Kids in foster care with behavior problems are being given two antipsychotic drugs at once, according to the study. The drugs include Risperdal, Seroquel, and Zyprexa (and if you want to see something terrifying, just look at the list of Zyprexa’s side effects!). The drugs were developed for schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder. But schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are extremely rare in young children, and the foster children in question did not have any psychiatric symptoms. They just came from bad homes.
Important research has shown major drugs like Paxil and Prozac to be linked with violence at a substantially higher rate than other drugs—users of Paxil are 10.3 times more likely to do violence to themselves or others, while users of Prozac are 10.9 times more likely to commit acts of violence.Other evidence shows that people who have exhibited no propensity for violence or aggression can develop violent behavior soon after beginning antidepressants. (You can find still more evidence of the link between antidepressants and violence in our previous coverage of the topic.)
Anti-anxiety drug sales currently top out at several billion—that’s per drug, per year!Big Pharma isn’t in the business of non-addictive, cost-effective anxiety solutions. Instead, they offer such chemical solutions as benzodiazepines, a class of tremendously addictive anti-anxiety and sleep drugs that include Xanax and Ambien. These drugs work to stretch out the effects of the GABA that your body already produces. Even in low doses, these “benzos” can cause confusion, depression, and impaired memory and thinking. Long-term use can cause confusion, lack of coordination, slurred speech, weakness, tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal. In his book, Mr. Stossel, citing a 1984 study showing that long-term benzo-use can actually shrink your brain, expresses his own fears about his long-term benzo use: “Does this explain why, at the age of forty-four…I feel stupider than I used to?”
For example, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the US, killing about 610,000 people each year. Big Pharma—in the belief (now mostly debunked) that cholesterol is the primary factor in heart disease—developed statin drugs that would lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. The drugs, which have been accompanied by massive marketing campaigns, are huge moneymakers for the drug industry, to the tune of about $29 billion worth of sales in 2013. That’s the kind of outrageous money you make when you convince one in four Americans over the age of 45 to take statins. These drugs are commonplace despite a laundry list of negative side effects, including a weakened immune system, increases in insulin resistance diabetes risk, a higher incidence of nerve degeneration and pain, memory loss, confusion, and depression. Statins have even been linked to aggressive and violent behavior in women. Despite the frightening list of side effects, these FDA-approved drugs are the weapon of choice for most conventional doctors to treat high blood pressure.
Among the most popular acid blockers are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). They’ve been associated with a number of undesirable side effects, including reduced calcium absorption, associated with an increased risk of bone fractures in women; an increased risk of vomiting and diarrhea; an increased risk of pneumonia (because an acid-free stomach lets pathogens into our body), and an increased risk of dementia in elderly African Americans and probably in others. To add insult to injury, acid blockers may be making stomach problems for many Americans even worse: in many cases, the root cause of these problems is actually too little stomach acid. But acknowledging this fact would cut into the $20 billion antacids bring in each year for Big Pharma.
In 2015 the FDA posted a warning that three drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes may lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a condition that can lead to diabetic coma and even death. The signs and symptoms of DKA include difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, confusion, and unusual fatigue or sleepiness. Normally, those with type 1 diabetes are at risk for DKA, whereas it is a rare condition for those with type 2 diabetes. Until now, apparently.
One of the world’s most popular sleeping pills is also, at 40 million prescriptions per year, one of the most-prescribed medications, period. Ambien—also sold under the brand names Intermezzo, Stilnox, Stilnoct, Sublinox, Hypnogen, Zonadin, Sanval, Zolsana, and Zolfresh—is becoming better known for its disturbing side effects rather than as a treatment for insomnia. Now, incidents of “sleep driving,” “sleep eating,” or “sleep shopping” have become associated with Ambien blackouts—even when the medication is not mixed with alcohol. Ambien users sued manufacturer Sanofi because people were eating things like buttered cigarettes and eggs, complete with the shells, while under the influence of the drug. An attorney called such people “Ambien zombies.”
By the FDA’s own calculation, acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol—was the leading cause of liver failure in Americans between 1998 and 2003, and there’s no reason to think that this has changed in the years since. Despite this fact, the New York Times published an article blasting nutritional supplements, specifically green tea extract, for causing liver damage—without even once mentioning the damage done by acetaminophen! In the same way, the FDA has left acetaminophen out of this latest warning. Is this because of industry pressure? It is hard to see any other reason.
