A Mental Hospital, Violence and Antipsychotics

The News Tribune
M. ALEXANDER OTTO
Violence has been a growing problem at Western State Hospital for years.
If present trends continue, one in four of the Lakewood mental hospital’s more than 1,700 workers can expect to be assaulted by a patient in 2007, according to the state Department of Labor and Industries.
For years, hospital administrators have blamed [...]

J&J Improperly Marketed Drug, South Carolina Says

Bloomberg News
By Margaret Cronin Fisk
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health care products, was sued by the state of South Carolina over claims the company’s Janssen LP unit fraudulently marketed the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
The companies promoted the drug for unapproved uses, contrary to U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, and concealed the risk [...]

State of Utah sues Zyprexa maker

The Salt Lake Tribune
Some 1,500 Utah adults with insurance coverage through Medicaid have developed diabetes because they took the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, Utah’s Attorney General estimates.
The state has filed a lawsuit against Zyprexa’s manufacturer, Eli Lilly & Co., charging that the company improperly promoted the drug and failed to warn patients of adverse side effects [...]

Psychiatrists, Children and Drug Industry’s Role

New York Times
By Gardiner Harris, Benedict Carey and Janet Roberts
When Anya Bailey developed an eating disorder after her 12th birthday, her mother took her to a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota who prescribed a powerful antipsychotic drug called Risperdal.
Created for schizophrenia, Risperdal is not approved to treat eating disorders, but increased appetite is a [...]