Open Letter to Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa

Dear Senator Grassley,

Thank you for investigating NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

Please investigate Mental Health America, CHADD, TeenScreen, and National Depression Screening Day too. They’re drug industry front groups just like NAMI.

Sincerely,

The entire staff at the Institute for Nearly Genuine Research

http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/mha.html

NAMI is a drug pusher, it is filled up with drug pushers, and it wants the profits from the drug companies. If someone doesn't stop it soon, and I and others have been trying since at least 2003, then our world will be ruined fairly soon. So I thank you for doing what you can.

"They’re just a bunch of nice folks whose relatives and friends have suffered from “mental illness.” (That is what they say) They just want to help. Sadly, this may be true for a lot of NAMI rank-and-file (the underlings and ones who basically have to do the dirty work for them, but that is not really so either, many of them know what they are doing); the corruption occurs among the elite who run the group, and whose special and beautiful relation with Big Pharma is indisputable."

I have been worn out from them taking everyone and their brother up against me, to the legislators, at times. I certainly do appreciate what you are doing. But, be careful because they may do something bad to you like harm your or your family for trying them on this.

My good friend Ellen Liversidge used to attend NAMI Support group meetings. Her son Rob was on Zyprexa. Nowhere in any of the meetings was there mention of any risks of the drugs. Nothing was ever revealed to her that he might be in danger, and he died suddenly from Zyprexa-caused hyperglycemia.

I still have a vivid memory of being in a book store in Maple Grove, Minnesota after I got off of Zoloft and overhearing a support group of some kind talking about how you need to take drugs for PPD and just keep trying different medications until you find one that worked for you.

Out of all the pro-drug front groups out there supposedly trying to help people with mental illness, where are any that successfully help them? Every doctor I ever talked to pushed drugs, and when I was finally off Zoloft and got better and was angry that I had suffered on it for months, not one of them apologized or admitted it could have been Zoloft. Everyone says that meds help millions of people? Where are these millions of people? Are they cured? Or dead like Melanie Stokes, Ellen's son Rob, Mathy Downing's daughter Candace, and so on?

NAMI is one of many groups pushing the MOTHERS Act. In fact PSI is unapologetic about having their "petition" (a link to send a letter privately to Congress) is located on the DBSA website. DBSA gets about half or more of their funding from pharma. Does DBSA tell its readers about Melanie Stokes' extensive drugging with four different cocktails, or her electroshock? NO. They claim she died from PPD. Occasionally people say she died from psychosis.

Here's a link with the frequency comparisons of PPP (post-partum psychosis) symptoms versus effects of antidepressants, according to the package label.
http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/freq…

I hope Grassley goes after all the front groups he can find. They should really implement some sort of government program to publicize FDA warnings on drugs – something bigger than what goes on with drug promotions from all these front groups. Because as long as we have free speech there will be drug pushers on the web, on the staff of writers of General Hospital, in book stores, and infiltrating support groups of all kinds. DOWN WITH DEADLY DRUGS. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5035F0873…

By the way here is a list that contains names of groups pushing The MOTHERS Act. See how many are pharma front groups… http://www.uniteforlife.org/content/view/23/27/

Thank God for these websites that get the word out! I know I would not be here if it weren't for good information being made available online – if you just stop listening to the brainwashing long enough to look it up and consider it!

Very nice site!

http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/ment…

This is interesting as well:

Mental Health America Funnels Pfizer Dollars to Katherine Stone

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I am willing to bet that Kat Stone preferred Diet Coke… A PR specialist indeed. It takes a really good one to pass off The MOTHERS Act as helpful…

Now as for MHA, a notorious pHARMa front group, and how they push drugs on moms…

Referencing the June 8, 2008 Mental Health America Georgia e-news http://www.ciclt.net/ul/nmhag/2Q08%20enews.pdf:

Investigative reporter, Evelyn Pringle reports that Mental Health America of Georgia is now offering a free one-hour “lunch & learn” called “Project Healthy Moms: What You Need To Know About Perinatal Mood Disorders,” according to the group’s June 8, 2008 e-news letter.

“This special hour of learning is made possible by a grant from Pfizer,” the newsletter notes.

Pringle points out that Pfizer markets the drugs, Zoloft and the atypical antipsychotic Geodon, widely prescribed in many instances off-label, for all the “mood” and “anxiety” disorders being sold to the public via the MOTHERS Act.

The Perinatal Mood series will be presented by Katherine Stone, “former postpartum OCD sufferer and author of Postpartum Progress, the most widely-read blog in the United States on postpartum mood disorders. (Postpartum Progress was named one of the top ten depression sites on the web in 2007),” e-news notes.

“Stone also serves on the board of directors of Postpartum Support International, the world’s largest nonprofit organization supporting women with these illnesses,” the newsletter states.

According to e-news, Stone had five gigs scheduled at that time, Pringle reports.

If interested in scheduling a lunch & learn, the newsletter tells people to contact Stone directly by email at or by phone at 678- 764-2141.

“These events are aimed at educating practitioners and the general public throughout Georgia about prevention of and treatment for such illnesses as ante partum depression, postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety/OCD and postpartum psychosis,” the newsletter says.

“More than 800,000 women each year in the U.S. suffer from these devastating illnesses, which, if not properly treated, can have a long-term negative impact on the health of both mothers and their children and families,” it reports in identifying the customer base obviously targeted.

E-news claims attendees of Stone’s presentation will learn:

* “One size does NOT fit all: Why postpartum depression is just part of a spectrum of mood disorders women may experience & what to look for”

* “The wide variety of risk factors for perinatal mood disorders”

* “Results of the latest research on these illnesses and their impact on mothers and children”

* “Various treatment options — therapy, medication, alternative treatments”

* “What you should know about cultural differences when it comes to postpartum mood disorders”

* “Tools and resources available for healthcare providers”

Stone also has herself out for hire on LinkedIn. The lead off-sales pitch reads:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinestone?trk=btn…

“Talented, award-winning marketing and PR professional returning to the workforce after brief sabbatical as full-time mom. Background includes six years creating and executing great ideas in the corporate marketing department of The Coca-Cola Company, in addition to six years managing successful public relations campaigns for such brands as Coca-Cola and AT&T.”

“Skills include experiential marketing concept development, brand positioning, marketing strategy, social networking, and public relations campaign development and execution,” she writes.

“Used break from full-time employment to become an expert at social media, creating most widely-read blog in the U.S. in her niche,” Stone reports in refererence to her Postpartum Progress blog.

At the end she writes a paragraph on her days as a agent for the Cohen & Wolf public relations firm and states:

“Prior to Coca-Cola, she was an account supervisor at the Y&R PR firm Cohn & Wolfe, where she developed PR campaigns for the Coca-Cola USA account, and also managed the account team handling media relations for the AT&T Global Olympic Village during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta .”

nordy Says:
April 18th, 2009 at 1:42 pm

nordy is right. I am a member of NAMI and had no idea. I have a mental diagnosis and NAMI has helped me by providing advocacy, in turn I have started facilitating a group for myself and others with mental diagnosis in which we lend support to each other. As a facilitator you are trained not to recommend any drugs of any kind. At our meetings we often talk about side effects we are feeling from the drugs we are taking. We also talk about alternative therapies, foods to stay away from, how to contact Congressmen to help with dealing with Social Security Disability, where to get certain types of therapy and the like. I have no idea what the folks at the top levels are doing, but we little people have been doing right by each other through NAMI. Thank you none the less for the information. I guess just like anything else, power corrupts… absolute power (in this case, to withhold pertinent information) corrupts absolutely. I will continue advocating and reaching out to others with mental health issues through NAMI as it is the only vehicle at my disposal and as long as I am able to help others like myself through this vehicle, I will use it to the fullest.

Thanks for finally writing about >Mothers Act <Liked it!