Showing posts with label Mothers act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mothers act. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2008
CHAADA / UNITE / COPES FOUNDATION / ICFDA OPPOSITION TO THE MOTHERS ACT, S. 1375 / H.R. 20
THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE DANGEROUS REALITY OF THIS BILL
March 3, 2008
Contacts:
Amy Philo
214-705-0169 home, 817-793-8028 cell
www.chaada.org,www.uniteforlife.org
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director of the ICFDA
www.drugawareness.org
Ann Tracy, 801-209-1800 direct, 801-335-4727 fax
Camille Milke
505-269-2286 direct or 505-213-0999 fax
www.copesfoundation.com
www.drugawareness.org
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.
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).
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.
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.
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?
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.”
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.
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.
First, sign our petition against the MOTHERS Act
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act
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
http://uniteforlife.org/senatecontactlist.htm
Please share this information with everyone you possibly can and urge them to act now.
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.
Sincerely,
Amy Philo
Founder, www.uniteforlife.org
Co-Founder, www.chaada.org
Survivor of Zoloft-induced homicidality, suicidality, and psychosis during the postpartum period
Camille Milke
Founder, www.copesfoundation.com
New Mexico State Director of the ICFDA www.drugawareness.org
Mother of a victim of psychiatric drug-induced suicide and grandmother to a now motherless child
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy
Executive Director of the ICFDA
www.drugawareness.org
Author of Prozac: Pancaea or Pandora? Our Serotonin Nightmare
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Addendum
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)
http://www.bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/jledgi
Moms in NJ (which has a similar law to the proposed MOTHERS Act) were treated like criminals for seeking help for PPD
http://www.uniteforlife.org/ppdcriminals.htm
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:
http://www.uniteforlife.org/MOTHERpress.htm
A lack of sufficient data to support the alleged safety of breastfeeding while using psychiatric drugs
http://www.uniteforlife.org/breastfeeding.html
A decline in suicides since the FDA Black Box Warning
http://www.uniteforlife.org/decline%20in%20sucicides.html
Lowest level of suicides in 30 years as prescriptions for antidepressants drop by half (England, Wales)
http://www.uniteforlife.org/englandwales.htm
A Swedish study revealing that psychiatric drug use preceded about 80% of all adult suicides
http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2008/03/antidepressants-linked-to-52-of.html
Antipsychotic drugs get slapped with black box warning for doubling suicides
http://www.uniteforlife.org/socalledmoodstabilizersdoublesuicide.htm
Adrenal exhaustion as a cause of PPD (including information about thyroid conditions and the fact that antidepressants exacerbate adrenal problems):
http://www.uniteforlife.org/adrenalppd.htm
Media coverage of the NEJM analysis revealing the data suppression and ineffectiveness of antidepressants
http://www.uniteforlife.org/suppresseddata.htm
Flyer to use for massive advertising against the bill and to solicit petition signatures
http://www.uniteforlife.org/flyermom.htm
An outreach letter that can be used for emails asking for support and endorsements of our efforts against this bill
http://www.uniteforlife.org/requestforhelp.htm
Amy Philo’s YouTube Videos including her personal story of Zoloft-induced psychosis and homicidal and suicidal urges during the postpartum period:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQW23XCmOCw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4B8I_8wz6I
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Please read some of these excerpts from emails and blogs that we have found or received in the past few weeks:
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“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.
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!!
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.
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.
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.”
– Lucy
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Excerpts from The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
December 9, 2007 Sunday
“Promised lifeline for new moms falls short
Postpartum depression law called a disappointment so far
BYLINE: SUSAN K. LIVIO, STAR-LEDGER STAFF
…A `HORRIBLE' RESPONSE
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."
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."
Venis said such responses can discourage women with postpartum depression from seeking help.
...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.
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."”
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Excerpts from Julie’s blog
http://www.bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com/
“Manie is 3 years old.
Was born with Transposition of the Great Arteries.
Had a balloon procedure shortly after birth to keep him alive.
Had open heart surgery at 1 week old.
Had 3 cardiac caths to correct problems with collaterals.
Has had several coils put in his collaterals.
Has a leak in his valve.
Manie has to take medicine for high blood pressure.
Manie has also suffered from acid reflux
Manie was on an adult dose of meds for acid reflux for six months.
Because of the acid reflux Manie has bad teeth. His baby teeth are ruined.
When Manie goes to the dentist he has to have dental work done with out Novocaine or nitrous oxide.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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(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.)
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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.
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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.
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…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.
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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.
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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.
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T
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.
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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
http://seroxatsecrets.wordpress.com/2007/11/21/oh-the-irony-of-it-glaxo-buys-reliant-pharma-for-165billion/ 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.
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One Thing That Comes With the Territory
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.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Death, Destruction, Lies, Deceit, Bribes, Corruption
All 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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!
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?
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!
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.
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, "The COPES Foundation", "The International Coalition for Drug Awareness" 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.
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.
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.
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!
Brian Milke
Father of Sarina Angel
COPES Foundation
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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!
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?
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!
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.
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, "The COPES Foundation", "The International Coalition for Drug Awareness" 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.
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.
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.
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!
Brian Milke
Father of Sarina Angel
COPES Foundation
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Dr 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.
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.
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.
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)!
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.)
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.
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!
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.
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?
Go to "www.drugawareness.org" 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:
"http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act"
Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D., Executive Director,
International Coalition For Drug Awareness
Website: "www.drugawareness.org" &
"www.ssristories.com"
Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare
& CD or audio tape on safe withdrawal: "Help! I Can't Get
Off My Antidepressant!"
Order Number: 800-280-0730
FROM AMY:
The Mother's Act is the new Teen Screen program but this time for new
mothers instead of teens. I found this on the ICSPP website "http://www.icspp.org/" 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!!!
To a New Jersey newspaper where the Mother's Act is already in place:
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:
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.
[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.]
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.
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.
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)!
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.)
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.
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!
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.
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?
Go to "www.drugawareness.org" 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:
"http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-dangerous-and-invasive-mothers-act"
Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D., Executive Director,
International Coalition For Drug Awareness
Website: "www.drugawareness.org" &
"www.ssristories.com"
Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare
& CD or audio tape on safe withdrawal: "Help! I Can't Get
Off My Antidepressant!"
Order Number: 800-280-0730
FROM AMY:
The Mother's Act is the new Teen Screen program but this time for new
mothers instead of teens. I found this on the ICSPP website "http://www.icspp.org/" 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!!!
To a New Jersey newspaper where the Mother's Act is already in place:
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:
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.
[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.]
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
MOTHERS ACT WOULD SUBJECT PREGNANT MOTHERS TO DRUGS CAUSING SPONSTANEOUS ABORTION AND BIRTH DEFECTS
A bill which has passed the House of Representatives is about to be voted on
by the key Senate Committee in charge of this legislation — it is called "The
Mother's Act" (S. 1375)
WE DON'T WANT THIS BILL TO PASS. SCREENING PREGNANT WOMEN FOR DEPRESSION WILL
OPEN THE DOOR TO FALSE LABELS AND DRUGGING.
Contact your Representatives and Senators and tell them to stop the Mother’s Act (H.R. 20 / S. 1375).
CALLS, OR FAXES, ARE NEEDED TODAY TO THE LIST OF SENATE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
BELOW.
This easy to do:
1) Call the numbers below and when the receptionist answers say, "I would like
to leave a message for the Senator."
2) The receptionist will take your message.
3) TELL THEM YOU ARE OPPOSED TO "THE MOTHER'S ACT" (S.1375) because of the
damage that will be done to mothers and infants due to the treatment that
will result from the legislation. Mothers need understanding and
compassionate medical care, not unscientific labels and mind altering
drugs. (Use your own words...keep it brief, mention the bill number)
4) Pass this on to others....THANKS!!!!!
Sen. Michael B. Enzi (WY)
Tele 202 224-3424
Fax: 202 228-0359
Sen. Judd Gregg (NH)
Tele 202 224-3324
Fax 202 224-4952
Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN)
Tele 202 224-4944
Fax 202 228-3398
Sen. Richard Burr (NC)
Tele 202 224-3154
Fax 202 228-2981
Sen. Johnny Isakson (GA)
Tele 202 224-3643
Fax 202 228-0724
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Tele 202 224-6665
Fax 202 224-5301
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (UT)
Tele 202 224-5251
Fax 202 224-6331
Sen. Pat Roberts (KS)
Tele 202 224-4774
Fax 202 224-3514
Sen. Wayne Allard (CO)
Tele 202 224-5941
Fax 202 224-6471
Sen. Tom Coburn (OK)
Tele 202 224-5754
Fax 202 224-6008
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.
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.
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!
SSRIs Have Been Linked to Spontaneous Abortion
and Birth Defects in Newborns
Here is just a sampling of studies that point this out:
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]
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]
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).
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]
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]
July 2006: The FDA warned of the risk of a fatal lung condition in newborns whose mothers took SSRIs during pregnancy.[6]
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.
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]
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!
STUDIES AND DRUG REGULATORY AGENCY WARNINGS AGAINST PSYCHIATRIC DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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.
"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."
Philip Zeskind, a professor of pediatrics,
The American Journal of Pediatrics 2004
BIRTH DEFECTS AND OTHER ADVERSE EFFECTS SUFFERED BY INFANTS WHOSE MOTHERS WERE PRESCRIBED ANTIDEPRESSANTS DURING PREGNANCY
Abnormal crying
Agitation
Bluish skin color from lack of oxygen
Breathing problems
Congenital anomaly (abnormality)
Convulsions
Feeding difficulties
Heart defects
Low birth rate
Jitteriness
Lethargy
Miscarriage
Neurological problems (symptoms include irritability, constant crying, convulsions)
Omphalocele (abnormality in which the infant's intestine or other abdominal organs protrude from the navel)
Premature birth
Rapid breathing
Respiratory difficulties
Restlessness
Rigidity
Seizures
Small intestine defects
Spontaneous abortions
Suction problems
Tremors
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)
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.
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….”
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.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
WHY H.R. 20/S. 1375, THE “MOTHER’S ACT” IS OPEN TO ABUSE
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
SAMPLE STUDIES SHOWING PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY IS DANGEROUS, PLACING THE FETUS, MOTHER AND INFANTS AT RISK
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
2004: The FDA revised SSRI labels to warn that some infants had developed problems requiring prolonged hospitalization, respiratory support, and tube feeding. [8]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
July 2006: The FDA warned of the risk of a fatal lung condition in newborns whose mothers took SSRIs during pregnancy.[29]
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]
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]
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.
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]
by the key Senate Committee in charge of this legislation — it is called "The
Mother's Act" (S. 1375)
WE DON'T WANT THIS BILL TO PASS. SCREENING PREGNANT WOMEN FOR DEPRESSION WILL
OPEN THE DOOR TO FALSE LABELS AND DRUGGING.
Contact your Representatives and Senators and tell them to stop the Mother’s Act (H.R. 20 / S. 1375).
CALLS, OR FAXES, ARE NEEDED TODAY TO THE LIST OF SENATE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
BELOW.
This easy to do:
1) Call the numbers below and when the receptionist answers say, "I would like
to leave a message for the Senator."
2) The receptionist will take your message.
3) TELL THEM YOU ARE OPPOSED TO "THE MOTHER'S ACT" (S.1375) because of the
damage that will be done to mothers and infants due to the treatment that
will result from the legislation. Mothers need understanding and
compassionate medical care, not unscientific labels and mind altering
drugs. (Use your own words...keep it brief, mention the bill number)
4) Pass this on to others....THANKS!!!!!
Sen. Michael B. Enzi (WY)
Tele 202 224-3424
Fax: 202 228-0359
Sen. Judd Gregg (NH)
Tele 202 224-3324
Fax 202 224-4952
Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN)
Tele 202 224-4944
Fax 202 228-3398
Sen. Richard Burr (NC)
Tele 202 224-3154
Fax 202 228-2981
Sen. Johnny Isakson (GA)
Tele 202 224-3643
Fax 202 228-0724
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Tele 202 224-6665
Fax 202 224-5301
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (UT)
Tele 202 224-5251
Fax 202 224-6331
Sen. Pat Roberts (KS)
Tele 202 224-4774
Fax 202 224-3514
Sen. Wayne Allard (CO)
Tele 202 224-5941
Fax 202 224-6471
Sen. Tom Coburn (OK)
Tele 202 224-5754
Fax 202 224-6008
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.
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.
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!
SSRIs Have Been Linked to Spontaneous Abortion
and Birth Defects in Newborns
Here is just a sampling of studies that point this out:
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]
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]
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).
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]
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]
July 2006: The FDA warned of the risk of a fatal lung condition in newborns whose mothers took SSRIs during pregnancy.[6]
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.
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]
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!
STUDIES AND DRUG REGULATORY AGENCY WARNINGS AGAINST PSYCHIATRIC DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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.
"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."
Philip Zeskind, a professor of pediatrics,
The American Journal of Pediatrics 2004
BIRTH DEFECTS AND OTHER ADVERSE EFFECTS SUFFERED BY INFANTS WHOSE MOTHERS WERE PRESCRIBED ANTIDEPRESSANTS DURING PREGNANCY
Abnormal crying
Agitation
Bluish skin color from lack of oxygen
Breathing problems
Congenital anomaly (abnormality)
Convulsions
Feeding difficulties
Heart defects
Low birth rate
Jitteriness
Lethargy
Miscarriage
Neurological problems (symptoms include irritability, constant crying, convulsions)
Omphalocele (abnormality in which the infant's intestine or other abdominal organs protrude from the navel)
Premature birth
Rapid breathing
Respiratory difficulties
Restlessness
Rigidity
Seizures
Small intestine defects
Spontaneous abortions
Suction problems
Tremors
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)
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.
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….”
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.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
WHY H.R. 20/S. 1375, THE “MOTHER’S ACT” IS OPEN TO ABUSE
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
SAMPLE STUDIES SHOWING PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY IS DANGEROUS, PLACING THE FETUS, MOTHER AND INFANTS AT RISK
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
2004: The FDA revised SSRI labels to warn that some infants had developed problems requiring prolonged hospitalization, respiratory support, and tube feeding. [8]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
July 2006: The FDA warned of the risk of a fatal lung condition in newborns whose mothers took SSRIs during pregnancy.[29]
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]
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]
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.
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]
Objection to the Proposed MOTHERS Act - Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UNITE / CHAADA / ICFDA / COPES Foundation
Objection to the Proposed MOTHERS Act - Bill
before Senate Puts Young Children and
Mothers in Serious Danger
February 11, 2008
Contacts:
Amy Philo, mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org
214-705-0169 home, 817-793-8028 cell
"www.chaada.org" "www.uniteforlife.org"
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director of the ICFDA
"www.drugawareness.org"
mailto:atracyphd1@aol.com, 800-280-0730 direct
Camille Milke mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/
505-269-2286 direct or 505-213-0999 fax (USA numbers)
"www.copesfoundation.com","www.drugawareness.org"
To the HELP Committee of the United States Senate:
For years, the March of Dimes has warned not to use meds while pregnant. Why now encourage mothers to take drugs?
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
"http://uniteforlife.org/MOTHERSact.htm#drtracymothersact", as well as information on prevention strategies and safe, effective treatments for post-partum mood disorders, please contact us.
Sincerely,
Amy Philo
Founder, "www.uniteforlife.org"
Co-Founder, "www.chaada.org"
Camille Milke
Founder, "www.copesfoundation.com",
New Mexico State Director of the ICFDA ("www.drugawareness.org")
Mother of a victim of psychiatric drug-induced suicide and grandmother to a now motherless child
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy
Executive Director of the ICFDA
("www.drugawareness.org")
Author of Prozac: Pancaea or Pandora? Our Serotonin Nightmare
Addendum(available online: "http://www.uniteforlife.org/MOTHERpress.htm")
Prevention and Alternatives Information from UNITE ("www.uniteforlife.org"):
I. Danger of drugs
A. Inducing suicide and homicide
"http://uniteforlife.org/SSRIs%20and%20Suicide.html"
"www.drugawareness.org"
"www.ssristories.com"
"www.breggin.com"
"www.healyprozac.com"
"http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm"
"http://www.fda.gov/cder/warn/2007/Effexor_XRPromo.pdf"
"http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/04n0330/04N-0330-EC16.html"
"http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/04/slides/2004-4065OPH1_04_Bostock_files/frame.htm#slide0012.htm",
B. Addiction, subsequent pregnancies threatened, nurslings threatened: "http://uniteforlife.org/breastfeeding.html"
"http://uniteforlife.org/antidepressants%20in%20pregnancy%20articles.html"
"http://uniteforlife.org/developing%20brains.htm"
"http://uniteforlife.org/health%20risks%20ssris.html"
"http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2005/Paxil_DHCP%20Letter_Dec%202005.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/medwaTCH/SAFETY/2002/Zoloft_USPI_rev4.pdf"
(See pages 17-18, Pregnancy paragraph - which states that an increase in stillbirths and newborn deaths occurred from pregnancy plus nursing exposure)
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 "http://uniteforlife.org/zyprexa%20objection.htm" for more information on the risks of Zyprexa.
II. Prevention of Post-Partum Mood Disorders:
A. Avoid interventions in childbirth: HOME BIRTH or midwifery or otherwise natural childbirth statistically results in LESS PPD..
Mothers Can Avoid (Specifically):
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)
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
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)
4. Avoid episiotomy which can lead to excessive blood loss and fatigue as well as significant pain leading to use of pain medications
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
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.
B. Post-partum period:
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.
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.
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 mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org for more info. Contrary to campaigns by the Crib Manufacturers SIDS is actually more common in cribs.
III. Alternatives to Drugs:
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.
2. Omega 3 Supplements (From Fish Oil, Flaxseed, etc.)
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) "http://uniteforlife.org/exercise.html" Medication shown to cause relapse, exercise MORE effective than antidepressant drugs
4. Some people feel that counseling is effective
5. Some people find alternative treatments effective, for example: chiropractic, homeopathy (even for PSYCHOSIS), accupuncture, energy work, etc.
6. MOMS can FIND A SUPPORT GROUP or helpful PERSON but NOT one that will push them to use drugs.
IV. Alternative Ways to Support American Families:
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?
V. The Bill Violates Basic American Principles and Rights:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
UNITE / CHAADA / ICFDA / COPES Foundation
Objection to the Proposed MOTHERS Act - Bill
before Senate Puts Young Children and
Mothers in Serious Danger
February 11, 2008
Contacts:
Amy Philo, mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org
214-705-0169 home, 817-793-8028 cell
"www.chaada.org" "www.uniteforlife.org"
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director of the ICFDA
"www.drugawareness.org"
mailto:atracyphd1@aol.com, 800-280-0730 direct
Camille Milke mailto:sarinasvoice@aol.com/
505-269-2286 direct or 505-213-0999 fax (USA numbers)
"www.copesfoundation.com","www.drugawareness.org"
To the HELP Committee of the United States Senate:
For years, the March of Dimes has warned not to use meds while pregnant. Why now encourage mothers to take drugs?
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
"http://uniteforlife.org/MOTHERSact.htm#drtracymothersact", as well as information on prevention strategies and safe, effective treatments for post-partum mood disorders, please contact us.
Sincerely,
Amy Philo
Founder, "www.uniteforlife.org"
Co-Founder, "www.chaada.org"
Camille Milke
Founder, "www.copesfoundation.com",
New Mexico State Director of the ICFDA ("www.drugawareness.org")
Mother of a victim of psychiatric drug-induced suicide and grandmother to a now motherless child
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy
Executive Director of the ICFDA
("www.drugawareness.org")
Author of Prozac: Pancaea or Pandora? Our Serotonin Nightmare
Addendum(available online: "http://www.uniteforlife.org/MOTHERpress.htm")
Prevention and Alternatives Information from UNITE ("www.uniteforlife.org"):
I. Danger of drugs
A. Inducing suicide and homicide
"http://uniteforlife.org/SSRIs%20and%20Suicide.html"
"www.drugawareness.org"
"www.ssristories.com"
"www.breggin.com"
"www.healyprozac.com"
"http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm"
"http://www.fda.gov/cder/warn/2007/Effexor_XRPromo.pdf"
"http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/04n0330/04N-0330-EC16.html"
"http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/04/slides/2004-4065OPH1_04_Bostock_files/frame.htm#slide0012.htm",
B. Addiction, subsequent pregnancies threatened, nurslings threatened: "http://uniteforlife.org/breastfeeding.html"
"http://uniteforlife.org/antidepressants%20in%20pregnancy%20articles.html"
"http://uniteforlife.org/developing%20brains.htm"
"http://uniteforlife.org/health%20risks%20ssris.html"
"http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2005/Paxil_DHCP%20Letter_Dec%202005.pdfhttp://www.fda.gov/medwaTCH/SAFETY/2002/Zoloft_USPI_rev4.pdf"
(See pages 17-18, Pregnancy paragraph - which states that an increase in stillbirths and newborn deaths occurred from pregnancy plus nursing exposure)
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 "http://uniteforlife.org/zyprexa%20objection.htm" for more information on the risks of Zyprexa.
II. Prevention of Post-Partum Mood Disorders:
A. Avoid interventions in childbirth: HOME BIRTH or midwifery or otherwise natural childbirth statistically results in LESS PPD..
Mothers Can Avoid (Specifically):
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)
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
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)
4. Avoid episiotomy which can lead to excessive blood loss and fatigue as well as significant pain leading to use of pain medications
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
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.
B. Post-partum period:
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.
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.
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 mailto:amy@uniteforlife.org for more info. Contrary to campaigns by the Crib Manufacturers SIDS is actually more common in cribs.
III. Alternatives to Drugs:
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.
2. Omega 3 Supplements (From Fish Oil, Flaxseed, etc.)
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) "http://uniteforlife.org/exercise.html" Medication shown to cause relapse, exercise MORE effective than antidepressant drugs
4. Some people feel that counseling is effective
5. Some people find alternative treatments effective, for example: chiropractic, homeopathy (even for PSYCHOSIS), accupuncture, energy work, etc.
6. MOMS can FIND A SUPPORT GROUP or helpful PERSON but NOT one that will push them to use drugs.
IV. Alternative Ways to Support American Families:
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?
V. The Bill Violates Basic American Principles and Rights:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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