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Archive for June, 2013

through a film darkly…

Anyone who knows me would be glad to confirm that when it comes to money, I’m in the Dunce corner. It’s an incurable affliction – proving that knowing the "cause" doesn’t necessarily lead to a cure. The cause was simple – a father who grew up poor and was determined to teach me the ways […]

an attempt at punditry…

Improving Health With Partnerships Between Academia and Industry JAMA: Internal Medicine Viewpoint by Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH June 24, 2013 AT A TIME WHEN JOBS seem scarce, one role seems to have multiplied: the pundit; never at a loss for a provocative, deeply held view or opinion. And, one of the rapidly expanding punditry themes […]

a dangerous sleep…

Open Data My Blog: NIMH Director by Tom Insel June 14, 2013 A couple of weeks ago, President Obama launched a new open data policy [pdf] for the federal government. Declaring that, “…information is a valuable asset that is multiplied when it is shared,” the Administration’s new policy empowers federal agencies to promote an environment […]

the modern robber barons…

My neighbor’s wife called late morning. She had a developed a severe right-flank intercostal pain that felt like a knife. It sounded like Shingles, but there was no rash. I gave her two left-over pain pills from her last dental surgery, and planned a later visit to see the rash that I expected to come […]

humility about now…

I had put the APA Meetings behind me and hadn’t read Dr. Lieberman’s speech past this opening subheading: The new APA president cites astonishing advances in psychiatric research and a broad acceptance of the importance of mental health as reasons to be optimistic. That was enough for me. But then Joel and Tom mentioned it […]

beyond nostalgia…

The Problems We All Share January 14, 1964 Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision about the 1965 Voters Right Act was all over the news last night, bringing up things that have been an important part of my own life for as long as I can remember. Watching, I didn’t feel the old fire in the belly […]

all I see…

[This is tedious, but somebody has to do it]. Back in March, Speilmans et al published a meta-analysis of the studies Augmenting Antidepressants with Atypical Antipsychotics in cases of inadequate response [Adjunctive Atypical Antipsychotic Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Depression, Quality of Life, and Safety Outcomes]. I spent some time on that […]

a long and lonely wait…

Psychiatry beyond the current paradigm by Pat Bracken, Philip Thomas, Sami Timimi, Eia Asen, Graham Behr, Carl Beuster, Seth Bhunnoo, Ivor Browne, Navjyoat Chhina, Duncan Double, Simon Downer, Chris Evans, Suman Fernando, Malcolm R. Garland, William Hopkins, Rhodri Huws, Bob Johnson, Brian Martindale, Hugh Middleton, Daniel Moldavsky, Joanna Moncrieff, Simon Mullins, Julia Nelki, Matteo Pizzo, […]

guidelines…

I had just written this in the comments, I have developed a reflex high alert whenever treatment algorithms or treatment guidelines are on the table. I’m sure my head is as filled with algorithms as any doctor, but I’m suspicious of them coming from the outside. They can be a way to “push” drugs for […]

another thing…

I think one shouldn’t entitle a post rest my case… because there’s always another thing. In this instance, it’s my own conclusion to seroquel: good to the last drop… and rest my case…. I didn’t get Seroquel® or Seroquel XR®. I had retired from a psychotherapy practice and was comfortably living in the mountains doing […]