Tuesday, November 25, 2008

"Making A Killing:" Scientology Video Blasts the Pyschiatry-Drug Industry-FDA Complex!

I stumbled across "Making A Killing" -- a new video produced by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), which is a non-profit organization founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology -- after reading a post by Howard Brody, medical ethicist author of the Hooked: Ethics, Medicine, and Pharma blog.

Brody wrote a "public service announcement" claiming that he was misled into being interviewed for the video that demonstrates the "underhanded and dishonest methods used by Scientology to attack the practice of psychiatry and the use of psychotropic medications."

Brody ended by saying "I regret very much allowing myself to have become involved in this project and would like it to be known that I disown and disapprove of the final product and the way that it has been disseminated."

Of course, after reading Brody's account, I just HAD to view the 95-minute video, which is available in ten segments via YouTube (start here). Currently, this video has only been viewed by a few hundred people, but I suspect many more people will be viewing it after it is talked about in the Pharma Blogosphere, starting with Brody's attempt to distance himself from the project.

The description the video states:
“Psychotropic drugs. It’s the story of big money–drugs that fuel a $330 billion psychiatric industry, without a single cure. The cost in human terms is even greater–these drugs now kill an estimated 42,000 people every year. And the death count keeps rising. Containing more than 175 interviews with lawyers, mental health experts, the families of victims and the survivors themselves, this riveting documentary rips the mask off psychotropic drugging and exposes a brutal but well-entrenched money-making machine.”
Obviously, CCHR makes no bones about being vehemently anti-psychiatry and describes the many ways that psychiatrists and the FDA are in cahoots with the drug industry to get psychotropic drugs approved and prescribed based on very little evidence. One claim the video makes is that many clinical trials of these drugs only involve treatment for 8 to 12 weeks, whereas patients may take these drugs for years.

The video scans a few published articles to prove this point, but I decided to check for myself. I chose to look at drug trials for Cymbalta, which was approved by the FDA for the treatment of "Generalized Anxiety Disorder" (GAD) -- one of those "diseases" that the video claims is not a disease at all. I picked a study at random from the Lilly Clinical Trial Registry site and found trial 5075 (HMBR), a phase III study. Sure enough, when you look at the report, the duration of treatment was 9 weeks, during which time there were no deaths reported.

On the basis of these kinds of trials, the drug industry is completely truthful when they say that clinical studies show no evidence that these drugs cause an increase in suicides, which is what CCHR and many relatives of people who have committed suicide when on these drugs claim. So, we will never know if "psychotropic drugs now kill an estimated 42,000 people every year" as the video says. But that number is just thrown in by CCHR for dramatic effect and you may call it "underhanded and dishonest," but if you can get beyond the rhetoric, you'll have to admit that the video makes some very valid points worth considering.

For example, the video points out that many mental disorders that are catalogued in the DSM as "diseases" are not really diseases at all. They are just disorders or some common, everyday behaviors we all endure that have been "voted" as diseases by psychiatrists who profit from drug industry money and from writing prescriptions. Many of the experts interviewed admit that there are no physical, objective tests for mental illnesses. The Cymbalta study I cited above, for example, uses a HAMA score -- a subjective rating test where patients answer questions about how they feel -- to determine effectiveness of the treatment.

I'm not going to jump up and down on my couch to defend the Church of Scientology's position that all mental diseases are fictitious and do not require drug treatment. But there does seem to be scant scientific evidence to support the use of admittedly dangerous drugs for such iffy conditions as GAD (see "eGAD! How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Cymbalta!").

However, we don't have to look much further than the news reports of the last few days to know that psychiatrists are too cozy with the drug industry. Just yesterday, Ed Silverman of Pharmalot reported that Harvard University’s Joseph Biederman -- a world-renowned child psychiatrist also mentioned in the CCHR video -- "had earned far more money from drugmakers than he had reported to the school" and that "e-mails and internal Johnson & Johnson documents made public in a court filing reveal Biederman pushed the drugmaker to fund a research center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the point was 'to move forward the commercial goals of J&J,' according to the documents, The New York Times reports. The documents also show J&J wrote a draft summary of a study that Biederman was said to author" (see "Harvard’s Biederman And His Ties To J&J")

Silverman also reported this story a few days ago:
"Last May, National Public Radio talk-show host Fred Goodwin was, himself, the subject of a great deal of chatter. An episode of his program, “The Infinite Mind,” which is heard on 300 NPR stations, featured three experts who discussed the controversial link between antidepressants and suicide. And all four, including Goodwin, declared that worries about the drugs have been overblown.

"But there was a catch: Goodwin never pointed out that all three guests had ties to pharma, or that the show received 'unrestricted' from drugmakers, including Lilly, which sells Prozac and Cymbalta. The segment, by the way, aired just two months after UK regulators concluded a four-year investigation of Glaxo's Paxil and found the drugmaker had been aware since 1998 that its pill was associated with a higher risk of suicidal behavior in adolescents." (See "Talk Is Not Cheap: NPR Host Has Ties To Pharma").
Last week, the Carlat Psychiatry Blog reported "an FDA advisory committee has accused the agency of doing too little to warn physicians about the dangers of prescribing newer antipsychotics to children" (see here).

Speaking of FDA Advisory Committees, CCHR points out what we've all been saying for years: these committees are loaded with conflicts of interests -- physicians who have ties to the drug industry who recommend drugs for approval.

Neither you nor I may want to further the goals of the Church of Scientology, but it has produced an effective video that is an indictment of the drug industry's too close ties with psychiatrists. I urge you to view this video and get beyond the hype to objectively evaluate some of the issues it raises. It made me rethink a few things.

32 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:45 PM

    Too bad they have this Ellison character on there so much, "drug researcher" please. An associate chemist from some school in Arizona that got drummed out of Lilly and wound up at a CRO in Boulder, hardly a credible source.....

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  2. Anonymous5:23 AM

    Dear John,

    A friend of mine was paralyzed from the neck down after an auto accident in 1978. We were both 18 then. His father was reasonably wealthy and sought out the best medical help he could get. All of the physicians were certain that he would never walk again. In his desperation my friend turned to the Plymouth Michigan Church of Scientology. They informed my friend that he was not really paralyzed. He was simply a victim of negative “Emgrams” manifesting from his accident. Logically, these “Emgrams” could be eradicated by obtaining a “Clear” status. Once achieved, my friend would be able to walk again. The first (of many) courses he would need to obtain this status cost him 5000 dollars.

    Although many suspect a staggering amount of stupidity is concentrated within Pharma management structures, it would be equally ridiculous to assume that Pharma has the talent, wherewithal or vision to be stupider than any other (non) profit-making organization(s).

    That Scientology accuses others of money scalping or disease mongering is mildly amusing. Even when charlatans make “valid points”, they are still being made by charlatans and are likely meant to further questionable causes. Unfortunately, my friend never did walk again.

    Sincerely,

    Obsidious Wycksmohr

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  3. Like I said, it's about the issues raised in the movie -- even if charlatans make the argument, it's low to attack the one that makes the argument and not the argument itself.

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  4. Yeah, these insane Scientology crime syndicate loons are told in voice lectures and written materials left by their drug-addled dead messiah L. Ron Hubbard that the mental health industry is part of the Marcabian Invasion Fleet, part of the whole insane Xenu / flying saucers / invisble murdered space aliens he called "Body Thetans" insanity that Hubbard concocted while doped to the gills.

    Hubbard was so fucking insane that his financial frauds live on, and these insane Scientology criminals who tried to hide their identity behind their "CCHR" fake front are just as profoundly insane and fucked up as Hubbard was.

    Hubbard died screaming about being infested with Body Thetans to the point where David Miscaviage and other crime bosses had to subdue him with many injections of visteral.

    These frothing Scientology kooks are equal to what their Messiah was.

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  5. Yes, Fredric, we know all that. But thanks for NOT commenting on the issues raised by the video. I suppose you'd rather attack the source to discredit their arguments.

    Speaking of crazy religious founders or messiahs, I could offer other examples of that ilk who exhibited some pretty bizarre behaviors or thoughts.

    BTW, I do no give a sh*t about Scientology.

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  6. Anonymous1:46 AM

    I dont care about Scientology; although I believe in freedom of religion, as long as it doesnt insist on actual blood sacrifices.

    But I do care a great deal about what the CCHR are saying about Psychiatry. And they are FAR from, the only ones.

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  7. Anonymous12:05 PM

    Regardless of the individuals or arganization that put the video out (this will no doubt be fodder for big pharma), they make a solid point. Mike Adams (AKA HealthRanger, and naturalnews.com) is a credible source and has been pointing this out for years.

    Big Pharma are pushers and dealers with the guv's backing them. They mislead, the kill any competition (figuratively, not sure about the literal interpretation), and are trying to get entire generations hooked on their stuff to generate obscene profits.

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  8. Anonymous2:17 PM

    Why can't you use common sense instead of resorting to shooting the messengers. Who care what organization says what if what they say makes sense. I am not a scientologist, but they have more civic sense than a lot of your mainline religions. Use your freedom of speech before it is taken away from us.

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  9. Anonymous4:30 AM

    This industry is one of, if not the biggest industry in the world. The scary thing is that an industry should not be allowed exist as they are not doing what they claim to do which is curing people or offering a tangible permanent result, but rather numbing them from confronting the reality for a short period of time. This is the most valid points in the entire video, these drugs are not a cure at all, and they all know this, the drugs just numb NORMAL feelings and sensations. The most upsetting side of this is the drugging of kids. Drugging of kids for be over excited or being disinterested or tired or for just being scared is wrong and criminal in my opinion. As a kid you have to confront these issues as you mature to be a normal person. If you can't see this then I am afraid you have bought into the drug companies excellent marketing strategies. I hope that millions of people see this and just take this point. I live in South Africa and people hear are uneducated and are the perfect targets for the drug companies. Who cares if it is the Scientologists that are bringing this message.

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  10. Anonymous11:38 PM

    I am a Scientologist for ten years now. Nothing in the world can give me what Scientology has given me: A great peaceful life and lifestyle.

    psychiatry needs to go and it needs to vanish asap.

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  11. Anonymous11:29 PM

    I wish the general population would stop confusing people(victims like me who were harmed by the drugs) that are against pyschiatry with scientology or scientolgists. Scientolgists are just one of the many people or groups out there that knows the dangers of the drugs and are against psychiatrists drugging people generally healthy as a first option of treatment. Average joe without much knowledge will always mock scientology and never question the pharmacuetical companies and psychiatrists because they think scientologists are the only ones against psychiatrists for the hell of it. I myself am not scientologist, and sometimes want to make fun of it just because the mass media has made fun of it and Tom cruise, but what they are saying is not all that bad for our society. It would benefit our society if the general population knows the real risks and benefits of getting treated by psychiatrists for whatever health/ mental issues and knows such news like for example, pharmacutical drugs found in our drinking water

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  12. Anonymous11:47 AM

    Drug is the menace to the society.I agree ,many suicides have been reported due to drug abuse.Prohibited drugs corrupt the society.

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    Replies
    1. Illegal or prohibited drugs kill maybe a quarter of the people prescribed drugs kill... Most prescribed drugs should be illegal...

      Delete
  13. Just watched this.

    A close friend of mine had a "breakdown" and was subsequently forcefully hospitalized. He was given a cocktail of pills for
    several years and to this day no one knows what happened to him, he is just weird now.

    From the pharmaceutical position it does not seem valid to ask if those drugs (_many_ of them) caused him any problems, there

    is no one who is responsible if they did (who knows which doctor approved this treatment?), and there is just another lost

    soul wandering the streets.

    I visited the "homes" that they kept him and people like him in, little cubicles really, where they fed them cheap,

    mechanically separated foods, and made sure that they all got their meds, as it was long ago decided that they were all
    incapable of healing or being functional.

    I don't know anything about Scientology, I am a bit weary of it..

    But what about Sicko? I think it was sensationalist, and sometimes incorrect, but the overall point and
    premis holds true in my mind: the american medical system has less interest in healing and more interest in funding.
    I just watched a self-employed friend nearly go bankrupt after having an accident, and being charged thousands of
    dollars for a cast improperly set by a person who had never done it before ..

    Personally having to deal with these two institions in order to heal my self, I have disgust in my heart for how
    they have treated me, how they have not really understood what they were prescribing, and not had much interest
    in really understanding what was wrong with me, only having the seemingly automatic action of handing out
    some pill...

    Testing a drug for 9 weeks seems to give no foresight to the fact that these chemicals could effect our
    descendants with random genetic anomolies .. all in the name of money. Weird.

    Thanks for looking at the video and keeping a skeptics eye while also concluding that something may in
    fact be going on, and that it might be very big.

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  14. Anonymous12:50 PM

    I'd like to comment on both the video and also on Scientology.

    First, I think that people can only judge something by their OWN experience with it. People cannot judge something by listening to others because everyone sees things from their own seat in the stadium.

    With that being said, I invite you to simply view the video, do your own research and come up with your own conclusions. To do anything else is simply lazy.

    Now, about Scientology. My husband and I both had very interesting experiences with trying it to help with different physical problems.

    First, I woke up one morning with a numb left hand. This started progessing into major neck and back pain until it numbed my left foot and caused major pain in left leg and lower back. I got an MRI which showed multiple physical problems including a bone fragment stuck in my sciatic nerve. The doctors told me I might even die if I didn't take narcotics and have surgery.

    It was not easy, but I decided to NOT take the narcotics or have the surgery. I endured a ton of pain, but with the help of Dianetics combined with some natural healing methods, I am now about 80% better. The doctors don't understand how this could be or what happened to the bone fragment.

    My husband had what he thought to be "floaties" in his eye because there was a dark spot obscuring his vision. But, soon he realized that the dark spot was the size of a quarter. The eye specialist told him his retina was pulling away from his eye and that he might go blind. He then gave us a disclaimer to read about the possible side effects of the steroid shot he was about to inject in my husband's eye. The side effects included possible blindness. I freaked out and made my husband try the Dianetics. In two weeks, he saw improvement with the Scientology way and then went back to the eye doctor. This doctor found my husband's condition to be now gone and his eyesight to have even improved. He then stated that the condition "may have just gone away on its own."

    So, even if this stuff did cost us some money, it was much less than the medical alternative and we did not have to be cut open or drugged.

    I'm not saying that everyone should not go to a medical doctor because that would be nuts. I'm just telling you about what happened to us regarding very specific incidents.

    We do use doctors and dentists for other things.

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  15. If Scientology does help certain medical conditions, it is because they use self hypnosis techniques so the person is actually healing themselves. It would be better to just hire a well qualified hypnotherapist to help yourself heal than paying such a high price to join Scientology, both in dollars and in joining a fascist cult. I say fascist because they tell you what to do in every part of your life, they have very sneaky techniques to keep you part of their organization and they use blackmail and intimidation if you try to leave. They force you to tell them all your secrets so they can use them against you later. Read the Tom Cruise expose by Andrew Morton for much more information.

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  16. Anonymous12:44 PM

    Kathi,
    Scientology does not condone hypnotism of any kind. In fact, there are numerous references which clearly state that hypnotism is not good because it only adds to the subconscious energy which is what can hurt you.

    You sound like you are spouting an opinion which is not based upon experience or any personal knowledge. Spouting off what other nay-sayers are promoting is the very stuff with which "witch hunts" are made.

    I suggest you actually read a Scientology book and find out for yourself.

    I've been a Scientologist for over 20 years and have never been hypnotized or had any "secrets" used against me. Anyone who even says anything like that has a vested interest in hurting Scientology. And THOSE people tend to lose a ton of money in drug sales, etc. if people get well.

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  17. Dear Anonymous, if Scientology is so great why are you hiding behind the name anonymous? Obviously you are scared of something. I have read and studied Scientology and many other cults all my life, it is my passion. I am also an ordained minister and a certified spiritual hypnotherapist. I know what I am talking about. It is always the cults and religions who demonize hypnosis and hypnotherapy who are the busiest using it to keep their members enslaved. Wake up!!!

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  18. OK. I will have to calm things down, please.

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  19. Anonymous12:03 AM

    Hey John,
    It is interesting how emotion cannot be read on the net, isn't it? I wrote my post from a very calm viewpoint. I simply stated that in my over 20 years, I have only seen references to hypnosis adding more unconsciousness to a person and is not used in Scientology. I also stated that I had never seen instance of "secrets" being used.

    Now, by then stating my opinion that anyone who did spread lies about those things must have a vested interest, it is only because I have also witnessed the source of those lies stemming from such vested interests as psychiatrists and drug companies. Again, observation based upon documented fact.

    Kathi's response to my post was in obvious anger. That emotion was easy to see. Perhaps, that is why you suggested to calm things down?
    I must have hit a nerve because she is a hypnotherapist and I unknowingly invalidated her with my remarks about that subject.

    In any event, I appreciate your keeping good control over your blog. It is an example I would suggest to all on the net.

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  20. Dear John and anonymous, I was not angry. I just said wake up! I could care less if you want to be slaves. I don't like big pharma either. They put drugs in our food to make us sick and then feed us more drugs to keep us sick. My sister is a psychiatrist. I do not like how she prescribes drugs all day. But she is a kind hearted person and genuinely thinks she is helping her patients in the mental hospital. I could not work there. So depressing and distressing. I am used to people putting down hypnosis. What I don't like is hypocrites. If you took a course in hypnosis you would see the similarities to what scientology does when you try to get clear. I think the idea of helping people get clear is good. Trying to keep people in the organization by separating them from their non-Scientology family members and separating them from their life savings and making them work like slaves for extremely low wages is wrong (the little people, not the celebrities). But if the people choose to be slaves it is not my problem. I do not like how the Scientology doctrine says to eliminate psychiatrists and gays by any means, even violence.

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  21. Anonymous7:13 PM

    oooops, I made an error. The web site address I meant to say above is www.cchr.org

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous3:00 AM

    Anonymous,
    I have read these and other facts that are presented in this video series in countless other sources. Big Pharma is BAD NEWS!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous9:40 AM

    Dear Anonymous Scientologist:

    I was a Scientologist, myself, for nearly 26 yrs and I can tell you stats DO lie. They can be inflated, falsified, etc. Scientology does this A LOT. It even has a term called STAT PUSH.

    CCHR is just another "front group" or arm of the "crime syndicate" of the Church of Scientology, as is Criminon, NarCONon, etc.

    Finally, Doianetics & Scientology DO use hypnosis. You have an "outdated" definition for the word "hypnosis." Look it up on the Wikipedia and study the entries for "Hypnosis" as well as "Hypnosis in Scientology" articles there. Here's an excerpt:

    "Although a popular misconception is that hypnosis is a form of unconsciousness resembling sleep, contemporary research suggests that it is actually a wakeful state of focused attention[2] and heightened suggestibility,[3] with diminished peripheral awareness.[4] In the first book on the subject, Neurypnology (1843), Braid described "hypnotism" as a state of physical relaxation accompanied and induced by mental concentration ("abstraction").[5]"

    This is almost exactly and word for word the Dianetics' definition of "reverie."

    So as Kathi says, I tell you "Wake Up!" I DID. That was 5 yrs ago. Scientology is all about the money AND CONTROL. It is INDEED as the Time article by Richard Behar described it, "Scientology: The Cult of Greed and Power."

    Best to you, otherwise. Thanks.

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  24. Anonymous3:29 PM

    A friend sent me this video, since I am a state appointed attorney who represents people without counsel who have been committed to mental health units of local hospitals. I statrted to watch this video, thinking that there are difficulities and uncertainties in psychtropic medications, and I might learn something useful. I am aware that no medication on the market today that is prescribed for mental illness is a cure. As I watched the video, I realized something was wrong. The video did not have any scientific basis, and no real data to back up the claims made. I thought to myself, "Myself, I wonder who made this video? It is not fair and balanced, and has an agenda." I looked on the internet, and found that it had been made by the Scientologists. Question answered. I have seen the difference in my clients after a few weeks on medication. I have seen a person who believed they were possessed by demons, become stable, and return to a balanaced state of mind. Yes, there are problems with psychotropic medications, but they DO HAVE VALUE. I don't like the drug companies, and agree that they have profit ahead of the common good in many cases, but I have seen miracles too. This is a very BAD video, made by very BAD people.

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  25. Anonymous3:40 PM

    I am very opposed to psychiatric drugging of children and adults who don't need it, but I will tell you from personal experience, there ARE some people in this world who are so mentally ill that they NEED some kind of medication to prevent them from harming themselves or others. Jails are not set up to deal with this...and some of these people when put on meds CAN live an almost normal existence, hold a job etc. Scientology is NOT equipped to handle people like this either, and the complete eradication of psychiatry or practitioners who can prescribe medications for these people would be DISASTEROUS to society. There would be no place for these folks and no help for them. Scientology believes that their practices and PTS handlings, and destimulations and following LRH policy on handling such persons works. It does NOT. I tried this on a relative more than once and the person went absolutely berserk and had to be incarcerated. No amount of handlings, auditing or anything else works on someone who is that mentally ill. Sorry. But psychiatry in some form (perhaps a cleaned up, more ethical version not so entrenched with Big Pharma) has to remain in place. And yes, I was a Scientologist for years....15 years in. And to you Scientologists who feel I am PTS or connected to suppression for leaving, or that I am an SP. NO...I did not suddenly turn into an SP. No I am not under suppression. I simply discovered the TRUTH.

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  26. Anonymous2:04 PM

    Talking about hypnosis, hypnotherapists who are well qualified could cetainly help with hair pulling, as i watched a programme with paul mckenna in the uk. She was cured, also addictions like gambling etc..... he's cured, not with psychiatric meds. I do realize that some people need meds, but sometimes side effects can out weigh the benefits, if any.

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  27. Anonymous3:39 PM

    From Jay:
    I have a low opinion of Scientologists from looking at what they do and say. However except for how long and repeating this is they made perhaps the best information video on the SSRI drug problem as anyone could. There main points are dead on. I’m not sure they mentioned most if not all these drugs have a huge amount of fluoride (Prozac is by trade name fluoxetine” or the fact they are all powerful stimulants often containing a clinical meth.. (Ritalin is by proper name “Methylin” and has enough speed in it to make it the most abused over the counter drug resold on the streets to kids in Canada and perhaps the USA as well.)

    This video raises the question “where is everyone else” on this subject. The amazing silence of our idiots in charge is not saying much for our government officials or other churches who could speak up and never do.

    I do have to thank Scientology for this video as well as the belly laughs they produced by having a religion so well depicted on South Park. Not that I like South park much either but that segment was both accurate and as hysterical as this SSRI drug problem is sad.

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  28. Did you know that in 2008 the California government (which claims it is bankrupt) passed a law (without letting us vote) that they must fluoridate our entire water supply in this state? This means they are buying a huge amount of this toxic by-product of the aluminum industry (with our tax dollars) to poison us and make us get Alzheimer's so we don't remember how badly we are getting screwed! This lovely technique was used to poison the Nazi prisoners in the second world war, who learned it from the Russians. I don't think the Nazis were worried about the dental health of the Jewish prisoners.

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  29. Anonymous4:08 PM

    From Jay

    I actually started looking at meth laced fluoride/fluorine loaded SSRI drugs years ago when looking at fluoride use in the antibiotic Cippro. . If you know of a “stated or valid” reason for fluoride in SSRI (or other ) medications…please tell.

    Also, Our fearless leaders in New Jersey snuck in a “mandate” to add fluoride to every water system in the State. They did that in the last state senate meeting of 2009 with no public meetings or notifications at all. In 2010 even small wells supplying 25 people or less were suddenly getting threatening letters to become fluoride compliant or risk fines for violation of the “safe drinking water act”. (go figure??)

    The water thing seems to be a newer nationwide fluoride campaign they are pushing but not talking about. Believe it or not … the CDC clearly says Fluoride is good for you and offers this list so you can complain if your not getting enough fluoride in your local water.
    http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/MWF/index.asp

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  30. This movie is chock full of manipulated statistics, half truths and full out lies. It is nothin but propaganda put out by the insane, anti-psychiatry, money grubbing cult of scientology. (Un capitalized intentionally, it's not worth of even that courtesy.) Yes, there are no BLOOD tests for mental illnesses, but there are long six hour interview evaluation tests, scientifically developed, that when administered by a trained psychiatrist, are very accurate tools. And in the last decade, with advances in brain activity imaging, there is plenty of scientific evidence of mental illness. With the mapping of the human genomes there is plenty of scientific evidence that mental illness is hereditary. Should General Practitioner Doctors be diagnosing or prescribing medication for mental illness? Of course not! As they shouldn't be doing heart bypass surgery either.
    I have decades of personal experience with mental illness. I know dozens of people in my circle of friends that have mental illness. (We tend to seek each other out for comfort, given the stigma we put up with, like that promoted by this disingenuous and damage causing paranoid film. I also have several generations of family members with mental illness.
    I have Bipolar II disorder and have attempted suicide twice, BEFORE I was ever put on medication or had ever seen a psychiatrist and received my diagnosis. I suffered from my early teens to my mid forties for no good reason except for my own ignorant belief that "shrinks" were charlatans. After 3 voluntary stays in a county medical hospital I was stabilized and for the past ten years with several adjustments of medications to find the combination that works for me, and with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I lead a very stable fulfilling life. My father struggled with crippling depression for decades, at one point spending my senior year of high school sitting in a darkened room for 18 months. He finally sought help, from a psychiatrist, and after a year of talk therapy made the choice to go on medication, and a round of Convulsive Shock Therapy. It took almost two years to find the best combination for him, but for the past 31 years now he has thrived and weathered life's triumphs and tragedies with grace and aplomb, something he could not have done without the help of medication, CST and talk therapy. His father spent nearly 12 years in an asylum for "melancholia", with no medication and plenty of horrible suffering. To say mental illness was invented by a cabal of evil doctors in 1968 in Brazil ignores the entire known history of humans. The ancients wrote of madness.
    During my stays in mental hospitals, I've seen DOZENS of people transform from babbling, paranoid incoherent, sometimes violent, often terrified people, to stable, articulate, compassionate humans, several who I still call close friends to this day.
    And to address two other arguments, psych meds don't cure mental illness, and every drug doesn't work for every person. To the first, is there a cure for diabetes? No. There never will be. We use insulin and diet to manage it. The same with mental illness. To the second, PENICILLIN KILLS PEOPLE! who are allergic to it. It also saves millions of lives. We all have unique body chemistry, and controlled prescribing of psych meds BY A PSYCHIATRIST, NOT A GP is a slow, gradual process to ensure the patient doesn't react badly.
    And yes, the aggressive marketing of ALL pharmaceuticals is poorly regulated, greed driven, and should be be much more heavily and independently tested and regulated by the Government, as should ALL dietary and food supplements, holistic "medicines" and vitamins.

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  31. Thank you people of CCHR for putting forth the super effort. Modern heroes in my book. Underdogs taking on the big money and murderous corruption in our society. Protecting those around them by standing up and giving voice. Makes me proud to know them. Go CCHR! (And if that is saying GO! Scientologists, well then so be it my friend. I stand by them with this one 100%.)

    I have known of quite a few people who have resorted to taking psychiatric drugs because they wanted to do the responsible thing and take their doctor’s advice. But what ends up with these people is that they end up exhibiting drug reactions and acting odd. They are not the same people that I knew before, even though they had problems in life and difficulty handling them. They now are addicted to psychiatric medications to stay "up". The local "doctor" they saw is merely their pusher, and their lives are no better than they were before the psych drugs, they’re worse! - A lot worse!!

    This video helped me to understand why so many commit suicide or go off the deep end because of psychiatric drugs. Good people think they are getting helped by seeing their so called doctor and end up going nuts on these drugs. It is very sad. I am going to be sure as many people get the video as I can hand out.

    So Big Pharma act fast and keep firing bullets to kill the messenger. That’s all you can do. - You are in way too deep! The facts speak for themselves. Maybe if you shot enough bullets you can kill off everyone and then you will be the only one left. Then you might finally be happy.

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