David Healy

"This meticulously documented book makes extraordinary claims with far-reaching intellectual and practical ramifications. It is the most powerful critique of the contemporary medical-industrial complex that I know."—Andrew T. Scull, author of Hysteria and Madness: A Very Short Introduction “This book shines a bright light on the pharmaceutical industry (and American healthcare) in the same way that Silent Spring called out the chemical industry and Unsafe at Any Speed called out the automobile industry. Pharmageddon is Healy's most important book to date. It will make a real contribution toward healing our sick system of pharmaceutical-driven medicine and helping doctors provide better care for their patients.”--Elizabeth Siegel Watkins, author of The Estrogen Elixir and On the Pill “In this startling book, David Healy argues that 'evidence-based' medicine—and a healthy dose of corrupt science—has led modern medicine off a cliff. His book is provocative, challenging, and informative, and ultimately it serves as a powerful manifesto for rethinking modern medicine.”--Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America "Like a good detective story, Pharmageddon weaves together the history of modern medicine, the evolution of clinical trials and statistical analyses, changes in international patent laws, privatization of clinical research, blurring of the line between academics and industry, and the enabling role of medical journals. If you want to learn how to protect yourself (or your patients) from medical commercialism and how medical practice can be re-directed back toward its true mission, this book is a must read."—John Abramson, author of Overdosed America

Pharmageddon

Pharmageddon. La lobby del farmaco e il declino della cura

David Healy follows his widely praised study, The Antidepressant Era, with an even more ambitious and dramatic story: the discovery and development of antipsychotic medication. Healy argues that the discovery of chlorpromazine (more generally known as Thorazine) is as significant in the history of medicine as the discovery of penicillin, reminding readers of the worldwide prevalence of insanity within living memory. But Healy tells not of the triumph of science but of a stream of fruitful accidents, of technological discovery leading neuroscientific research, of fierce professional competition and the backlash of the antipsychiatry movement of the 1960s. A chemical treatment was developed for one purpose, and as long as some theoretical rationale could be found, doctors administered it to the insane patients in their care to see if it would help. Sometimes it did, dramatically. Why these treatments worked, Healy argues provocatively, was, and often still is, a mystery. Nonetheless, such discoveries made and unmade academic reputations and inspired intense politicking for the Nobel Prize. Once pharmaceutical companies recognized the commercial potential of antipsychotic medications, financial as well as clinical pressures drove the development of ever more aggressively marketed medications. With verve and immense learning, Healy tells a story with surprising implications in a book that will become the leading scholarly work on its compelling subject.

The Creation of Psychopharmacology

A thought-provoking history of bipolar disorder reveals how perceptions of the ailment have evolved over time, detailing the origins of the concept of mania, the link between brain function and mental illness, the growing public awareness of the disease, and the rise of psychotropic treatment and pharmacological marketing.

A Short History of Bipolar Disorder

Mania

Ground-breaking work on the dangers of anti-depressants and why the FDA continues to approve them. Lots of anecdotes, well-written, author will be on tour in the U.S. Good media lining up, very controversial author.

The Unhealthy Relationship Between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Depression

Let Them Eat Prozac

Edward Shorter

Shock therapy is making a comeback today in the treatment of serious mental illness. Despite its reemergence as a safe and effective psychiatric tool, however, it continues to be shrouded by a longstanding negative public image, not least due to films such as the classic One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, where the inmate of a psychiatric clinic (played by Jack Nicholson) is subjected to electro-shock to curb his rebellious behavior. Beyond its vilification in popular culture, the stereotype of convulsive therapy as a dangerous and inhumane practice is fuelled by professional posturing and public misinformation. Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, has in the last thirty years been considered a method of last resort in the treatment of debilitating depression, suicidal ideation, and other forms of mental illness. Yet, ironically, its effectiveness in treating these patients would suggest it as a frontline therapy, bringing relief from acute symptoms and saving lives. Shock therapy is making a comeback today in the treatment of serious mental illness. Despite its reemergence as a safe and effective psychiatric tool, however, it continues to be shrouded by a longstanding negative public image, not least due to films such as the classic One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, where the inmate of a psychiatric clinic (played by Jack Nicholson) is subjected to electro-shock to curb his rebellious behavior. Beyond its vilification in popular culture, the stereotype of convulsive therapy as a dangerous and inhumane practice is fuelled by professional posturing and public misinformation. Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, has in the last thirty years been considered a method of last resort in the treatment of debilitating depression, suicidal ideation, and other forms of mental illness. Yet, ironically, its effectiveness in treating these patients would suggest it as a frontline therapy, bringing relief from acute symptoms and saving lives. -- Provided by publisher.

A History of Electroconvulsive Treatment in Mental Illness

Shock Therapy

Professor and Chairman Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology David Healy, MD Frcpsych

In the 1890s the Caribbean began to attract the interest of the great powers. United States leaders had both economic and strategic goals in the region, and they believed they could profit from Caribbean nations while leading them to democracy and prosperity. American citizens saw the lack of progress in the Caribbean as the result of the inhabitants' inferiority, and they feared that European countries--particularly Germany--might fill the region's power vacuum. The Spanish-American War crystallized U.S. interests in the region; soon there was an isthmian canal, a protectorate in Cuba, and a colony in Puerto Rico. But Washington's policy makers soon faced growing problems in the Caribbean: How to bring peace to these countries without being drawn into domestic squabbles? How to impose U.S. policy without the use of force? How to promote local democracy while retaining a controlling interest? Eventually the goals of local economic development and self-determination were sacrificed to the need for security and stability, often brought about through U.S.-supported dictatorships. Healy integrates these elements into a broad picture of U.S. policy development in the Caribbean: the differences between successive administrations from McKinley to Wilson; the role of the armed forces; inter-agency differences; and the role of private enterprise and private citizens. He considers the underlying assumptions of both U.S. policy makers and their Caribbean counterparts, forming a balanced and accurate assessmentt. -- Inside jacket flaps.

The United States in the Caribbean, 1898-1917

Drive to Hegemony

Shock therapy is making a comeback today in the treatment of serious mental illness. Despite its reemergence as a safe and effective psychiatric tool, however, it continues to be shrouded by a longstanding negative public image, not least due to films such as the classic One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, where the inmate of a psychiatric clinic (played by Jack Nicholson) is subjected to electro-shock to curb his rebellious behavior. Beyond its vilification in popular culture, the stereotype of convulsive therapy as a dangerous and inhumane practice is fuelled by professional posturing and public misinformation. Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, has in the last thirty years been considered a method of last resort in the treatment of debilitating depression, suicidal ideation, and other forms of mental illness. Yet, ironically, its effectiveness in treating these patients would suggest it as a frontline therapy, bringing relief from acute symptoms and saving lives. In this book, Edward Shorter and David Healy trace the controversial history of ECT and other "shock" therapies. Drawing on case studies, public debates, extensive interviews, and archival research, the authors expose the myths about ECT that have proliferated over the years. By showing ECT's often life-saving results, Shorter and Healy endorse a point of view that is hotly contested in professional circles and in public debates, but for the nearly half of all clinically depressed patients who do not respond to drugs, this book brings much needed hope.

James G. Blaine was one of the leading national political figures of his day, and probably the most controversial. Intensely partisan, the dominant leader of the Republican Party, and a major shaper of national politics for more than a decade, Blaine is remembered chiefly for his role as architect of the post-Civil War GOP and his two periods as secretary of state. He also was the Republican presidential candidate in the notorious mud-slinging campaign of 1884. His foreign policy was marked by its activism, its focus on Latin America, and its attempt to increase U.S. influence there.

James G. Blaine and Latin America

Before 1990, we brought our health problems to doctors and got "care". Today health services bring us problems with our bones, lipids, breathing, glucose, blood pressure, and even our moods. The managers of health services require staff to keep to guidelines, which means giving us medicines in order to reduce the risks we pose the services rather than to help us. In the 1980s few of us were on more than one drug. Now many of us are on five or more drugs every day of the year and those of us over sixty-five may be on ten or more. We have reached a crisis point-life expectancy is now falling. To restore Healthcare, we need to be able to restore validity to our judgements about the adverse effects of treatments

A Short History of the Rise and Fall of Healthcare

The Decapitation of Care

Thomas A. Ban

This series covers in autobiographical accounts the first fifty years in the history of neuropsychopharmacology. The autobiographies in Volume I, (The Rise of Psychopharmacology and the Story of CINP) are from psychopharmacologists who began their professional careers in the 1950s and 1960s; in Volume II (The Triumph of Psychopharmacology and the Story of CINP), from those who started in the 1970s; in Volume III (From Psychopharmacology to Neuropsychopharmacology in the 1980s and the Story of CINP), who started in the 1980s; and in Volume IV (Reflections on Twentieth-Century Psychopharmacology), who started in the 1990s. At the core of each volume are personal accounts in which the contributions of the scientists, are at the center of the reflections, but also include several sections in which the reflections are focused on the mainstream of events, particular areas of research, individuals and organizations. The series was the extension of an effort by CINP's History Committee, during the chairmanship of Tom Ban, to document both the history of the College and the enire field. It was co-edited by Ban, David Healy and Edward Shorter. Its publication was supported by the College primarily from non-restricted publication grants received from Pierre Fabre, Janssen Pharmaceutica and Research Foundation,Inc., and Janssen Phamaceutica International in Collaboration with Organon International.

From Psychopharmacology to Neuropsychopharmacology in the 1980s and the Story of CINP, as Told in Autobiography

This version is now out of print. An edition with e-book is available under ISBN 97880702041365. Psychiatric Drugs Explained contains a clear and comprehensive guide to the uses, benefits and impact of psychotropic drugs. It explains how people taking the drugs experience their side effects compared to the benefits they may bring. The fifth edition has been fully revised and updated to include the latest thinking on the rationale for drug treatements to help mental health professionals and service users understand therapeutic decision making. * Organized by disorder * Comprehensive review of drug effects, action and side-effects * 'User issues' boxes to highlight particular problems experienced * Website addresses to allow searching for further information * Questionnaires to help assess side effects Information on: * New antipsychotic drugs and metabolic complications * New antidepressants * How drugs and therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy interact and compete * Drugs that affect sexual functioning * Evidence-based medicine

Psychiatric Drugs Explained E-Book

In this work Healy chronicles the history of psychopharmacology, from the discovery of chlorpromazine in 1951, to current battles over whether powerful chemical compounds should replace psychotherapy. The marketing of antidepressants is included.

The Antidepressant Era

Joanna Le Noury

Julie Wood

Children of the Cure tells the story of the only Medical Study that has two publications in the academic literature-telling precisely the opposite story-and how no one is bothered by this. Study 329 was a clinical study that began in 1994 giving a new antidepressant to teenagers. It has become the most famous clinical trial ever, leading to a fraud charge, a $3 billion fine, and a Black Box Warning. Despite now knowing that all trials of antidepressants done in children are negative, sales of these drugs to children and adolescents continue to increase dramatically. This book is written by three members of the team-David Healy, Joanna Le Noury and Julie Wood-who have been behind writing the study and creating the website that hosts a set of documents pharmaceutical companies never expected you would get to see.

Missing Data, Lost Lives and Antidepressants

Children of the Cure

Changing Styles in Historical Interpretation

Modern Imperialism

This searing indictment, David Healy’s most comprehensive and forceful argument against the pharmaceuticalization of medicine, tackles problems in health care that are leading to a growing number of deaths and disabilities. Healy, who was the first to draw attention to the now well-publicized suicide-inducing side effects of many anti-depressants, attributes our current state of affairs to three key factors: product rather than process patents on drugs, the classification of certain drugs as prescription-only, and industry-controlled drug trials. These developments have tied the survival of pharmaceutical companies to the development of blockbuster drugs, so that they must overhype benefits and deny real hazards. Healy further explains why these trends have basically ended the possibility of universal health care in the United States and elsewhere around the world. He concludes with suggestions for reform of our currently corrupted evidence-based medical system.

David Healy

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