Just Say No to the Mothers Act

[Guest guest]

Just Say No to the Mothers Act

_http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0904/S00255.htm_

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Monday, 27 April 2009, 1:08 pm

 

The customer base the psycho-pharmaceutical industry is hoping to corral

through passage of the Mothers Act is the more than four million women who

give birth in the US each year. That number was 4,317,119 in 2007, according

to the CDC. The Ac*'s passage, after eight years of solid efforts, would

set the stage for the screening of all pregnant women for a whole list of

mental disorders. The bill has already passed in the US House of

Representatives and will soon be up for a vote in the Senate.

 

The definition section of the Act specifically states that the term

**postpartum condition** means **postpartum depression or postpartum

psychosis.**

There is not one word about perinatal *mood* or *anxiety* disorders in the

bill.

 

The transformation of the postpartum language in the Act to further the

formation of a new cottage industry for treating multiple disorders can be

traced back to websites such as Postpartum Progress, Postpartum Support

International, and a site called PerinatalPro, which leads directly to the

treatment center owned by the site*s creator Susan Stone.

 

On January 26, 2009, Susan cranked out an announcement on the internet

with the headline: **U.S. Senator Robert Menendez reintroduces important

postpartum depression legislation in Senate today!!**

 

However, in Stone*s message to the pubic the **postpartum depression** in

the headline suddenly transforms into **perinatal mood disorders,** and she

warns of a crisis of epidemic proportions in stating:

 

 

**The statistics we have on the numbers of women suffering from perinatal

mood disorders (which range from 12 - 22% in the research) easily exceed

the incidence associated with a public health crisis.** **And remember,** she

says, **these statistics, do NOT include the suffering of women who

miscarry, endure stillbirths, give up babies for adoption or terminate

pregnancies, all of whom are also susceptible to these devastating disorders and

whose circumstances are included in the furthering of research and support being

sought.**

 

In her message, Susan reports: **Today, I had the joy of participating in

a conference call with the office of Senator Menendez and the other

organizational sponsors of The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act where we

received a heads up that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez was hoping to reintroduce

the bill today.**

 

While the Mothers Act refers to helping women with postpartum depression

and psychosis only, the bill*s top promoters, obviously kept in the loop by

the main sponsor in the Senate, clearly have a larger customer recruitment

scheme in the works.

 

On a Postpartum Progress page with a heading, **WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!**

the website*s creator, Katherine Stone, explains that the word perinatal

**refers in this case to the period during and after pregnancy.**

 

**Among the mental disorders women face during this time, there are two

main types: anxiety disorders and mood disorders,** she advises.

 

**Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive

compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder,** she

reports.

 

**Mood disorders include depression, bipolar disorder and psychosis,** she

explains. Under the heading **Postpartum Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,**

she writes:

 

 

**All you have to do to be at risk for getting postpartum PTSD is to have

the perception of a traumatic childbirth -- in other words, even if your

doctors and nurses feel that everything went fairly normally, if it was

upsetting and scary and unexpected to you that*s what counts.** She concludes

with the misleading statement that, **all of these illnesses are completely

treatable.**

 

Katherine*s bio claims she **is a nationally-recognized, award-winning

advocate for women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.**

 

In the Menendez press release on January 26, 2009, there was no mention of

*mood* and *anxiety* disorders. If he was not in on this disease mongering

plot, he would have told these two broads to knock it off by now.

 

Drugging for profit

 

Although no psychiatric drug has been FDA approved as safe for use by

pregnant and nursing mothers, the treatment for all the perinatal mental

disorders calls for the new generation of antidepressants, along with atypical

antipsychotics and epilepsy drugs, now commonly referred to as **mood

stabilizers.**

 

The atypical antipsychotics are Seroquel by AstraZeneca, Risperdal and

Invega marketed by Janssen, a division of Johnson & Johnson, Geodon by Pfizer,

Abilify from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis* Clozaril, and Eli Lilly*s

Zyprexa. The average price for these drugs on DrugStore.com is about $900 for

a hundred pills.

 

The SSRI and SNRI antidepressants include GlaxoSmithKline*s Paxil and

Wellbutrin, Pfizer*s Zoloft, Celexa and Lexapro from Forest Labs, Luvox by

Solvay, Wyeth*s Effexor and Pristiq, and Lilly*s Prozac, Cymbalta, and Symbyax,

a pill with Zyprexa and Prozac combined. The price of these drugs, on

average, is about $300 for ninety pills at DrugStore.com.

 

On March 23, 2009, Philip Dawdy reported on the popular website Furious

Seasons, that **in a sign of just how bizarre things have gotten in DC, the

FDA today approved Symbyax for treatment resistant depression, meaning

depression that hasn*t responded to two anti-depressants.**

 

**So the FDA just approved a drug that*s known to cause diabetes, epic

weight gain and suicidality to treat depression,** he said. **This makes so

much sense!**

 

The antipsychotics are now the top money-makers. In overall prescription

sales in the US, they led all classes of drugs in 2008, with sales of $14.6

billion, according to IMS Health. Anticonvulsants came in fourth with $11.3

billion in sales, followed by antidepressants at fifth with sales of $9.6

billion.

 

The Epilepsy Foundation estimates that one million women in the US have

epilepsy, but the number of women taking anticonvulsants is reported to be

two to three times higher than women with epilepsy. The prices for these

drugs can run as high as $929 for 180 tablets of Glaxo*s Lamictal, and $1170 for

180 tablets of J & J*s Topamax.

 

Numerous recent reports have linked the use of drugs such as Depakote,

Neurontin, Lamictal and Tegretol with not only suicide but also birth defects,

including heart defects, brain damage, and mental retardation.

 

Big Pharma funds Mothers Act supporters

 

As of April 9, 2009, the groups supporting the Mother*s Act listed on

PerinatalPro with Big Pharma funding traceable through their annual reports and

the grant reports of Eli Lilly and Pfizer for 2007 and 2008, include the

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Psychiatric

Association, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, Children’s

Defense Fund, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, March of Dimes, Mental

Health America (MHA), National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI),

National Association of Social Workers, National Council for Community

Behavioral

Healthcare, and the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA.

 

Pfizer*s 2008 grant report shows the Association of Maternal and Child

Health Programs, received $10,000 for **General Operating Support.** Florida*s

Bureau of Maternal and Child Health received funding from Lilly and Pfizer

to launch a three-pronged maternal depression awareness initiative

consisting of education, screening and advocacy, according to the July, 2005

paper, Improving Maternal and Infant Mental Health: Focus on Maternal

Depression, by Ngozi Onunaku.

 

Collaborating partners also included the American College of Obstetricians

and Gynecologists, University of Miami, and Florida*s Department of Mental

Health, Onunaku reports. Public awareness efforts reached the Florida

State Legislature, who passed a resolution to establish April as women*s

depression screening month.

 

Onunaku listed the Lilly and Pfizer funded Florida project as an example

of state and community efforts that may be useful in reaching the goal of

increasing maternal depression awareness. In the paper, he reported the

following:

 

**Prenatal depression occurs during pregnancy when mothers-to-be

experience hormonal and biological changes, stress, and the demands of

pregnancy.

Approximately 14-25% of pregnant women have enough depressive symptoms to

meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis.

 

**The use of medication to treat maternal depression is controversial;

there is concern about mothers taking medication during pregnancy and after

delivery, especially while breastfeeding. Research suggests that infant

development is not adversely affected by certain kinds of medication.

 

**There is equal consideration regarding the possible risks posed to a

child whose mother is severely depressed and needs medication but remains

untreated.

 

In 2008, Lilly gave the American College of Obstetricians and

Gynecologists $16,000, and a $2,000 donation was made in the third quarter of

2007.

 

Lilly gave the American Psychiatric Association grants worth more than

$600,000 in both the first and second quarters of 2008. In 2007, the group

received over $400,000 from Lilly. The drug maker gave roughly $450,000 more

to the American Psychiatric Foundation for the APA fellowship program.

Pfizer donated more than $700,000 to the " non-profit " APA in 2008.

 

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is described as

" a non-profit association representing 1,300 mental health and addictions

treatment and rehabilitation organizations, " on its website. This gang

received $200,000 from Lilly in the first quarter of 2008, and another $215,000

in the fourth quarter.

 

Mother*s Act supporter, Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, has merged

with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, according to a

November 6, 2008 press release announcement.

 

A year earlier, Emory University reported that Charles Nemeroff had been

elected president of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and

would begin serving his three-year tenure in January 2008.

 

Emory*s press release noted that Nemeroff had served on the AFSP*s

national board of directors since 1999 and had " been a member of the

Foundation*s

Scientific Council for more than 10 years and was named chair of the

Council in 2007.**

 

In about the same time frame between 2000 and 2007, Senator Charles

Grassley*s Senate Finance Committee investigation found that Nemeroff had

earned

more than $2.8 million from drug companies, but failed to disclose at least

$1.2 million to Emory.

 

On November 3, 2008, Dr Bernard Caroll summed up Nemeroff*s fall from

grace on the Healthcare Renewal website as follows:

 

**The fallout to date includes his severance from several NIH-funded

projects at Emory University School of Medicine, a freeze of NIH funding for a

major center grant, and his stepping down from Emory’s chair of psychiatry

while an internal investigation proceeds.**

 

Dr. Nemeroff*s credibility is under a cloud, to say the least, and his

influence is rapidly waning. ... In the hardnosed, commercial world of

Continuing Medical Education, for instance, the signs are that Dr. Nemeroff is

toast. Whereas he once coordinated multi-city traveling CME road shows and a

parade of spots on CME websites like Medscape, his profile now is suffering.

Go to this Medscape website, for instance. You will find that his current

Expert Viewpoint spots are missing, replaced by the message, **This article

is temporarily unavailable.**

 

 

Nemeroff*s Bio on the Emory Website on December 22, 2008 listed his

Clinical Interests as: **Depression and antipsychotic pharmacological therapy,

social phobias, fetal effects of pre- and post-natal drug therapy,

depression, mood disorders, antipsychotic therapy.**

 

Lilly*s 2008 grant report shows the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA

received one $10,000 grant and another $70,000 grant. The American

Foundation for Suicide Prevention also received three grants worth $78,000.

 

Lilly*s 2007 report shows the Action Network received $10,000 in one

quarter and $70,000 in another. The Foundation got $25,000 in 2007. The 2004

spring issue of USA*s Network News reports that: **Network News is funded by a

grant from the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation.**

 

The Summer 2005 Network News noted that **Donations Sustain SPAN USA.**

 

The donor list shows Pfizer gave over $10,000. The group received more

than $1,000 from Bristol-Meyers, Janssen, and Novartis. Forest Pharmaceuticals

gave over $500.

 

The 2006 Spring Network News announced the **Friend for Life** sponsors.

Forest and the industry*s trade group, PhRMA donated over $15,000. Pfizer

gave between $10,000 and $14,999. Solvay was listed as giving between $6,000

and $9,999 and companies that gave between $2,000 and $5,999 were

AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers. J & J, Lilly and Novartis each donated between

$500 and

$1,999.

 

As expected, the two most notorious front groups, NAMI and MHA, received

the most money from psychiatric drug makers. NAMI's annual reports list

about every drug company on the planet as a corporate partner without

specifying how much each donated. But the grant reports of Lilly and Pfizer for

2007

and 2008 show NAMI groups received millions of dollars from those two drug

makers alone.

 

In the fourth quarter of 2008, Pfizer gave NAMI a grant of $132,000 to

fund a campaign that best describes the drug maker's goal called the

**Campaign for the Mind of America.** In the third quarter, Pfizer doled out

another

$225,000 to fund the same campaign.

 

Lilly is also funding the Campaign for the Mind, with grants of $450,000

in both 2007 and 2008. Lilly also provides extra funding to NAMI groups all

over the country for the **Walk for the Mind of America.** In 2007, walking

money totaled $17,000 in the first quarter, $11,500 in the second, and

$13,000 for the third and fourth combined. In 2008, Lilly*s **Walk for the

Mind** quarterly totals were $11,500, $24,000, $12,500 and $2,000.

 

In 2007, NAMI presented a $50,000 **Mind of America Scientific Research

Award** to Dr A John Rush. He also landed on the Grassley hit list last fall

for not disclosing drug company money to the University of Texas.

 

On April 6, 2009, Senator Grassley sent a letter to NAMI asking for the

disclosure of all funding from drug makers and industry created foundations

over the past few years.

 

Mental Health America groups also received millions of dollars from Pfizer

and Lilly alone in 2007 and 2008. This group runs a **Campaign for

America*s Mental Health** and received grants of $200,000 and $300,000 in 2008

from Pfizer to fund it. Lilly gave $300,000 to fund this Campaign in 2007.

 

MHA*s 2006 annual report shows the group received over $1 million each

from Lilly, Bristol-Myers, and Wyeth. Janssen and Pfizer gave between $500,000

and $1,000,000, and AstraZeneca and Forest donated between $100,000 and

$499,000. Glaxo gave between $50,000 and $100,000 in 2006.

 

The most troubling donation to this Mothers Act supporter is a $20,000

Pfizer grant to a Georgia group to fund: Project Healthy Moms: Education for

Prevention/Treatment for Perinatal Depression Disorders, which apparently

ended up, at least in part, in the pocketbook of Katherine Stone.

 

The Georgia group*s June 8, 2008 e-news said the grant was for: **Project

Healthy Moms: What You Need To Know About Perinatal Mood Disorders.**

 

The $20,000 funded 1-hour speaking events with Katherine, **aimed at

educating practitioners and the general public throughout Georgia about

prevention of and treatment for such illnesses as ante partum depression,

postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety/OCD and postpartum psychosis,** the

newsletter said.

 

Katherine was described as a **former postpartum OCD sufferer and author

of Postpartum Progress, the most widely-read blog in the United States on

postpartum mood disorders.**

 

E-news said attendees would learn: **One size does NOT fit all: Why

postpartum depression is just part of a spectrum of mood disorders women may

experience & what to look for.**

 

The newsletter only listed 5 scheduled events but told readers to contact

Katherine directly by email or phone to schedule more. E-news did

acknowledge that: **This special hour of learning is made possible by a grant

from

Pfizer,** but listed no amount.

 

The leaders of these **non-profits** are also making out like bandits. In

2006, NAMI*s top dog, Michael Fitzpatrick, had a salary of $212,281, and

$10,090 in employee benefit contributions and deferred compensation plans,

for a 35-hour work week.

 

MHA*s 2002 tax returns show the CEO and President, Michael Faenza,

received compensation of $306,727, and another $35,275 in contributions to

employee benefit plans and deferred compensation that year, for a 35 hour work

week.

 

The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance received $37,510 from Lilly in

2007 and $20,000 in 2008. This group provides live links to form letters

that can be filled in and sent to Congress members asking them to vote for

the Mother*s Act. The two Stone gals provide links to the Mothers Act alerts

put out by the Alliance on their websites.

 

The group*s 2007 Annual Report shows this non-profit received between

$150,000 and $499,000 from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Wyeth. Abbott, Cyberonics,

Lilly, Forest, Glaxo, Organon, and Otsuka American Pharmaceuticals gave

between $10,000 and $149,999.

 

The report also notes that a **First-ever DBSA Hope Award** for lifetime

achievement was presented to Frederick Goodwin. Back in August 2002, the

speakers at the annual conference of the Alliance included three stars from

the Grassley hit list, Goodwin, Nemeroff and Joseph Beiderman.

 

The front groups team up with a **non-profit** called **Screening for

Mental Health,** to carry out mental illness screening days all over the

country every year. Their websites also provide live links to internet

screening

programs set up by this firm.

 

Up to 2008, the SMH had received close to $5 million from drug companies.

Lilly gave the firm $124,000 in 2007 and $100,000 in 2008.

 

Finally, the Children*s Defense Fund received a grant for $125,000 in 2003

from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The March of Dimes got $6,500

from Pfizer in 2008, and the National Association of Social Workers also

received $7,500 from Pfizer.

 

 

Amy Philo, a young Texas mother who survived what can only be described as

a postpartum ambush by the psycho-pharmaceutical cartel, is at the

forefront of the **Unite for Life** coalition fighting against the Mothers Act.

As

of April 25, 2009, the Unite coalition had thirty-five orginazations

signed on as opposed to the legislation. Needless to say, none of them were

listed in the grant reports of Lilly or Pfizer.

 

Amy was screened and drugged because she got extremely concerned about her

baby and had a panic attack after watching him nearly choke to death. **I

lived through forced hospitalization, drugging, and four months of being

homicidal, suicidal, and psychotic because of Zoloft,** she recounts on her

website.

 

**No mother should have to live through what I have,** she states.

 

Over a recent three to four year period, Amy found there were 1,031

documented deaths of babies caused by psychiatric drug exposure reported to the

FDA*s MedWatch system.

 

Amy recently learned that the National Association of Certified

Professional Midwives has withdrawn their support from the Mothers Act.

However, she

reports a new addition to the list of supporters is the National Healthy

Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. A quick check of their website found the

group*s corporate sponsors include Wyeth, Glaxo, J & J, Merck, and Sanofi

Pasteur.

 

 

*************

 

Evelyn Pringle

_epringle05_ (epringle05)

 

(This article was sponsored by the Pogust, Braslow & Millrood law firm in

Conshohocken, Pennsylvania)

 

(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Scoop Independent News and an

investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government and

corporate

America)

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