Once approved, TMAP guaranteed an avalanche of sales for Big Pharma in Texas, because medical professionals were required to follow the TMAP guidelines with all patients in state institutions, such as mental hospitals and prisons, and when prescribing drugs to children in foster care or juvenile justice programs, and for all patients covered by government funded health care programs.
The NFC recommends TMAP as the model program for "specific medications" to be used in all 50 states. The "specific medications" are the most expensive drugs on the market and include drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressants (SSRIs), like Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor, and the atypical antipsychotics, that include Zyprexa, Risperdal, Geodon, Seroquel, Clozaril, and Abilify.
Other "specific medications" include the ADHD drugs, fondly known as "speed" to street addicts, such as Adderall, Dexedrine, Concerta, Ritalin and Strattera, and a garden variety of "downers," like Valium, Xanax, Librium and sleeping pills.
For instance, he said, the guidelines for the atypical antipsychotics were funded by Janssen, the maker of Risperdal, and most of the guidelines' authors also had received financial support of one kind or another from the drug companies with atypical drugs on the list. "This potential conflict of interest may create credibility problems," he wrote, "especially concerning any recommendations supporting the use of atypical antipsychotics."
The way the NFC scheme is set up, tax dollars not only fund the implementation of the screening programs, but also a large portion of the costs for "specific medications" that are prescribed to patients to treat mental disorders detected by the screenings through government health care programs like Medicaid.
The fact is, when Bush took office, he owed Big Pharma a lot favors in return for all the money he raked in from the industry and the mental health screening scheme represents a major part of his efforts to cover those debts.
The financial backing that Bush received from Big Pharma is legend and its safe to say that he would not be sitting in the White House today without it.
In 2004, a report by the advocacy group, Public Citizen, listed 21 drug industry and HMO executives or lobbyists among Bush's Rangers and Pioneers - titles given only to those people who have raised at least $200,000 or $100,000, respectively, for one of his presidential campaigns.
The list includes 5 executives from drug companies, 6 officials from HMOs, the CEO of a pharmacy services company, the head of a direct-mail pharmacy, and 8 lobbyists who represent drug companies and HMOs at the time.
Eli Lilly, a manufacturer of many of the "specific medications" chosen for the lists, has multiple ties to the Bush family dating back decades. Before becoming President Reagan's Vice President, the first President Bush was a member of Lilly's board of directors and the current President Bush appointed Lilly CEO, Sidney Taurel, to the Homeland Security Council.
In the year 2000, eighty-two percent of Lilly's $1.6 million in political contributions went to Bush and the Republican Party.
Another industry big-wig, retired Bristol-Myers Squibb Vice-Chairman, Bruce Gelb, was a Bush Pioneer who also had longstanding ties to the Bush family. Gelb was appointed chief of the US Information Agency, and ambassador to Belgium, by the first President Bush.
Before the 2000 election, Bristol-Myers executives reportedly were pressured to make maximum donations to the Bush campaign and reluctant donors were warned that CEO, Charles Heimbold Jr, whom Bush later named ambassador to Sweden, would be informed if they failed to give, according a September 5, 2003 New York Times article.
Pfizer CEO, Hank McKinnell, was a 2004 Bush Ranger and until 2003, served as chairman of the board of Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, the industry's gigantic trade group, until Republican lawmaker, Billy Tauzin, quit Congress and took over the position that came with a multi-million dollar package in combined salary and perks.
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