May 3, 2024

International Coalition for Drug Awareness

A Group of physicians, researchers, Journalists and concerned citizens dedicated to educating about the dangers posed by many Rx medicines.

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SSRI: 100-500% Increased Risk of Heart Birth Defects If Taken In Early Pregnancy

Ann Blake-Tracy08 mins

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – If you take antidepressants such as fluoxetine (marketed as Prozac) early in your pregnancy, you may be doubling the risk that your newborn will be born with a heart defect, according to a new study.

However, the vast majority of children born to women who take such antidepressants – known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – do not have such defects, the researchers are quick to note.

Earlier studies have tied SSRIs during pregnancy to heart defects, but also to even more serious birth defects. According to the new study of nearly half a million children born in Denmark between 1996 and 2003, however, only heart defects are likely to be associated with the antidepressants, note co-author Dr. Lars Henning Pedersen, from Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues.

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ANTIDEPRESSANTS & THEIR CONNECTION TO FALSE MEMORIES OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Ann Blake-Tracy015 mins

Oldies radio stations around the country are debating whether to continue playing the music of one of the quintessential ’60s groups, the Mamas and the Papas, in the wake of Mackenzie Phillips’ allegations that she had an incestuous relationship with her father, group founder John Phillips.

“I just had a long discussion with our morning show team,” said Jay Beau Jones, program director of Boston’s WODS, “Oldies 103.3,” a long-running CBS Radio affiliate. On Friday morning, disc jockeys Chris Zito and Karen Blake will invite their audience to call in and talk about Phillips and his musical legacy. “Obviously, this is a horrific, car-crash type of story,” says Jones. “If the station plays ‘California Dreamin” or ‘Monday, Monday,’ my concern is the audience will have a negative reaction and turn off the radio.”

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Juvenile Murders & Push for Use of Antidepressants in that Age Group Coincide

Ann Blake-Tracy012 mins

A Kansas City, Kan., girl charged with murder at age 13 faces adult court and many years in prison.

A boy who was 13 when he killed a man last year will stay in the juvenile system and could be released when he is 22½, a Wyandotte County judge ruled early this month.

Both cases illustrate how children who commit heinous crimes are testing the boundaries of the justice system.

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WELLBUTRIN, Valium & Painkiller: Death: Overdose: New York

Ann Blake-Tracy05 mins

The Medical Examiner’s office now says Robert Guskind’s death from an overdose was accidental.

Robert Guskind, the prolific yet troubled force behind the Gowanus Lounge Web site, died of “an accidental overdose” from a combination of prescription medication, the city’s medical examiner said.

Guskind’s March death was caused by “acute intoxication from the combined effects” of a painkiller and two antidepressants. He was 50 years old.

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ANTIDEPRESSANT: Woman Becomes Violent: Canada

Ann Blake-Tracy011 mins

SOMBA K’E/YELLOWKNIFE – A woman accused of assaulting a police officer told a judge Thursday that after responding to an RCMP officer’s request to see her bleeding wrist, he pepper sprayed her, and dragged her to a police cruiser by her hair.

Ebony Maitland is accused of mischief and assaulting a police officer after her blood made contact with an officer during her arrest on July 6, 2008. – Elizabeth McMillan/NNSL photo

Thirty-year-old Ebony Maitland is also on trial by judge in Territorial Court for a charge of mischief.

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CYMBALTA & DESIPRAMINE: Death Threats Made Against Judge: GA

Ann Blake-Tracy07 mins

The man accused of threatening a judge had a medication interaction, pharmacologist said.

By Carole Hawkins
Story updated at 8:24 AM on Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2009
BRUNSWICK, Ga. A Brunswick man accused of making death threats against a judge was suffering from a toxic prescription drug interaction, a pharmacologist testified Tuesday.

Tallahassee pharmacologist Marland Delaney Jr. said Matthew Koldewey was being treated with a “laundry list” of drugs when he threatened to kill Chief Judge Amanda Williams and halfway house director Chad Waters.

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ANTIDEPRESSANTS: Four Soldiers From the 1451st Transport Co. Kill Themselves

Ann Blake-Tracy022 mins

Posted: September 2, 2009Read Comments(6)RecommendE-mail Print ShareA A If there is something that might help returning soldiers better adjust to civilian life — something that might help tame the inner demons of war — it is mandatory, intensive and long-term counseling.

It wasn’t required when Sgt. Jacob Blaylock and three other soldiers in the 1451st Transportation Company returned home nearly 2 1/2 years ago and later ended their own lives. Although some are receiving more counseling now, that follow-up work still is not required and, for various reasons, might never be.

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DEPRESSION MED: Heat Stroke: Death: Arizona

Ann Blake-Tracy05 mins

PHOENIX — An autopsy performed on a state prison inmate who died after spending nearly four hours in the Arizona heat said it was heat exposure and dehydration that killed her.

Marcia Powell, 48, died last May, about 10 hours after she collapsed in an outdoor, unshaded holding cell at the Perryville prison in Goodyear.

Her body’s core temperature had risen to 108 degrees, according to the newly-released autopsy report.

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ANTIDEPRESSANTS: Emotional Blunting: British Journal of Psychiatry

Ann Blake-Tracy07 mins

Servier, the funders, were able to comment on initial study design, but had no role in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and no role in the writing of the manuscript. Servier have a research programme for the development of psychotropic compounds, including antidepressants. Although they were able to comment on the final manuscript, no changes were introduced as a result of their comments, and they had no influence on the decision to submit the paper for publication. The researchers were, therefore, independent of the funders.

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PROZAC: Woman Develops Hypomania: Later Diagnosed as Bipolar as They All Are!

Ann Blake-Tracy03 mins

My first psychiatric diagnosis was major depression, and my first psychiatric medication was Prozac. It was prescribed by my GP, not by a psychiatrist. I had a one-week follow-up visit, and then I was turned loose. It takes hindsight to see that what I thought was “normal” behavior in response to Prozac was in fact at least mild hypomania. Someone even called me “the poster child for Prozac.” This was in 1994, and I wasn’t diagnosed with bipolar disorder until 1999, after another antidepressant did a similar thing.

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