MISSD always stresses the importance of monitoring for adverse drug effects when stopping, starting, or changing a drug dose or type. The same recommendation is made when changing a medication between generic and brand name.

“Don’t assume that your side effects are normal, especially when you have not experienced them before when taking the same drug. You can also submit adverse drug reports to the FDA via their MedWatch program and report any possible concerns,” said Dr. Joshua Brown, a drug safety researcher for the Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy.

“Generic drugs make up an estimated 90% of all prescriptions dispensed to patients. In clinical training, we are all taught that generics are the same as the name brand. However, as generic drug recalls continue to occur, and after reading the book Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban, you start to get a picture that it may not be true,” said Brown.

Read the full article at https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristatorres/name-brand-vs-generic-drug

Physicians should frame treatment options by their “harms and benefits,'” not by their “risks and benefits,” according to a recent article by Dr. David J. Alfandre, an ethicist from the National Center for Ethics in Healthcare.

“Presenting treatment decisions as a comparison of risks vs. benefits creates an inherent imbalance in which benefits simply exist, whereas harms are uncertain.”

Akathisia and other serious adverse drug effects can be better identified and harms reduced when prescribers accurately communicate what patients and caregivers should look for regarding such treatment-induced harms. Read the full article at https://www.renalandurologynews.com/home/news/ethical-issues-in-medicine/explaining-treatment-risks-to-patients/?fbclid=IwAR3Vzc4qLvSAzNK3eq5gvRSQH8AkFDquKTET1KlnoGTk8Tmedms44pvDvvQ

Accurate info about adverse drug effects can reduce avoidable suffering and deaths. Our recent presentation to Chicago’s Hazelden Betty Ford Center about akathisia and antidepressant-induced alcoholism is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xs0u7cdiSE

MISSD, No Shame on U and JCFS Chicago have collaboratively produced a new publication to help navigate grief caused by losing a loved one to medication-induced death and suicide. Please see https://www.jcfs.org/our-services/jewish-community-programs/suicide-prevention-and-support

Before taking depression pills for a temporary situation, consider the risks. “There’s no evidence that taking an antidepressant in the short term will help or that it will prevent longer-term consequences of stress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder,” cautions Dr. Jane Erb, psychiatric director of the Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care Program at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“Taking an antidepressant isn’t like taking an occasional pain reliever for a headache. You don’t just pop a pill, experience quick relief, and stop taking the drugs whenever you want. Instead, antidepressants have many potential challenges and risks.”

Get the full story at https://www.health.harvard.edu/depression/should-you-use-an-antidepressant-to-get-through-a-difficult-time

Prescriptions for drugs marketed as anti-anxiety, anti-insomnia and anti-depression treatments has increased since the COVID19 epidemic began. People who are experiencing normal stress in response to the COVID19 epidemic and decide to start taking these drugs should ask their doctors to discuss risks vs. possible benefits and be aware of signs of akathisia.

MISSD has long publicized that “caregivers and patients should pay close attention to any sudden changes in mood, behaviors, thoughts and feelings when an antidepressant medicine is started or when the dosage is changed.”

Read the full article at https://www.ktva.com/story/42130648/fda-adds-zoloft-to-drug-shortage-list-as-35-of-americans-reporting-anxiety-depression

The FDA updated its warning label for Singulair, a drug marketed by Merck for asthma. The drug carries a black box warning (also called a boxed warning), which is the FDA’s strongest warning. The National Center for Health Research is helping to better inform the public that “the black box warning for Singulair describes psychiatric side effects such as aggression, depression, agitation, sleep disturbances, suicidal thoughts, and suicide.”

Read the full article at http://www.center4research.org/new-warnings-on-singulair-allergy-and-asthma-drug/?fbclid=IwAR3CKQAZVPS5l8HBnX8AsfZNVo5snDN6tDxofVBofaec_BVslzUc3a9Ifc4

A new study out of Australia finds suicide prevention organizations and key opinion leaders with ties to pharma ignored key findings & minimized the importance of FDA warnings about suicidality as an adverse effect of drugs marketed as antidepressants.

As more teens are prescribed SSRIs off label, the risk of iatrogenic harms precipitated by akathisia also likely increases. Get the full story at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00478/full?fbclid=IwAR0tRGKGFAxUrjveP3OV_PIt9R6eMYMqWKvX3XOx19kzPPthHVFmBBsQErc

A news study published in the BMJ and made freely available to the public, explores what patients want and want to know when receiving informed consent. Informed consent regarding risks vs. benefits can play a key role in reducing adverse drug effects and identifying drug-induced disorders, such as akathisia, before it’s too late.

Read the full article at https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/9/7/e028957.full.pdf

Take our accredited, free Akathisia 101 course at MISSD.LearnUpon.com. In just 1 hour, you can learn more about akathisia to reduce avoidable suffering and help save lives.

Comments from course completers include:

“I feel much more competent in supporting my clients as a result of taking this course. I work primarily with veterans struggling to cope with PTSD.”

“Course material was interesting, explanatory, easy to understand.”