The use of psychiatric meds in the U.S., already sky-high, is on the rise as a result of Covid-19. That’s not surprising – it happened after the 9-11 attacks, the 2008 crash and other crises. This graph comes from “America’s State of Mind,” an April 2020 report from Express Scripts. In the month from February 15 to March 15, prescriptions for depression, anxiety and … [Read more...] about Starship Corona: Captain’s Log
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Covid and the Market in Research
There are 3 bits to this post - an interview with Joan-Ramon Laporte. An article by Ariane Denoyel and a Q and A with Laporte and Healy. Laporte Interview As part of a series for ROAR Magazine, Frank Barat has run some striking interviews about aspects of the Covid pandemic not usually mentioned. Here is Joan-Ramon Laporte talking about the market in … [Read more...] about Covid and the Market in Research
Medications compromising Covid Infections
IN THE MIDST OF THE SARS-CoV-2 PANDEMIA, CAUTION IS NEEDED WITH COMMONLY USED DRUGS THAT INCREASE THE RISK OF PNEUMONIA. Joan-Ramon Laporte, M.D. Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Fundació Institut Català de Farmacologia. WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training … [Read more...] about Medications compromising Covid Infections
Snakes in a Love Drug 2
This image is widely viewed as a symbol of medicine. Many, particularly in America, owing to a bad mistake by the American Medical Association, would identify it as the Rod of Aesclepius, a healer in Ancient Greece. But its not a symbol of medicine - as it used to be at least - its the Caduceus of Hermes / Mercury - a symbol of commerce. The Rod of Aesclepius is down … [Read more...] about Snakes in a Love Drug 2
Snakes in a Love Drug on St Patricks Day
IJME In recent years the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics has been to the forefront in grappling with tricky issues in medical ethics and politics - topics that the best known medical journals and authorities should deal with but steer clear of. One of us (DH) had a growing awareness of IJME's lead on tricky issues, but became even more aware of it at the time of the … [Read more...] about Snakes in a Love Drug on St Patricks Day
Causes Sexual Dysfunction, Suicide and Birth Defects?
Everyone who reads RxISK posts will know that SSRI and related drugs (some antibiotics, painkillers, antihistamines and most antidepressants) can cause sexual dysfunction. This has been known since 1961. And that they can cause suicide. This has been known since 1959. And that they can cause birth defects. The first publication by an Australian obstetrician, William … [Read more...] about Causes Sexual Dysfunction, Suicide and Birth Defects?
The Politics of PSSD
Members of the British parliament In October 2019, we were contacted by a British PSSD sufferer who had done some excellent work in getting his Member of Parliament (MP), Steve McCabe, interested in the condition. We were informed that Mr. McCabe wanted to get a large group of MPs together to try and get some support for sufferers and hopefully stimulate interest in finding … [Read more...] about The Politics of PSSD
Gateway to the Soul
Read the accompanying Sex, Withdrawal and Boundaries post first. We are looking for anyone interested in the material raised there to comment on or add to the set of questions below. We are so insensitive to the fact that our skin and gut principally, but also bladder and maybe the inner linings of our lungs, our boundary, likely sees, hears, tastes, smells and encounter … [Read more...] about Gateway to the Soul
Sex, Withdrawal and Boundaries
“Do you think studying monolayers of cells will tell you why you fall in love with a girl?" The quote comes from Rudolf Hess, who won the Nobel Prize for physiology in 1949. His students remembered him as telling them never to study a neurotransmitter or even a cell without thinking about where this bit of the body comes from and what it is supposed to do. This is one of … [Read more...] about Sex, Withdrawal and Boundaries
What’s Sex Got to Do with It
This post gives the text of an article that has just been published online in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine - see Here. Another version of the material is in video form - Antidepressants and Sex: a Strange Story. Background In June 2019, in response to a petition, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) asked pharmaceutical companies to warn that sexual … [Read more...] about What’s Sex Got to Do with It