News tagged with 'Antipsychotics'

Abilify by Bristol Myers Squibb was just approved by the FDA for treatment of autism-related irritability and acting out. It is among a group of antipsychotics that cause weight gain in users.

Atypical antipsychotics used in young patients for the first time led to a weight gain of anywhere from 11 to 19 pounds in just 11 weeks and an increase in cholesterol and triglycerides, making some question whether the drugs are a long-term solution for young people with psychiatric disorders.

When Florida began requiring physicians to obtain approval from the state before prescribing antipsychotics to children under the age of six, something dramatic happened - prescriptions dropped 75 percent. The same trend is being seen nationwide. 

Amid embarassing revelations that members of the American Psychiatric Association have taken and not revealed drug industry funding, the APA says it will shun sponsored symposia and meals - it just doesn't say when.

Radio producer, Bill Lichtenstein wants to clear the air. He says he knew nothing about the conflicting interests between the host of "The Infinite Mind" Dr. Fred Goodwin, and GlaxoSmithKline who paid Goodwin more $1 million in speaking fees. NPR has apologized to Lichtenstein for its reporting. 

Symbyax will be used for patients who have bipolar depression that is resistant to treatment. It also helps Lilly get around the patent expiration for Prozac.

The deposition of Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Biederman, shows that he promises Johnson & Johnson executives positive results of a clinical trial on an antipsychotic, before the study even took place.

Seroquel, the antipsychotic, will have a further safety review by advisers brought in by the FDA because the drug is known to produce symptoms of tardive dyskinesia, a metabolic effect that causes involuntary movements, lip smacking, and grimacing.  Diabetes is a known side effect and the subject of thousands of lawsuits currently underway.

Seroquel litigation is heating up and internal company documents show AstraZeneca cherry picked what information it wanted released about the antipsychotic, while downplaying any link to diabetes.

Eli Lilly will have to pay the federal government more than $1.4 billion to settle an off-label marketing scheme for its prescription drug, Zyprexa. The settlement is the largest amount paid by a single defendant in the history of the Department of Justice and was initiated by six former Lilly drug marketing representatives who became whistleblowers over the aggressive off-label marketing for the antipsychotic.

Patients taking a newer group of atypical antipsychotics are twice as likely to suffer sudden cardiac failure and death as nonusers, according to a newly published study in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The newer atypicals were thought to be safer than the older medications. An editorial says they are all overprescribed.

Hoping to continue the success of its blockbuster antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, Eli Lilly has suffered a setback in its request for FDA approval of a longer-lasting formulation. Zyprexa is mired in controversy about the side effects and allegations that Lilly withheld important safety information.  

Dr. Joseph Biederman, the father of child psychiatry, is suspended from participating in clinical trials while Harvard University and its teaching hospital, Massachusetts General, probe his conflicting interests with the pharmaceutical industry. At issue - why he failed to report $1.6 million from Big Pharma while his work with children promoted drug use. 

More information is surfacing about conflicting interests involving a Harvard psychiatrist, renowned for promoting antipsychotics, and the research center that bears the name of Johnson & Johnson, which he heads.

Patients are hurt by the conflicts-of-interest between drugmakers and doctors, who are not required to reveal that they are paid consultants for drug companies. Legislation to address the problem is pending.