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PloS One Legal Drugs Linked to Violence

PloS One Legal Drugs Linked to Violence - The link between violence and prescription drugs has rarely been studied. However, a study published last week in the journal PLoS ONE identified 31 drugs that are disproportionally associated with reported cases of violence.

The study drew on reports of violence and aggression made to the Food and Drug Administration from 2004 through the third quarter of 2009. While far from definitive, these findings signal that more research is needed.

Leading the list in numbers of reports is the smoking cessation drug Chantix (varenicline).

PloS One Legal Drugs Linked to Violence

Also associated with violence were psychoactive medications for depression (Prozac and Paxil), attention deficit disorder (Strattera), and sedative/hypnotic drugs.

The authors, Thomas J. Moore, a consulting senior scientist at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Joseph Glenmullen of Harvard Medical School, and Curt D. Furberg of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, selected cases from the ISMP QuarterWatch database, which is composed of computer extracts of all adverse drug event reports received by FDA.

A violent event was defined as any case report mentioning homicide, physical assault, physical abuse, homicidal ideation or violence-related symptom.

For the five-year study period, the authors identified 484 drugs that accounted for 780,169 serious adverse event reports of all kinds. This total included 1,937 (0.25 percent) cases that met the violence criteria.

Thirty-one drugs met study criteria for a disproportionate association with violence, accounting for 1,527 (79 percent) of the violence cases.

Included were 387 reports of actual homicide, 404 that were physical assaults, 223 cases with violence-related symptoms, and 896 homicidal ideation reports.

PloS One Legal Drugs Linked to Violence

Comments

Anonymous said…
There is an enormous amount of money involved in promoting psychiatric drugs and many creative and illegal methods are used.

Drug companies get fined for improper marketing and incorrect information, but it's worth it for them because of the huge profits.

It is known by the manufacturers of psychiatric drugs that many of them cause aggression and suicide attempts, but clinical trials are manipulated.
Ref: John Virapen, "Side Effects: Death".ISBN 978-1-60264-516-5.

Doctors do not want to be involved regarding side effects of these drugs because they do not want to be blamed - and many, especially psychiatrists, are on the payroll of pharmaceutical companies.

There is gross under-reporting of side effects/adverse events. There are normally few possibilities for compensation.

Doctors are very often in fact on the side of the drug manufacturer and not on their patients' side.

Health authorities normally have tight connections with the pharmaceutical industry.

The moral is: investigate thoroughly before you touch a drug. Both about the drug and about the doctor's connections with the pharmaceutical industry.

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