Originally published July 24 2005
Mental illness drugs can have unknown side effects
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Prescription drugs used to treat severe mental illness can have dangerous side effects, and in response to criticism for not addressing safety concerns quickly enough, the FDA announced in May that it would create a "Drug Watch" Web site where researchers' reports of potential side effects could be posted prior to FDA or pharmaceutical industry verification.
Whenever Dr. Ken Duckworth starts treating someone for a severe mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, one of the first things the Massachusetts psychiatrist does is weigh the patient and warn about the health risks of putting on pounds while taking medication for the problem.
"Nobody did that 10 years ago, and I mean nobody," says Duckworth, medical director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
But that routine weigh-in is a sign of what Duckworth calls a "sea change" in how doctors have come to recognize that many of the drugs they prescribe for mental illnesses may have some serious and even life-threatening side effects.
Just last month, Eli Lilly & Co. agreed to pay $690 million to settle lawsuits alleging harm caused by Zyprexa, a widely prescribed antipsychotic drug on the market since 1996.
Acknowledging criticism for its slowness in reacting to safety concerns, the Food and Drug Administration has taken steps to alert the public early on when regulators are taking a closer look at a particular medication.
The agency announced in May that it would create a "Drug Watch" Web site where researchers' reports of potential side effects would be posted before the FDA or pharmaceutical industry have verified them.
When first developed 15 years ago, a new type of medication appeared to hold great promise of freeing schizophrenic and bipolar patients from the unpleasant side effects of the older drugs such as Haldol that they had been taking to control their debilitating delusions and extreme mood swings.
The newer drugs, known as "atypical antipsychotics," act to block excessive production of two brain chemicals, serotonin and dopamine, which control thought processes and emotion.
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