May 18, 2011, 08:00:00AM. By Gordon Gibb

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Winnipeg, Manitoba: Antipsychotic medications have always been hotly debated in the risks v. benefit arena. That debate grew even hotter this past spring with the addition of some 20 antipsychotic medications fingered by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as posing risks to newborn babies when taken during pregnancy, according to a Bloomberg report carried in the February 23 issue of the News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington.

There have allegedly been reports of babies suffering withdrawal symptoms after their mothers had taken various antipsychotic drugs—and especially during the third trimester of pregnancy.

However, newborns are not the only victims here.

There is also concern over what Antipsychotic drugs may be doing to seniors in nursing homes, according to Victoria Schindle in a story appearing April 21 in the Winnipeg Free Press. Schindle's mother, age 81, suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was allegedly subjected to a regimen of such drugs—in this case, olanzapine.

Schindle feels that the side effects of Antipsychotics led to the premature death of her mother, Giota Doussis.

"Did I feel (her) passing was premature? I'd say yes," Schindle said in comments published in the Free Press. "I'm not a doctor or a nurse but when I took her in she was in perfect physical health. I didn't know she was on these medications and once I found out and researched them, the conclusion I came to was, that her failing health and her death were untimely, due to these medications."

It was revealed in the Free Press that Doussis was prescribed olanzapine, apparently without permission from Doussis' family. The Free Press noted that olanzapine is one of the most dangerous antipsychotics to seniors. It is further suspected that the use of Antipsychotic meds in nursing homes is being overused in an effort to restrain elderly patients.

On the day Doussis died on January 21, a provincial report was released in the Canadian province of Manitoba concluding that the use of Antipsychotic medications as a means to restrain patients is overused and out of control.

"The concern here is Victoria Schindle's mother is an example of the anti-psychotic medications that are being overused," said Jon Gerrard, the leader of the Liberal party in the Selinger Government of Manitoba and himself a doctor. "It's clear the health minister doesn't fully appreciate what's happening. There are a lot of people coming to us and we've held forums for people to share their concerns about care and abuse in personal-care homes."

The Free Press noted that Health Canada, the Canadian health authority—as well as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—began issuing warnings about the use of antipsychotic drugs in seniors with dementia about six years ago.

In this way, Antipsychotic side effects can impact three generations at once: a baby borne of a mother taking Antipsychotic medications, and an elderly parent subjected to such drugs for the purposes of restraint in nursing homes and elder care facilities.

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