Loose Screws Mental Health News

I recently wrote about the MOTHERS Act and the unnecessary scare tactics surrounding it. A Dallas-Fort Worth TV station picked up on the story and provided a short one-sided view of the issue, continuing to purport that the bill is solely about drugging new moms. I don’t discount Ms. Philo’s terrible experience with her medication. In fact, I’d be against the act if its sole purpose was to force treatment on pregnant women – medicated or not. Again, I’d like to reiterate that the bill’s purpose is to educate moms about postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis – not to shove unnecessary pills down women’s throats.

If you have sleep apnea, your CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine may alleviate depression symptoms. My husband has sleep apnea and hasn’t been able to use the CPAP machine because of sinus problems. When he doesn’t use it (he hasn’t for a while), he’s noticeably moodier and prone to depressive symptoms. But then again, anyone who doesn’t get good sleep for several days is pretty moody.

AstraZeneca (AZ) is going after Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit after the two companies applied to make cheaper version of Seroquel available. AZ’s patent on Seroquel expires in 2011. The trial date for patent litigation is August 11. In the meantime, according to the Bloomberg report, the FDA is considering approval of Seroquel XR for bipolar depression and bipolar mania.

What is it about the U.K. that they seem to take pharma’s power more seriously than the U.S.? The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) charged GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the maker of Seroxat (Paxil in the U.S.), with not fully disclosing their clinical trial data that downplayed serious side effects such as increasing suicidal tendencies among those 18 years and younger. The MHRA also asserts that Seroxat didn’t alleviate depression as much as GSK’s initial data showed. GSK, of course, denied manipulating the data to show favorable results:

GSK denies withholding data, claiming the risks did not come to light until the results of nine studies were pooled.

The UK minister of public health, Dawn Primarilo, promised to address the issue of Big Pharma hiding negative clinical trial data.

“Notwithstanding the limitations that may exist in the law, pharmaceutical companies should disclose any information they have that would have a bearing on the protection of health,” she says.

In other news, I shouldn’t be a successful writer or novelist. The correlation between creative writers and suicide is ridiculously high. More than 70 well-known writers and poets have successfully committed suicide. How much more “unknown” writers and poets have as well?

(Image from Monthly Prescribing Reference)

Loose Screws Mental Health News

Wow. I learned something new – “Women are over-represented in all cases of” depression, anxiety, dysthymia and panic attacks. Read more here.

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An interesting observation from Gretchen Rubin, blogger of The Happiness Project.

“Studies showed that depressed people have as many nice experiences as non-depressed people, but they remember them less well.”

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Graham’s Blog has linked to interesting fashion jewelry: Made with Molecules. For only $20, you can:

“Display your favorite neurotransmitters close to your brain!”

Erhm. The very thought of this disturbs me. Also feel free to purchase a serotonin-happiness card or a dopamine-heart card – just in time for Valentine’s Day.

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Pfizer is cutting 10,000 from its workforce citing nothing other than loss of profits:

“The drug giant Pfizer said Monday that it would lay off 10,000 workers and close several manufacturing and research sites in an effort to bolster earnings hurt by the loss of patent protection on certain drugs and by setbacks in developing new products.”

I’ve mentioned patent protection before but it seems that Pfizer isn’t generating enough “structurally related” drugs to prevent the loss of its profits to generics. The two biggest losses: Zoloft and Zithromax.

“Pfizer said the moves would save $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year in pretax expenses.

Pharmaceutical industry analysts have generally been welcoming cutbacks by Pfizer but have said that while cost-cutting is beneficial, the company needs to resume growth by bringing new products to market.”

Pfizer’s a big company; I’m sure they’ll have no problems rebounding. However, I have no doubt that the failed torcetrapib factored into Pfizer’s decision to cut staffers.

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A Philly plaintiff in the Vioxx suit against Merck has willingly withdrawn her suit. She cannot refile against Merck.

“Merck has consistently said it will fight each case on a one by one basis rather than submit to a large settlement.

In trials that have reached a jury verdict so far, Merck has won nine and lost four, including one Merck victory that since has been thrown out.”

The legal fees surrounding the Merck case must be astounding, but is it really worth it for Merck to drag these cases out against 27,000 other plaintiffs? I would assume on Merck’s part that it would be cheaper to settle. But then again, maybe it’s the whole “we need to clear our name” thing. That’s a fast way to lose profits for a pharma company.