Is This Our Medical Brick Wall?

[3bmom]

 

Below is the amount of $$$ in the Billions in fines to the Pharmaceutical companies and yet they continue to be exceedingly profitable. I feel our kids are their cash cow and there is no reason to investigate alternative therapies or the root cause of all their neurological issues! Same with adults. A neurologist that I recently heard spoke said that we enter the world with no memories so maybe that is how we are meant to exit. Seriously makes you wonder who is running/financing medical schools.

 

This is an excerpt. The link for full article is at the bottom.

 

 

I am not against medications to help our kids. We still have to use them. I am against the epidemic of kids needing it with no medical community shouting, "What is making our kids so sick?".

 

 

 

 

While a doctor can legally prescribe a drug for any use, even if it hasnt been FDA-approved, its illegal for a drug company to advertise off-label uses or encourage a doctor to prescribe it as such. This, however, is precisely what many of them do, and billions of dollars in fines have been paid as a result. For instance:

 

Pfizer paid $2.3 billion for marketing fraud related to Bextra, Lyrica, and other drugs. Charges included marketing drugs to doctors for uses for which they had not been approved and giving kickbacks to doctors and other health care professionals for prescribing their drugs.

Pfizer hired 250 child psychiatrists to market its antipsychotic Geodon, even though it wasnt approved for use in children. This was Pfizer's fourth settlement numbering in the multimillions in less than a decade.

AstraZeneca settled for $520 million for trying to persuade doctors to prescribe its psychotropic drug Seroquel for unapproved uses including ADHD, sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression. Using Seroquel for improper use has been linked to an increased risk of death.

Johnson & Johnson paid $2.2 billion for illegal marketing of the drug Risperdal for unapproved uses in children. In addition to targeting more than 1,500 child psychiatrists, Johnson & Johnson also held a Back to School Bash marketing campaign that aimed to increase prescriptions of Risperdal in children via ice-cream parties and free snacks and lunches.

In 2012, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plead guilty in the largest health fraud settlement in US history. The company was fined $3 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability charges related to illegal drug marketing and withholding information about health hazards associated with its diabetes drug Avandia and others, including the antidepressant Paxil, which was illegally marketed to children and adolescents for everything from depression to shyness.

Eli Lilly paid $1.4 billion for promoting its antipsychotic Zyprexa for off-label uses, often to children.

Why Are So Many Children Being Drugged?

 

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) states that up to 85 percent of children in the child welfare system meet the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis.4 But the diagnosis of mental illness in children is far from an exact science. Modern psychiatry has expanded its reach to the point that even the most normal of emotions and mental states now fall under one labeled "disorder" or another.

 

They have been able to cleverly redefine mental illness with the use of theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This book is created by members of the American Psychiatric Association. You would think that diseases are put in this book after evaluating carefully executed scientific trials, but nothing could be further from the truth. Additions and changes to this manual are determined by votes by its members. This categorization is NOT based on science at all!

 

It is well-documented that psychiatric drugs in general, and atypical antipsychotics specifically, are misused across the board. Children as young as 18 months are now receiving antipsychotic drugs, despite the fact that the diseases they're designed to treat rarely develop before adolescence. So why are toddlers receiving these potent drugs? Sadly, one of the key reasons these drugs are used is their sedative effect. They're typically prescribed to control "disruptive" behavior not to treat severe mental illness.

 

It's also come to light recently that the Harvard psychiatrists who invented the pediatric bipolar diagnosis were disciplined for conflicts of interest after it was revealed they'd all received millions of dollars in undeclared drug company monies.5 Even the AACAP admits in many states there is a disproportionate number of children in foster care who receive psychotropic medication. Indeed, according to a 2010 study, an estimated 20 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD are actually misdiagnosed.6

 

Has Your Doctor Been Paid by Drug Companies?

 

Beginning in Fall 2014, you will be able to determine if a health care provider you trust is actually on the drug industry's payroll, thanks to a new federal law that entails the following:

 

 

Below is the full article link

 

 

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/07/psychotropic-drug-use.aspx?e_cid=20140507Z1_DNL_art_2&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art2&utm_campaign=20140507Z1&et_cid=DM44279&et_rid=513446165

[WorriedDADNMOM]

While this might be a little off topic, I think it lines up perfectly with what your first paragraph states............I think it is very sad where we are at currently and where we are going will only make it worse. Obamacare is and will be the undoing of our medical system. We are on a individual plan, HDHP HSA which have been hit with 100% premium increase just this year.......from 287 per month in 2009 for a 10k deductible, 400 per month in 2012-13 for a 12k family deductible to 860.00 per month in 2014 on an ACA plan for that same 12k deductible. We have used this HDHP to be able to pay for supplements that have radically improved our kiddos health. Right now, this is in jeopardy if we cannot find some cheaper plan that gives us the flex to be able to go to a DAN doc if we want or buy supplements or any other govt or insurance company "unapproved" therapies.

 

He who controls the purse strings controls everything. Slowly we self payer advocates for our kiddos are being squeezed out. Big biz lines up with big govt and we are all screwed.......pardon the french. Thank God for all the independent DAN's, Pedi's and other Pandas docs that are helping our kiddos.

 

Sorry for the rant!!

[JuliaFaith]

3Bmom--Love your information and articles. Thank you for sharing. Personally, we have benefited from both side of the medical arena, however, some of what I learn about 'big pharma' makes me wonder where the 'best care of humans' seems to be missing from the equation.

 

Worrieddadnmom--So sorry your insurance costs are so high, can totally relate. We have had both "obamacare" insurance and 'thru a job' insurance and the job insurance has been increasing at an alarming rate right along with the 'Obamacare'. Also, there are others in our area that have not been able to afford health insurance (and they work full time) and now can. This saves us (as taxpayers) a huge amount because these individuals would use the emergency room for health care before, which is obviously very costly. There are always two sides to these issues.

[WorriedDADNMOM]

Julia, while I don't know your specific situation......Obama care was passed in 2009 but not fully implemented till 2014......so I am not sure how you have had Obama care and Job insurance and the rate increases could not be happening simultaneously. While you may(or people you know) have a subsidized plan now, that is great and I am in favor of a solution, but why does there need to be a one size fits all approach. This could have been targeted with tax credits, subsidies,.........anything else to help people in need that WANT insurance.

 

One size fits all approaches do not work in the long term. This is common sense. Look at the problems with the vaccine schedule and it's one size fits all approach. Why do I need Autism treatment or maternity??? Why does a single male need maternity??? This this was designed to railroad us over time into a single payer system. Then WE WILL BE SOL.

 

The costs(mine and most peoples costs) have increased DUE to Obamacare and it's unneeded mandates. I have had 5-15% increases over the years from time to time.....but never have I had the costs increase like with the implementation of Obamacare........100-150% and I am in the individual market.

 

You mark my words.......in 6-12 months when the employer sponsored plans start to be hit with these types of increases, this will only get worse. Maybe I am wrong, but you think employers will not start dumping employees or dumping employees health care at a bare minimum?????? We shall see.

[JuliaFaith]

Worrieddadandmom-- we have had a lot of job changes/situations in a very short period of time. Hope that does not happen to your family. Our practitioners are reeling from all the changes! Our employers plans, three so far this year, and a few last year, had increasing deductibles and costs. We already pay for most costs out of pocket anyway (naturopathic drs.).

 

Some have said as competition increases possibly costs may go down. We just had two new companies join our state recently. Will wait and see. Only a few are controlling the most profits in our country (just read 'The Crash of 2016) unfortunately. We will hope for the best.

Edited May 16, 2014 by juliafaith

[WorriedDADNMOM]

I am sorry for all the job changes.....I am opposite...very steady work/job history for 12 years, basically self employed and can/have to track this stuff year over year......Before Obamacare, my annual out of pocket was 13444 in 2008-2009 14800/year or less in 2010-13.....now it is 22320/year with no added benefits that I can use.....NONE.

 

The point I am making is we in the Pandas/Pans/ASD world should be shouting from the rooftops. We, like you pay out of pocket of HSA contributions for DAN/Integrative ped. Now the extra 7500 per year will really squeeze our ability to pay for treatments we deem as helpful or our supplements our doc writes prescriptions for.

 

Many, if not most on this board, have had to fight tooth and nail to get the treatment protocols necessary for healing and wellness. When the "lamestream" docs have refused, we have had to seek out "out of network" DAN docs, naturopaths, neurologists like Dr T doing their own thing and not a part of big group or big biz, pharma, insurance, Govt alliance.

 

I am sorry, but costs will not go down. I just don't see where it will happen. You don't keep delaying something that will save you/us/everyone $.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101393331

[qannie47]

I often find myself thinking, "My children, with their individual issues would have thrived so much better had they been born 50 years ago." I am not in denial that my children have issues that need to be addressed, but raising "imperfect" children in a society that has stolen childhood from children across the board has made it all much more stressful. It seems that children are no longer allowed to be children. You never see kids outside very much anymore. Everything about children's lives are so structured. The pressure to perform academically starts at age 3. In my area, academic material is about 2 to 3 years ahead grade levels from what I remember in school. Kids are no longer allowed to climb trees, ride there bikes around the block, get dirty, or free play for any great length of time. Summer Camps go by these kinds of names these days: Math Camp, Literacy Camp, Engineering Camp, etc.. Then there is the fear factor variable. Kids are being raised to be too afraid. One time, a neighbor came over, and politely asked, "Do you think it is wise to let your children climb over your fence? (the fence is about 4 feet high). I replied, "Didn't you ever climb a fence when you were growing up?". I could go on and on.

 

I feel like society wants robots, not children.

 

So, I not only feel sorry for my children, whom have to try to blend in with these new norms, I also feel sorry for the child whom came into this world without any special challenges.

 

So when even a typical starts to exhibit stress cracks, society wants them medicated.

[susieq22]

quannie,

I sooo agree with you. I think about this all the time. My PANS daughter is still able to function and hold herself together all day at school, but falls apart after school from the stress of the day. There are many days when she rolls around screaming on the floor at the thought of doing a page of long division (4th grade math). If I send her outside to climb a tree, play in the mud, or jump on the trampoline, the stress melts away. Back inside with the math, she's rolling on the floor again. Even many of her friends without PANDAS are over-stressed by all the work. It's ridiculous what's expected of kids these days....

[3bmom]

Two threads going so of course I need to give my opinion on both! My DS would of been dead. His symptoms are not a little quirky. I understand what you mean by the bar being raised high but for us the stress is from hiding the OCD all day at school and than falling apart. School is not an issue at all if not in a flare. IN fact he likes going. Same with Math. Math ability crashes when in a flare so my DS is frustrated that it now has become difficult. Sad since he was part of Math Olympics. Stress does effect him but I have always had my kids climbing trees and playing outside. With 3 boys I would of gone crazy! Stress in PANDAS is a factor because it plays on the Adrenals fight or flight axis.

 

I agree that we need Insurance/Medical for everyone but this isn't the way. Our Dr. said by the end of the year Autism and PANDAS will no longer get any medical attention under "Standard of Care" and that it will be boxed under Psychiatric. They basically want to draw a line in the sand and he won't be allowed to prescribe an antiviral. He is livid. All I know is if our kids were brought to a hospital 40 years ago with abrupt changes in personality they immediately would look for a medical cause and sadly that has changed.

 

Before PANDAS I lived my life looking thru rose tinted glasses and complete trust. When I brought my son to the SAME hospital that diagnosed him with PANDAS 5 years earlier who didn't understand but were curious and ran tests, they flat out refused blood work, the Drs who saw and video taped him before were "unavailable", and we got parenting lessons. I now know that is better than what happened at Children's in Boston but not good for our kids. There has been a Medical shift. These both are leading hospitals.

 

Now for a rant...Yesterday I got a lab bill for over $5,000. NOTHING was covered or put towards deductible. That is on top of an extra $300/month for antivirals, antibiotics and Intuniv.

 

I have heard that there is legislature being brought up to stop access of prescription meds from Canada and Supplements will also go thru expensive FDA testing making it more expensive and difficult to obtain. 23 and Me can no longer give you info on your data.

 

Have you read Sheila's letter about the Tourette's Organization, TSA?

 

My glasses are now off and I don't like what I see.

 

PS The lab was ordered from a MD

Edited May 17, 2014 by 3bmom