U.S. House debate on healthcare: Many Lawmakers statements ghostwritten by Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss drug giant Roche

E-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that the lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans. The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress. 42 House members picked up some of its talking points — 22 Republicans and 20 Democrats.

Antipsychotics Like Seroquel Blamed for Deaths and Strokes

According to a new report commissioned by the British government, there are an estimated 180,000 elderly people with dementia in the United Kingdom currently being treated with antipsychotic drugs such as Seroquel, Zyprexa, Risperdal and Abilify. The report found that these drugs could be responsible for as many as 1,800 deaths and 1,620 strokes each year among the elderly with dementia in the United Kingdom.

Drugmaker pays psychiatrist nearly $500,000 to promote antipsychotic drug Seroquel despite misgivings about his research

AstraZeneca paid Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein $490,000 over a decade to travel the nation promoting its best-selling antipsychotic drug, Seroquel. In return, Reinstein provided the company a vast customer base: thousands of residents in Chicago-area nursing homes.

Children on antipsychotics 3 times more likely to develop diabetes (a known side effect of antipsychotics)

Dr. Dina Panagiotopoulos, a pediatric endocrinologist at BC Children’s who was the principal investigator in the study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, said the increased rates of obesity mean youth face a higher risk of heart disease and cholesterol.

Eli Lilly to pay $24 million in Utah Attorney General’s Zyprexa lawsuit/AG says “we want their bad conduct to stop”

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sued the company after a nearly four-year investigation revealed that Lilly concealed its knowledge of significant weight gain and obesity associated with the anti-psychotic medication Zyprexa. Investigators also showed that Lilly’s sales representatives illegally promoted the drug for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

CCHR International

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