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January 13, 2009 at 11:45:54
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 1/13/09: by Martha Rosenberg Page 1 of 2 page(s) |
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"The rationale of this center," wrote Christine Cote, VP of Janssen's Medical Affairs about the planned MGH-Johnson & Johnson Center for the Study of Pediatric Psychopathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, "is to generate and disseminate data supporting the use of risperidone in this patient population."
Okaaaaay.
But even as postmortems are performed on the unholy alliance between Massachusetts General Hospital and Johnson & Johnson which surfaced last year, the drug giant is at it again.
In January, Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, announced it was funding a research venture at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN to discover "novel drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia," to be led by Jeffrey Conn, former head of Merck's department of neuroscience.
Of course you can't blame J&J for seeking new academic stomping grounds.
Its chief academic cheerleader, Harvard child psychiatrist Joseph Biederman, who headed its center at Mass Gen, has been benched for apparent psychopathology-for-pay schemes under which he increased the diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder fortyfold.
Janssen is being sued by Texas, New Mexico and other states for hiding Risperdal dangers, marketing it for unapproved uses, ghostwriting, misleading doctors, falsifying science, kickback schemes and wholesale Medicaid fraud.
And--Risperdal's US patent expired in 2008!
Risperdal (risperidone), an atypical antipsychotic, may have contributed to the deaths of 31 children since its 1993 approval according to the New York Times--including 11 treated for unapproved uses; it may have squandered millions of tax dollars, but it is a branding success story.
How else do you explain a drug for schizophrenia--1 percent of the population--bipolar disorder--2.5 percent--and autism-related irritability in children 5-16--less than 1 percent of kids--becoming the seventh best selling med in the world in 2007?
Of course some of Risperdal's success came from the award-winning "Living Nightmares" campaign by London-based Junction 11 which used Welsh artist Mark Moran's evocative oil paintings Dog-Woman, Witches, Rotting Flesh and Boiling Rain--get it?-- based on case histories to "own the relapse/prevention space" as art director John Timney put it.
And don't forget the Prescribe Early campaign by ad agency Torre Lazur McCann which used a macabre abandoned wallet, teddy bear and keys on a barren street to "to reposition a drug that was being used too late to achieve its maximum benefits,"--look what happens when you wait!--according to Pharma Times magazine.
Nor did the continuing medical education courses like "Individualizing ADHD Pharmacotherapy with Disruptive Behavioral Disorders" taught by the J&J funded Robert L. Findling and referring to Risperdol/risperdone 13 times hurt. Credit was available until 2009.
But most of Risperdal's success comes from the unsung doctors--you know who you are--who extolled the drug for unapproved use in pediatric bipolar disorder, ADHD, depression, "agitated, expansive, grandiose" "psychopathologies" [per Biederman], Alzheimer's, jealousy, "oppositional" disorder, borderline states, assorted neurological diseases, sleep and mood disorders and whatever else would stick to the wall.
Like the doctors who upheld the "long-term safety and effectiveness of risperidone for severe disruptive behaviors in children," on the basis of a one-year study in The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2005. 
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Great article
Just wondering. What are the alternatives to resperdal? Schizophrenia and Bi-polar disorder can be profoundly severe mental disorders, dramatically impairing life and functioning for patients and their families. Not taking SOMETHING, if you are suffering from mania, depression, delusions, hallucinations, affective dysfunction, etc., is not usually an option. In my twenties, I was a psychiatric technician and worked with emergency psychiatry, seeing the worst cases. by Rob Kall (953 articles, 4178 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 12:56:50 PM  (0+)
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Reply: Alternative to anti-psychotic medicine
Attitude is the biggest alternative, giving people hope and time to recover, investing more in them than quick-fix, pharmaceutical, mind-numbing, dangerous side-effect cocktails that enrich the fortune 500. Treat them like they will succeed, and they will. by Allan Wayne (22 articles, 0 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 219 comments [74 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 7:13:32 PM (0+)
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Reply: check this out
by Joni Greever (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 76 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 15, 2009 at 3:18:53 AM (0+)
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Cannabis to the rescue!
Hate to sound like a broken record folks, but while the pharmaceutical industry will try and say that cannabis causes these disorders, many of the people doing the actual suffering say differently. A couple of years ago the propaganda was that a high number of people that smoked cannabis seemed to have schizophrenia, so therefore without actual scientific data, by their logic, cannabis caused the disease. What they didn't tell us was that these people were diagnosed with the disease before they started smoking the cannabis. The reason they used it was because it helped them! Imagine that. Kind of like saying that cannabis causes cancer when the opposite is true. I'm shocked they haven't tried to blame nausea or chronic pain on cannabis as well. I have read in a few cases where the cannabis caused additional anxiety for some people, but they either slowed down a little or didn't use it at all during the episodes. They figured it out. The best part is that cannabis is the safest medicine known to man, so we don't have to worry about overdose or negative side effects as we do with these other drugs. In fact cannabis helps with the side effects caused by these drugs too. How sad that we have totally ignored such a wonderful resource all these years, and that so many people have died and needlessly suffered! It is almost beyond belief, but it's true. The flaming sword. Cannabis has also been found extremely helpful with autism and epilepsy for children, and taking it orally poses no threat to the lungs. https://www.autism.com/treatable/drug/marijuana_org.htm by Garry Minor (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 56 comments [7 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 4:36:29 PM (0+)
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Yes Gary...
I agree with you on this. But the reason the government bans its use is because they cannot control the money made off its sales. Too many people can grow it without paying the money grubbers for it. I wish more states would approve its legality so more people could see its value. Hemp makes a wonderfully strong rope and it can even be made into Paper and clothing that is strong, soft and amazingly wearable. Too bad the powers that be feel they must control everything. And, yes! Its great for pain relief. by Ginger McClemons (17 articles, 1 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 101 comments [25 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 6:04:27 PM (0+)
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As for RISPERDAL...
I HAVE NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT THIS MEDICATION or the doctors that prescribe it. While recovering from a broken vertebrae in my spine I was suffering from a lack of sleep due primarily to the noise the nurses made at night with no care to the paitients they disturbed. After going on towards my tenth day of no sleep I began to complain about the noise and the lack of respect being shown by the nurses. My doctor thought I should see a psychiatrist. They brought in one against my will as I knew what my problem was and he perscribed risperdal although I refused to take it. It was secreted in my medications and I became a zombie, unable to eat or function on any level, with drool running down my chin like you might see with someone with the IQ of an idiot. I was unable to even feed myself and at times was completely unaware of my surroundings. All because I complained about not being able to sleep. If it had not been for my daughter raising hell with the hospital personell, (who insisted I was taking this same medication at home, although I have no idea why they thought this as it is nowhere in my medical records.) I might have suffered brain damage. I tried to tell the hospital administrator that I was going to sue the hospital for forcing medications on an unwilling patient, which is illegal, but she refused to talk to me on the phone. Figures! If you have a loved one don't let those quacks put them on risperdal. I dropped my primary doctor like a hot rock after that and have almost lost all faith in any medical doctor. Its all a money making scheme and they are all in on it. by Ginger McClemons (17 articles, 1 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 101 comments [25 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 6:24:41 PM (0+)
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Re: Fragile Handle with Risperdal
Ms. Rosenberg is nothing more than a journalistic shill and should be ashamed of her reporting and "stunningly superficial knowledge" of pediatric bipolar disorder, Dr. Joseph Biederman and Risperdal. Clearly, Ms. Rosenberg doesn't think (no pun intended) the brain is an organ in the human body and hasn't a clue about familial heritability and genetic loading. She also must be the healthiest person in America because she has obviously never had to compare the risk/benefit of a medication in order to treat a chronic and life-threatening illness. One has to wonder if Ms. Rosenberg is aware that more prescriptions for Risperdal are written for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder in order to treat their irritability and aggresssion...than for children diagnosed with pediatric bipolar disorder. Does Ms. Rosenberg hold to a double standard and believe that children with ASD are deserving of treatment and improved quality of life...where children with bipolar disorder are not? Shame on writers like Ms. Rosenberg who write without concern for accuracy and misstatements and would look to damage the reputations of researchers in a court of misinformed public opinion. Dr. Joseph Biederman is hero to countless families in America and beyond. He will be remembered and cherished as the 21st century father of child psychiatry and shame on shill writers like Ms. Rosenberg who are working so hard to destroy the integrity of necessary research for an illness that devastates children and their parents. by Marcie L. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 at 10:29:26 PM (0+)
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Reply: With all due respect, Marcie
Years ago, children very, very rarely suffered from bi-polarism (or is it polarity?), true autism, ADD, or any of the other abbreviated 'disorders' invented by Big Pharma. An education system that ruins children's self-esteem, vaccinations full of mercury and God-knows what else, and the crap in food, air and water are all products of the chemical/pharmaceutical giants and the families that own them. A drug is a substance completely foreign to a human system and there are always side-effects. Rarely do they do any good and who knows the long-term side effects. Big Pharma is not your friend and doesn't give a rat's a*s about getting and keeping people healthy. You've been had by their propaganda. by Joni Greever (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 76 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 15, 2009 at 3:45:54 AM (0+)
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source to explore
A good site for an overview of drugs from the patient's perspective is http://www.askapatient.com/ by Martha Rosenberg (180 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 3 comments) on Wednesday, Jan 14, 2009 at 4:24:10 AM (0+)
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