Tag Archives: Informed Consent

The Skinny on the Skin Drug

We saw a TV commercial recently for the drug Otezla® (generic apremilast), from Celgene Corporation, which was approved by the FDA in 2014 for the treatment of symptoms of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (skin lesions) and psoriatic arthritis. Our … Continue reading

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Knocked Out, Paralyzed, and Shocked

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), or shock therapy, is a controversial psychiatric “treatment” in which seizures are deliberately induced in the patient with an electrical current to the brain. There are roughly 100,000 ECT sessions given per year in the U.S. The … Continue reading

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Off-Label Drug Use May Be Risky

The February 2017 issue of Consumer Reports article, “Should Drugs Do Double Duty” says, “Your doctor might give you a drug for a condition that it’s not approved to treat. That’s a risk you may not want to take.” “Doctors … Continue reading

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More About Marijuana and PTSD

More About Marijuana and PTSD  Recent news is full of articles about making marijuana legally available for those diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). While marijuana’s popularity may be based on the perception that it is safer than other methods … Continue reading

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Risky Business of Sleep Drugs

Risky Business of Sleep Drugs After reading about the dangers of sleeping pills in the February 2016 edition of Consumer Reports magazine, we thought you might like to know something about that. Some psychotropic drugs are prescribed as sleeping pills. Trazodone, … Continue reading

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Another Day Another Anti-depressant (Again)

Another Day Another Anti-depressant (Again) On July 10, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rexulti (brexpiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic) tablets to treat adults with so-called schizophrenia and as an add-on treatment to an antidepressant medication to treat adults with … Continue reading

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Another Day Another Anti-depressant

Another Day Another Anti-depressant The New Year brings us another harmful psychoactive antidepressant – Brintellix (vortioxetine hydrobromide). The mechanism of the antidepressant effect of vortioxetine is not understood, although it is theorized to be related to serotonin in the brain. It … Continue reading

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H.R.271 Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery Act

This bill, H.R.271, introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Gus Bilirakis [R-Florida] on 1/12/2015 and forwarded to the full Veterans’ Affairs Committee on 5/15/2015, would “establish a commission to examine the evidence-based therapy treatment model used by the Secretary of Veterans … Continue reading

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Not An Antidepressant

Not An Antidepressant I’m reminded of a song by 10CC — “I’m not in love; So don’t forget it; It’s just a silly phase I’m going through…” I saw an ad on TV recently for Lyrica (generic pregabalin), a drug … Continue reading

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The New “Female Viagra” is an Antidepressant

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved (18 August, 2015) the drug Addyi (generic flibanserin) which is misleadingly being touted as the “Female Viagra.” But unlike Viagra, which affects blood flow to the male genitals, Addyi, the “pink … Continue reading

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