleep have not been established. Gagnon et al23 suggested that absence<br />of atonia (requiring 50% of the epoch with elevated tone) in greater than<br />20% of REM epochs is abnormal. In their study, 19 of 33 (57%) subjects<br />with Parkinson disease exceeded this degree of REM sleep without atonia,<br />whereas only 1 of 16 (6%) normal subjects exceeded this threshold.<br /><br />By comparison, 2 of our 15 (13.3%) subjects taking antidepressants<br />exceed this criterion, whereas none of our control subjects did.<br />Eisensehr4 defined the upper limit of normal motor activity during<br />REM sleep as 15% of 10-second REM epochs containing at least 1 second<br />of elevated submental EMG activity (counting only “long” EMG<br />bursts, as described above). No unselected normative data were cited to<br />support the validity of this figure. Nevertheless, 8 of our 15 subjects taking<br />antidepressants (53%) exceeded this threshold in either the anterior<br />tibialis or submental lead, compared to only 1 of our 15 controls (7%).<br />Gagnon et al23 recently demonstrated the increased sensitivity of submental<br />EMG tone compared to anterior tibialis EMG tone in distinguishing<br />patients with Parkinson disease with RBD from both patients<br />with Parkinson disease without RBD and controls. In our data as well,<br />submental EMG tone over 30-second REM epochs was more sensitive<br />than either submental or anterior tibialis leads over shorter REM epoch<br />durations in distinguishing antidepressant from control groups. When 2-<br />second REM epochs were used, submental and anterior tibialis phasic<br />EMG were roughly equivalent in distinguishing subjects taking antidepressants<br />from the control subjects.<br /><br />Figure 2—Correlation between submental electroencephalogram (EMG) tone and age in<br />the group taking antidepressants (r = 0.58; P = .02).<br />Figure 1—Correlation between submental electroencephalogram (EMG) tone and rapid eye<br />movement (REM) sleep latency (r = 0.42; P = .02).<br /><br />Integrity of motor atonia during REM sleep is maintained by a number<br />of neuronal systems and, thus, may be disrupted by lesions or biochemical<br />interventions at a variety of sites.24 In fact, based on animal<br />experiments, separate systems, potentially colocalized at some points,<br />have been postulated to control the atonia and phasic locomotor aspects<br />of REM.25 Gilman et al’s26 recent demonstration of anatomic distinctions<br />between areas subserving atonia and those underlying phasic motor activation<br />in REM in subjects with RBD associated with multiple system<br />atrophy is further evidence of this. Our data demonstrating an effect of<br />serotonergic antidepressants on submental motor tone, in the absence of<br />robust effects on phasic activity, are consistent with other clinical reports<br />indicating a similar dissociation.7 The absence of reported abnormal<br />nocturnal behaviors in the majority of individuals taking serotonergic<br />antidepressants (including our subjects) may thus be due to the fact that<br />serotonergic antidepressants primarily disrupt tonic rather than phasic<br />components of motor activity during REM sleep.<br /><br />The pathophysiology of RBD and REM sleep without atonia, as suggested<br />above, are likely complex. Dopaminergic mechanisms have<br />recently been suggested by imaging studies in patients with RBD and<br />Parkinson disease or multiple system atrophy.4,26-27 On the other hand,<br />basic research on motor control during REM sleep implicates glycinergic,<br />GABAergic, noradrenergic, and serotonergic transmitter systems.28-<br />30 In an animal model of RBD, Trulson et al28 found that raphe neurons,<br />which are usually quiet in REM, became tonically active. Similarly,<br />Lai’s30 recent finding that electrical or acetylcholine stimulation of the<br />pontine inhibitory area produces both motor-tone suppression and reductions<br />in serotonergic (and noradrenergic) activity further emphasizes the<br />importance of serotonergic inputs on spinal motor units in REM sleep.<br />Serotonergic antidepressants could thus influence motor tone during<br />REM sleep indirectly at brainstem levels (pedunculopontine nucleus or<br />pontine inhibitory area), or directly at spinal levels, producing REM<br />sleep without atonia.<br /><br />The clinical status of REM sleep without atonia is ambiguous.<br />Although it is not listed in the International Classification of Sleep<br />Disorders nosology, it appears to be common in populations vulnerable<br />to RBD. In a recent study, 58% of patients with Parkinson disease<br />demonstrated atonia in REM sleep on polysomnography, 42% of whom<br />had no history of behavioral manifestations.31 In our series of consecutive<br />subjects without RBD taking antidepressants, 15% to 53% had evidence<br />of REM sleep without atonia, depending upon the definition.<br /><br />REM sleep without atonia may be a “sentinel” finding on polysomnography,<br />expressing a vulnerability to overt RBD.31 From this perspective,<br />it may be a form fruste of early or evolving RBD. The evolution of RBD<br />into Parkinson disease in a high percentage of patients suggests that<br />EMG activity during REM sleep may be a sensitive indicator of early<br />central nervous system dysfunction. Finally, the distinction between<br />REM sleep without atonia and RBD may be blurred, as some individuals<br />with the former may in fact have behavioral manifestations of RBD<br />that are missed or ignored by patients and their bed partners and/or are<br />not present on a single night of polysomnography. In summary, it is<br />unclear whether elevated REM tone is just a polysomnographic finding<br />or whether it represents an important clinical prognostic finding.<br /><br />Longitudinal studies of patients with Parkinson disease probably represent<br />the best opportunity to address this question scientifically.<br /><br />If REM sleep without atonia is an early stage of RBD, it will be<br />important to understand the mediators of this response to antidepressants.<br />Our data suggests that age, in agreement with the increase in idiopathic<br />RBD in the elderly,1 is one such potential mediator. Older subjects<br />taking serotonergic antidepressants were more vulnerable to antidepressant-<br />related disinhibition of submental EMG tone in REM sleep. It is<br />unclear whether age is a surrogate for other factors that mediate this relationship<br />(central nervous system damage, antidepressant-receptor binding<br />or metabolism, etc.). However, we are aware of no other data that<br />demonstrate an influence of age on antidepressant effects on sleep.<br />Serotonergic antidepressant suppression of REM sleep (increased<br />REM latency and decreased REM time) was also a marker of the degree<br />of REM sleep without atonia in our subjects. Although no such correlations<br />have been demonstrated for patients with idiopathic (or Parkinsonrelated)<br />RBD, percentage of REM time is no different between those<br />with idiopathic RBD and normal controls.16 This may suggest that the<br />mechanisms producing abnormalities in EMG tone in REM sleep are<br />different in patients with idiopathic RBD and those given serotonergic<br />antidepressants. In both RBD and “idiopathic” REM sleep without atonia<br />(subclinical RBD), there are striatal presynaptic dopamine-transporter<br />deficits.4 On the other hand, serotonergic agonism may be more<br />relevant to REM suppression and increased EMG tone in our antidepressant<br />group.32-34\<br /><br />Other potential vulnerability markers were not of value in predicting<br />REM sleep without atonia. For instance, male sex is an important risk<br />factor for idiopathic RBD.1 We did not find an increased vulnerability to<br />REM sleep atonia with male sex in our antidepressant group. Similarly,<br />we did not find a relationship between antidepressant dose (in fluoxetine<br />equivalents) and inhibition of REM sleep atonia. The relationship<br />between REM latency and antidepressant serum level has only been documented<br />for discontinuation of fluoxetine after subchronic use.35<br /><br />Whether this is true at steady state after chronic dosing is unclear. One<br />important mediator on which we did not have data was length of treatment.<br />It is not clear whether length of time on an antidepressant may predispose<br />the individual to developing REM sleep without atonia. Future<br />studies of antidepressant effects on sleep should address this issue.<br /><br />Although the clinical significance of REM sleep without atonia has<br />not been established, there are substantial potential public health implications<br />of REM sleep abnormalities in individuals taking serotonergic<br />antidepressants. Nearly 10 million people in the United States are taking<br />these medications on a routine basis. Increased awareness of RBD<br />among physicians who see individuals with sleep disorders, and among<br />those who prescribe serotonergic antidepressants, will allow for an accurate<br />estimate of sleep-related behavioral abnormalities observed as a<br />result of serotonergic antidepressants.<br /><br />REFERENCES<br /><br />1. Schenck CH, Mahowald MW. REM sleep behavior disorder: clinical, developmental,<br />and neuroscience perspectives 16 years after its formal identification in SLEEP. Sleep<br />2002;25:120-38.<br />2. International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Revised: Diagnostic and Coding<br />Manual. Rochester: American Sleep Disorders Association; 1997.<br />3. Schenck CH, Bundlie SR, Mahowald MW. REM Behavior Disorder (RBD): delayed<br />emergence of parkinsonism and/or dementia in 65% of older men initially diagnosed<br />with idiopathic RBD, and an analysis of the minimum and maximum tonic and/or phasic<br />electromyographic abnormalities found during REM sleep. Sleep 2003;26:A316.<br />4. Eisensehr I, Linke R, Tatsch K, et al. Increased muscle activity during rapid eye movement<br />sleep correlates with decrease of striatal presynaptic dopamine transporters. IPT<br />and IBZM SPECT imaging in subclinical and clinically manifest idiopathic REM sleep<br />behavior disorder, Parkinson's disease, and controls. Sleep. 2003;26:507-12.<br />5. Sharpley AL, Cowen PJ. Effect of pharmacologic treatments on the sleep of depressed<br />patients. Biol Psychiatry 1995;37:85-98.<br />6. Pace-Schott EF, Gersh T, Silvestri R, et al. SSRI treatment suppresses dream recall frequency<br />but increases subjective dream intensity in normal subjects. J Sleep Res<br />2001;10:29-42.<br />7. Mahowald MW, Schenck CH. REM sleep parasomnias. In: Kryger M, Roth T, Dement<br />W, eds. Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders;<br />2000:724-41.<br />8. Guilleminault C, Raynal D, Takahashi S, et al. Evaluation of short-term and long-term<br />treatment of the narcolepsy syndrome with clomipramine hydrochloride. Acta Neurol<br />Scand 1976;54:71-87.<br />9. Schenck CH, Mahowald MW, Kim SW, et al. Prominent eye movements during NREM<br />sleep and REM sleep behavior disorder associated with fluoxetine treatment of depression<br />and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sleep 1992;15:226-35.<br />10. Louden MB, Morehead MA, Schmidt HS. Activation by selegiline (Eldepryle) of REM<br />sleep behavior disorder in parkinsonism. W V Med J 1995;91:101.<br />11. Iranzo A, Santamaria J. Bisoprolol-induced rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.<br />Am J Med 1999;107:390-2.<br />12. Onofrj M, Luciano AL, Thomas A, et al. Mirtazapine induces REM sleep behavior disorder<br />(RBD) in parkinsonism. Neurology 2003;60:113-5.<br />13. Passouant P, Cadilhac J, Ribstein M. Sleep privation with eye movements using antidepressive<br />agents. Rev Neurol 1972;127:173-92.<br />14. Bollini P, Pampalllona S, Tibaldi G, Kupelnick B, Munizza C. Effectiveness of antidepressants:<br />meta-analysis of dose-effect relationships in randomized clinical trials. Br J<br />Psychiatry 1999;174:297-303.<br />SLEEP, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004 320 Serotonergic Antidepressants and REM Sleep—Winkelman and James<br />15. Rechtschaffen A, Kales A. A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques, and<br />Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects. Washington, DC: Public Health<br />Service, US Government Printing Office; 1968.<br />16. Lapierre O, Montplaisir J. Polysomnographic features of REM sleep behavior disorder:<br />development of a scoring method. Neurology 1992;42:1371-4.<br />17. Schutte S, Doghramji K. REM behavior disorder seen with venlafaxine (Effexor). Sleep<br />Res 1996;25:364.<br />18. Nofzinger EA, Reynolds CF 3rd. REM sleep behavior disorder. JAMA 1994;27:820.<br />19. Bental E, Lavie P, Sharf B. Severe hypermotility during sleep in treatment of cataplexy<br />with clomipramine. Israel J Med Sci 1979;15:607-9.<br />20. Guilleminault C, Raynal D, Takahashi S, Carskadon M, Dement W. Evaluation of shortterm<br />and long-term treatment of the narcolepsy syndrome with clomipramine hydrochloride.<br />Acta Neurol Scand 1976;54:71-87.<br />21. Niiyama Y, Shimizu T, Abe M, Hishikawa Y. Cortical reactivity in REM sleep with tonic<br />mentalis EMG activity induced by clomipramine: an evaluation by slow vertex response.<br />Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1993;86:247-51.<br />22. Bologna, Genova, Parma and Pisa Universities group for the study of REM Sleep<br />Behaviour Disorder (RBD) in Parkinson's disease. Interobserver reliability of ICSD-R<br />criteria for REM sleep behaviour disorder. J Sleep Res 2003;12:255-7.<br />23. Gagnon J, Bedard MA, Fantini ML, et al. Comparison between submental and anterior<br />tibialis phasic EMG activity during REM sleep in Parkinson's disease with and without<br />REM sleep behavior disorder. Sleep 2003;26:A337.<br />24. Lai YY, Siegel JM. Medullary regions mediating atonia. J Neurosci 1988;8:4790-6.<br />25. Lai YY, Siegel JM. Muscle tone suppression and stepping produced by stimulation of<br />midbrain and rostral pontine reticular formation. J Neurosci 1990;10:2727-34.<br />26. Gilman S, Koeppe RA, Chervin RD, et al. REM sleep behavior disorder is related to striatal<br />monoaminergic deficit in MSA. Neurology 2003;61:29-34.<br />27. Eisensehr I, Linke R, Noachtar S, Schwarz J, Gildehaus Fj, Tatsch K. Reduced striatal<br />dopamine transporters in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.<br />Comparison with Parkinson's disease and controls. Brain 2000:123:1155-60.<br />28. Trulson ME, Jacobs BL, Morrison AR. Raphe unit activity during REM sleep in normal<br />cats and in pontine lesioned cats displaying REM sleep without atonia. Brain Res<br />1981;226:75-91.<br />29. Kubin L, Kimura H, Tojima H, Davies RO, Pack AI. Suppression of hypoglossal<br />motoneurons during the carbachol-induced atonia of REM sleep in not caused by fast<br />synaptic inhibition. Brain Res 1993;611:300-12.<br />30. Lai YY, Kodama T, Siegel JM. Changes in monoamine release in the ventral horn and<br />hypoglossal nucleus linked to pontine inhibition of muscle tone: an in vivo microdialysis<br />study. J Neurosci 2001;21:7384-91.<br />31. Gagnon JF, Bedard MA, Fantini ML, et al. REM sleep behavior disorder and REM sleep<br />without atonia in Parkinson's disease. Neurology 2002;59:585-9.<br />32. Rush AJ, Armitage R, Gillin JC, et al. Comparative effects of nefazodone and fluoxetine<br />on sleep in outpatients with major depressive disorder. Biol Psychiatry 1998;44:3-14.<br />33. Seifritz E, Stahl SM, Gillin JC. Human sleep EEG following the 5-HT1A antagonist pindolol:<br />possible disinhibition of raphe neuron activity. Brain Res 1997;759:84-91.<br />34. Landolt HP, Kelsoe JR, Rapaport MH, Gillin JC. Rapid tryptophan depletion reverses<br />phenelzine-induced suppression of REM sleep. J Sleep Res 2003;12:13-8.<br />35. Feige B, Voderholzer U, Riemann D, Dittmann R, Hohagen F, Berger M. Fluoxetine and<br />sleep EEG: effects of a single dose, subchronic treatment, and discontinuation in healthy<br />subjects. Neuropsychopharmacology 2002;26:246-58.<br />SLEEP, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004 321 Serotonergic Antidepressants and REM Sleep—Winkelman and JamesSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-19504927134292743872008-02-15T21:51:00.005-07:002008-02-15T22:16:05.709-07:00ALL who witness these crimes and do nothing are GUILTY!Shame on the FDA, Bush, and all who witnessed the harms of the drugs and did<br />nothing. Every "so called protective agency (Texas DHS, Texas O.I.G., Texas<br />MEFU, CMS, APS, the Attorney ADLitem in Hood County guardianship case, 3 nursing<br />home doctors, lazy nurses who just want all patients drugged into perpetual<br />objects, all saw the harms of the Texas Medication Algorithm Projet (TMAPS - read more <a href="http://psychrights.org/Drugs/AllenJonesTMAPJanuary20.pdf">"HERE"</a>)drugs to Mom, they all ignored and even<br />tried to cover-up. You may also add much of the media for not reporting to<br />inform and warn citizens.<br />Yes, I'd love to go before the FDA. But, the big picture is that the<br />pharmaceutical companies, doctors, corrupt over-sight agencies, and G.W. Bush<br />should be prosecuted for the harms and killings of the atypical antipsychotic<br />drugs which are mandated by Bush's TMAPS for-profit scheme.<br />There have been far more deaths to nursing home residents and children due to<br />the side effects of the drugs, than there have been due to suicide, and caring<br />family members who did research and tried to stop the prescribing of the drugs<br />being forced upon our loved ones, only got retaliated against.<br />There are plenty of listed side effects of the drugs, even without those that<br />were hidden, and though suicide is a high concern, patients and family members<br />should not continue to take side effects lightly.<br />G.W. Bush and all those involved should be prosecuted for all the harms and<br />killings (not just suicides). With criminal charges that the pharmaceutical<br />companies are facing due to TMAPS, why leave the other criminals out. If you<br />want change, justice, care, and accountability, the mission should be to impeach<br />and prosecute to send a strong message to the industries and the politicians who<br />have put their love of blood money above delivering care, justice, and<br />accountability.<br />Tell Congress, it's not too late to impeach and prosecute Bush for all the<br />reported harms, killings, and frauds.<br />Brenda A. DurantSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-49696186830908248702008-02-14T11:41:00.001-07:002008-02-14T11:44:11.525-07:00Dr Ann Tracy's post in USA Today on the prescription drug useYes they have taken the bait again and fallen hook line and sinker, but this time the cost will be FAR GREATER!!! The death toll at this point is beyond belief with "properly prescribed" prescription drugs killing as many every week as we lost at 9/11. (That is according to a study done by pharmacists - www.drugawareness.org) And who has gone to war over this type of terrorism? The whole country should be up in arms yet we continue to sleep through it all wondering what is wrong with our world!<br /><br />Do the drug companies care like they tell us they do on TV? Why should they? They are much too busy making trips to the bank - the biggest industry of death and destruction on the planet. Wish everyone could see how many deaths I see every day as a result of this mass drugging. If they would just drop dead that would be one thing, but on antidepressants and other serotonergic meds (pain killers & atypical antipsychotics) they generally take their families out before taking their own lives.<br /><br />They tried giving us LSD and PCP as prescription drugs in the late 50's and they were pulled from the market, but now we have them as the most popular prescription drugs on the market with all new names. And they did it without us even noticing why they called this the Decade of the Brain in our Orwellian nightmare society. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!<br /><br />Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director,<br />International Coalition for Drug Awareness<br />www.drugawareness.org & www.ssristories.comSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-78460771996926913932008-02-13T13:25:00.003-07:002008-02-13T15:46:43.896-07:00SM 9 Passed! Study Anti-Depressants and Suicide.Sarina's Voice "will" be heard, Sarina's life "will" be celebrated, Sarina's death "will not" be in vain, <br />As Sarina's mother, I "will" do everything in my power to Abolish Suicide-Causing Anti-Depressants!!!<br />I will spend the remainder of my days fighting the use of Psychotropic Drugs, I will fight for the rest of my life to educate about the link between SSRI's and Suicide, I will make it my personal battle to bring Prescription Drug Awareness to the general public and I will do this with the help of my army behind me; all of you that have supported me, my cause, my crusade and my daughter. Thank you - <br />Thank you for the collaboration it took from everyone to get this Memorial Act passed; All the Letters of Support, the emails, blogs and website postings truly made the difference.<br />I am honored to have all of you on my side and to call you all friends and family.<br />Here is the link to the New Mexico Legislature Website to check out SM9.<br /><a href="http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/_session.asp?year=08&chamber=S&number=9&type=M&w=com">"http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/_session.asp?year=08&chamber=S&number=9&type=M&w=com"</a><br />My work I do for Sarina and all the others out there who are, have been and could be innocent victims to these killer drugs. <br />There is no need for this to be in our society. The truth needs to be told so we do not lose any more people to this tragic death. These Anti-Depressant drugs have caused too much havoc for far too long and if not stopped now will continue to wreak more and more suicides, murder/suicides, school shootings and murder.<br />This Multi-Billion Dollar Industry has proof that over 63,000 suicides are directly related to these drugs. There is entirely too much human suffering caused by SSRI's.. <br />200,000 people die each year from prescription drugs, yet only 20,000 die as a result from illegal drug use. <br />More people have been killed by SSRI's than were killed by Terrorists in 9/11, who are the real Terrorists??<br /> <br />My next battle is to challenge the FDA, please email me as someone who wants to support me, join me, make a difference and save lives. I need hundreds of people with me to go face to face with the FDA.<br /><br /><strong>Who's in???</strong><br /><br />Email me your full name, email address, city and state if you are in on my "Going face-to-face with the FDA Challenge", We will add a button to our website with your names and links to your personal letters or testimonials that you want beside your name, so include them too.<br />Please forward this letter to "everyone" in your address book, as usual, ask them to forward it to everyone in their address book and so on and so on, Post this on any and all forums, blogs and websites you can.<br /><br /><strong>WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN!!!</strong><br /><br />My Mission is for the World to hear Sarinas Voice; for she is no longer with me to speak. <br />But she will be heard, through me, her Mother. <br />For I live with her inside me and I will live out loud, her voice will be heard. <br />My Crusade is to Abolish Suicide Causing AntiDepressants. There is strength in numbers, <br />I need the support of those who hold this issue close to their hearts; to assure that other parents and their children live a happy life without pain and without suicide. <br />My Campaign is to pass a Bill which will ultimately become Sarina's Law. <br /><br />Camille Milke, Eternal "Mommy" of Sarina Angel<br />Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Forever........<br />My Beautiful Baby Girl, 1/26/86 - 10/28/07, 21 years 9 months 3 days<br />COPES Foundation (Coalition Of Parents Enduring Suicide)<br />Founder and President, Main - 505-269-2286, Fax - 505-213-0999<br /><a href="mailto:SarinasVoice@aol.com">"SarinasVoice@aol.com"</a> <br /><a href="http://www.COPESFoundation.com">"www.COPESFoundation.com"</a><br /><a href="http://www.ILoveYouSarina21.last-memories.com">"www.ILoveYouSarina21.last-memories.com"</a><br />NM Director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness<br /><a href="http://www.DrugAwareness.org">"www.DrugAwareness.org"</a>Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-32128673816711928762008-02-12T21:05:00.003-07:002008-02-12T21:17:10.115-07:00MOTHERS ACT WOULD SUBJECT PREGNANT MOTHERS TO DRUGS CAUSING SPONSTANEOUS ABORTION AND BIRTH DEFECTSA bill which has passed the House of Representatives is about to be voted on <br />by the key Senate Committee in charge of this legislation — it is called "The <br />Mother's Act" (S. 1375)<br /><br />WE DON'T WANT THIS BILL TO PASS. SCREENING PREGNANT WOMEN FOR DEPRESSION WILL <br />OPEN THE DOOR TO FALSE LABELS AND DRUGGING.<br /><br />Contact your Representatives and Senators and tell them to stop the Mother’s Act (H.R. 20 / S. 1375).<br /><br />CALLS, OR FAXES, ARE NEEDED TODAY TO THE LIST OF SENATE COMMITTEE MEMBERS <br />BELOW.<br /><br />This easy to do: <br /><br />1) Call the numbers below and when the receptionist answers say, "I would like <br />to leave a message for the Senator."<br /><br />2) The receptionist will take your message.<br /><br />3) TELL THEM YOU ARE OPPOSED TO "THE MOTHER'S ACT" (S.1375) because of the <br />damage that will be done to mothers and infants due to the treatment that <br />will result from the legislation. Mothers need understanding and <br />compassionate medical care, not unscientific labels and mind altering <br />drugs. (Use your own words...keep it brief, mention the bill number)<br /><br />4) Pass this on to others....THANKS!!!!!<br /><br />Sen. Michael B. Enzi (WY)<br />Tele 202 224-3424<br />Fax: 202 228-0359<br /><br />Sen. Judd Gregg (NH) <br />Tele 202 224-3324<br />Fax 202 224-4952<br /><br />Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN)<br />Tele 202 224-4944<br />Fax 202 228-3398<br /><br />Sen. Richard Burr (NC)<br />Tele 202 224-3154<br />Fax 202 228-2981<br /><br />Sen. Johnny Isakson (GA)<br />Tele 202 224-3643<br />Fax 202 228-0724<br /><br />Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK)<br />Tele 202 224-6665<br />Fax 202 224-5301<br /><br />Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (UT)<br />Tele 202 224-5251<br />Fax 202 224-6331<br /><br />Sen. Pat Roberts (KS)<br />Tele 202 224-4774<br />Fax 202 224-3514<br /><br />Sen. Wayne Allard (CO)<br />Tele 202 224-5941<br />Fax 202 224-6471<br /><br />Sen. Tom Coburn (OK)<br />Tele 202 224-5754<br />Fax 202 224-6008<br /><br /><br />Current legislation moving through Congress called the “Mother’s Act” (H.R. 20 in the House and S 1375 in the Senate) seeks to "educate," “screen” and "treat" new mothers for postpartum depression. This sounds like a good idea, until you hear the specifics of what is planned. <br /><br />The bill defines postpartum depression as “a devastating mood disorder which strikes many women during and after pregnancy." The idea is to first screen as many pregnant women and new mothers as possible for depression using a 10-question survey, and “treat” those who they deem have depression or postpartum depression with antidepressants. <br /><br />Despite numerous studies showing a link between Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant use by pregnant women and spontaneous abortion or birth defects in newborns, the primary treatments that will be recommended are these newer SSRI antidepressants! <br /><br /><br />SSRIs Have Been Linked to Spontaneous Abortion<br /><br />and Birth Defects in Newborns<br /><br />Here is just a sampling of studies that point this out:<br /><br />May 1993: A study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association reported that of 117 pregnancies where the mother took Prozac during the first trimester, the risk of miscarriage was 14.8% compared to 7.8% in mothers not exposed to Prozac or other antidepressants.[1]<br /><br />November 1993: The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in a study that the risk of spontaneous abortion in women taking the SSRI antidepressant Prozac was as high as 15.9% and 3.4% perinatal (around the birth) malformations.[2]<br /><br />August 2003: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration reported that the use of SSRIs during or after pregnancy could result in newborn babies experiencing withdrawal effects and could also experience a toxic effect from ingestion of an SSRI in breast-milk. Withdrawal effects the baby experienced included agitation, jitteriness, poor feeding, sleepiness/lethargy, gastrointestinal symptoms and hypotania (deficient tone or tension).[3] (The Physicians Desk Reference also warns that Paxil can be secreted through breast milk). <br /><br />September 2005: Studies conducted by Danish and U.S. researchers determined that the use of SSRIs in the first three months of pregnancy was linked to a 40% increased risk of birth defects such as cleft palate and cardiac defects appeared to be 60% more likely when women used SSRIs.[4]<br /><br />February 9, 2006: The New England Journal of Medicine found that mothers who took SSRIs in the second half of their pregnancies were 6 times more likely to give birth to infants with a lung disorder called persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN). Between 10% and 20% of infants with PPHN will end up dying even if they receive treatment.[5]<br /><br />July 2006: The FDA warned of the risk of a fatal lung condition in newborns whose mothers took SSRIs during pregnancy.[6]<br /><br />October 2006: The journal Epidemiology, reported that babies born to women who took SSRI's during the second or third month of pregnancy had nearly 2 times the risk of having congenital malformations, with the most common being cardiovascular in 29%, muscle and bone malformations in 31% and 14% had digestive malformations.<br /><br />May 2007: A study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association reported that of 117 pregnancies where the mother took Prozac during the first trimester, the risk of miscarriage was 14.8% compared to 7.8% in mothers not exposed to Prozac or tricyclic antidepressants.[7]<br /><br /><br />The U.S. government should not be funding research and treatment of expectant mothers that will result in spontaneous abortion or birth defects to their young!<br /><br /><br />STUDIES AND DRUG REGULATORY AGENCY WARNINGS AGAINST PSYCHIATRIC DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY<br /><br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY<br /><br />Any legislation that provides for further funding of research into “post partum depression” opens the door to creating an even greater risk to pregnant women. Such research ultimately recommends biological (drug) treatments, which never cure, but potentially damage and place newborns at risk of serious physical problems, withdrawal and even death. Dozens of studies already show that these drugs are hazardous to pregnant women and infants.<br /><br />"These babies are bathed in serotonin [from Prozac-like antidepressants] during a key period of their development and we really don't know what it's doing to them or what the long-term effects might be. It could be that they go ‘cold turkey' when they are born or the serotonin could be having an effect on their brains, or it could be a bit of both." <br /><br />Philip Zeskind, a professor of pediatrics, <br /><br />The American Journal of Pediatrics 2004<br /><br /><br />BIRTH DEFECTS AND OTHER ADVERSE EFFECTS SUFFERED BY INFANTS WHOSE MOTHERS WERE PRESCRIBED ANTIDEPRESSANTS DURING PREGNANCY<br /><br />Abnormal crying<br /><br />Agitation<br /><br />Bluish skin color from lack of oxygen<br /><br />Breathing problems<br /><br />Congenital anomaly (abnormality)<br /><br />Convulsions<br /><br />Feeding difficulties<br /><br />Heart defects <br /><br />Low birth rate<br /><br />Jitteriness<br /><br />Lethargy<br /><br />Miscarriage<br /><br />Neurological problems (symptoms include irritability, constant crying, convulsions) <br /><br />Omphalocele (abnormality in which the infant's intestine or other abdominal organs protrude from the navel)<br /><br />Premature birth<br /><br />Rapid breathing<br /><br />Respiratory difficulties<br /><br />Restlessness <br /><br />Rigidity<br /><br />Seizures <br /><br />Small intestine defects<br /><br />Spontaneous abortions <br /><br />Suction problems<br /><br />Tremors<br /><br />Withdrawal effects, including convulsions, agitation (symptoms could begin on the first day after birth and persist for 10 days even though levels of the antidepressant were undetectable on day 6)<br /><br />These adverse reactions were reported in: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, World Health Organization, Epidemiology, The Archives of General Psychiatry, Harvard, The American Journal of Pediatrics, Science, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Journal of The American Medical Association, the FDA, Australian Therapeutics Goods Association.<br /><br />According to one of the world's leading experts on SSRI (Prozac-like) antidepressants, Dr David Healy, a professor at the University of Wales College of Medicine, "There is quite a movement at the moment to say all pregnant women are depressed." However, "There is no good reason to prescribe antidepressants, because only 1 out of 10 people are likely to respond to the drugs rather than to attention and support." "So in essence," he notes, "nine out of 10 pregnant women will be subject to the risks of the SSRIs….”<br /><br />Experts critical of antidepressant use during pregnancy all agree that in the absence of any proven effectiveness of treatment with SSRIs, potential harm to the fetus cannot be justified. <br /><br />____________________________________________________________________<br /><br />____________________________________________________________________<br /><br /> WHY H.R. 20/S. 1375, THE “MOTHER’S ACT” IS OPEN TO ABUSE<br /><br /><br />The “Mother’s Act” (H.R. 20/S.1375) has a reported purpose to ensure that new mothers and their families are educated about postpartum depression, screened for symptoms, and provided with essential services, and to increase research at the National Institutes of Health on postpartum depression. There are numerous problems with this bill: <br /><br /><br />Despite the fact that the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has already spent nearly $19 million during the last 10 years on postpartum depression, with no effective treatments found, the Mother’s Act calls for an unspecified amount of money over the next two years for even more research. <br />The bill does not acknowledge that there is diverse medical opinion about “postpartum depression” and whether it exists as a mental disability or as a physical condition that can be treated by normal medical or alternative means, already available. <br />Of great concern, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine lists no research grants for postpartum depression on its website for the last 3 years, and the bill provides no indication that alternatives that would be safer to both mother and child are available. <br />The only treatment for put forth in the bill for women either during pregnancy or after childbirth is biological agents (antidepressants or other psychotropic drugs), when naturopaths, chiropractors and others in the alternative health field confirm there are natural ways of treating so-called post partum depression. <br />The bill fails to address the fact that studies show that antidepressants prescribed to pregnant women can cause miscarriage, premature birth, and in babies born to pregnant women taking these drugs, congenital heart birth defects, life-threatening lung disease, neurological symptoms, and withdrawal symptoms. <br />This treatment modality forwarded by the bill could lead to thousands of lawsuits, as hundreds have already been filed concerning the effects of antidepressant use during pregnancy. Children have been born with club foot, cleft pallet, and some have required several surgeries to correct the condition alleged to have been caused by psychiatric drug use during pregnancy. <br />Mental health screening, whether for postpartum depression or otherwise, is not the same as medical testing that show a tangible result. Rather it relies upon subjective questionnaires that are then evaluated based solely on opinion. <br />This bill makes no provision to protect women from this, to protect the fetus and infants from harmful psychotropic drugs most commonly prescribed for “post partum depression” and opens the door to massive increases in healthcare costs arising from treatment of iatrogenic-caused conditions through drug prescriptions.<br />______________________________________________________________________<br />______________________________________________________________________<br /><br />SAMPLE STUDIES SHOWING PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY IS DANGEROUS, PLACING THE FETUS, MOTHER AND INFANTS AT RISK<br /><br /><br />May 1993: A study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association reported that of 117 pregnancies where the mother took Prozac during the first trimester, the risk of miscarriage was 14.8% compared to 7.8% in mothers not exposed to Prozac or other antidepressants.[1]<br /><br />August 1993: Between 1988 and August 1993, the FDA Adverse Drug Reaction reports for listed incidents of 17 babies being born with a congenital anomaly to mothers who had taken Prozac prior to or during pregnancy.[2] <br /><br />November 1993: Eli Lilly, manufacturer of Prozac, admitted that the risk of spontaneous abortion in women taking Prozac was as high as 15.9% and 3.4% perinatal (around the birth) malformations.[3]<br /><br />1996: The New England Journal of Medicine reported a study that showed higher rates of premature delivery, low birth weight, admissions to intensive care units, including respiratory and feeding difficulties, and jitteriness, in children born to women who took Prozac during pregnancy. [4]<br /><br />March 2003: A Harvard study showed that infants exposed in the womb to valproate (Depakote, Depakene or Epivil) prescribed for mood disorders, had twice as many birth defects as previously thought—8.8% had serious abnormalities compared to previously reported rate of 4%.[5] <br /><br />July 2003: A Finnish study published in The Archives of General Psychiatry found that infants whose mothers took antidepressants during pregnancy could suffer neurological problems during their first week of life. The symptoms included tremors, restlessness and rigidity. Previous studies had shown that pregnant women taking SSRIs during the third trimester of pregnancy could experience neurological symptoms such as irritability, constant crying, convulsions and eating and sleeping disorders.[6]<br /><br />August 2003: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration reported that the use of SSRIs during or after pregnancy could result in newborn babies experiencing withdrawal effects and could also experience a toxic effect from ingestion of an SSRI in breast-milk. withdrawal effects the baby experienced included agitation, jitteriness, poor feeding, sleepiness/lethargy, gastrointestinal symptoms and hypotania (deficient tone or tension).[7]<br /><br />2004: The FDA revised SSRI labels to warn that some infants had developed problems requiring prolonged hospitalization, respiratory support, and tube feeding. [8] <br /><br />February 2004: The American Journal of Pediatrics found direct evidence of a link between fetal exposure to SSRIs and disrupted neurological development. "Researchers linked abnormal sleeping patterns, heart rhythms and levels of alertness” to SSRIs.[9]<br /><br />June 2004: A study published in Prescrire International found that newborns exposed to SSRIs toward the end of pregnancy showed signs of agitation, altered muscle tone, and breathing and suction problems, with an estimated 20% to 30% of the infants in the study affected. [10] <br /><br />June 2004: The FDA also recorded 19 adverse events in pregnant women who took Effexor, an antidepressant closely related to SSRIs, including seizures, jitteriness, and jaundice. [11]<br /><br />July 2004: The adverse event reports prompted the FDA to change the labeling for all SSRIs, warning that newborns exposed to SSRIs have developed problems requiring prolonged hospitalizations, respiratory support, and tube feeding. [12]<br /><br />October 2004: Researchers from Columbia University published a study in the journal, Science, suggesting that exposure to Prozac in the womb and in early childhood may permanently alter the brain's circuitry and disrupt neural development, leading to serious emotional disorders later in life. [13]<br /><br />2005: Researchers in France published a paper suggesting that serotonin exerts an impact on developmental processes of the embryo much earlier than previously believed. According to psychiatrist, Dr Grace Jackson, author of Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A Guide for Informed Consent, prescribing SSRIs as a preventative measure during pregnancy is a terrible idea. The major reason why preventive use is so dangerous, she says, is the research suggesting that the SSRIs exert a direct effect upon the early embryo.[14]<br /><br />February 2005: Researchers from the University of La Laguna in Spain reported the use of antidepressants was associated with newborn withdrawal syndrome, in the British medical journal, Lancet—symptoms include convulsions, irritability, abnormal crying and tremor. [15]<br /><br />September 2005: The Journal of Psychopharmacology published a study in which researchers discussed whether the symptoms found with infants at birth represented Paxil (paroxetine) toxicity or a withdrawal syndrome. The infant's symptoms began on the first day after birth and persisted for 10 days even though levels of paroxetine were undetectable on day 6. [16]<br /><br />September 2005: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) advised health care professionals of a Paxil label change that, according to data obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study of infants, women who took an SSRIs were more likely to have an infant with omphalocele (abnormality in which the infant's intestine or other abdominal organs protrude from the navel). The study above also found an association of exposure to SSRIs and giving birth to an infant with craniosynostosis (a congenital defect-present at birth. The connections between sutures-skull bones prematurely close during the first year of life, which causes an abnormally shaped skull.) [17]<br /><br />September 2005: Studies conducted by Danish and U.S. researchers determined that the use of SSRIs in the first three months of pregnancy was linked to a 40% increased risk of birth defects such as cleft palate and cardiac defects appeared to be 60% more likely when women used SSRIs.[18]<br /><br />September 2005: The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration warned health professionals warning that SSRI use—especially Paxil—in early pregnancy could cause congenital heart abnormalities in newborns.[19] <br /><br />September 2005: The FDA and GSK issued a warning that pregnant women taking Paxil or other antidepressants during their first trimester of pregnancy experienced an increased risk of major congenital (birth defect) and cardiovascular malformations at birth; also premature births in pregnant women exposed to SSRIs.[20] <br /><br />February 2006: An analysis of World Health Organization medical records found that infants whose mothers took antidepressants while pregnant may suffer withdrawal effects. A study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia and published in the British Lancet. [21] Researchers determined that about one out of three newborns exposed to SSRIs in the womb showed signs of neonatal (newborn) drug withdrawal. About 30% exhibited signs of withdrawal in the hours after birth. None of the infants who were not exposed to SSRIs had symptoms. [22]<br /><br />February 2006: The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine reported that nearly one-third of newborn infants whose mothers took SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy experienced withdrawal symptoms. Previous studies had identified other symptoms such as rapid breathing, bluish skin color from lack of oxygen, feeding difficulties, low blood sugar and jitteriness.[23] <br /><br />February 9, 2006: The New England Journal of Medicine found that mothers who took SSRIs in the second half of their pregnancies were 6 times more likely to give birth to infants with a lung disorder called persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN). The condition occurs when a newborn's circulation system does not adapt to breathing outside the womb and causes high pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs making them unable to get enough oxygen into their bloodstream and can be fatal. Between 10% and 20% of infants with PPHN will end up dying even if they receive treatment.[24]<br /><br />February 2006: In a related study involving 73 infants who were exposed to an SSRI right up until delivery, and 101 infants who were only exposed during the first trimester of pregnancy, researchers found that babies exposed throughout the entire pregnancy had significantly increased complications like hypotonia [having less than normal muscular tone or tension], respiratory problems and jitteriness compared to the other infants. [25]<br /><br />March 2006: Health Canada issued a warning that SSRIs and other newer antidepressants when taken by pregnant women placed newborns at risk of developing a rare lung and heart condition.[26]<br /><br />April 2006: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reported that taking SSRIs doubled the mother's risk of delivering a stillborn infant and increased the risk of premature delivery, underweight babies, and seizures. [27]<br /><br />April 7, 2006: A Canadian study from the University of Ottawa, found those who used SSRIs were more likely to have premature and low birth weight babies. Almost 20% of women who used SSRIs gave birth prematurely, compared to 12% of mothers who did not use the drugs. Infants born to women using SSRIs were also found to be more likely to have seizures. [28]<br /><br />July 2006: The FDA warned of the risk of a fatal lung condition in newborns whose mothers took SSRIs during pregnancy.[29] <br /><br />November 2006: The journal Epidemiology published by researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark who found that pregnant women who take the newer type of antidepressants are more likely to have babies with birth defects than mothers who don’t take these drugs.[30] <br /><br />December 29: A new Canadian study published in Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology, examined in greater detail the association between first trimester exposure to paroxetine (Paxil and Paxil CR) and the occurrence of major congenital malformation, especially major cardiac malformations. Paroxetine was significantly associated with a “two-fold increase in the risk of major congenital anomalies, and more specifically with a three-fold increase in the risk of major cardiac anomalies.”[31]<br /><br />May 8, 2007: The German Drug Regulatory Agency (BfArM) warned of increased risk of cardiac malformation in newborns when the mother took Paxil during pregnancy. <br /><br />May 2007: A study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association reported that of 117 pregnancies where the mother took Prozac during the first trimester, the risk of miscarriage was 14.8% compared to 7.8% in mothers not exposed to fluoxetine or tricyclic antidepressants.[32]Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-22643198439514694492008-02-12T12:20:00.001-07:002008-02-12T21:14:51.832-07:00Objection to the Proposed MOTHERS Act - BillFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br /><br />UNITE / CHAADA / ICFDA / COPES Foundation<br />Objection to the Proposed MOTHERS Act - Bill<br />before Senate Puts Young Children and <br />Mothers in Serious Danger<br /><br />February 11, 2008<br /><br />Contacts:<br /><br />Amy Philo, <a href="mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org">mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org</a><br />214-705-0169 home, 817-793-8028 cell<br /><a href="http://www.chaada.org/">"www.chaada.org"</a> <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/">"www.uniteforlife.org"</a><br /><br />Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director of the ICFDA<br /><a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">"www.drugawareness.org"</a><br /><a href="mailto:atracyphd1@aol.com">mailto:atracyphd1@aol.com</a>, 800-280-0730 direct<br /><br />Camille Milke <a href="mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/">mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/</a><br />505-269-2286 direct or 505-213-0999 fax (USA numbers)<br /><a href="http://www.copesfoundation.com/">"www.copesfoundation.com"</a>,<a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">"www.drugawareness.org"</a><br /><br /><br />To the HELP Committee of the United States Senate:<br />For years, the March of Dimes has warned not to use meds while pregnant. Why now encourage mothers to take drugs?<br /><br />Please register this extreme objection to the proposed MOTHERS Act (S. 1375) which is now before you in committee. It is my earnest hope that you will immediately defeat this bill in committee. The bill has been brought to you under the guise of ensuring safety or support for new mothers- however, nothing could be further from the truth. <br />The bill was originally proposed in response to the death by suicide of Melanie Stokes, a pharmaceutical rep. who took her own life by leaping from a balcony several stories off of the ground. Contrary to popular understanding it was not post-partum depression that killed Melanie, but the numerous antidepressant drugs she was taking, which the FDA confirmed doubles the suicide risk.<br /><br />Nobody is suggesting that new moms do not ever experience mood swings, depression, or even psychotic episodes. The more important issue is what the effect of this bill will be and why nobody is addressing potential methods of prevention. Everyone knows how many young moms experience gestational diabetes, but who is addressing the even higher rate of gestational hypoglycemia, which often initially manifests as depression? This is a physical condition that is treated with diet and is exacerbated by antidepressants (which list hypoglycemia as a side effect).<br /><br />To simply screen women for post-partum mood disorders and ensure that they get "treatment," we would be setting families up for the expectation of tragedy and increasing the chances of that actually happening when we refer them to medical "professionals" who are oblivious to the negative mind-altering effects of psychiatric drugs. A popular opinion among medical caregivers these days is that "post-partum mood disorders" must be a sign of an underlying biochemical imbalance and would be corrected with drugs. <br /><br />Current drugs used on post-partum women include SSRIs, atypical antidepressants, and even antipsychotic drugs. These pose a significant risk to the immediate safety and health of women as well as their children and families. SSRIs carry a black box warning for suicide and the most popular one, Effexor (the same med. Andrea Yates was taking when she drowned her 5 children), has the words “homicidal ideation” listed as a side effect. Nearly every recent case of infanticide which has made news can be clearly linked back to a psychiatric drug. These drugs endanger babies and mothers. <br /> <br />Additionally, the drugs can be extremely addictive and also pose a risk to nurslings or babies exposed in subsequent pregnancies. Some babies have died from SIDS linked to exposure from pregnancy or nursing; others have experienced coma, seizures, GI bleeding, heart defects, lung problems, and many babies died before reaching full term or soon after birth.<br /><br />The bill does not address the fact that studies show that biological agents (antidepressants for example) cited in the bill and already prescribed to pregnant women can cause congenital heart birth defects where children have had to undergo open-heart surgeries to correct this. Also, some babies are being born with organs outside their bodies, requiring immediate surgery. <br /><br />In closing I want to re-emphasize the total lack of any real answer to post-partum depression posed by this bill. If we can prevent post-partum depression or support moms through it, or offer proven SAFE and EFFECTIVE natural alternatives to dangerous drugs, then we should. However we should never, ever become party to a pharmaceutical campaign to push drugs on the public. We will set ourselves up for disaster if we allow an invasion into the privacy of every family in the country and suggest to our most vulnerable citizens that they might be mentally ill.<br /><br />We must do everything in our power to protect innocent children, and giving their mothers addictive drugs which pose a significant risk of causing suicide and violence does not protect anyone. It does cause the child to become addicted while still in the womb and sets up drug dependence which can be lifelong.<br /><br />We still have no idea what effect most drugs have on developing brains. It might take decades for the impact on the developing brain to become apparent.<br /><br />For information on the research pertaining to the risks of antidepressants and other treatments for new moms and their babies, details about the Melanie Stokes case (or you can read the letter by Dr. Ann Blake Tracy at <br /><a href="http://uniteforlife.org/MOTHERSact.htm#drtracymothersact">"http://uniteforlife.org/MOTHERSact.htm#drtracymothersact"</a>, as well as information on prevention strategies and safe, effective treatments for post-partum mood disorders, please contact us.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Amy Philo<br />Founder, <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/">"www.uniteforlife.org"</a><br />Co-Founder, <a href="http://www.chaada.org/">"www.chaada.org"</a><br /><br />Camille Milke<br />Founder, <a href="http://www.copesfoundation.com/">"www.copesfoundation.com"</a>,<br />New Mexico State Director of the ICFDA (<a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">"www.drugawareness.org"</a>) <br />Mother of a victim of psychiatric drug-induced suicide and grandmother to a now motherless child<br /><br />Dr. Ann Blake Tracy<br />Executive Director of the ICFDA<br />(<a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">"www.drugawareness.org"</a>) <br />Author of Prozac: Pancaea or Pandora? Our Serotonin Nightmare<br /><br />Addendum(available online: <a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/MOTHERpress.htm">"http://www.uniteforlife.org/MOTHERpress.htm"</a>)<br /><br />Prevention and Alternatives Information from UNITE (<a href="http://www.uniteforlife.org/">"www.uniteforlife.org"</a>):<br /><br />I. Danger of drugs<br />A. Inducing suicide and homicide<br /><a href="http://uniteforlife.org/SSRIs%20and%20Suicide.html">"http://uniteforlife.org/SSRIs%20and%20Suicide.html"</a><br /><a href="http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html">"www.drugawareness.org"</a><br /><a href="http://www.ssristories.com/">"www.ssristories.com"</a><br /><a href="http://www.breggin.com/">"www.breggin.com"</a><br /><a href="http://www.healyprozac.com/">"www.healyprozac.com"</a><br /><a href="http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm">"http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm"</a><br /><a href="http://www.fda.gov/cder/warn/2007/Effexor_XRPromo.pdf">"http://www.fda.gov/cder/warn/2007/Effexor_XRPromo.pdf"</a><br /><a href="http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/04n0330/04N-0330-EC16.html">"http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/04n0330/04N-0330-EC16.html"</a><br /><a href="http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/04/slides/2004-4065OPH1_04_Bostock_files/frame.htm#slide0012.htm">"http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/04/slides/2004-4065OPH1_04_Bostock_files/frame.htm#slide0012.htm"</a>,<br /><br />B. Addiction, subsequent pregnancies threatened, nurslings threatened: <a href="http://uniteforlife.org/breastfeeding.html">"http://uniteforlife.org/breastfeeding.html"</a><br /><a href="http://uniteforlife.org/antidepressants%20in%20pregnancy%20articles.html">"http://uniteforlife.org/antidepressants%20in%20pregnancy%20articles.html"</a><br /><a href="http://uniteforlife.org/developing%20brains.htm">"http://uniteforlife.org/developing%20brains.htm"</a><br /><a href="http://uniteforlife.org/health%20risks%20ssris.html">"http://uniteforlife.org/health%20risks%20ssris.html"</a><br /><a href="http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2005/Paxil_DHCP%20Letter_Dec%202005.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/medwaTCH/SAFETY/2002/Zoloft_USPI_rev4.pdf">"http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2005/Paxil_DHCP%20Letter_Dec%202005.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/medwaTCH/SAFETY/2002/Zoloft_USPI_rev4.pdf"</a><br />(See pages 17-18, Pregnancy paragraph - which states that an increase in stillbirths and newborn deaths occurred from pregnancy plus nursing exposure)<br /><br />Note: despite claims of minimal exposure to nurslings by some health professionals, the data on safety of nursing a baby while taking SSRIs and antipsychotics is based on an extremely small sample (nevermind that serious adverse events have been observed even in the few studies actually done). For SSRIs the studies amount to a few dozen people, many of which were also supplementally feeding formula. The Zyprexa study purported to study only 7 nursing couples and only examined 6 children's blood. See <a href="http://uniteforlife.org/zyprexa%20objection.htm">"http://uniteforlife.org/zyprexa%20objection.htm"</a> for more information on the risks of Zyprexa.<br /><br />II. Prevention of Post-Partum Mood Disorders:<br /><br />A. Avoid interventions in childbirth: HOME BIRTH or midwifery or otherwise natural childbirth statistically results in LESS PPD..<br /><br />Mothers Can Avoid (Specifically):<br />1. Labor drugs, including pitocin which interferes with normal oxytocin stimulation of uterine contractions (oxytocin is the love hormone and sets off many chemicals in the brain associated with normal maternal bonding & protective behavior)<br />2. IVs with glucose water during labor which can lead to complications in the newborn like perceived excessive weight loss, hypoglycemia, thus creating "mommy guilt" from feeling as if she is unable to sustain her own baby's survival due to perceived inadequate milk supply and subsequent breastfeeding difficulty when baby is inevitably given supplemental feedings<br />3. Avoid epidural which can cause breastfeeding difficulties in the newborn and may be associated with mood problems (the anesthesia fentanyl in the epidural is derived from cocaine)<br />4. Avoid episiotomy which can lead to excessive blood loss and fatigue as well as significant pain leading to use of pain medications<br />5. Avoid restrictive dieting before / after childbirth which can cause preterm labor (not having enough calories and protein leads to low albumin and high blood pressure), low blood sugar and lack of energy<br />6. Avoid epinephrine, which is often necessary in labor because of fetal distress or maternal distress (trouble breathing, low blood pressure) which are side effects in both mom and baby from pitocin or other augmentation as well as epidurals. Epinephrine is synthetic adrenaline and has been linked to mental disturbances.<br /><br />B. Post-partum period:<br />1. FOR MANY WEEKS MOMS WILL NEED: someone to help with meals, chores, child care, etc. Without that, women ARE FAR MORE LIKELY to feel symptoms of depression, anxiety, etc.<br />2. MOMS WILL NEED someone to help with breastfeeding if they are inexperienced or have problems. They can contact a La Leche League Leader or an IBCLC. Loss of breastfeeding is sometimes associated with PPD due to additional hormonal changes in moms, while breastfeeding itself is thought to ease PPD due to numerous factors.<br />3. MOMS (and families) WILL FEEL BETTER if they cosleep because they will be well-rested and breastfeeding will be easier. For safety tips on cosleeping moms can use common sense or write to <a href="mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org">mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org</a> for more info. Contrary to campaigns by the Crib Manufacturers SIDS is actually more common in cribs.<br /><br />III. Alternatives to Drugs:<br />1. Screen for underlying medical conditions such as Thyroid disorders, anemia, etc. and treat those as safely as is possible. Thyroid disorders such as hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism (or both - postpartum thyroiditis) are quite common and can cause depression or anxiety.<br />2. Omega 3 Supplements (From Fish Oil, Flaxseed, etc.)<br />3. Exercise (although initially excessive exercise will not help a woman, after childbirth it is necessary to rest in order to recover, and not lose too much blood) <a href="http://uniteforlife.org/exercise.html">"http://uniteforlife.org/exercise.html"</a> Medication shown to cause relapse, exercise MORE effective than antidepressant drugs<br />4. Some people feel that counseling is effective<br />5. Some people find alternative treatments effective, for example: chiropractic, homeopathy (even for PSYCHOSIS), accupuncture, energy work, etc.<br />6. MOMS can FIND A SUPPORT GROUP or helpful PERSON but NOT one that will push them to use drugs.<br /><br />IV. Alternative Ways to Support American Families:<br />If the government really wants to help moms, why not educate on these common sense strategies, push for better maternity leave allowances, improve obstetric cooperation with midwifery, or promote paternity leave or leave for grandparents who can help new mothers during their time of need?<br /><br />V. The Bill Violates Basic American Principles and Rights:<br />Mothers want time in PEACE and PRIVACY to be with their new babies to bond. They DO NOT need to be dragged off to an invasive and dangerous screening for mental problems. The power of suggestion alone is enough to scare a significant amount of moms and this invasion of privacy goes far beyond anything EVER imposed on the U.S. Public.<br /><br />Furthermore, similar programs like Teen Screen have been a total failure with an 84% or higher misdiagnosis rate. The vast majority of these misdiagnosed students were referred to mental health practitioners and put on drugs.<br /><br />There is no language in the bill that protects thousands of mothers being erroneously screened and drugged with antidepressants that medical studies show cause birth defects and withdrawal symptoms, devastating families and driving up health care costs to treat these iatrogenic-caused conditions. <br /><br />The bill seeks more appropriations to the National Institutes of Health to research postpartum depression but doesn't specify how the funds are to be used. For example, during the past 3 years, NIMH has already spent more than $10 million on 38 studies of PPD, yet the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine lists no grants on its website for such research. <br /><br />There is no language about the diverse medical opinion and studies about "post partum depression" and whether it exists as a mental disability or as a physical condition that can be treated by normal medical or alternative means. <br /><br />While the bill promotes more research into the condition, it doesn't provide safeguards about this research and the effects of biological agents on the fetus--with studies suggesting that antidepressants may exert an impact on developmental processes of the embryo, and cause higher rates of premature delivery, low birth weight, admissions to intensive care units, and poor neonatal adaptation, including respiratory and feeding difficulties in infants. <br /><br />The way in which the bill is currently worded could lead to thousands of suits as hundreds have already been filed concerning antidepressant use during pregnancy that has resulted in infants being born with a life-threatening lung disorder, PPHN and that between 10% and 20% of infants born with PPHN end up dying, even when they receive treatment.Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-67391824571703937352008-02-10T10:05:00.000-07:002008-02-10T10:16:36.206-07:00More attacks on our children by Big Pharma - Stop Teen Screen!Please comment and also write a letter to the editor! <br /> <br />Comments here: <A HREF="http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03013108.htm">"http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03013108.htm"</A><br /> <br />Letters to the Editor: <A HREF="mailto:letters@news-jrnl.com">letters@news-jrnl.com</A><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><strong><big>Florida agency to review antipsychotic drug policy for kids</big><br />NEWS: Front Page <br />By M.C. MOEWE <A HREF="mailto:mary.moewe@news-jrnl.com ">mary.moewe@news-jrnl.com </A><br /><br />January 31, 2008 </strong><br /><br />The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration plans to create a subcommittee to review its guidelines on payments for medications after questions were raised about antipsychotics being prescribed for children in the state's insurance program for the poor. <br /><br />Medicaid will pay for a drug only if it is "medically necessary and prescribed for medically accepted indications," according to the agency's current guidelines. <br /><br />The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported earlier this month that the number of Florida Medicaid children prescribed antipsychotics had nearly doubled -- from 9,364 seven years ago to 18,137 in 2006. Among those children, the most common primary diagnosis was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- an ailment not approved for treatment with antipsychotics by the Food and Drug Administration. <br /><br />"The science of pharmacology has seen significant advances and we are revisiting this rule to see if it needs to be updated," said Fernando Senra, press secretary for the agency. "Federal law provides each state with the authority to cover medications that doctors prescribe for off-label purposes." <br /><br />David Stallard, an assistant attorney general in Utah, said he believes the Federal Medicaid statute is clear that a drug not used for "medically accepted indications" is excluded from coverage if states want matching federal funds. <br /><br />He has broached the subject with the agency that runs Utah's Medicaid program but has met strong opposition. <br /><br />"I get the impression that they are under so much pressure from the doctors that they basically cave," Stallard said. "They say 'this is our most vulnerable population and we should protect access.' I turn that around and say this is our most vulnerable population and we should not experiment on them." <br /><br />Currently, Utah is suing Eli Lilly after preliminary results indicate about a quarter of the state's Medicaid adults taking the antipsychotic Zyprexa developed diabetes, he said. <br /><br />Florida Agency for Health Care Secretary Dr. Andrew Agwunobi requested creating a work group, under the Medical Care Advisory Committee, that will bring together experts in the field to determine whether changes to our current policies are appropriate, Senra said. The group's findings will be presented to the Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Committee in March for review and recommendations. <br /><br />The committee includes physicians, Medicaid recipients, and government department heads, Senra said. <br /><br />In 2005 the Agency for Health Care paid $3 million for a study on the use of antipsychotics among Medicaid children. The contract with Dr. Robert Constantine with the Medicaid Drug Therapy Management Program for Behavioral Health at the University of South Florida also called for a panel of experts that developed guidelines for prescribing antipsychotics to children. <br /><br />Agency officials reviewed and accepted those prescribing guidelines, which included the recommendation that antipsychotics should not be used primarily to target ADHD, Constantine said. Nor should antipsychotics be given to children under age 6 except under the most extraordinary circumstances. <br /><br />That the agency is now looking at updating the guidelines on paying for medications after accepting the new prescribing guidelines seems appropriate, Constantine said. <br /><br />"For example, they might consider under what circumstances should there be a special prior authorization," Constantine said. "They would really be looking at how their internal policies deal with prescribers." <br /><br />Constantine's organization also monitors Florida Medicaid doctors prescribing antipsychotics, he said. Those with questionable prescribing patterns are sent letters and sometimes called and asked about the prescriptions they write. <br /><br /><br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />529 signatures needed to make 25,000 <A HREF="http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html">"http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html"</A> Video: <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY">"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY"</A>Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-41422840811293530752008-02-09T13:30:00.000-07:002008-02-09T13:55:15.950-07:00Heath Ledger's death: Aspartame interaction with Zoloft?<strong><big>All will be affected by these horrific events in time. That's why it is so important to become active now! Due to the dedicated and determined efforts of Dr Tracy and others, I am certain hundreds of thousands or even millions have been spared but it is only a matter of time. Sarina's Voice needs to be heard to Abolish this chain of death and destruction.<br /><br />The following is from Dr Ann Blake Tracy:</big></strong><br /><br />First of all the best sweetener would most likely be the herb Stevia, also known as Sweet Herb, because it is nine times sweeter than sugar and actually helps rebuild the pancreas rather than harming it as most sweeteners on the market do. I use only liquid as I do not like the taste of the powdered. There are also other natural sweeteners.<br /> <br />Now down to the subject: NutraSweet or Aspartame<br /> <br />NutraSweet or Aspartame is most definitely, without question, a Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor or SSRI. There is no difference! And as such it will interact with antidepressants - all of them because all antidepressants inhibit serotonin reuptake.<br /> <br />Beyond that SSRIs cause overwhelming cravings for NutraSweet often causing patients to drink 2 -3 gallons per day!!! I made that report to Dr. Russell Blaylock in the mid 1990's (I am sure he remembers the call as we discussed this at length.)<br /> <br />So there are multiple factors involved here:<br /> <br />#1 You have an SSRI (NutraSweet) introduced to the market in the early 1980's as a commonly used sweetener setting society up for depression, anxiety, seizure activity (including mania/bipolar disorder), etc - all the symptoms of low serotonin metabolism.<br /> <br />#2 Then comes the introduction of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc. which we were told was the "cure" for what NutraSweet was actually causing unbeknown to the users.<br /> <br />#3 Prozac, and other SSRIs cause overwhelming cravings for NutraSweet setting up very serious interactions between the two substances.<br /> <br />#4 The main function of serotonin is constriction of smooth muscle tissue. Jack the serotonin up too high and you have multiple organ failure - what Daniel Smith - Anna Nicole's son died from due to his use of multiple serotonergic agents.<br /> <br />#5 Serotonin has LONG been known to have many effects upon the heart. Mayo's Dr. Heidi Connelly found the high serotonin produced by Fen-Phen and Redux to being causing a gummy gooey glossy substance to build up on the heart valves causing heart problems. The same effect can be expected from any long term use or combination of serotonergic agents - any and all of them no matter what you choose to name them.<br /> <br />#5 Combining any of these together, Zoloft and NutraSweet, Prozac and Zoloft, Redux (now off the market due to the brain damage it caused - NOT due to heart damage although it causes that too - they got away with murder with that drug!) and NutraSweet, whatever, will subject the user to any and all of the possible effects of elevated serotonin levels. To see some of the possibilities see my presentations to the FDA below.<br /> <br /> <br />Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D., Executive Director, <br />International Coalition For Drug Awareness<br />Website: www.drugawareness.org & www.ssristories.com <br />Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare<br />& CD or audio tape on safe withdrawal: "Help! I Can't Get <br />Off My Antidepressant!" <br />Order Number: 800-280-0730<br /><br /><br /><br />Cell Number: 801-209-1800<br />E-mail: atracyphd1@aol.com<br /><br />________________________________ <br /><br /> <br />Dr. Ann Blake Tracy's September 13, 2004 to the FDA<br /><br /> <br /><br />I am Ann Blake Tracy, PhD, head of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness. I am the author of Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare and have testified in court cases involving antidepressants for 12 1/2 years. The last 15 years of my life have been devoted full time to researching and writing about SSRI antidepressants. <br /><br />Research on serotonin has been clear from the very beginning that the most damaging thing that could be done to the serotonin system would be to impair one?s ability to metabolize serotonin. Yet that is exactly how SSRI antidepressants exert their effects. <br /><br />For decades research has shown that impairing serotonin metabolism will produce migraines, hot flashes, pains around the heart, difficulty breathing, a worsening of bronchial complaints, tension and anxiety which appear from out of nowhere, depression, suicide - especially very violent suicide, hostility, violent crime, arson, substance abuse, psychosis, mania, organic brain disease, autism, anorexia, reckless driving, Alzheimer?s, impulsive behavior with no concern for punishment, and argumentative behavior. <br /><br />How anyone ever thought it would be "therapeutic" to chemically induce these reactions is beyond me. Yet, these reactions are exactly what we have witnessed in our society over the past decade and a half as a result of the widespread use of these drugs. <br /><br />In fact we even have a whole new vocabulary as a result with terms such as "road rage," "suicide by cop," "murder/suicide," "going postal," "false memory syndrome," "school shooting," "bi-polar" - every third person you meet anymore - along with the skyrocketing rates of antidepressant-induced diabetes and hypoglycemia. <br /><br />Can you remember two decades ago when depressed people used to slip away quietly to kill themselves rather than killing everyone around them and then themselves as they do while taking SSRI antidepressants? <br /><br />A study out of the University of Southern California in 1996 looked at a group of mutant mice in an experiment that had gone terribly wrong. These genetically engineered mice were the most violent creatures they had ever witnessed. They were born lacking the MAO-A enzyme which metabolizes serotonin. As a result their brains were awash in serotonin. This excess serotonin is what the researchers determined was the cause for this extreme violence. Antidepressants produce the same end result as they inhibit the metabolism of serotonin. <br /><br />These are extremely dangerous drugs that should be banned as similar drugs have been banned in the past. <br /><br />As a society we once thought LSD and PCP to be miracle medications with large margins of safety in humans. We have never seen drugs so similar to LSD and PCP as these SSRI antidepressants. All of these drugs produce dreaming during periods of wakefulness. It is believed that the high serotonin levels over stimulate the brain stem leading to a lack of muscle paralysis during sleep thus allowing the patient to act out the dreams or nightmares they are having. The world witnessed that clearly in the Zoloft-induced murder-suicide of comedian Phil Hartman and his wife, Brynn. <br /><br />Connecticut witnessed the Prozac-induced case of Kelly Silk several years ago. This young mother attacked her family with a knife, then set the house on fire killing all but her 8 year old daughter who ran to the neighbors. As she stood bleeding and screaming for help she explained, "Help! My mommy is having a nightmare!" <br /><br />Out of the mouths of babes we will understand these nightmares for what they are. She understood that this was something her mother would do ONLY in a nightmare, never in reality. <br /><br />This is known as a REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. In the past it was known mainly as a drug withdrawal state, but the largest sleep facility in the country has reported that 86% of the cases they are diagnosing are patients on antidepressants. <br /><br />Because this was known in the past as a condition manifesting mainly in drug withdrawal you should see how dangerous the withdrawal state from these drugs will prove to be. That is why it is so critical to make sure patients are weaned EXTREMELY slowly so as to avoid ANY chance of going into a withdrawal state <br /><br />_________________ <br /><br /><br />Dr. Ann Blake Tracy's December 13, 2006 to the FDA<br /><br /> <br />Ann Blake-Tracy, PhD, head of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness, author of Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? & Our Serotonin Nightmare. For 15 years I have testified in court cases involving antidepressants. The last 17 years of my life have been devoted to researching, writing, and lecturing about these drugs. <br /> <br />Two of my nieces in their early 20's, a decade apart, attempted suicide on antidepressants, the first on Prozac, the second just a month ago on Wellbutrin. <br /> <br />Due to time constraints I refer you to my September, 2004 testimony on the damaging effects of inhibiting serotonin metabolism - the very mode of action of antidepressants. Impairing serotonin metabolism results in a multitude of symptoms including suicide, violent crime, mania and psychosis. Suicidal ideation is, without question, associated with these drugs. <br /> <br />Rosie Meysenburg, Sara Bostock and I have collected and posted 1200 news articles documenting many exaggerated acts of violence against self or others at www.drugawareness.org with a direct link to www.ssristories.com <br /> <br />Beyond suicidal ideation we have mania/bipolar increasing dramatically. Antidepressants have always been known to trigger both. <br /> <br />According to the Pharmaceutical Business Review in the last 11 years alone, the number of people in the U.S. with "bipolar" disorder has increased by 4.8 million. <br /> <br />Dr. Malcolm Bowers of Yale, found in the late 90's over 200,000 people yearly are hospitalized with antidepressant-induced manic psychosis. They also point out that most go unrecognized as medication-induced, remain un hospitalized, and a threat to themselves and others. <br /> <br />What types of threats from manias? <br /> <br />Pyromania: A compulsion to start fires <br /> <br />Kleptomania: A compulsion to embezzle, shoplift, commit robberies <br /> <br />Dipsomania: An uncontrollable urge to drink alcohol <br /> <br />Nymphomania and erotomania: Sexual compulsions - a pathologic preoccupation with sexual fantasies or activities<br /> <br />Child sex abuse has increased dramatically with even female teachers going manic on these drugs and seducing students. The head of the sex abuse treatment program for Utah estimated 80% of sex crime perpetrators were on antidepressants at the time of the crime. While Karl Von Kleist, an ex-LAPD officer and leading polygraph expert estimated 90% - strong evidence of manic sexual compulsions that demand attention. <br /> <br />Diabetes has skyrocketed, has been linked to antidepressants, and blood sugar imbalances have long been suspected as the cause of mania or bipolar. Anyone who has witnessed someone in insulin shock would see the striking similarity to a violent reaction to an antidepressant. <br /> <br />If there has been any increase in suicide since the black box warning it is due to doctors not knowing how to get patients off these drugs safely.<br /> <br />Clearly far too many lives are being destroyed in various ways by these drugsSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-37292263746999771952008-02-06T10:54:00.000-07:002008-02-06T11:19:15.578-07:00PLEASE HELP SAVE THIS WOMAN!This woman needs our help. Please take two minutes to copy and send the letter below in blue to the addresses listed with the form letter, or write your own. For all the times we have signed petitions and forwarded junk emails surely we can all take a few minutes and write an email on this topic and help save a life.<br />=====<br />If you know the situation of Rebecca Merhav, you don't need reminding. At the bottom below my email I have cut and pasted instructions from Ben (Rebecca's father) on who should receive a protest letter requesting that the psychiatrists let Rebecca go. There are details about the drugs they are forcing her to take and their effects below that. PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL OR POST IT ON FORUMS TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE YOU THINK HAS AN INKLING OF A CHANCE OF HELPING. You don't have to write your own custom letter, a sample letter is all that is needed. It is written out below (in blue) and it will only take two minutes for you to send it, with a copy to Ben Merhav. <A HREF="mailto:benjaminmerhav@hotmail.com/">benjaminmerhav@hotmail.com </A>and me at <A HREF="mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/">SarinasVoice@aol.com</A>, I will add your letters of protest to my website.<br /> <br />For those of you who need to be informed for the first time who Rebecca Merhav is, she has been subject to a CTO for over 30 years in Australia, which is a Compulsory Treatment Order or a legal restraint that lets psychiatrists forcibly "treat" a patient. Rebecca became a patient in psychiatry because she was brought to a hospital by her mother as a teenager when she was too defiant and refused to do her chores. This could be any one of the teenagers I have met in my short 29 years on this planet and it reminds me of all the poor kids that get labeled today with ADHD or bipolar when they are 2 or 3, before they can even ride a bike. <br />The doctors saw an opportunity to get an easy patient and they have been in essence experimenting on Rebecca all this time. If any psychiatric symptoms existed they were brought on by original administration of dangerous drugs. For a year or two they had her on Clozapine, which I suppose after their experiment was complete they agreed to discontinue. That is one of the MOST dangerous medications there is and has killed patients with just one dose if I am not mistaken. But somehow Rebecca has survived all of this. Every day of her life under this torture is borrowed time due to the toxic drugs they are pouring into her.<br />Now they are forcing her to take Risperdal and Seroquel and have locked her up in a psych ward indefinitely. The clinic has always allowed her to be free to live in her own apartment while they forced her to come to the hospital or have someone come to her home to forcibly medicate her. Now they claim that her father can accompany her home but when he asks her to come home with him over the phone, she does not reply. It is possible that they have threatened to further drug her into oblivion, use shock, rape, torture, or murder her with other violent means. Psychiatric hospitals can get away with abuse and have done so numerous times.<br />Whatever is going on there it is not in the best interest of the patient. The doctors have been ignoring protest emails for years. There is a chance that getting more letters from people around the world will convince them that the pressure is on and they need to comply with Rebecca's wishes and Ben's wishes and let her go and remove the CTO. You can read the entire history of Rebecca's torture on Ben's blogs at <A HREF="http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/">"http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com"</A> or on our website at <A HREF="http://www.COPESFoundation.com/">"www.COPESfoundation.com"</A> and the UNITE website at <A HREF="http://www.uniteforlife.org/memberblogs.html#ben">"http://www.uniteforlife.org/memberblogs.html#ben"</A>. Or you can email him directly. <br /><br />But most importantly I am sure we can all agree that someone like Rebecca who is an innocent person - a victim of psychiatric torture - should not be subjected to the experimental whims of the incredibly dangerous psychiatric methods of "treatment" and their force and threats.<br /> <br />Let's join together and do everything we can to set Rebecca free. We can do this as a symbol of our efforts for all psychiatric victims. If we win this battle there will be more momentum for us to do similar things to save our own children from CPS, the courts, and exes who want them drugged. We need attention, cooperation, and a victory for human rights. Please join and help us!!!!!!<br />Continue reading down the page to copy and paste the sample letter (in blue) and to read letters from Rebecca's father.<br /><br /><br />Camille Milke, Eternal "Mommy" of Sarina Angel<br />Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Forever........<br />My Beautiful Baby Girl, 1/26/86 - 10/28/07, 21 years 9 months 3 days<br />COPES Foundation (Coalition Of Parents Enduring Suicide)<br />Founder and President, Main - 505-269-2286, Fax - 505-213-0999<br /><A HREF="mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/">SarinasVoice@aol.com</A><br /><A HREF="http://www.COPESFoundation.com/">"www.COPESFoundation.com"</A><br /><A HREF="http://www.ILoveYouSarina21.last-memories.com<br />/">"www.ILoveYouSarina21.last-memories.com<br />"</A><br />NM Director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness<br /><A HREF="http://www.DrugAwareness.org/">"www.DrugAwareness.org"</A><br /> <br />List of email addresses for emailing your protest :<br /><br />To : s.wilkins@alfred. org.au <br /><br />(Dr. Sally Wilkins, the treating psychiatrist, Junction Clinic)<br /><br /> <br />Cc :<br /> <br /> <br /> sarinasvoice@aol.com, lisa.neville@ minstaff. vic.gov.au; jesse.martin@ minstaff. vic.gov.au; hsc@dhs.vic. gov.au;<br />kuruvilla.george@ dhs.vic.gov. au; benjaminmerhav@ hotmail.com; amy@uniteforlife. org<br /><br />Proposed protest letter :<br /><br />Dr. Sally Wilkins,<br /><br />Miss Rebecca Merhav's father has reported to me the latest psychiatric atrocity you are perpetrating against her under the false cover of "treatment".<br /><br />It must be obvious to you that in doing so you not only continue her torture by the adverse effects of the two neuroleptics - the Risperdal and the Seroquel - and depriving her of a chance to return to normal life following the tapering off the poisons, your are actually forcing on her the risk of sudden death !<br /><br />Despite the numerous urging-pleas by her father on her behalf, you continue to insist on maintaining the CTO, namely forcing her to take more of the psychiatric poisons, rather than allow her to detoxify her body and help her return to normal life.<br /><br />Over 30 years of psychiatric torture and failure, including 12 months of "treatment" by yourself,<br />only made things worse for Rebecca, and surely, having survived it all Rebecca deserves NOW better than that, even from a psychiatric point of view. She is not and never was a danger to herself or to anybody else, so why force on her torture and death risks ?<br /><br />I protest your cynical and cruel "treatment" of Rebecca, and I demand that you immediately cancel the CTO, allow her to gradually taper off the psychiatric poisons, and help her return to normal life in consultation with herself and with her father.<br /><br />Looking forward to your early reply -<br /><br /> <br /><br />From Ben Merhav (Rebecca's Father) <br />A message protesting the intensified torture of Rebecca Merhav<br />was emailed by Kathryn Kinley, and I have uploaded it on my blog <A HREF="http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/">"http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com"</A>.<br /> <br />Yesterday I managed to contact Rebecca over the phone for the first time. She sounded confused, scared to death, and <br />completely overwhelmed. So much so, that my repeated offer to her to accompany her back home was not answered. Even<br />when I assured her that I have the agreement of the Clinic's nurse for that, she did not believe me. I was never as worried her <br />being in danger as I am now !<br /> <br />Each one of you with your mailing lists of supporters ,colleagues and contact, can be very helpful by emailing without delay<br />your protest letter to the email addresses listed in my article/post on my above blog.<br /> <br />Please act now to save Rebecca's life !<br /> <br /> <br /><br />THE PSYCHIATRIC TORTURE OF REBECCA MERHAV IS ONCE MORE INTENSIFIED TO THE DETRIMENT OF HER WELLBEING, AND SHE IS AT THE HIGH RISK OF BEING CRUSHED TO DEATH AS A RESULT !<br />by Justice Lover<br /><br />Some 10 days ago Miss Rebecca Merhav, the daughter of Benjamin Merhav, was told by the state shrink ,who is in charge of her under a compulsory treatment order, to leave her home and stay at a psychiatric institution. Her father was not informed of that until about a week later, and then only following his phone call to the shrink.<br /><br />Her detention address and the phone number to contact her were denied to him. Further inquiries by him revealed that she was ordered to take 400 mg of Serquel tablets per day, in addition to the 75mg Risperdal injections she was forced to take every 10 days.<br /><br />This is a very dangerous, and very horrible setback for her, having endured the Clozapine torture for over 2 years and all the psychiatric experimentations forced on her for the past 30 years. Last week Rebecca's father emailed the following letter to the treating shrink, with copies to the Minister for Mental Health in Victoria, to the Chief Psychiatrist there, and to the Health Services Commissioner there. Not even a confirmation of his letter was sent him so far by any of them.<br /><br />However, further phone calls to the Chief Psychiatrist' s office by Benjamin revealed that the Chief Psychiatrist has already rejected the letter, and that he has no intention to investigate Benjamin's complaint/appeal. Following Benjamin's letter below there is a form of protest email to be sent to the email addresses listed there. You are welcome to use the proposed protest letter or type your own text of a protest letter and send it urgently to the email addresses listed below, with a copy to ben.merhav@gmail. com. Please act now !<br /><br />Benjamin's letter :<br /><br /> <br /><br />" Dear Prof. K. George,<br /><br />I have addressed a copy of my following letter to the former Chief Psychiatrist, not knowing that he is no longer holding this position. The letter is pasted below. I ask you, therefore, to cancel the CTO over my daughter, as you have the power to do so. Alternatively, I ask you to advise Dr. Sally Wilkins of Junction Clinic to do so as early as possible.<br /><br />Thanking you in advance, Benjamin Merhav<br />============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ====<br /><br /><br />Dr. Sally Wilkins,<br /><br />I am alarmed, dismayed, distressed, disappointed and very worried about the new "treatment" you are forcing my daughter to take, as part of your experimentations with her. This is a sever case of misuse of your legal power given to you by the Mental Health Act, as the psychiatrist treating Rebecca. Are over 30 years of psychiatric torture and experimentations that she has endured so far not enough ?<br /><br />In reply to my call you told me over the phone that she herself chose to go to that psychiatric institution where you arranged for her to stay and take more very dangerous psychiatric drugs. You also added that if she would not be happy there she would be free to go back home any time. You should know by now that no patient under CTO is free to do what they consider best for them to do. Rebecca sure knows that, as she had 30 years of very bad experience under CTO. She knows, of course, that the treating psychiatrists and their psychiatric nurses do not like complaints, much less patient's disobedience, and she has been powerless against the psychiatric machine, which has both overt and covert punishments at its disposal (and her case, with the full support of her mother).<br /><br />As I phoned the clinic this morning I was told, in reply to my questions, that Rebecca is now forced to take another Atypical drug (Seroquel, 250mg tablets per day, to replace the old Clozapine poison). This in addition to the 10 day interval Risperdal 75mg injections. As you know, Serquel is a very dangerous neuroleptic, and with many adverse effects. Even the FDA in the USA states as follows (with my emphasis ) :<br /><br />http://www.fda. gov/cder/ foi/label/ 2004/20639se1- 017,016_seroquel _lbl.pdf<br /><br />"WARNINGS<br /><br />Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) A potentially fatal symptom complex sometimes referred to as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) has been reported in association with administration of antipsychotic drugs, including SEROQUEL. Rare cases of NMS have been reported with SEROQUEL. Clinical manifestations of NMS are hyperpyrexia, muscle rigidity, altered mental status, and evidence of autonomic instability (irregular pulse or blood pressure, tachycardia, diaphoresis, and cardiac dysrhythmia) . Additional signs may include elevated creatine phosphokinase, myoglobinuria (rhabdomyolysis) and acute renal failure. The diagnostic evaluation of patients with this syndrome is complicated. In arriving at a diagnosis, it is important to exclude cases where the clinical presentation includes both serious medical illness (eg, pneumonia, systemic infection, etc.) and untreated or inadequately treated extrapyramidal signs and symptoms (EPS). Other important considerations in the differential diagnosis include central anticholinergic toxicity, heat stroke, drug fever and primary central nervous system (CNS) pathology."<br /><br />At the same page the FDA has the following information :<br /><br /><br />"Post Marketing Experience:<br /><br />Adverse events reported since market introduction which were<br />temporally related to SEROQUEL therapy include:<br /><br />leukopenia/neutrope nia. If a patient develops a low white cell count<br />consider discontinuation of therapy. Possible risk factors for<br />leukopenia/neutrope nia include pre-existing low white cell count and<br />history of drug induced leukopenia/neutrope nia.<br />Other adverse events reported since market introduction, which were<br />temporally related to SEROQUEL therapy, but not necessarily<br />causally related, include the following: agranulocytosis, anaphylaxis,<br />hyponatremia, rhabdomyolysis, syndrome of inappropriate<br />antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH), and Steven Johnson<br />syndrome (SJS)."<br /><br />A law firm in the USA, which has vast legal experience in law suits against drug corporations, pasted the piece of information on its website as it is below . According to this information the drug manufacturer itself<br />changed the label on Seroquel to include the following (my emphasis ) :<br /><br />"In January 2004, AstraZeneca changed the labeling on Seroquel® to warn of the serious, increased risk of diabetes and related health complications such as hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, coma and death."<br /><br />http://www.kritzerz onies.com/ drug_seroquel. htm<br /><br />"Seroquel® (quetiapine fumarate), manufactured by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, is an atypical antipsychotic medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1997 to control the symptoms of schizophrenia and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder. Although approved specifically for these limited purposes, some physicians have prescribed Seroquel® for "off-label" use including sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.<br />Not long after Seroquel® was approved for use, evidence began to mount regarding the serious side effects associated with it and other similar medications. In January 2004, AstraZeneca changed the labeling on Seroquel® to warn of the serious, increased risk of diabetes and related health complications such as hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, coma and death. In April 2005, the FDA ordered AstraZeneca to add a "black box warning" to Seroquel® labeling, informing consumers about the increased risk of death from the drug. The FDA also emphasized at that time that Seroquel® was NOT approved to treat elderly patients with dementia. Although studies have linked Seroquel® to diabetes, death and other serious side effects, the drug remains on the market.<br /> <br /><br />In 2004, soon after the discovery of diabetes-related Seroquel® side effects, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all patients who had taken the drug. The lawsuit sought the establishment of a medical monitoring fund which would provide free, periodic testing for diabetes and related conditions for patients taking Seroquel®. Other Seroquel® lawsuits have been filed on behalf of individuals who allegedly have been seriously injured or killed by Seroquel® side effects.<br /><br />If you or a loved one is taking Seroquel®, it is important to be aware of these risks and speak with your health care professional to learn more. It is also crucial to speak with your doctor before starting, stopping or otherwise modifying the use of Seroquel®."<br />It is true that Rebecca suffers from chronic insomnia as a result of being forced to take Clozapine, Risperdal, Flupenthixal and other neuroleptics for many years. Her body badly needs detoxification, physical activities, community activities etc. - whatever else she thinks she needs - rather than forcing into her more psychiatric poisons. She is not a danger to the community nor to herself, and therefore the CTO should be lifted immediately to give her a chance to return to normal life !<br />Do not kill my daughter !<br />Sincerely, Benjamin Merhav"Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-52501423108273177352008-01-21T19:24:00.000-07:002008-02-06T10:59:53.711-07:00Thank you for the support!We would like to thank all of you for sending your Letters of Support on Senate Memorial 9 and the Petition to Abolish Suicide-Causing Anti-Depressants! Keep them coming; help us get Sarina's Voice heard! Visit the <A HREF="http://www.COPESFoundation.homestead.com/SarinasLaw.html">"SARINA'S LAW"</A> page on our site to see the letters and stay up to date on the Legislature. This is a small step toward "Sarina's Law" and my ultimate goal is to abolish these killer drugs, but at least it shows that we are making a difference! We contacted Senator Carraro shortly after losing Sarina and he has been amazing at getting something into this session. Now we need everyone's support. I urge you to please send me your Letters of Support right away. If you'd like to expound and share personal experiences that is great. If you'd just like to send a quick note that's great too. Please address your letters to the "New Mexico State Senators" and voice your support of <A HREF="http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/08%20Regular/memorials/senate/SM009.html">Senate Memorial 9</A> as Sarina's Voice Memorial Act. I'll be delivering them to each of the State Senators as well as the Petition signatures, so please be sure to <A HREF="http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/COPESfoundation/">sign the petition</A> as well. Get everyone you know to sign it also. You can<br />link to all of this through my website at<br /><A HREF="http://www.COPESFoundation.com/">COPES Foundation</A> and email me at <A HREF="mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/">SarinasVoice@aol.com</A><br />Also speak to your Government about Legislature! You can make a<br />difference and get Sarina's Voice heard!Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-61290618031172154122008-01-19T14:10:00.000-07:002008-01-19T14:19:17.917-07:00School 1968 vs. 2008The following scenarios and their likely outcomes by year were emailed to us by The International Coalition for Drug Awareness,<br />http://www.drugawareness.org/<br /><br />I feel the outcomes are very familiar to many of us. We can relate and the trends are quite alarming.<br /><br /><br />Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.<br /><br />1968 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up mates.<br /><br />2008 - Police are called, SWAT team arrives, mobiles with video of fight confiscated as evidence. Johnny and Mark are charged with assault, AVOs are taken out and both are suspended even though it was Johnny who started it. Diversionary conferences and parent meetings conducted. The video is shown on 6 internet sites.<br /><br />Scenario: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.<br /><br />1968 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given a good paddling. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.<br /><br />2008 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Counseled to death, becomes a zombie and is tested for ADD. School gets extra funding because Jeffrey has special needs. Jeffrey drops out of school.<br /><br />Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.<br /><br />1968 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.<br /><br />2008 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang and becomes a crack addict. Psychologist tells Billy's sister that surely she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mum has an affair with the psychologist. Psychologist gets a promotion.<br /><br />Scenario: Mark, a college student, brings joint to college.<br /><br />1968 - Mark shares a smoke with the college principal.<br /><br />2008 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from College for drug possession. His car and flat are searched for drugs and weapons. Given a fine and community service.<br /><br />Scenario: Vijay fails high school English.<br /><br />1968 - Vijay goes to Remedial English, passes and goes to college.<br /><br />2008 - Vijay's cause is taken up by local human rights group. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that making English a requirement for graduation is racist. Civil Liberties Association files class action lawsuit against Department of Education and his English teacher. English is banned from core curriculum. Vijay is given his leaver's certificate anyway but ends up picking cabbages for a living because he cannot speak English.<br /><br />Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover fireworks, puts them in a model plane and blows up an anthill.<br /><br />1968 - Ants die.<br /><br />2008 - Anti terror squad are called and Johnny is charged with domestic Terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.<br /><br />Scenario: Johnny falls in the playground and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.<br /><br />1968 - Johnny soon feels better and goes back to playing.<br /><br />2008 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy, becomes gay.Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-10426627123010833642008-01-18T16:08:00.000-07:002008-01-18T16:16:15.960-07:00Attacks on Tom CruiseFrom: terrylc<br />To: sarinasvoice@aol.com<br />Sent: 1/17/2008 7:36:32 P.M. Mountain Standard Time<br />Subj: The Attacks On Tom Cruise<br /><br /> <br />The mass media is attacking Tom Cruise, again, this time over a Scientology recruitment video. See, for example, the hatchet job from liberal-when-it's-convenient-and-serves-our-corporate-masters Slate, http://www.slate.com/id/2182338?wpisrc=newsletter<br /> <br />Well here we go again: When you don't like the message, attack the messenger. Straight out of Joseph Goebbels, Karl Rove, and Faux News.<br /> <br />Why attack Tom Cruise? Because he stands up to the pharmaceutical drug cartel and their supporters like Brooke Shields. http://www.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/0523cruise.html<br /> <br />But some people might say, "Hey, drugs for postpartum depression are a good thing".<br /> <br />To those people, I invite you to ask Andrea Yates' children.<br /> <br />Oh wait--you can't.<br /> <br />TLC<br />______________________________________<br /> <br /> Did Drugs Cause Mom to Drown Her Five Children? <br /> <br />By Kelly Patricia O'Meara<br /><br />Andrea Yates' crime shocked the nation. Did mind-altering drugs prescribed to treat her depression actually drive this young mother of five to drown the children she loved? <br />Only weeks ago, Houston wife and mother Andrea Pia Yates methodically drowned each of her five children. One by one Yates forced her children, ages 6 months to 7 years, into the family's bathtub and held their struggling bodies under the water until each fell limp. <br />Whatever possessed the 36-year-old mother to commit these unconscionable acts remains murky. Depression and postpartum syndrome topped early speculation, but there has been little discussion about the possible effects of the powerful mind-altering drugs she was taking. <br />Although Texas District Judge Belinda Hill issued a gag order concerning the case, family members have released disturbing facts about Yates' psychiatric treatment that specialists say may account for her state of mind at the time of the murders. <br />During a two-year period, Yates was prescribed four extremely potent mind-altering drugs intended to help her through two episodes of severe depression that began after the birth of her fourth child. <br />The first of these psychopharmacological cocktails included Haldol, an antipsychotic most often used to treat schizophrenia; Effexor, an antidepressant very similar to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs); and Wellbutrin, a unique antidepressant that has amphetaminelike effects. <br />ccording to Yates' husband, Russell, his wife appeared to respond well to this treatment regimen and, after a short time, became her "old self." <br />At the onset of the second episode of depression following the birth of her fifth child, and the subsequent death of her father, Yates again was prescribed a psychopharmacological cocktail. This one contained Effexor and, at the end, Remeron. <br />While information about the Remeron dosage was not made public, Yates' husband has said that his wife was given Effexor at a dosage nearly twice the recommended maximum limit. Just days before the murders, the Effexor was for some reason reduced to just slightly more than the recommended maximum dosage of 225 mg per day and the Remeron was added. <br />Psychiatrist Peter Breggin, court-qualified medical expert and author of numerous books, including Talking Back to Prozac and the recently released The Anti-Depressant Fact Book, tells Insight: <br />"The mixture of Remeron and Effexor would tend to be extremely agitating and certainly could lead to behavioral disturbances. The mixture of Haldol, Wellbutrin and Effexor is unpredictable in its effects. Haldol actually can cause depression, and putting the three drugs together is somewhat experimental." <br />Breggin continues: "Haldol is a very blunting drug. It's difficult to come to any definitive conclusions with so little data about her state of mind at the time. However, Haldol is a drug that produces what can only be referred to as a chemical lobotomy that tends to make a person more docile and robotic." <br />Many Americans who have read or heard reports about this case have little doubt that Yates was "out of her mind" when she killed her children. What appears to be developing, however, is an argument within the medical community about whether the mother's homicidal state of mind was triggered by the depth of her depression or by the mind-altering drugs prescribed to her. <br />Were these the actions of a severely depressed woman who "lost it," or did the mind-altering drugs push this emotionally distraught woman over the edge? Should the latter be established in the criminal court, it could raise an even greater issue: Who was responsible? Was it a chemically poisoned mother who carried out the crazed act, the physician who prescribed the mind-altering cocktails or the pharmaceutical companies that manufactured and marketed the treatment? <br />Only recently have pharmaceutical companies been held responsible for violent behavior associated with their product lines of mind-altering drugs. A case in point is a June trial in which a jury in Cheyenne, Wyo., found that the antidepressant Paxil, one of the newer SSRIs distributed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, "can cause some individuals to commit suicide and/or homicide." <br />The jury said Paxil caused Donald Schell, a retired oil-rig worker, to shoot and kill his wife, daughter and granddaughter before turning the gun on himself. Schell had been on the mind-altering drug only two days. <br />The jury awarded surviving family members $8 million in damages, finding that 80 percent of the fault lay with the drugmaker. Andy Vickery of the Houston law firm of Vickery & Waldner, lead attorney in the Wyoming case, has taken dozens of similar cases seeking to hold responsible those dispensing and manufacturing these drugs. <br />"The important thing," Vickery explains, "is to lay the responsibility and accountability at the doorstep of those who ought to have it and those who could and should do something about it. Whether it's criminal or civil responsibility, there isn't a lot of difference." <br />As Vickery puts it, "Look, if I give you a loaded gun and for whatever reason it's likely that you're going to shoot someone, then I'm an accessory before the fact of murder. Shouldn't the drug company that's encouraging doctors to prescribe a drug and is aware that these drugs cause adverse reactions be held responsible? <br />No one can believe that a mother would do such a thing. It's too horrible. But the fact is these people get completely out of touch with reality because of these drugs. Unfortunately, in most of the cases that I get involved with, we never know if the people committing the violence knew what they were doing when they did it because they also killed themselves." <br />Although alcoholic-beverage distillers have yet to be held responsible for the overwhelming number of fatalities resulting from alcohol abuse, in many states bartenders are held civilly and criminally liable when customers get drunk and cause automobile fatalities. With the growing number of physicians and psychiatrists prescribing mind-altering drugs and the alarming data filtering out about adverse reactions to them, tort lawyers are asking if medically trained dispensers of psychotropic drugs shouldn't also be held liable. <br />For example, Yates' psychiatrist, Muhammad Saaed, reportedly prescribed at least one mind-altering drug (Effexor) at almost twice the maximum recommended dose as part of a cocktail of mind-altering drugs that also included Haldol and Wellbutrin during her first bout with severe depression. <br />A cautionary note in the Physicians Desk Reference says Effexor negatively interacts with Haldol. Apparently, Effexor hinders Haldol's drug clearance by a factor of more than 40 percent and can cause Haldol concentration levels to increase by nearly 90 percent, creating toxicity. <br />Did Saaed know the contraindications associated with the cocktail he prescribed? If the psychiatrist was unaware of the toxic mix, would ignorance of the potential poisoning make him any less liable than if he had known and prescribed the mind-altering drugs anyway? These are just a few of the questions Saaed may be asked should he have to defend his treatment under oath.<br /><br />According to Ann Blake Tracy, executive director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness and author of the recently updated book Prozac: Panacea or Pandora?, there is little doubt about Saaed's culpability. <br />Tracy, a doctor of health sciences specializing in adverse reactions to serotonergic medications, tells Insight that "when doctors start prescribing 'off label' outside the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] guidelines, they run the risk of being sued for malpractice. In the case of Yates, her psychiatrist already had her on superhigh doses, and on the Monday before the tragedy he dropped the Effexor back to almost the maximum dosage, then added Remeron. <br />It's well-documented that when doses are increased or decreased, patients experience negative reactions. A great many of the court cases, but certainly not all of them, are a result of the drastic change in the medication." <br />According to Tracy, "There's a lot of science to demonstrate that depression is the result of an inability to metabolize serotonin, but somehow the drug companies have got the world believing that an increase in serotonin, rather than an increase in serotonin metabolism, is what the depressed person needs. This is the exact opposite of what research on depression shows and, if you look at the research over the last 50 years it is clear that there has been a horrible mistake. <br />There is such a wanton disregard for life. Why can't these doctors at least read the package inserts so they know how to prescribe the drugs properly? They're not supposed to prescribe over the maximum doses, and they know that they are at toxic levels at that point. That's why they have maximum-dose information; that's why the Food and Drug Administration puts a maximum dose on the packaging. They do it to show that over the allowable dose level, a person becomes toxic and it's extremely dangerous." <br />When asked what questions she might have for Yates' psychiatrist, Tracy tells Insight: "I'd want to know how he could have ignored so many warnings and contraindications in [reportedly] giving this poor woman this dangerous drug cocktail. I'd also like to know which sleeping pill he uses to knock himself out at night when those five children's faces run over and over again through his mind?" <br />Harsh words? It appears this is just the beginning. Many who follow such matters say that because of the high profile of the likely trial of Yates for capital murder, it may turn into a landmark case pitting the pharmaceutical giants against the medical practitioners and vice versa, perhaps even dragging in the American Psychiatric Association. <br />George Parnham, Yates' attorney, has reported that he will enter a not-guilty plea on behalf of his client for reasons of insanity. After meeting with Yates and speaking with psychiatrists that had examined her, Parnham told reporters, "I've accumulated evidence in the last 24 hours that strongly suggests that the mental status of my client will be the issue." <br />Just what Parnham has discerned is anyone's guess, including whether he'll defend his client by challenging the pharmaceutical companies and his client's psychiatrist. In the meantime, sources close to the case report that Yates still is being medicated. Saaed has turned his files on Yates over to the court and has, to date, made no public statement. <br />Insight Magazine July 2001<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Dr. Mercola's Comment:<br />Another sad tragedy. One doesn't need an advanced medical degree to recognize that no parent functioning properly would ever drown all their children. The timing of these powerful brain altering drugs appears more than an coincidence in causing this woman to commit such an unthinkable crime.<br />Another potential factor in post-partum depression could be breastfeeding, or lack thereof. It would be very interesting to find out what percentage of women who go through such depression have breastfed their infants. Unfortunately, I don't know of any studies that have even addressed the issue. But since breastfeeding has many effects on a woman's hormones, it is certainly possible, and should be studied.Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-34698974358487048352008-01-17T22:36:00.000-07:002008-01-17T22:47:00.089-07:00Senate Memorial 9 could be our first Victory!Due to the vigorous Crusade from a Mother's Heart, On January 17, 2008; The Honorable Senator Joseph J. Carraro; while in Santa Fe, NM for the 2008 Regular Session, Introduced to the Floor SM9 (Senate Memorial 9) STUDY ANTIDEPRESSANTS & SUICIDE. (This is the first step towards "Sarina's Law"). <br />Please see the Memorial below.<br /><br />It is imperative that the Senate pass this Memorial; which will then have the Health Policy Commission and The Department of Health set up a Task Force and make up a finding of facts; as to the study of psychotropic drugs, how they're prescribed and whether or not there needs to be restrictions on who prescribes them. <br />I am very pleased and proud that this action has taken place; as you all know, my ultimate goal is to have Suicide-Causing Anti-Depressants Abolished completely.<br />This Memorial is an excellent start, I am also urging Legislature and the Task Force for the respect and acknowledgment to have Sarina's name attached to this Memorial and represent it, it's very important that we all understand that Sarina's Voice is the basis behind this Memorial; which will make certain that Sarina's life and death, and all those hundreds of thousands with her; were not in vein. <br />PLEASE, everyone contact a member of the NM Legislature and let them know that you support this Memorial and want Sarina's name to represent the Memorial and the Task Force. Also, PLEASE email me back your "detailed" words of support and I will make certain they get into the right hands. <br />I don't know when the final decision will be made to accept or reject this Memorial, but time is of the essence, please do not delay, please send your letters of support immediately. <br />Hopefully our first Victory is close -<br />Senator Carraro and Michael Hely; Sarina and I Thank You !!<br />............SARINA'S VOICE WILL BE HEARD -<br /> <br />Camille Milke, Eternal "Mommy" of Sarina Angel<br />Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Forever........<br />My Beautiful Baby Girl, 1/26/86 - 10/28/07, 21 years 9 months 3 days<br />COPES Foundation (Coalition Of Parents Enduring Suicide)<br />Founder and President, Main - 505-269-2286, Fax - 505-213-0999<br />www.COPESFoundation.com<br />www.ILoveYouSarina21.last-memories.com <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />SENATE MEMORIAL 9<br />48TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2008<br />INTRODUCED BY<br />Joseph J. Carraro<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />A MEMORIAL<br />REQUESTING THAT THE NEW MEXICO HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO STUDY POSSIBLE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ANTIDEPRESSANTS AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS AND TO RECOMMEND SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS ANY CORRELATION.<br /> <br /> WHEREAS, the federal food and drug administration issued a public warning in October 2004 about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors in children and adolescents treated with a class of antidepressant medications called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; and<br /> WHEREAS, in 2006, an advisory committee to the federal food and drug administration recommended that the federal food and drug administration issue a public warning about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors in young adults up to the age of twenty-five who are taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; and <br /> WHEREAS, in September 2007, a study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, found that there is not a positive correlation between antidepressants and suicidal thoughts or behaviors in young people; and<br /> WHEREAS, studies and professional organizations disagree as to whether the prescription of antidepressant medications should be further regulated or further protocols developed to guard against suicidal thoughts or behaviors among young people; and <br /> WHEREAS, according to the treatment for adolescents with depression study, funded by the national institute of mental health, a combination of medication and psychotherapy is the most effective treatment for adolescents with depression; and<br /> WHEREAS, the federal food and drug administration has issued guidelines stating that individuals who take antidepressants must be carefully monitored for worsening depression, suicidal thoughts or suicidal behaviors; and<br /> WHEREAS, on the basis that some physicians are inadequately monitoring or are unaware of the risks that antidepressants may pose for young people, the state of California has considered legislation that would require all family practice physicians who treat depression by prescribing antidepressants to undergo mandatory continuing medical education on the subject of antidepressant medications;<br /> NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico health policy commission be requested to convene a task force comprising experts from the human services department and the department of health; medical and behavioral health providers; and other health care and health policy experts to investigate whether there is a correlation between antidepressant drugs and suicidal thoughts and behaviors and to recommend policy solutions to address the correlation, if it exists; and<br /> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be requested to examine whether providers who prescribe antidepressants should be required to undergo mandatory continuing medical education on the subject of antidepressant medications in order to provide expertise in monitoring the risks that may be associated with antidepressants in young people; and<br /> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be requested to examine whether providers should be allowed to prescribe antidepressants to patients only in combination with concurrent psychotherapy; and<br /> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be requested to examine in particular whether the scope of providers permitted to prescribe psychotropic drugs should be narrowed to include only persons specialized in the practice of psychiatry, psychiatric nurse practitioners and psychiatric physician assistants; and<br /> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico health policy commission.Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-38046911319070516952008-01-12T21:51:00.000-07:002008-01-12T22:04:09.861-07:00A Response To New Mexico OfficialsTHIS IS SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS OUR CRUSADE, WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT WE HAVE QUIT OUR FULL TIME JOBS AND SACRIFICED "EVERYTHING" TO MAKE CERTAIN NO MORE PEOPLE DIE. YOU ARE ALL UPSET THAT YOU HAVE A FEW SPAM EMAILS?!? MY DAUGHTER DIED, HOW UPSET DO YOU THINK I AM?!? SPAM EMAILS SHOULD BE THE LEAST OF YOUR PROBLEMS WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD. YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME FOR THIS INFORMATION SO YOU CAN KNOW THE SIGNS BEFORE IT HAPPENS TO YOU -<br /><br /><br />For New Mexico officials who object to the information being provided by Sarina's Voice:<br /><br /><br />The US Constitution provides that, "Congress shall make no law...bridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."<br /><br />It is rather obvious that Sarina's parents are attempting to get the government of New Mexico to respond to their grievances. It is likewise clear that some in the government of New Mexico are in the pockets of the pharmaceutical drug cartel.<br /><br />But this really comes as no surprise for a state that helped George Bu$h steal the Presidency in 2004, http://www.gregpalast.com/recipe-for-a-cooked-election , so that his corporate buddies could continue to loot the treasury and poison our children for obscene profit.<br /><br />A state that was one of the last to finally ban cockfighting, after its current Governor for years failed to take a stand, http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/42629.html. Not exactly a state where morality is the government's job one.<br /><br />So unsubscribe all you want. The people of this country are fed up with seeing the government poison their children, disgusted with lives destroyed due to the inaction of those feeding at the public trough. Close your eyes, take your drugs, line your pockets. We the people are on to you.<br /><br />Terry L. ClarkSarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-23913134260387991882008-01-06T22:17:00.001-07:002008-01-09T23:02:05.321-07:00The FDA is an Agency of the Public Health Service....Right? Or is it just a "Cop on the Take?"There are so many attacks on the FDA (rightfully so) that there are articles all over the Internet.<br />There is so much information about SSRI Anti-depressants. It's also all over the Internet.<br />The fact that most medications have several undesirable side effects is just accepted. We know there will be discomfort but that's the extent of it right?<br />The FDA, an agency of the Public Health Service, would not release any medication with more harmful side effects than that right?<br /><br />Wrong and Wrong.<br /><br />The Pharmaceutical industry is paying the FDA more and more money while Congress is doing less and less to hold the FDA accountable. In general, people expect drugs that have recently gained FDA approval to be better, more effective and safer than the older and existing drugs they are competing with or replacing. The fact of the matter, however, is that the drug companies are in such a rush to get new drugs on the market; to get their piece (or pieces) of this Billion dollar industry that things like effectiveness and safety are not as important as they used to be. How can this be you ask? Well, Big Pharma is paying the FDA. Big Pharma wants the drugs released sooner than later and, lets face it, the one paying the bills is boss. Having the pharmaceutical industry directly fund the FDA may have started with the best of intentions but now that we see it doesn't work, maybe we should stop it don't you think? Can it be that the FDA has become so corrupted that it actually suppresses information about unsafe drugs in order to get them to market quickly. I would say that is exactly what's happening. I agree that there are certain "new" medications that offer great potential and are unrivaled in the current marketplace. These drugs are the exception and if they offer tremendous potential benefit, then they may need to be gotten to market quickly. Like I said, they are the exception. Most drugs being turned out are just slightly different than current medications offering no tremendous benefit, but being unproven, are capable of untold harm.<br />Back to the "pieces" of the Billion dollar drug industry. Let's say a certain drug company has 11 drugs currently approved by the FDA and in use. For the sake of an argument we'll call each drug a "piece" and assume all "pieces" get an equal share of the Billions. So this drug company has 11 pieces. If they modify each of their eleven drugs just slightly and "fast track" FDA approval on 2 new versions of each, they now have 33 pieces of the billions! Granted each "piece" will now be worth slightly less but overall profits sky rocket! Lets not forget the FDA gets paid for each of these new drugs too. We are now flooded with similar medications that are no more effective or beneficial than their predecessors, but due to their slight modifications, are unproven and may pose dreadful side effects yet to be determined! Congress, meanwhile, sits back and watches the FDA stick it to the consumer! I'm not here to write about Congress on the take. That's not my fight. Besides I think it's been done maybe once or twice. My fight is against drugs. Specifically SSRI Anti-depressants. They have gained FDA approval; and based on the above example, it's easy to see how. But now that so much damage has been done, why are they still out there? Why are they not recalled? Why are they still used in children, in babies, in pregnant women or in anyone? They put black box warnings on them, which is definitely a step in the right direction, but the time has come to ban these killer drugs! For the FDA to stop succumbing to the pharmaceutical companies for the sake of the almighty dollar with the blood of innocent victims who trusted them on their hands.<br />The fact that we know they are killing us, the fact that the FDA knows they are not safe and the fact that the drug companies themselves admit how dangerous they are totally demoralizes the FDA. How we view them and what we consider their duties to be. It blows our expectations of the Public Health Service out of the water. It spits in the face of the doctors and scientists who work for the FDA and don't want to approve these drugs but are under so much pressure and have so many incentives from Big Pharma, that they push them through anyway. I'm sure they can't even believe this is going on! They must be just waiting for someone to do something. For Congress or the Public Health Service or Millions of angry Americans to put a stop to it!<br />We are not members of Congress, not the secretary of the Public Health Service, not even Millions of Americans. What we are though is fed up! We are ready to fight. We are joining many others who have been fighting. We are going to add to their strength in getting something done, in getting changes made. Right now you can add us to all of the other information on the Internet about SSRI Anti-Depressants and the FDA. But we will not stay mere statistics. We will not fade away. We will fight until there are changes. We will fight until there is accountability. We know nothing will ever be "right." Nothing can ever be "right" again. But that will not stop us from trying to help others not be wronged. WE ARE SARINA'S VOICE AND WE WILL BE HEARD!Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-20086829380165008202008-01-03T16:13:00.000-07:002008-01-08T16:25:36.400-07:00SSRI Thoughts and ObservationsNever have we claimed to be experts on the subject but when researching SSRI Anti-depressants, several points become increasingly obvious:<br /><br />Everyone gets depressed at some time. That doesn't mean everyone has depression.<br /><br />There is no proof that SSRI antidepressants are beneficial. At least not in the manner they are purported to (increasing serotonin concentration thereby relieving depression).<br /><br />All children can be hyper and easily distracted for any number of reasons. That doesn't mean all children have ADD or ADHD.<br /><br />SSRI anti-depressants are not approved for use in children. They are widely prescribed to children despite not having been tested on children. The FDA has approved SSRI anti-depressants for use in adults for treating depression but they can then be prescribed to anyone for any reason. Some doctors prescribe them for chest pains, eating disorders, PMS, hot flashes, Alzheimer's or any number of unapproved and experimental uses.<br /><br />Studies and use show that the benefits of SSRI anti-depressants are less than that obtained with a sugar pill. Studies also show a change in diet or a walk in the woods is much more effective than SSRI anti-depressants.<br /><br />Drug companies have suppressed their own findings that SSRI anti-depressants raise suicidal thoughts by 100% (in other words doubling the number of people who have suicidal thoughts compared to those taking a placebo). They also found homicide and aggressive behavior to be side effects of their own medications. Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder taking the medication experienced hostility episodes 17-times more often than depressed patients. 1.1% of healthy, psychiatrically normal people who took an SSRI anti-depressant experienced one or more hostile episodes, while none taking the placebo did<br /><br />Why do we take a medicine that is so dangerous to stop taking? This is a Pharmaceutical companies dream. A drug you're on for life. If it is so dangerous to stop these medicines (and it is) we shouldn't take them in the first place. What if you forget to take them? What if you can't afford them one time? What if insurance denies you? What if you get tired of the side effects and decide to go off of them cold turkey?<br /><br />The fact that the FDA is approving these medications and actually "fast tracking" them into use goes against the general conception of what the FDA is here to do. Protect the public by being an expert Federal agency responsible for evaluating and regulating drugs. Not an agency open to the highest bidder.<br /><br />The fact that doctors are allowed to prescribe SSRI Anti-Depressants for uses and to people other than those they are approved for is bewildering to me!<br /><br />The fact that Doctors prescribe these medications goes against the general conception of what doctors are supposed to do. All doctors know the side effects. They might not understand the severity or turn a blind eye to the studies but they KNOW the homicidal and suicidal propensities exist. Doctors pledge to "do no harm" or something similar. Why would they overlook the hippocratic or similar oath they took? MONEY, peer pressure, it's easier, more money. Not all doctors, but many. They are only human but we expect so much more from them. They knew the responsibilities and expectations going in. If they can't "do no harm" they need to get out or be forced out of practice.Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3056914900598237786.post-74630637720688133872008-01-02T16:20:00.000-07:002008-01-09T22:36:55.399-07:00SARINA'S VOICEWhen Sarina became victim to Suicide-Causing SSRI Anti-Depressants, we submerged ourselves into her foundation; into getting Sarina's Voice heard. We continue to do so everyday and will continue for everyday to come until Sarina's Voice can carry the news of these horrendous killer drugs to all. Until something is done either by legislature or public outcry or the flat out refusal of people to subject themselves and their children and everyone else to this torture.<br />If people knew the facts about these drugs, they would not use them! They would not make SSRI's their "chemical babysitters"! THESE DRUGS KILL! What else is there to know? Plenty of information to back this up is readily available to anyone on the Internet with the desire to see the truth. The truth is what Sarina's Voice and the COPES Foundation are all about. Exposing the truth so everyone is aware of the danger that confronts us everyday! It's not enough to keep your kids off of these drugs, however. You also have to worry about your kids friends, their teachers, bus drivers, neighbors, cousins, uncles, aunts, you, your spouse, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. The list goes on and on. Everyone has the potential to be affected in a horrible way. I fear everyone will be affected by SSRI's in a devastating way in their lifetime. That's why we look to abolish these drugs completely. Of course that is a large order and there is much to consider. Putting aside the obvious problem of the drug companies and everyone else profiting from these drugs we still need to think about withdrawals, substitute treatments, loss of jobs, etc. BUT IT MUST BE DONE! WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN! The lives we are sacrificing to keep these drugs are increasing dramatically. When will enough be enough? When will people open their eyes? When will we realize that "this really could happen to me"? I wish I knew. I know one thing though. It will be easier to do with the support of everyone who reads this. With the support of not only those who have lost someone but also those who don't want to lose someone. To those who think that big business and profits don't have to come at the expense of other human beings. To those who think the "American Way" is supposed to be a good thing!<br />Help spread the word, talk to your politicians, talk to the newspaper or TV station about doing a story, talk to your friends and family. Help educate America and the world by letting Sarina's Voice be heard! At the very least, pass this on and sign the petition at <a href="http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/COPESfoundation/">http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/COPESfoundation/</a> . Remember there is no donation required to sign the petition and donations on the petition website don't go towards COPES Foundation. Also visit our website at <a href="http://www.copesfoundation.com/">http://www.COPESFoundation.com/</a> and email us your name and information to <a href="mailto:SarinasVoice@aol.com">mailto:SarinasVoice@aol.com</a> .<br />Thank you in advance for your time, your effort, your support. Thank you in advance for the safety of our children and grandchildren. Thank you for joining together to make SARINA'S VOICE heard.Sarina's Voicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01797676580707670548noreply@blogger.com0