Author and blogger, Bob Fiddaman, explains how drug companies are able to hide akathisia and other adverse drug effects during clinical trials in our latest Akathisia Stories podcast. Listen at https://www.studiocchicago.com/akathisia-stories

More than 15 years ago when Bob Fiddaman tried to discontinue GSK’s drug, Seroxat, he suffered severe withdrawal problems and akathisia. At that time, there was little information available about these adverse effects. Bob started The Fiddaman Blog in 2006 and published a book in 2011 so that other healthcare consumers might be better informed and avoid the prescribed harms he sustained.

Listen to our interview in this latest episode of Akathisia Stories at https://www.studiocchicago.com/akathisia-stories

A new “988” crisis texting option will send callers directly to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. MISSD is glad to see this communication option for people in despair. We remain hopeful that one day ALL suicide prevention hotlines will ask important questions about medication and assess for akathisia to save lives.

Read the full article at https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/politics/fcc-approves-texting-national-suicide-prevention-lifeline/index.html

Financial conflicts of interest between pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals in private practice and at academic institutions is nothing new. However, a recent study highlights this serious problem regarding conflicts of interest and medical textbooks used to train psychiatrists. STAT news recently reported “two-thirds of nine widely used psychopharmacology textbooks had at least one editor or contributing author who received personal payments from drug makers.”

The study, which was originally published in the Community Mental Health Journal, found more than half of the editors or authors “received more than $11 million between 2013 and 2020, and most of the money was paid to a single author by one drug maker that sells an antidepressant. Five of those editors and authors — or 24% — each received more than $75,000 during that period.” Nearly half of all of these payments from pharma were for activities unrelated to research, such as consulting and promotional speaking.

The findings are troubling given that medical textbooks help shape future prescribing practices and there is no requirement for medical textbooks to disclose financial conflicts of interest.

“If students and residents are exposed to biased assessments about the efficacy and safety of commonly prescribed medications, this can lead medical students and psychiatrists in training to believe these medications are more effective and safer than they actually are,” explained Lisa Cosgrove, a co-study author, who is a clinical psychologist and professor of counseling and school psychology at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. “In turn, this can lead to overprescribing, non-rational prescribing.”

We can learn much when we listen to the first-hand experiences shared by families whose loved ones were lost to akathisia. See MISSD’s latest video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibCOhnmM608&t=43shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibCOhnmM608&t=43s

Like many veterans, Army Sergeant, Angela Peacock, returned home from Iraq seeking high-quality talk therapy. Tragically, she instead was harmed by polypharmacy and misdiagnosis. In this episode of our Akathisia Stories podcast series, Angela bravely shares her riveting, yet tragically not rare, adverse experiences.

Listen and learn at https://www.studiocchicago.com/angela-peacock-transcript

It’s good to see the New York Times covering drug side effects. Understanding the reasons why some people are more sensitive to suffering adverse drug effects than are others can help consumers be safer.

Read the full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/well/live/are-some-people-more-sensitive-to-drug-side-effects.html

“Heather pursued an eight-year legal case alleging medical malpractice of the mental health treatment providers in the wrongful death of her son. She also testified, with numerous other victims, at the 2015 FDA hearings that resulted in additional black box warnings for the antibiotic Levaquin and the acknowledgment of a disability, Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability, of which symptoms include cardiac issues, insomnia, restlessness, and psychosis, some of which can be permanent. Heather also supports the efforts of MISSD in creating awareness about akathisia, a condition that was fatal for Shea after receiving mental health treatment.”

Listen to Heather’s factual story at https://www.studiocchicago.com/akathisia-stories

Flu-like symptoms, drug-induced “mania,” electronic brain zaps, insomnia and entire work days lost to brain fog are some of the adverse effects of SSRI withdrawal Beth MCcoll describes in a recent Glamour magazine article.

Whenever stopping, starting, or changing dose or type of certain prescription drugs, it is important to closely monitor for and report these symptoms which can also signs of withdrawal akathisia.

Read the full article at https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/coming-off-antidepressants-safely

Akathisia is frequently missed, misdiagnosed, and mistreated. Knowing the signs and symptoms can help people seek appropriate treatment and reduce avoidable deaths. Please see and share our video, “What Does Akathisia Look Like?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER4JGnRssSk