An instalment in the Politics of Care In the Beginning For nearly 200 years, concerns about individual and public Health have been a badge for progressive politics. The revolutionaries in Paris in 1790 saw healthcare as close to the most important element of the ancien regime that needed dismantling and replacing with something that would work for the people. Fifty years … [Read more...] about The Controlled Healthcare Opposition
Politics of Care
From Stephen O’Neill to the Crack of Doom
This is the first link to the Politics of Care forum. Comments on this post ideally need to centre on reports of actions - outlines of actions that will make a difference or details of what has resulted from efforts to follow up on the leads here. We need to keep track of what has been done and what, if anything, has made a difference, rather than fool ourselves with nice … [Read more...] about From Stephen O’Neill to the Crack of Doom
I can’t breathe
On Wednesday February 10, I gave a lecture at the Therapeutics Initiative (the T.I.) in Vancouver about the Permanent Sexual Dysfunctions SSRIs and other drugs can cause. See Sex and Evidence Based Medicine. The damage done by these drugs often extends beyond a total and complete inability to feel sexual desire and pleasure to a total inability to feel pleasure of any sort … [Read more...] about I can’t breathe
Thalidomide: The Ultimate Conspiracy?
There were relatively few comments on The Thalidomide Catastrophe. There were however more people getting in touch directly. Some said they were going to buy the book. Here are some more reasons to think about buying. The Once and Future Nightmare Many seem to think thalidomide is an old story they more or less know everything about? Everyone knows for instance who made … [Read more...] about Thalidomide: The Ultimate Conspiracy?
The Thalidomide Catastrophe
Editorial Note: This is adapted from a piece by Martin Johnson who with colleagues has just published The Thalidomide Catastrophe. This is available as of today on Amazon and at Onwards and Upwards. This is one of the great books about what the twentieth century was all about. A must buy, costing almost nothing. Child abuse and the harms of not being believed - engaged … [Read more...] about The Thalidomide Catastrophe
Generalists and Partialists
An issue that crops up in comments on both this and the RxISK blog is the question of whether treatment would be safer if given by specialists (partialists) rather than general practitioners (generalists). We wouldn't have the problems with antidepressants and antipsychotics for instance many people seem to think if prescribing was done by psychiatrists rather than GPs. This … [Read more...] about Generalists and Partialists
The Boy With The Ponytail Who Played With Fire
He is 6’4” at least - 192 cm. He has blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. When he first suggested making a program about SSRIs I was not very helpful – very little of the media coverage by 60 Minutes or anything else has ever seemed to make much of a difference. They may have just increased the sales of antidepressants by keeping the names of the various drugs in the limelight. … [Read more...] about The Boy With The Ponytail Who Played With Fire
The Hidden Gorilla
Three weeks ago What would Batman do Now covered the issue of suicide in the military – an issue that had Batman missing in action, and the Joker suffering the adverse effects of psychotropic drugs. Then along came James Holmes to the premiere of Dark Knight Rises in Aurora. Most drugs that can cause suicide, including the antidepressants, mood-stabilizers, antipsychotics, … [Read more...] about The Hidden Gorilla
Scaremongerers of the World Unite
At a meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Brighton in June 2011, Dave Nutt, a professor of psychiatry at Imperial College London issued a call to arms to his audience at a plenary lecture to defend psychiatry which in Dave's view meant defending psychopharmacology. On a slide entitled ‘No Psychiatry Without Psychopharmacology’ he outlined the threats from treatment … [Read more...] about Scaremongerers of the World Unite
Notes on a Scandal
In 1996 Zoe Heller, the author of Notes on a Scandal, took part in a widely reported debate with Roy Porter about Prozac. She defended the drug. It had restored her to life. He said today’s miracle invariably ended up in tomorrow’s tragedy and asked, Why is it that we never learn? The story of a schoolteacher who seduced one of her male pupils In 2003, Notes on a Scandal came … [Read more...] about Notes on a Scandal