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
Showing posts with label Copes Foundation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Copes Foundation. Show all posts
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
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.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
PLEASE HELP SAVE THIS WOMAN!
This woman needs our help. Please take two minutes to copy and send the letter below in blue to the addresses listed with the form letter, or write your own. For all the times we have signed petitions and forwarded junk emails surely we can all take a few minutes and write an email on this topic and help save a life.
=====
If you know the situation of Rebecca Merhav, you don't need reminding. At the bottom below my email I have cut and pasted instructions from Ben (Rebecca's father) on who should receive a protest letter requesting that the psychiatrists let Rebecca go. There are details about the drugs they are forcing her to take and their effects below that. PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL OR POST IT ON FORUMS TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE YOU THINK HAS AN INKLING OF A CHANCE OF HELPING. You don't have to write your own custom letter, a sample letter is all that is needed. It is written out below (in blue) and it will only take two minutes for you to send it, with a copy to Ben Merhav. benjaminmerhav@hotmail.com and me at SarinasVoice@aol.com, I will add your letters of protest to my website.
For those of you who need to be informed for the first time who Rebecca Merhav is, she has been subject to a CTO for over 30 years in Australia, which is a Compulsory Treatment Order or a legal restraint that lets psychiatrists forcibly "treat" a patient. Rebecca became a patient in psychiatry because she was brought to a hospital by her mother as a teenager when she was too defiant and refused to do her chores. This could be any one of the teenagers I have met in my short 29 years on this planet and it reminds me of all the poor kids that get labeled today with ADHD or bipolar when they are 2 or 3, before they can even ride a bike.
The doctors saw an opportunity to get an easy patient and they have been in essence experimenting on Rebecca all this time. If any psychiatric symptoms existed they were brought on by original administration of dangerous drugs. For a year or two they had her on Clozapine, which I suppose after their experiment was complete they agreed to discontinue. That is one of the MOST dangerous medications there is and has killed patients with just one dose if I am not mistaken. But somehow Rebecca has survived all of this. Every day of her life under this torture is borrowed time due to the toxic drugs they are pouring into her.
Now they are forcing her to take Risperdal and Seroquel and have locked her up in a psych ward indefinitely. The clinic has always allowed her to be free to live in her own apartment while they forced her to come to the hospital or have someone come to her home to forcibly medicate her. Now they claim that her father can accompany her home but when he asks her to come home with him over the phone, she does not reply. It is possible that they have threatened to further drug her into oblivion, use shock, rape, torture, or murder her with other violent means. Psychiatric hospitals can get away with abuse and have done so numerous times.
Whatever is going on there it is not in the best interest of the patient. The doctors have been ignoring protest emails for years. There is a chance that getting more letters from people around the world will convince them that the pressure is on and they need to comply with Rebecca's wishes and Ben's wishes and let her go and remove the CTO. You can read the entire history of Rebecca's torture on Ben's blogs at "http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com" or on our website at "www.COPESfoundation.com" and the UNITE website at "http://www.uniteforlife.org/memberblogs.html#ben". Or you can email him directly.
But most importantly I am sure we can all agree that someone like Rebecca who is an innocent person - a victim of psychiatric torture - should not be subjected to the experimental whims of the incredibly dangerous psychiatric methods of "treatment" and their force and threats.
Let's join together and do everything we can to set Rebecca free. We can do this as a symbol of our efforts for all psychiatric victims. If we win this battle there will be more momentum for us to do similar things to save our own children from CPS, the courts, and exes who want them drugged. We need attention, cooperation, and a victory for human rights. Please join and help us!!!!!!
Continue reading down the page to copy and paste the sample letter (in blue) and to read letters from Rebecca's father.
Camille Milke, Eternal "Mommy" of Sarina Angel
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Forever........
My Beautiful Baby Girl, 1/26/86 - 10/28/07, 21 years 9 months 3 days
COPES Foundation (Coalition Of Parents Enduring Suicide)
Founder and President, Main - 505-269-2286, Fax - 505-213-0999
SarinasVoice@aol.com
"www.COPESFoundation.com"
"www.ILoveYouSarina21.last-memories.com
"
NM Director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness
"www.DrugAwareness.org"
List of email addresses for emailing your protest :
To : s.wilkins@alfred. org.au
(Dr. Sally Wilkins, the treating psychiatrist, Junction Clinic)
Cc :
sarinasvoice@aol.com, lisa.neville@ minstaff. vic.gov.au; jesse.martin@ minstaff. vic.gov.au; hsc@dhs.vic. gov.au;
kuruvilla.george@ dhs.vic.gov. au; benjaminmerhav@ hotmail.com; amy@uniteforlife. org
Proposed protest letter :
Dr. Sally Wilkins,
Miss Rebecca Merhav's father has reported to me the latest psychiatric atrocity you are perpetrating against her under the false cover of "treatment".
It must be obvious to you that in doing so you not only continue her torture by the adverse effects of the two neuroleptics - the Risperdal and the Seroquel - and depriving her of a chance to return to normal life following the tapering off the poisons, your are actually forcing on her the risk of sudden death !
Despite the numerous urging-pleas by her father on her behalf, you continue to insist on maintaining the CTO, namely forcing her to take more of the psychiatric poisons, rather than allow her to detoxify her body and help her return to normal life.
Over 30 years of psychiatric torture and failure, including 12 months of "treatment" by yourself,
only made things worse for Rebecca, and surely, having survived it all Rebecca deserves NOW better than that, even from a psychiatric point of view. She is not and never was a danger to herself or to anybody else, so why force on her torture and death risks ?
I protest your cynical and cruel "treatment" of Rebecca, and I demand that you immediately cancel the CTO, allow her to gradually taper off the psychiatric poisons, and help her return to normal life in consultation with herself and with her father.
Looking forward to your early reply -
From Ben Merhav (Rebecca's Father)
A message protesting the intensified torture of Rebecca Merhav
was emailed by Kathryn Kinley, and I have uploaded it on my blog "http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com".
Yesterday I managed to contact Rebecca over the phone for the first time. She sounded confused, scared to death, and
completely overwhelmed. So much so, that my repeated offer to her to accompany her back home was not answered. Even
when I assured her that I have the agreement of the Clinic's nurse for that, she did not believe me. I was never as worried her
being in danger as I am now !
Each one of you with your mailing lists of supporters ,colleagues and contact, can be very helpful by emailing without delay
your protest letter to the email addresses listed in my article/post on my above blog.
Please act now to save Rebecca's life !
THE PSYCHIATRIC TORTURE OF REBECCA MERHAV IS ONCE MORE INTENSIFIED TO THE DETRIMENT OF HER WELLBEING, AND SHE IS AT THE HIGH RISK OF BEING CRUSHED TO DEATH AS A RESULT !
by Justice Lover
Some 10 days ago Miss Rebecca Merhav, the daughter of Benjamin Merhav, was told by the state shrink ,who is in charge of her under a compulsory treatment order, to leave her home and stay at a psychiatric institution. Her father was not informed of that until about a week later, and then only following his phone call to the shrink.
Her detention address and the phone number to contact her were denied to him. Further inquiries by him revealed that she was ordered to take 400 mg of Serquel tablets per day, in addition to the 75mg Risperdal injections she was forced to take every 10 days.
This is a very dangerous, and very horrible setback for her, having endured the Clozapine torture for over 2 years and all the psychiatric experimentations forced on her for the past 30 years. Last week Rebecca's father emailed the following letter to the treating shrink, with copies to the Minister for Mental Health in Victoria, to the Chief Psychiatrist there, and to the Health Services Commissioner there. Not even a confirmation of his letter was sent him so far by any of them.
However, further phone calls to the Chief Psychiatrist' s office by Benjamin revealed that the Chief Psychiatrist has already rejected the letter, and that he has no intention to investigate Benjamin's complaint/appeal. Following Benjamin's letter below there is a form of protest email to be sent to the email addresses listed there. You are welcome to use the proposed protest letter or type your own text of a protest letter and send it urgently to the email addresses listed below, with a copy to ben.merhav@gmail. com. Please act now !
Benjamin's letter :
" Dear Prof. K. George,
I have addressed a copy of my following letter to the former Chief Psychiatrist, not knowing that he is no longer holding this position. The letter is pasted below. I ask you, therefore, to cancel the CTO over my daughter, as you have the power to do so. Alternatively, I ask you to advise Dr. Sally Wilkins of Junction Clinic to do so as early as possible.
Thanking you in advance, Benjamin Merhav
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ====
Dr. Sally Wilkins,
I am alarmed, dismayed, distressed, disappointed and very worried about the new "treatment" you are forcing my daughter to take, as part of your experimentations with her. This is a sever case of misuse of your legal power given to you by the Mental Health Act, as the psychiatrist treating Rebecca. Are over 30 years of psychiatric torture and experimentations that she has endured so far not enough ?
In reply to my call you told me over the phone that she herself chose to go to that psychiatric institution where you arranged for her to stay and take more very dangerous psychiatric drugs. You also added that if she would not be happy there she would be free to go back home any time. You should know by now that no patient under CTO is free to do what they consider best for them to do. Rebecca sure knows that, as she had 30 years of very bad experience under CTO. She knows, of course, that the treating psychiatrists and their psychiatric nurses do not like complaints, much less patient's disobedience, and she has been powerless against the psychiatric machine, which has both overt and covert punishments at its disposal (and her case, with the full support of her mother).
As I phoned the clinic this morning I was told, in reply to my questions, that Rebecca is now forced to take another Atypical drug (Seroquel, 250mg tablets per day, to replace the old Clozapine poison). This in addition to the 10 day interval Risperdal 75mg injections. As you know, Serquel is a very dangerous neuroleptic, and with many adverse effects. Even the FDA in the USA states as follows (with my emphasis ) :
http://www.fda. gov/cder/ foi/label/ 2004/20639se1- 017,016_seroquel _lbl.pdf
"WARNINGS
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) A potentially fatal symptom complex sometimes referred to as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) has been reported in association with administration of antipsychotic drugs, including SEROQUEL. Rare cases of NMS have been reported with SEROQUEL. Clinical manifestations of NMS are hyperpyrexia, muscle rigidity, altered mental status, and evidence of autonomic instability (irregular pulse or blood pressure, tachycardia, diaphoresis, and cardiac dysrhythmia) . Additional signs may include elevated creatine phosphokinase, myoglobinuria (rhabdomyolysis) and acute renal failure. The diagnostic evaluation of patients with this syndrome is complicated. In arriving at a diagnosis, it is important to exclude cases where the clinical presentation includes both serious medical illness (eg, pneumonia, systemic infection, etc.) and untreated or inadequately treated extrapyramidal signs and symptoms (EPS). Other important considerations in the differential diagnosis include central anticholinergic toxicity, heat stroke, drug fever and primary central nervous system (CNS) pathology."
At the same page the FDA has the following information :
"Post Marketing Experience:
Adverse events reported since market introduction which were
temporally related to SEROQUEL therapy include:
leukopenia/neutrope nia. If a patient develops a low white cell count
consider discontinuation of therapy. Possible risk factors for
leukopenia/neutrope nia include pre-existing low white cell count and
history of drug induced leukopenia/neutrope nia.
Other adverse events reported since market introduction, which were
temporally related to SEROQUEL therapy, but not necessarily
causally related, include the following: agranulocytosis, anaphylaxis,
hyponatremia, rhabdomyolysis, syndrome of inappropriate
antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH), and Steven Johnson
syndrome (SJS)."
A law firm in the USA, which has vast legal experience in law suits against drug corporations, pasted the piece of information on its website as it is below . According to this information the drug manufacturer itself
changed the label on Seroquel to include the following (my emphasis ) :
"In January 2004, AstraZeneca changed the labeling on Seroquel® to warn of the serious, increased risk of diabetes and related health complications such as hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, coma and death."
http://www.kritzerz onies.com/ drug_seroquel. htm
"Seroquel® (quetiapine fumarate), manufactured by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, is an atypical antipsychotic medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1997 to control the symptoms of schizophrenia and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder. Although approved specifically for these limited purposes, some physicians have prescribed Seroquel® for "off-label" use including sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.
Not long after Seroquel® was approved for use, evidence began to mount regarding the serious side effects associated with it and other similar medications. In January 2004, AstraZeneca changed the labeling on Seroquel® to warn of the serious, increased risk of diabetes and related health complications such as hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, coma and death. In April 2005, the FDA ordered AstraZeneca to add a "black box warning" to Seroquel® labeling, informing consumers about the increased risk of death from the drug. The FDA also emphasized at that time that Seroquel® was NOT approved to treat elderly patients with dementia. Although studies have linked Seroquel® to diabetes, death and other serious side effects, the drug remains on the market.
In 2004, soon after the discovery of diabetes-related Seroquel® side effects, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all patients who had taken the drug. The lawsuit sought the establishment of a medical monitoring fund which would provide free, periodic testing for diabetes and related conditions for patients taking Seroquel®. Other Seroquel® lawsuits have been filed on behalf of individuals who allegedly have been seriously injured or killed by Seroquel® side effects.
If you or a loved one is taking Seroquel®, it is important to be aware of these risks and speak with your health care professional to learn more. It is also crucial to speak with your doctor before starting, stopping or otherwise modifying the use of Seroquel®."
It is true that Rebecca suffers from chronic insomnia as a result of being forced to take Clozapine, Risperdal, Flupenthixal and other neuroleptics for many years. Her body badly needs detoxification, physical activities, community activities etc. - whatever else she thinks she needs - rather than forcing into her more psychiatric poisons. She is not a danger to the community nor to herself, and therefore the CTO should be lifted immediately to give her a chance to return to normal life !
Do not kill my daughter !
Sincerely, Benjamin Merhav"
=====
If you know the situation of Rebecca Merhav, you don't need reminding. At the bottom below my email I have cut and pasted instructions from Ben (Rebecca's father) on who should receive a protest letter requesting that the psychiatrists let Rebecca go. There are details about the drugs they are forcing her to take and their effects below that. PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL OR POST IT ON FORUMS TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE YOU THINK HAS AN INKLING OF A CHANCE OF HELPING. You don't have to write your own custom letter, a sample letter is all that is needed. It is written out below (in blue) and it will only take two minutes for you to send it, with a copy to Ben Merhav. benjaminmerhav@hotmail.com and me at SarinasVoice@aol.com, I will add your letters of protest to my website.
For those of you who need to be informed for the first time who Rebecca Merhav is, she has been subject to a CTO for over 30 years in Australia, which is a Compulsory Treatment Order or a legal restraint that lets psychiatrists forcibly "treat" a patient. Rebecca became a patient in psychiatry because she was brought to a hospital by her mother as a teenager when she was too defiant and refused to do her chores. This could be any one of the teenagers I have met in my short 29 years on this planet and it reminds me of all the poor kids that get labeled today with ADHD or bipolar when they are 2 or 3, before they can even ride a bike.
The doctors saw an opportunity to get an easy patient and they have been in essence experimenting on Rebecca all this time. If any psychiatric symptoms existed they were brought on by original administration of dangerous drugs. For a year or two they had her on Clozapine, which I suppose after their experiment was complete they agreed to discontinue. That is one of the MOST dangerous medications there is and has killed patients with just one dose if I am not mistaken. But somehow Rebecca has survived all of this. Every day of her life under this torture is borrowed time due to the toxic drugs they are pouring into her.
Now they are forcing her to take Risperdal and Seroquel and have locked her up in a psych ward indefinitely. The clinic has always allowed her to be free to live in her own apartment while they forced her to come to the hospital or have someone come to her home to forcibly medicate her. Now they claim that her father can accompany her home but when he asks her to come home with him over the phone, she does not reply. It is possible that they have threatened to further drug her into oblivion, use shock, rape, torture, or murder her with other violent means. Psychiatric hospitals can get away with abuse and have done so numerous times.
Whatever is going on there it is not in the best interest of the patient. The doctors have been ignoring protest emails for years. There is a chance that getting more letters from people around the world will convince them that the pressure is on and they need to comply with Rebecca's wishes and Ben's wishes and let her go and remove the CTO. You can read the entire history of Rebecca's torture on Ben's blogs at "http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com" or on our website at "www.COPESfoundation.com" and the UNITE website at "http://www.uniteforlife.org/memberblogs.html#ben". Or you can email him directly.
But most importantly I am sure we can all agree that someone like Rebecca who is an innocent person - a victim of psychiatric torture - should not be subjected to the experimental whims of the incredibly dangerous psychiatric methods of "treatment" and their force and threats.
Let's join together and do everything we can to set Rebecca free. We can do this as a symbol of our efforts for all psychiatric victims. If we win this battle there will be more momentum for us to do similar things to save our own children from CPS, the courts, and exes who want them drugged. We need attention, cooperation, and a victory for human rights. Please join and help us!!!!!!
Continue reading down the page to copy and paste the sample letter (in blue) and to read letters from Rebecca's father.
Camille Milke, Eternal "Mommy" of Sarina Angel
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Forever........
My Beautiful Baby Girl, 1/26/86 - 10/28/07, 21 years 9 months 3 days
COPES Foundation (Coalition Of Parents Enduring Suicide)
Founder and President, Main - 505-269-2286, Fax - 505-213-0999
SarinasVoice@aol.com
"www.COPESFoundation.com"
"www.ILoveYouSarina21.last-memories.com
"
NM Director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness
"www.DrugAwareness.org"
List of email addresses for emailing your protest :
To : s.wilkins@alfred. org.au
(Dr. Sally Wilkins, the treating psychiatrist, Junction Clinic)
Cc :
sarinasvoice@aol.com, lisa.neville@ minstaff. vic.gov.au; jesse.martin@ minstaff. vic.gov.au; hsc@dhs.vic. gov.au;
kuruvilla.george@ dhs.vic.gov. au; benjaminmerhav@ hotmail.com; amy@uniteforlife. org
Proposed protest letter :
Dr. Sally Wilkins,
Miss Rebecca Merhav's father has reported to me the latest psychiatric atrocity you are perpetrating against her under the false cover of "treatment".
It must be obvious to you that in doing so you not only continue her torture by the adverse effects of the two neuroleptics - the Risperdal and the Seroquel - and depriving her of a chance to return to normal life following the tapering off the poisons, your are actually forcing on her the risk of sudden death !
Despite the numerous urging-pleas by her father on her behalf, you continue to insist on maintaining the CTO, namely forcing her to take more of the psychiatric poisons, rather than allow her to detoxify her body and help her return to normal life.
Over 30 years of psychiatric torture and failure, including 12 months of "treatment" by yourself,
only made things worse for Rebecca, and surely, having survived it all Rebecca deserves NOW better than that, even from a psychiatric point of view. She is not and never was a danger to herself or to anybody else, so why force on her torture and death risks ?
I protest your cynical and cruel "treatment" of Rebecca, and I demand that you immediately cancel the CTO, allow her to gradually taper off the psychiatric poisons, and help her return to normal life in consultation with herself and with her father.
Looking forward to your early reply -
From Ben Merhav (Rebecca's Father)
A message protesting the intensified torture of Rebecca Merhav
was emailed by Kathryn Kinley, and I have uploaded it on my blog "http://7thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com".
Yesterday I managed to contact Rebecca over the phone for the first time. She sounded confused, scared to death, and
completely overwhelmed. So much so, that my repeated offer to her to accompany her back home was not answered. Even
when I assured her that I have the agreement of the Clinic's nurse for that, she did not believe me. I was never as worried her
being in danger as I am now !
Each one of you with your mailing lists of supporters ,colleagues and contact, can be very helpful by emailing without delay
your protest letter to the email addresses listed in my article/post on my above blog.
Please act now to save Rebecca's life !
THE PSYCHIATRIC TORTURE OF REBECCA MERHAV IS ONCE MORE INTENSIFIED TO THE DETRIMENT OF HER WELLBEING, AND SHE IS AT THE HIGH RISK OF BEING CRUSHED TO DEATH AS A RESULT !
by Justice Lover
Some 10 days ago Miss Rebecca Merhav, the daughter of Benjamin Merhav, was told by the state shrink ,who is in charge of her under a compulsory treatment order, to leave her home and stay at a psychiatric institution. Her father was not informed of that until about a week later, and then only following his phone call to the shrink.
Her detention address and the phone number to contact her were denied to him. Further inquiries by him revealed that she was ordered to take 400 mg of Serquel tablets per day, in addition to the 75mg Risperdal injections she was forced to take every 10 days.
This is a very dangerous, and very horrible setback for her, having endured the Clozapine torture for over 2 years and all the psychiatric experimentations forced on her for the past 30 years. Last week Rebecca's father emailed the following letter to the treating shrink, with copies to the Minister for Mental Health in Victoria, to the Chief Psychiatrist there, and to the Health Services Commissioner there. Not even a confirmation of his letter was sent him so far by any of them.
However, further phone calls to the Chief Psychiatrist' s office by Benjamin revealed that the Chief Psychiatrist has already rejected the letter, and that he has no intention to investigate Benjamin's complaint/appeal. Following Benjamin's letter below there is a form of protest email to be sent to the email addresses listed there. You are welcome to use the proposed protest letter or type your own text of a protest letter and send it urgently to the email addresses listed below, with a copy to ben.merhav@gmail. com. Please act now !
Benjamin's letter :
" Dear Prof. K. George,
I have addressed a copy of my following letter to the former Chief Psychiatrist, not knowing that he is no longer holding this position. The letter is pasted below. I ask you, therefore, to cancel the CTO over my daughter, as you have the power to do so. Alternatively, I ask you to advise Dr. Sally Wilkins of Junction Clinic to do so as early as possible.
Thanking you in advance, Benjamin Merhav
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ====
Dr. Sally Wilkins,
I am alarmed, dismayed, distressed, disappointed and very worried about the new "treatment" you are forcing my daughter to take, as part of your experimentations with her. This is a sever case of misuse of your legal power given to you by the Mental Health Act, as the psychiatrist treating Rebecca. Are over 30 years of psychiatric torture and experimentations that she has endured so far not enough ?
In reply to my call you told me over the phone that she herself chose to go to that psychiatric institution where you arranged for her to stay and take more very dangerous psychiatric drugs. You also added that if she would not be happy there she would be free to go back home any time. You should know by now that no patient under CTO is free to do what they consider best for them to do. Rebecca sure knows that, as she had 30 years of very bad experience under CTO. She knows, of course, that the treating psychiatrists and their psychiatric nurses do not like complaints, much less patient's disobedience, and she has been powerless against the psychiatric machine, which has both overt and covert punishments at its disposal (and her case, with the full support of her mother).
As I phoned the clinic this morning I was told, in reply to my questions, that Rebecca is now forced to take another Atypical drug (Seroquel, 250mg tablets per day, to replace the old Clozapine poison). This in addition to the 10 day interval Risperdal 75mg injections. As you know, Serquel is a very dangerous neuroleptic, and with many adverse effects. Even the FDA in the USA states as follows (with my emphasis ) :
http://www.fda. gov/cder/ foi/label/ 2004/20639se1- 017,016_seroquel _lbl.pdf
"WARNINGS
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) A potentially fatal symptom complex sometimes referred to as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) has been reported in association with administration of antipsychotic drugs, including SEROQUEL. Rare cases of NMS have been reported with SEROQUEL. Clinical manifestations of NMS are hyperpyrexia, muscle rigidity, altered mental status, and evidence of autonomic instability (irregular pulse or blood pressure, tachycardia, diaphoresis, and cardiac dysrhythmia) . Additional signs may include elevated creatine phosphokinase, myoglobinuria (rhabdomyolysis) and acute renal failure. The diagnostic evaluation of patients with this syndrome is complicated. In arriving at a diagnosis, it is important to exclude cases where the clinical presentation includes both serious medical illness (eg, pneumonia, systemic infection, etc.) and untreated or inadequately treated extrapyramidal signs and symptoms (EPS). Other important considerations in the differential diagnosis include central anticholinergic toxicity, heat stroke, drug fever and primary central nervous system (CNS) pathology."
At the same page the FDA has the following information :
"Post Marketing Experience:
Adverse events reported since market introduction which were
temporally related to SEROQUEL therapy include:
leukopenia/neutrope nia. If a patient develops a low white cell count
consider discontinuation of therapy. Possible risk factors for
leukopenia/neutrope nia include pre-existing low white cell count and
history of drug induced leukopenia/neutrope nia.
Other adverse events reported since market introduction, which were
temporally related to SEROQUEL therapy, but not necessarily
causally related, include the following: agranulocytosis, anaphylaxis,
hyponatremia, rhabdomyolysis, syndrome of inappropriate
antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH), and Steven Johnson
syndrome (SJS)."
A law firm in the USA, which has vast legal experience in law suits against drug corporations, pasted the piece of information on its website as it is below . According to this information the drug manufacturer itself
changed the label on Seroquel to include the following (my emphasis ) :
"In January 2004, AstraZeneca changed the labeling on Seroquel® to warn of the serious, increased risk of diabetes and related health complications such as hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, coma and death."
http://www.kritzerz onies.com/ drug_seroquel. htm
"Seroquel® (quetiapine fumarate), manufactured by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, is an atypical antipsychotic medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1997 to control the symptoms of schizophrenia and manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder. Although approved specifically for these limited purposes, some physicians have prescribed Seroquel® for "off-label" use including sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.
Not long after Seroquel® was approved for use, evidence began to mount regarding the serious side effects associated with it and other similar medications. In January 2004, AstraZeneca changed the labeling on Seroquel® to warn of the serious, increased risk of diabetes and related health complications such as hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, coma and death. In April 2005, the FDA ordered AstraZeneca to add a "black box warning" to Seroquel® labeling, informing consumers about the increased risk of death from the drug. The FDA also emphasized at that time that Seroquel® was NOT approved to treat elderly patients with dementia. Although studies have linked Seroquel® to diabetes, death and other serious side effects, the drug remains on the market.
In 2004, soon after the discovery of diabetes-related Seroquel® side effects, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all patients who had taken the drug. The lawsuit sought the establishment of a medical monitoring fund which would provide free, periodic testing for diabetes and related conditions for patients taking Seroquel®. Other Seroquel® lawsuits have been filed on behalf of individuals who allegedly have been seriously injured or killed by Seroquel® side effects.
If you or a loved one is taking Seroquel®, it is important to be aware of these risks and speak with your health care professional to learn more. It is also crucial to speak with your doctor before starting, stopping or otherwise modifying the use of Seroquel®."
It is true that Rebecca suffers from chronic insomnia as a result of being forced to take Clozapine, Risperdal, Flupenthixal and other neuroleptics for many years. Her body badly needs detoxification, physical activities, community activities etc. - whatever else she thinks she needs - rather than forcing into her more psychiatric poisons. She is not a danger to the community nor to herself, and therefore the CTO should be lifted immediately to give her a chance to return to normal life !
Do not kill my daughter !
Sincerely, Benjamin Merhav"
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