Generation of Kids Hooked on Psych Drugs

June 23rd, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle

Campbell Brown anchors a daily prime-time news program on CNN. On June 17, 2009, in a segment of the program called the “Great Debate,” the question was, Ritalin, Prozac, Adderall, are we “pushing pills on our kids and raising a generation hooked on meds.”

Featured in the debate were, Kelly O’Meara, author of the book, “Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells Mental Illness and Pushes Pills that Kill,” and Dr Charles Sophy, a psychiatrist in private practice in Los Angeles, who serves as medical director of the LA County Department of Children and Family Services. They were each given 30 seconds for an opening statement.

“It’s a two-part problem,” O’Meara explained.

“It’s the diagnosis itself that’s not based in science or medicine,” she pointed out. “There is no objective test that you can give children or adults to prove that you actually have some sort of psychiatric abnormality.”

“And the second part, of course, is the drugging,” she said, “the prescription drugs that are doled out to treat these so-called disorders.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: psychiatric drugs
Posted in Emerging Issues | 4492 Comments »2009-06-23+11%3A04%3A04Evelyn+Pringle

Raptiva, Reglan, Hydroxycut, Heparin and Floppy Hats

June 22nd, 2009. By AbiK

Ok folks. Let’s play a little “One of these things is not like the other; one of these things just doesn’t belong…” Sing along with me if you’d like. Or not. Either way, I’m betting the farm that you’re going to pick (drum roll please) Floppy Hats as your answer.

Raptiva, Reglan, Hydroxycut and Heparin are all drugs (one’s a supplement) that have either been directly linked to adverse (and dangerous) side effects and have been yanked or recalled from shelves by the FDA—or have received a more stringent black box warning in recent months. Each is a current legal issue with lawsuits pending.

Floppy Hats? That would be a suit, too, brought forth by Alfred G. Rava—a California lawyer. Seems he felt pretty injured (my words) when he didn’t receive a floppy hat as a giveaway at an Oakland A’s game in 2004. See, according to a great post by Rick Reilly over at ESPN.com (6/12/09), Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alfred Rava, Heparin, Hydroxycut, Raptiva, Reglan
Posted in Defective Products, Drugs/Medical | 4441 Comment »2009-06-23+01%3A55%3A19AbiK

Final Call for Raptiva Recall

June 22nd, 2009. By janem

raptiva copy Final Call for Raptiva Recall The complete recall of Genentech’s psoriasis drug Raptiva throughout the US and some countries of the European Union will be finalized this week, after sales were suspended in April of this year due to the risk of serious Raptiva side effects, including a fatal brain infection known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

Although the overall risk of PML for patients on Raptiva is low, it appears to be increased in long-term users of the drug and in those with compromised immune systems. But the FDA announced that Raptiva would no longer be available in the United States by June 8, 2009. So that means a patient could get a prescription in June and potentially take Raptiva for at least 4 months or so after sales were initially suspended.

I don’t get it: if the amount of time a patient is on Raptiva is a crucial factor in developing PML, why was this drug phased out slowly instead of being wiped off the market in one fell swoop?

Tags: Raptiva, Raptiva PML Brain Infection
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 434No Comments »Final+Call+for+Raptiva+Recall2009-06-22+23%3A07%3A24janem

Fen-Phen case: JD and MD aren’t interchangeable – you need both

June 22nd, 2009. By AbiK

oil vinegar Fen Phen case: JD and MD arent interchangeable you need both It’s the whole oil and vinegar thing. They make a beautiful dressing, but they don’t mix. They respect each other’s turf. So it is with lawyers and doctors—normally. Here’s the story…

Imagine you’ve been taking a supplement—like Fen-Phen—to lose weight. Now imagine you’ve heard that Fen-Phen diet supplement you’ve been taking has been linked to a serious condition, namely PPH (Primary Pulmonary Hypertension). You’ve started to notice some PPH symptoms yourself and you reach out to a Fen-Phen lawyer for help.

Trouble is, you didn’t reach out through LawyersandSettlements.com (ok, ok, a little bit of self-love there) and this particular lawyer is apparently a schmuck. That’s basically the story (alleged, of course) the Louisville Courier-Journal.com is reporting today. Seems Patricia Fulkerson was part of a national Fen-Phen class action suit back in 2002, and she’s claiming that the law firm, Florida-based Wasserman, Riley & Associates, “exaggerated her heart injuries—and those of other clients—so it could collect higher fees.”

How so you ask? Doesn’t the doctor’s report show the extent of any injury? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Fen-Phen, PPH, Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
Posted in Defective Products | 426No Comments »2009-06-22+19%3A43%3A55AbiK

Rite-Aid Wrong Again?

June 20th, 2009. By janem

Rite-Aid knows itâ€™s not so much the title you are given, but the work you do. So has the retail chain weighed the odds and decided it is more lucrative to settle a class action suit brought about by approximately 250 assistant managers than to pay them overtime?

And donâ€™t they read the news? Staples recently paid $2.5 million to assistant store managers who claimed they were illegally classified as exempt and therefore owed overtime pay, and in 2002, RadioShack agreed to pay about $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of current and former RadioShack store managers and assistant managers.

Rite-Aid has been wrong before. Last year, an Oakland attorney filed a suit against Rite-Aid on behalf of more than 1,000 managers and in 2001 those managers (handled by another attorney) were part of a $25 million overtime pay settlement approved by a San Diego Superior Court judge.

If and when this latest overtime class action goes to trial, it is speculated that Rite-Aid, as second-time defendants that willfully violated the California Labor Law, might also be slapped with punitive damages. Cha-ching!

Tags: Rite-Aid, Rite-Aid Overtime
Posted in Employment | 416No Comments »Rite-Aid+Wrong+Again%3F2009-06-20+20%3A17%3A37janem