Another study published in the August 2004 Archives of Internal Medicine, noted that 41% of prescriptions, for 765,423 people over age 65, were for psychotropic medications.
A more recent June 13, 2005, study in the Archives examined the quality of antipsychotic prescriptions in nursing home for approximately 2.5 million Medicaid beneficiaries and found that "over half (58.2%)," received drugs that exceeded the maximum recommended dosage, received duplicate therapy, or under the guidelines, had inappropriate conditions for the medications to begin with. The study determined that more than 200,000 residents received antipsychotic therapy but had "no appropriate indications for use."
On April 11, 2005, the FDA may have plugged a hole in the dike for the river of Medicare funding flowing from the nursing home industry when it announced that elderly patients with dementia who were given antipsychotic drugs were far more likely to die prematurely than those given placebos and also announced the addition of black box warnings about the increased risk of death on the labels of Zyprexa (Eli Lilly) Risperdal (Johnson & Johnson) Abilify (Bristol-Myers Squibb), Clozril (Novartis), and Geodon (Pfizer).
On May 1, 2006, the London Free Press reported a study by Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences that showed seniors who were prescribed the new SSRIs such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft were nearly 5 times more likely to commit suicide during the first month on the drugs than those patients given the older class of medications used to treat depression.
In conducting the study, the researchers used Ontario coroners' reports, prescription records and hospital data, and identified 1,142 suicides among older Ontarians, 66 and up, from 1992 to 2000, and determined whether they had been prescribed antidepressants in the 6 months before their deaths.
Among those patients who were, the risk of suicide in the first month for those taking an SSRI was nearly 5 times higher than for patients on the older antidepressants, such as Elavil.
The study also found that SSRIs were associated with more violent means of committing suicide, such as the use of firearms, or jumping from heights and hanging, Dr David Juurlink, the study's lead author told the London Free Press.
While studies have found an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among children taking SSRIs, up until now, little research has been done on their link to suicide in aging patients.
Big Pharma has found ways to influence doctors within the Veteran Administration's hospital system to convince them to prescribe the new expensive psychiatric drugs rather than the older, cheaper and equally effective medications.
Dr Robert Rosenheck, a Director with the Department of Veterans Affairs, reviewed the prescribing records for schizophrenic patients in the VA system and found that more than 80% are now on the new antipsychotics.
In 2003, he calculated that the VA spent more than $208 million on antipsychotic drugs, with over $106 million going for Zyprexa alone.
A government funded study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health compared four new generation antipsychotics against an older medication, perphenazine and only one, Zyprexa, worked any better at all, and then the difference was minimal.
However, Zyprexa also carried the most serious risk of side effects and was found to be far more likely to cause severe weight gain and diabetes than the other drugs. The NIMH study also determined that over 18 months, nearly 75% of the patients had quit taking their assigned drugs, signaling a high level of dissatisfaction with the medications.
According to the November 24, 2005, Providence Journal, the four new antiphychotics studied soak up about $10 billion a year, depending on the dosage, and can cost up to 10 times more than the older generic and the Medicaid population alone spends an estimated $3 billion a year for these antipsychotic medications.
Big Pharma has known that the new antipsychotics were ineffective for years. A review of 52 studies involving 12,649 patients published in the December 2000 British Journal of Psychiatry reported: "There is no clear evidence that the atypical antipsychotics are more effective or better tolerated than conventional antipsychotics."
In 2003, an outright bribery scheme was discovered at a hospital in Massachusetts where doctors were found to have changed the medication of 4 patients for non-medical reasons. The November 10, 2003, Boston Globe, reported that the patients were switched to Risperdal, without consent or medical necessity, to make them eligible for a clinical trial sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
Thanks Evelyn Pringle for the heads up on Eli Lilly ZYPREXA
Zyprexa (Olanzapine) is Lilly's largest seller. It used to be the first-place atypical antipsychotic in the U.S. but has dropped to third. This is probably because doctors and patients have learned, through the NIH CATIE study and through thousands of lawsuits, that it has the most dangerous side effects of all the drugs in its class. It causes diabetes, hyperglycemia, and death. 8000 plaintiffs settled with Lilly in 2005 and are still waiting for payment.
Many states have sued Lilly for alleged fraud, for not revealing its side effects, and for compensation to their state's Medicaid programs for the costs of the drug as well as the costs involved in caring for people who got such conditions as diabetes from the drug. Lilly has also been charged with alleged fraud in off-label marketing of the drug for children.
Many individual lawsuits remain outstanding and will begin to be heard once the 8000 plaintiff suit has been finalized. Lilly states that it will "vigously defend" itself against these individual lawsuits, but a number of them are for death allegedly caused by this drug
--
Daniel Haszard ~ zyprexa caused my diabetes http://www.zyprexa-victims.com
by
Danny Haszard (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 52 comments)
on Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 8:16:59 AM
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