“If you want to increase medication safety, you need to know its adverse effects” and which medicines should not be taken together.

Read the full list at https://www.influencive.com/10-facts-about-medication-safety/

Andy Miles interviews social worker, Chris Paige, in this latest episode of the MISSD Akathisia Stories podcast series. Paige, who developed akathisia after being prescribed a benzodiazepine and antibiotic, shares his story to help others be more aware of akathisia and related iatrogenic injuries.

Listen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZheGDfku-Z8

Judge orders Propecia drug info must be unsealed. It is “alleged that the company did not fully disclose on Propecia’s label the incidence and duration of sexual dysfunction in men who took the drug in clinical trials.”

A Reuter’s investigation found that “hundreds of thousands of Americans have been killed or seriously injured in recent decades by allegedly defective products — drugs, cars, medical devices and other products — while evidence that could have alerted consumers and regulators to potential danger remained hidden.”

Read the full article at https://www.reuters.com/article/merck-propecia-ruling/judge-orders-merck-documents-on-anti-baldness-drug-propecia-unsealed-idUSL4N2K04D0

“The harmful effects of withdrawal from psychiatric drugs are beginning to be recognized in the research literature. Still, the shift has not necessarily made its way all the way to frontline clinicians.

In the US, by 2014, 12.7% of the population was prescribed an antidepressant. Researchers have recently estimated that 56% of users will experience withdrawal when they try to stop, and 46% of those who experience withdrawal will have “severe” withdrawal symptoms.”

Read the full article at https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/01/facebook-groups-provide-psychiatric-drug-withdrawal-help-doctors-dont/?mc_cid=f4e865d474&mc_eid=ddd7b4b2cc

In light of rising concerns over mental health in the current milieu, it’s wise to review the many drug-drug interactions (DDIs) that psychotropic drugs can have with each other and with drugs for other common conditions.

Here’s an overview of DDIs and 20 interactions to be aware of: https://www.mdlinx.com/article/the-drug-interaction-threat-all-doctors-must-know-about/2phavEODDgDL2kjnLTYDQt

More than 200K people have viewed our two akathisia videos, and MISSD is pleased that a third akathisia video is now in production. Please see and share these public health videos to increase awareness and reduce akathisia-induced deaths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch/x86aCDtvbT0

Prescription sleeping pills, agitation, insomnia, facial swelling, and flu-like symptoms preceded Jimi Hendrix’s death, notes Tony Brown, author of Jimi Hendrix: The Final Days.

“Jimi doesn’t look particularly healthy in these photographs: his face seems a little puffy and on only a few of the pictures does he attempt to smile,” said Brown.

Hendrix, whose death in 1970 was not ruled a suicide, had been taking the prescription drug, Vesperax, for insomnia.

Read the full article at https://rare.us/people/jimi-hendrix-death/

Some commonly prescribed antibiotics, including doxycycline, can cause suicidality and other psychiatric adverse effects but the patient information leaflets still lack carefully worded warnings that can better protect consumers and reduce avoidable suffering and deaths.

Read the full article at https://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/2021/01/07/news/how-some-antibiotics-may-trigger-mental-breakdowns-2177260/

It’s good to see akathisia in the news and also very important to note that akathisia can cause psychiatric symptoms. The presence of akathisia often leads “physicians to inappropriately increase agents such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)…”

The cause of akathisia must first be identified, and initial treatment must be directed at that cause. Read the full article at https://www.gilmorehealth.com/akathisia-latest-facts-risk-factors-symptoms-and-treatment/