News - Part 6

Workplace Streess, Depression, and the Overuse of Antidepresant Drugs in the Workplace

An Interview with Dr. Richard Lippin, an Expert on Occupational and Environmental Medicine Dr. Cohen: Dr. Lippin, for many years you have been concerned about stress and depression in the workplace and the use of antidepressants medications. Why? Dr. Lippin: As an administrator and doctor in occupational health settings for over 30 years, I’ve seen […]

Why Antidepressant Black-Box Warnings Aren’t Enough — What Doctors and Patients Can Do to Use Antidepressants Safely.

A FDA Advisory Committee Recommendation for Stronger Warnings Is a Step Forward, but Not a Solution. What We Must Do. On September 14, 2004, a closely watched FDA Advisory Committee on antidepressant medications recommended black-box warnings in package inserts and other product information about antidepressant medications. These warnings will alert patients and doctors that these […]

Dr. Cohen Debates the FDA: March 26, 2004

On Friday, March 26, Dr. Cohen debated Dr. Robert Temple, the FDA’s top medication expert and its Assistant Director for the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in Miami at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT). This was the fourth Cohen-Temple debate, which began when Dr. Cohen […]

Interview: Duane Graveline

Medical Doctor, Astronaut, and Critic of Lipitor and Other Cholesterol-Lowering Statin Drugs Dr. Graveline began his medical odyssey at the famed Walter Reed Army Hospital during the time when America’s space pioneers were just beginning to study the medical effects of space flight. After becoming a flight surgeon and participating in that space medical […]

The Underlying Cause of Suicides and Homicides with SSRI Antidepressants: Is It the Drugs, the Doctors, or the Drug Companies?

How a dysfunctional medical-pharmaceutical complex causes and perpetuates unnecessary harm. Reports of unusual, severe reactions with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant drugs (SSRIs) emerged soon after the first SSRI, Prozac, was introduced in 1988. One of my own patients, a woman with a mild depressive disorder and no history of major psychiatric symptoms, became psychotic […]

An Interview with Bill Faloon of the Life Extension Foundation: A Recent Clash with the FDA Places the Spotlight on the Largest Anti-Aging, Research and Supplement Organization in the U.S.

Is Life Extension Possible? Where Does Anti-Aging Stand Today? 1. LEF has been conducting anti-aging research since 1980. Why? We are all aging to death. The mission of The Life Extension Foundation is to conduct scientific research aimed at extending the healthy human lifespan in the short-term. Our ultimate objective is to achieve indefinitely extended […]

The New Antidepressant Warnings: Not Enough to Prevent Further Harm.

After Finally Issuing Warnings 16 Years Late, British and U.S. Authorities Fail to Tell Doctors and Patients How to Actually Prevent Serious Side Effects, Leaving Millions at Further Risk. What Should Be Done? On March 22, 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory for the use of antidepressants in children and […]

Patients Regain the Right to Control Their Own Medications

Your Consent Is Now Required Before Your Medications Can Be Switched. The Nation’s Largest Pharmacy-Benefit Manager Agrees to Settle You have regained your right to control your own medications. The practice of switching your medications without your consent has taken a big hit. In the inaugural MedicationSense E-Newsletter (July-Sept 2003), I wrote about the growing […]

Antidepressant Side Effects: In A New York Times Expose, A Doctor Describes Her Own Reaction To An Antidepressant Drug

But She Doesn’t Explain Why Antidepressant Side Effects Occur and How to Prevent Them. This Article Does In the Times’ Sunday health section, psychiatrist Nanette Gartrell reveals her personal experience — and lack of awareness — about antidepressant side effects (“A Doctor’s Toxic Shock”).1 Grieving over a friend dying of liver cancer, Dr. Gartrell […]

An Open Letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Serotonin-Enhancing Antidepressants in Youngsters: A 6-Point Solution That Makes Sense Scientifically

There is a reason that serotonin-enhancing antidepressants are repeatedly linked to suicides and homicides, and there is a solution to this problem. I have been saying this since 1988 and publishing about it since 1996. I am board certified in psychiatry. I am also an expert on medication side effects with two books 1,2 and […]