Posts Tagged ‘ suicide ’
Who’s at Fault if Suicide Deterrents Fail?
July 9th, 2010. By AbiK
A study done by Canadian researchers looks at suicide barriers—those grids or bars on bridges and places like the observation deck of the Empire State Building that are supposed to prevent would-be suicide victims. According to an article at healthfinder.gov, the study showed that, “suicide barriers on bridges may fail to reduce overall rates of people jumping to their deaths because jumpers may go elsewhere to commit suicide.”
I read that line and thought, “No kidding.”
Read it again to ensure you understand what the study was trying to ascertain. The idea was to see if having suicide barriers in a geographical area translated into a lower suicide rate for that area as a whole—ie, not just whether the rate of suicides went down at the specific location where the barriers had been installed.
The article goes on to quote Dr. Mark Sinyor, resident physician at the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s psychiatry department as saying, “This research shows that constructing a barrier on a bridge with a high rate of suicide by jumping is likely to reduce or eliminate suicides at that bridge but it may not alter absolute suicide rates by jumping when there are comparable bridges nearby.”
Yes, you read that correctly. And I don’t mean to belittle the study (ok, maybe I do) but let’s try to make some analogies here. Will putting a lock on a car with a GPS system inside prevent the theft of a GPS system in an unlocked car nearby? Will living in a “dry town” Read the rest of this entry »
Chantix Risks Outweigh the Benefits?
July 3rd, 2009. By janem
On July 1, the FDA said it will immediately require boxed warnings about the risk of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms on the packaging of Chantix, a popular smoking cessation drug. The warning is a result of countless reports of behavioral changes, depressed mood, agitation, hostility, and suicidal thoughts and behavior associated with use of the drug.
Chantix is so dangerous that the agency reported 98 suicides and 188 attempted suicides in Chantix users, yet according to Curtis Rosebraugh, MD, director of the agency’s Office of Drug Evaluation II, discontinuation of the medication is not recommended because it has shown to be effective for quitting smoking.
The FDA further recommends, in its infinite wisdom, that “clinicians monitor their patients for neuropsychiatric symptoms after initiating treatment. ” Well, that’s all fine and dandy if you and your doctor have the time, and you have health insurance. But more often than not, people with behavioral changes noted above do not seek medical help, and several people I have spoken with, who have suffered Chantix side effects, can’t afford to see a doctor on a constant basis.
Of course illnesses and deaths caused by smoking has cost a gazillion dollars to the medical system and hey, I’m not condoning smoking but it seems like the FDA needs a lesson in common sense, and reconsider taking Chantix off the market before they have more reported suicides.
Certain Asthma and Allergy Drugs Get Stiffer Suicide Warning
June 16th, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle
The requirement for a more prominent warning regarding an increased risk of neuropsyhiatric events, including suicide, applies to Singulair (montelukast), and Accolate (zafirlukast), leukotriene receptor antagonists, and Zyflo and Zyflo CR (zileuton), a leukotriene synthesis inhibitor.
The reported neuropsychiatric events “include postmarket cases of agitation, aggression, anxiousness, dream abnormalities and hallucinations, depression, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, suicidal thinking and behavior (including suicide), and tremor,” the FDA said in a June 12, 2009, statement on its Website.
“Patients and healthcare professionals should be aware of the potential for neuropsychiatric events with these medications,” the FDA states.
“FDA has requested that manufacturers include a precaution in the drug prescribing information (drug labeling),” the agency notes.
Singulair, Accolate, and Zyflo are approved to treat asthma, and Singulair is also approved to treat allergic rhinitis and prevent exercise induced asthma.
In March 2008, the FDA announced that Singulair may be associated with suicidality and suicide, and subsequently conducted a review of neuropsychiatric events in post marketing reports and clinical trial data submitted by the drug makers.
Events were not found to be common in the clinical trials but the trials were not designed to look for neuropsychiatric events, the FDA said. “Sleep disorders (primarily insomnia) were reported more frequently with all three products compared to placebo,” the agency noted.
AstraZeneca markets Accolate, and Zyflo is made by Cornerstone Therapeutics. Singulair was Merck’s top selling product in 2008, and the sixth top selling drug in the US, with sales of $3.5 billion, according a March 2009 report by IMS Health.
Pharma Pill Pushers Use Suicide Ruse – Again
June 4th, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle
Nearly every year, researchers on drug company payrolls publish some ridiculous study with claims that more people may be dying from suicide due to a black box warning about an increased risk of suicide in young people on the labels of SSRI and SNRI antidepressants as a ruse to increase sales of drugs.
Judging from a new study out this month, with a June 2, 2009 headline on WebMD stating: “Are Antidepressant Warnings Causing Harm?”, apparently this year is no exception even though in the US there were 164.2 million prescriptions dispensed for antidepressants in 2008, compared to 143 million in 2004, according to IMS Health, a healthcare information company.
The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, claims there has been a drastic drop in the diagnosis of depression in adults and kids.
Throwing Billions Down a Psych Drug Rat Hole
May 18th, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle
From 1996 to 2006, prescriptions for psychiatric drugs increased by 73% among adults and 50% with children in the US, according to a new study in the May/June 2009 issue of the journal “Health Affairs.”
Another study in the same issue, found spending for mental health care grew more than 30% over the same 10-year period, with almost all of the increase due to psychiatric drug costs.
On April 22, 2009, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, reported that in 2006, more money was spent on treating mental disorders in children aged 0 to 17 than for any other medical condition, with a total of $8.9 billion.
By comparison, the cost of treating trauma-related disorders, including fractures, sprains, burns, and other physical injuries from accidents or violence was only $6.1 billion. Read the rest of this entry »
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