#613 Questionable Data

Was a time, in this great country of ours, when the federal government led the way in basic research, and we got some pretty good stuff out of it.
Oh sure, there was the occasional million-dollar crescent wrench ordered by the army, but for the most part the independence from profit seeking kept drug safety and scientific analysis more theory driven and less market driven.
Government has its place. And perhaps one of those places is to protect the innocent. But with drug companies supplying all the scientific data...
I read a couple of stories recently that got me a little scared. One was about the drug Paxil. Turns out the drug company GlaxoSmithKline suppressed data that could have caused harm—to their pocketbooks.
As a result of a lawsuit by former New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, that data is now available on the internet. It shows that children taking Paxil are twice as likely to have thoughts of suicide as those taking a placebo.
I’ve read a lot about this placebo drug. It’s versatile. And it’s almost as good as every other drug out there they compare it to. But for some reason I never see it in the stores.
Anyhow, unarmed with this data, doctors were prescribing Paxil willy-nilly to young folks in an apparent attempt to smooth the roiling waters of youth.
And what a surprise that a drug that was an antidepressant in adults encouraged suicidal thinking in kids.
Suicide, the ultimate antidepression.
This is the same medical community that gave us Ritalin, an amphetamine-like stimulant (also known as speed) to slow kids down.
I don’t know at whom I am madder. The drug companies for clouding data and pushing the stuff anyway, or the doctors for listening to them and putting kids at risk.
Because a lot of the blame is in the diagnoses.
Like this fact: we are, according to some doctors, experiencing a bi-polar epidemic. Between 1994 and 2003, the number of children diagnosed with bi-polar disorder jumped 4000 percent. No, that’s not a misspeak—4000 percent.
Hard to believe, except most of the kids are treated with, um, drugs—including anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and, yes, antidepressants.
Why am I suddenly feeling so depressed?
America, ya gotta love it