Speech!

Psychiatrists treat mental illnesses developed from biochemical problems, fundamentally chemical imbalances, in patients. Doctors prescribe medication to restore the balance of chemicals in the body. However, as Doctor Thomas Szasz stated, thus far, “nobody has measured, demonstrated, or created a test to show that somebody has a chemical imbalance in them.” Therefore, requirements for psychiatrists to clinically prescribe medication lack scientific basis. Symptoms described by the patients along with the doctor’s observations and a few laboratory findings (testament from family members or physical exams) are enough to put patients on medication. Research shows that, on average, clinical trials for these prescribed psychotropic drugs involve treatment for 8 to 12 weeks before being released to the pharmaceutical market. This becomes a potential problem when patients are prescribed for these drugs for years. Undocumented side effects surface and further symptoms may be observed. In fact, fewer than 50% of potential side effects are known to doctors before the drug industry releases a new psychotropic drug. Collaboration between psychiatrists and pharmacies result in, to the detriment of patients, a billion dollar industry.

The Food and Drug Administration approves each new psychotropic drug. However, the FDA’s psychiatric drug advisory panels are dominated by psychiatrists. Many of these psychiatrists indirectly profit from the marketing of new psychotropic medication. This creates a “revolving door effect” of profit and gain. Matters became worse when the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) was enacted in 1992 and renewed in 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012. The passage of PDUFA authorizes the FDA to collect fees from companies that produce certain human drugs and biological products. PDUFA, therefore, became a major expedient in the drug approval process. Since the passage of PDUFA, the duration of FDA evaluation on psychotropic drugs has plunged from 2 years in 1992 to only 6 months four years later. During clinical trials of pharmaceutical drugs, three of four phases are required to be submitted to government for regulatory approval. However, the statistics gathered can easily be manipulated. For example, in February of 2004 Lilly and Company ran test trials on 123 subjects for a new antidepressant called Cymbalta. The people chosen at random for the trial were not diagnosed with depression to begin with and during the tests there were 11 suicide attempts and 4 completed suicides. Following the trial runs, a questionnaire was conducted on which psychiatrists excluded the questions regarding suicidal behavior. The statistical results were magnificent and the FDA approved Cymbalta the following August. Aside from this manipulation, trials are conducted for a short duration of time and do not reflect outcomes in patients on the drugs for years. Pubic ignorance of side effects caused by mental illness medication leads to a dangerously high consumption rate of psychotropic drugs.

Unfortunately, every single type of psychotropic drug prescribed can have damaging side effects on patients. Antidepressant drugs produce among the most unpredictable results. Many people experience side effects that include headaches, nausea, sleeplessness, agitation, and blurred vision. However, in 2004 the FDA found, through published and unpublished data on trials involving about 4,400 children, that 4% of the adolescents in the trials thought about or tried suicide. The FDA reported that possible side effects of many different antidepressants are worsening depression, suicidal thinking, and unusual changes in behavior. If combined with other medications, even more symptoms arise. Antidepressants are not the only drugs with multiple side-effects, treatment for bipolar disorder, can also have detrimental effects. Patients taking lithium may experience loss of coordination, blackouts, and seizures among other problems. Because people react to medication differently, symptoms are difficult to tie back to the specific drug. However, studies have proven that psychotropic drugs can potential cause major damage to patients. This is most likely due to insufficient research and trials on the marketed medication.

Congressional investigation has also uncovered conflicts of interest between psychiatrists and pharmacies. Psychiatrists receive funds from the pharmaceutical industry, and in return, common diagnoses generate about $25 billion a year in pharmaceutical sales. It’s no wonder that the United States prescribes antipsychotics to children six times the rate of that of the United Kingdom. Joseph Biederman is a prime example of the undercover collaboration between psychiatrists and pharmacists. Court documents released in 2009 showed that Biederman, the Chief of the Program in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, was reported to have promised drug maker Johnson & Johnson that the antipsychotic drug Risperidone would be effective on preschool aged children prior to conducting studies. The convenient partnership between psychiatrists and pharmacists allows both to maximize their profits while neglecting health hazards.

In order to prevent this problem and this industry from growing, regulations must be enforced. Trials should be administered to reflect real life conditions and standards should be applied to statistical outcomes. Although many psychiatrists and pharmacists do indeed work for public good, the drugs prescribed are dangerous to all consumers. To undo the damage done by the various psychotropic drugs, FDA requirements and evaluation process should be reconsidered to ensure that only the safest possible medication drugs are released to pharmacies in the future. Awareness of the various side effects and dangers of taking psychotropic drugs should be spread throughout our society and pharmacies should be prohibited from funding psychiatrists. These measures will increase the help people with true mental illnesses receive and will decrease the number of falsely diagnosed patients.