“Thirty years ago…Merck’s aggressive chief executive Henry Gadsden told Fortune magazine of his distress that the company’s potential markets had been limited to sick people. Suggesting he’d rather Merck to be more like chewing gum maker Wrigleys, Gadsden said it had long been his dream to make drugs for healthy people. Because then, Merck would be able to “sell to everyone.” Three decades on, the late Henry Gadsden’s dream has come true.”
Alliance for Human Research Protection
Mothers, unborn babies and infants are the next group to “sell to”. If Congress has its way, every pregnant mother and her unborn baby, every new mother and her (perhaps) nursing infant in the US would be someone to “sell to”, not just by Merck, but by the entire pharmaceutical industry. Click http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23065(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23065) to tell your Senators and Representatives that pregnant and new moms do not need drugging with meds that increase suicide and homicide and harm babies. Let them know that mental health decisions – like all health decisions – are a private matter, not a government one.
A new and shameless market ploy called “The Mother’s Act”, S 1375 IS (http://drrimatruthreports.com/index.php?p=527), would make them the next market success by compelling screening and “offering” “appropriate” treatment which includes, as the bottom line, drugs. The bill was originally proposed in response to the death by suicide of Melanie Stokes, a pharmaceutical rep.who took her own life by leaping from a balcony several stories off of the ground. Contrary to popular understanding it was not post-partum depression that killed Melanie, but the numerous antidepressant drugs she was taking, which the FDA confirmed double the suicide risk.
In my professional opinion as a Child, Adult and Adolescent Psychiatrist and in my opinion as a health freedom advocate, the so-called “Mother’s Act” represents an act of aggression against mothers, babies and liberties, all at the same time. Pregnant woman and infants, along with new mothers and their babies, are an untapped market for psychoactive drugs like anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. There is an excellent reason that they are an untapped market for these drugs. Because they are so dangerous for these groups of people, these drugs, like most others, have been strictly off limits for pregnant and nursing moms and their babies.
But no longer. If Senators MENENDEZ (D-NJ), DURBIN (D-IL), SNOWE (R-ME), BROWN (D-OH), DODD (D-CT), and LAUTENBERG (D-NJ) have their way, pregnant mothers will be “screened” for tendencies toward “postpartum blues”, “depression” and “psychosis” and offered medications if they show any such tendencies. Another new market opened for the Pharma Pholks!
To my knowledge, this would bring to eight the number of pieces of Federal Legislation which make it possible to compel people living in the United States of America to take medication or set the stage for state compulsion to take those meds. The mis-named Patriot Act, Patriot Act II, BioShield, BioShield II, BioShield III, New Freedoms Initiative, No Child Left Behind and now the “Mother’s Act”.
Picture this scenario: a mother to be confesses to being nervous, worried, anxious or concerned about the impact of the coming baby (Signs of mental health in my book, by the way). A nurse, social worker, “counselor” or doctor turns her concern into pathology on a “screening tool” called a piece of paper (or computer screen). Mom’s public medical record (there are no confidential medical records in the US any longer unless you go to a physician who has exempted him/herself from HIPAA, [Health Insurance Privacy and Accountability Act] and pay for the services yourself) now states that she has a mental illness. Next, she will be “offered” drugs to “help her” with her normal feelings. These are the proverbial drugs for the worried well. What happens if they decide not to take them? Could mothers be forcibly imprisoned or held in a psychiatric facility? Of course they could. How about moms who have already given birth: could the same happen to them or could they loose custody of their children if they decided not to take the advice of the screener and take meds? You bet. Consider the invasive and unconstitutional losses of parental rights when parents do not medicate their kids. Consider the cases where chemotherapy or Ritalin (c) or Zoloft (c) or whatever have been forced upon kids and grown ups. Consider the forcible vaccination – and re-vaccination – of 2,700 Prince George’s County (MD) poor, mostly black children (1100 of whom had already been vaccinated fully but whose records had been lost by the school (according to its own admission).
Consider this fact: the March of Dimes advises against the use of these drugs in pregnant women since they can cause birth defects. Consider, too, the fact that the numerous psychiatric drugs which the woman who killed herself in the post partum period, Melanie Stokes, a pharmaceutical rep. (who took her own life by leaping from a balcony several stories off of the ground) doubled her risk of suicide according to the FDA while being a post partum mom did no such thing.
According to the officers of “Unite”, an organization opposing this legislation and the use of all other psychiatric medications,
“To simply screen women for post-partum mood disorders and ensure that they get “treatment,” we would be setting families up for the expectation of tragedy and increasing the chances of that actually happening when we refer them to medical “professionals” who are oblivious to the negative mind-altering effects of psychiatric drugs. A popular opinion among medical caregivers these days is that “post-partum mood disorders” must be a sign of an underlying biochemical imbalance and would be corrected with drugs.
Current drugs used on post-partum women include SSRIs, atypical antidepressants, and even antipsychotic drugs. These pose a significant risk to the immediate safety and health of women as well as their children and families. SSRIs carry a black box warning for suicide and the most popular one, Effexor (the same med. Andrea Yates was taking when she drowned her 5 children), has the words “homicidal ideation†listed as a side effect. “Nearly every recent case of infanticide which has made news can be clearly linked back to a psychiatric drug. These drugs endanger babies and mothers.”
Additionally, the drugs can be extremely addictive and also pose a risk to nurslings or babies exposed in subsequent pregnancies. Some babies have died from SIDS linked to drug exposure from pregnancy or nursing; others have experienced coma, seizures, GI bleeding, heart defects, lung problems, and many babies died before reaching full term or soon after birth” when their moms have been exposed to these drugs.
The bill does not address the fact that studies show that biological agents (antidepressants for example) cited in the bill and already prescribed to pregnant women can cause congenital heart birth defects where children have had to undergo open-heart surgeries to correct this. Also, some babies are being born with organs outside their bodies, requiring immediate surgery.”
Never mind that these drugs are untested in large scale use during pregnancy and are listed as drugs to avoid while pregnant and nursing. Never mind that the March of Dimes and the Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR) advise avoiding these drugs during those time. Never mind that the American Academy of Pediatrics cites an article which says, “Our knowledge [of the impact of psychiatric drugs on the fetus] will remain limited because prospective, randomized, and well-controlled investigational studies on the risks of exposure to psychoactive drugs during pregnancy are neither feasible nor ethical” in its Policy Statement on the Use of Psychoactive Medication During Pregnancy and Possible Effects on the Fetus and Newborn.
They also state, “Potential adverse effects for the fetus and the neonate include: 1) structural malformations, 2) acute neonatal effects including intoxication and neonatal abstinence syndromes, 3) intrauterine fetal death, 4) altered fetal growth, and 5) neurobehavioral teratogenicity. Neurobehavioral teratogenicity encompasses long-term central nervous system defects that result in delayed behavioral maturation, impaired problem solving, and impaired learning. Physical malformations do not necessarily accompany the functional deficits. Chronic in utero exposure to drugs may result in intoxication or tolerance postnatally. Neonatal drug withdrawal symptoms may occur when drug exposure ceases at birth. Specific and supportive therapy may be required if the newborn displays signs of continued drug effects or withdrawal. Long-term developmental and neurologic follow-up is appropriate, including consideration for referral to centers for national databases (eg, Teratology Information Services and Motherisk Program).” But never mind. A market is a market and this one is nearly virgin since the drugs in question have had posted warning advising their avoidance in pregnancy and nursing.
And what a market it is! The text of the bill states that although “The causes of postpartum depression are complex and unknown at this time” (which means that treatment designed to suppress the symptoms without dealing with the cause is a poor way to go), the market is vast since, ” Baby blues afflicts up to 80 percent of new mothers, postpartum depression occurs in 10 to 20 percent of new mothers, and postpartum psychosis strikes 1 in 1,000 new mothers.”
I am a Psychiatrist. I am trained in Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry and I have a bias. I believe that drugs are dangerous and, in the case of psychiatric drugs, outstandingly dangerous, often causing long-term damage to the nervous system and other organs which are then treated with more drugs since the signs of drug toxicity are virtually identical to the reasons the patient was given the drug(s) in the first place, only more so. These drugs, increasingly used on the vulnerable nervous systems of younger and younger children with no deep understanding of their impact on the developing brains and bodies are poorly tested, vastly oversold and represent a huge profit center. Their only problem, from the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry, is that there are large markets which are currently untouched. Once these drugs are administered, for whatever reason, they tend to become a legal habit supplied by your friendly pusher, your doctor. Although your pusher may be well-intentioned, his/her information about the safety and efficacy of these toxins (and make no mistake: they are known brain and liver toxins with a hefty dollop of endocrine disruption, pancreatic destruction and liver damage throw in for good measure) comes from the very people who make a profit from his/her use of these substances.
There is now, following nearly endless revelations in Congressional hearings, leaked information, legal actions against drug companies, etc., a clear patter of corruption and collusion to place dangerous drugs on the market and keep them there between the FDA and the manufacturers of these compounds.
With the collusion of the FDA, information on the dangers of these drugs, their tendency to increase suicidal and homicidal behaviors and their addictive impact are suppressed or minimized while new markets are sought out to allow the dream of Henry Gadsen to come true.
I think not! Remember, if we all think not, then we need to create a strong and effective grass roots organization to take this message to Congress (that’s what your emails do and what our Congressional education program does) and to the rest of America. That’s where your support comes in. Send this blog to your list. Ask them to visit the Natural Solutions Foundation website, www.HealthFreedomUSA.org and sign up for the free, secure and informative Health Freedom eAlerts (http://www.healthfreedomusa.
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Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director
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