[[Malks] Pixie]

[Warning : This is not what I would describe as a "balanced" article but it does cover an awful lot of the facts surrounding whats going on and many references. This is also quite a long read so those NZ gamers with an attention span of less than half an hour may like to pass...]

According to a recent article in the British Medical Journal, US president George Bush is to announce a major “mental health” initiative in this coming month of July. The proposal will extend screening and psychiatric medication to kids and grown-ups all over the US, following a pilot scheme of recommended medication practice developed in Texas and already exported to several other states.

The Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) will serve, according to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, as a model for the upcoming initiative. The TMAP medication guidelines were established in 1995 as an “expert consensus” based on the opinions of prescribers, rather than an analysis of scientific studies. The pharmaceutical companies who funded the scheme include Janssen Pharmaceutica, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Astrazeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, Janssen-Ortho-McNeil, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott, Bristol Myers Squibb, Wyeth-Ayerst and Forrest Laboratories. The drugs recommended as “first line treatment”, many of them with potentially deadly side effects, are patented expensive drugs produced by the sponsors of the guidelines: Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroqual, Geodone, Depakote, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Wellbutron, Zyban, Remeron, Serzone, Effexor, Buspar, Adderall and Prozac.

More than that. The pharmaceutical companies appointed the experts and wrote the survey questions which led to their products being endorsed. The resulting model is now to be extended to the country.

Full article
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp...rug_regime.htm

Associated Blog of a friend (which drew it too my attention)
http://www.undulatingungulate.com/blog/

[Discuss!]

Pixie