Britain's Medicines Regulator (MHRA), taking a very similar line to FDA in the United States, EMA in Europe, Health Canada and the TGA in Australia, has recently been trying to extricate itself from a corner into which lawyers crafting pharmaceutical industry strategies have painted all regulators. Pharmaceutical companies write drug labels and are legally obliged to update … [Read more...] about Bad Trips on SSRIs
Politics of care
Isotretinoin and Consent
Isotretinoin and Safety outlines the efforts people disabled by Isotretinoin (Accutane, Claravis) and their families have been making for a decade to get medicines regulators in Britain (MHRA) as well as in Europe (EMA) and America (FDA) to make Isotretinoin use safer. Some of those who have been injured or who have lost children or partners think nothing short of banning … [Read more...] about Isotretinoin and Consent
Isotretinoin and Safety – Destiny or Mirage?
On January 22, Britain's Medicines Regulator convened a meeting on consent to Isotretinoin (Accutane, Claravis), whose dynamics map straight onto Prima Facie. Families whose children died from Isotretinoin triggered suicide, or whose sexual function is potentially wiped our forever have clamored for reform for over a decade. In 2023, MHRA rewrote the Rules of Evidence on … [Read more...] about Isotretinoin and Safety – Destiny or Mirage?
Guilty Until Proven Innocent – Prima Facie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOQ7YsxkVUQ Prima Facie - on the face of it - it is clear who the legally guilty party is - until (perhaps) it is proven otherwise. Prima Facie is a play by Suzie Miller. She tells the story behind it and the changes to the law around sexual assault it has brought about, along with her Australian and legal background in this Women's … [Read more...] about Guilty Until Proven Innocent – Prima Facie
Treating Narcissistic Doctor Disorder
Many of Freud's ideas linger with us to this day. A few are disastrously misapplied in some situations but still capable of offering insights in other situations. One of these Janus-Faced ideas was about transference reactions. One day a woman in therapy threw her arms around Sigmund. Rather than reach for the obvious explanation, discombobulated he figured she was … [Read more...] about Treating Narcissistic Doctor Disorder
Good Care in Healthcare
Invited by the Nevada Psychological Association I gave a lecture in Reno on October 4 - see Health, Care and Science. The lecture centered on the death of Woody Witczak on a Zoloft Big Dipper ride and what can be done to save us from a fate like his. Two days later the Southern California Psychiatry Society and an AstroTurf group no-one had heard of before, the Committee … [Read more...] about Good Care in Healthcare
American Psychiatric Association and FDA
See American Psychiatric Association Request for Assistance Dear Commissioner Makary, On behalf of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the largest medical specialty society representing more than 39,200 physicians who specialize in the treatment of mental illnesses, including substance use disorders, we appreciate the agency’s attention to maternal mental … [Read more...] about American Psychiatric Association and FDA
Health News Reviews SSRIs and FDA
This post needs reading in conjunction with - ideally just before - reading Partnerships in Healthcare on dh.org. Over several decades, most people I know, have, along with me, seen Gary Schwitzer, who runs a Health News Review Substack, as the best reviewer of lay and academic media accounts of health issues. Among Gary's great skills is an ability to pinpoint how media … [Read more...] about Health News Reviews SSRIs and FDA
Back to the Future of Personal Care
This post links to From Just Say No to Getting to Yes. If I prescribe you a medicine, the science starts when you swallow it. The observers at this experiment are you, your family, friends, people you work or live with – and me. Science is said to be based on Show Me not Trust Me. So you might say first Show me the Evidence - Inform my Consent. Can Consent be … [Read more...] about Back to the Future of Personal Care
Withdrawal Syndromes: Lost in Translation
Understanding Antidepressant Withdrawal © Coral Smith 2025 This post by Harriet Vogt follows on from her recent Ruptures in Clinical Care post The members of Shane Cooke and Mary Hennessey’s antidepressant withdrawal peer support group decided there was more to explore together after our first meeting. They wanted to dig deeper into their experiences of protracted … [Read more...] about Withdrawal Syndromes: Lost in Translation