Care Facilities Abuse Patients with Soviet Drug Tactics

The Alliance for Human Research Protection reminds us that during the second half of the twentieth century, Soviet psychiatrists collaborated with their government: Soviet psychiatrists prescribed the first generation neuroleptics-Haldol and Thorazine- to coerce political dissidents into submission. The drugs were recognized as effective instruments of torture.

In the first half of the twenty-first century, U.S. psychiatrists are prescribing the second generation neuroleptics-Zyprexa, Risperdal, Geodon, Seroquel, Abilfy-to coerce innocent children and the elderly into submission.

After examining more than 40,000 state and federal inspection reports, the Chicago Tribune found that nursing homes ranging from "five-star" establishments along Chicago's North Shore to run-down facilities in urban neighborhoods have been cited for improperly administering psychotropic drugs:

"Frail and vulnerable residents of nursing homes throughout Illinois are being dosed with powerful psychotropic drugs, leading to tremors, dangerous lethargy and a higher risk of harmful falls or even death.

Thousands of elderly and disabled people have been affected, many of them drugged without their consent or without a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis that would justify treatment."

"One man on multiple antipsychotics -- without adequate justification -- fell 68 times in a four-month span. A blind woman who did not consent to taking Risperdal fell five times after being given the medication..."

"At VIP Manor near St. Louis in 2006, a woman with Alzheimer's cried and became extremely anxious when she had to urinate. She also repeatedly asked to go to the bathroom. Nurses responded by giving her injections of two antipsychotics, inspection reports state. When that didn't work, the woman was sent to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. The psychiatrist reported back that the woman had a urinary tract infection."

"Sometimes, when questions are raised about treating a patient with psychotropics, doctors simply change the person's diagnosis.

"At Metropolis Nursing and Rehab Center in Metropolis, near the Kentucky border, a woman arrived with diagnoses of heart disease and kidney problems. Four months later, the woman's dialysis doctor put her on the antipsychotic Risperdal. Her medical records said she was anxious because of being on dialysis, but she had no history of psychosis, according to the state's 2004 citation.

When the home's nursing director asked the doctor what diagnosis led to the use of the antipsychotic drug, the physician told her "insomnia and depression." The nursing director told the dialysis doctor that those issues did not justify prescribing a powerful antipsychotic, so the doctor switched the diagnosis. The new one: "organic psychosis."

Sadly, our tax dollars subsidize this gross medical abuse. Stories and links here.