Latest news with #drugsafety
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
ADHD Medication Tied to Homicidal Thoughts – CCHR Demands Urgent Consumer Alerts
LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 21, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) – The mental health industry watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) is calling for sweeping reforms to inform families and patients about hidden, potentially life-threatening side effects linked to widely prescribed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs. The demand follows alarming new regulatory agency warnings from Australia and Germany about atomoxetine, a 'non-stimulant' ADHD medication, which is now linked to homicidal thoughts in both children and adults. In May, Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) issued an urgent update to the product information for atomoxetine hydrochloride, warning of the risk of 'aggressive behavior including homicidal ideation' in children and adults.[1] A separate alert in June emphasized 'severe cases' of 'physical assault, or threatening behavior and thoughts of harming others.'[2] The updated product information also says that 'aggressive behavior or hostility was more frequently observed in clinical trials among children, adolescents, and adults treated with atomoxetine compared to placebo.'[3] In February, Germany's Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices released its own warning, referencing the European Medicines Agency's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), which determined a 'possible connection' between atomoxetine and cases of serotonin syndrome—a potentially fatal condition causing toxicity—as well as physical assaults, threatening behavior, and homicidal thoughts.[4] 'The stakes are enormous,' said Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International. 'The Atomoxetine Hydrochloride Market was valued at $1.2 billion last year, and the U.S. ADHD drug market overall has ballooned to $20 billion annually. Yet consumers remain uninformed of the magnitude of these risks.' New studies confirm that atomoxetine's risks are a small part of much larger concerns with ADHD drugs: Despite these known risks, prescriptions continue to soar. Using data from IQVIA, CCHR reports that in 2020 alone, over 6.4 million U.S. adults aged 18–65+ were prescribed ADHD stimulants, including more than 340,000 seniors. In the same year, over 3.1 million children and teens aged 17 and under were prescribed ADHD stimulants—including more than 58,000 children under the age of five, even though these drugs are not FDA-approved for such young children. CCHR emphasizes that parents are rarely told that ADHD is diagnosed subjectively—there is no objective lab test or scan to substantiate it. A recent study from the University of Copenhagen analyzed 292 randomized controlled trials for adult ADHD and found widespread methodological flaws. Many trials relied on self-diagnosis, online checklists, or untrained staff, and more than half included participants with other psychiatric labels, making the data unreliable.[9] This echoes a major exposé in 2022 that debunked the 'chemical imbalance' myth used for decades to justify antidepressant use—a marketing ploy that convinced millions they had a brain defect requiring pills. SciTech Daily reported on the Copenhagen findings: 'With adult ADHD diagnoses soaring, often driven by online content, the findings raise serious concerns about research reliability and treatment accuracy. If flawed science is shaping how millions are treated, are we getting ADHD all wrong?' Dr. Allen Frances, former chair of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV task force, has warned that the DSM contributed to 'three false epidemics'—ADHD, autism, and childhood bipolar disorder—by pathologizing normal behaviors. He remains a vocal critic of psychiatry's expansion into ordinary aspects of childhood and adult life.[10] The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine recently concluded, 'The real epidemic out there is the epidemic of ADHD diagnosing and prescribing… Lacking proven biological anchoring, syndromal categories are susceptible to cultural trends regarding over-medicalization and societal contagion.'[11] CCHR says the mounting international warnings about atomoxetine and other ADHD drugs highlight a failure of informed consent on a massive scale. 'The idea that a drug prescribed to millions of children and adults could induce homicidal behavior is nothing short of astonishing—yet parents and consumers remain largely in the dark,' said Eastgate. 'This is a complete breakdown of the psychiatric-pharmaceutical industry violating informed consent. Regulators, prescribers, and manufacturers must be held accountable for ensuring clear, timely warnings reach every patient and parent before a pill is ever swallowed. Anything less is a betrayal of public trust—and leaves lives needlessly at risk.' Founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, CCHR is a nonprofit mental health industry watchdog dedicated to investigating and exposing psychiatric violations of human rights. To learn more, visit: Sources: [1] Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration 'Product Information safety updates – April 2025,' 22 May 2025, [2] Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration 'Product Information safety updates – May 2025, Product Information safety updates,' 26 June 2025, [3] AUSTRALIAN PRODUCT INFORMATION ATOMOXETINE HYDROCHLORIDE CAPSULES [4] 'Atomoxetine: New warnings about serotonin syndrome and homicidal thoughts,' Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, 7 Feb. 2025, [5] [6] [7] 'FDA updating warnings to improve safe use of prescription stimulants used to treat ADHD and other conditions,' FDA, 11 May 2023, [8] [9] [10] Derek Summerfield, ''Adult ADHD' and 'neurodevelopmental disorder' – a critique of the latest socio-psychiatric 'epidemic,'' Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 22 Jan. 2025, [11] Derek Summerfield, ''Adult ADHD' and 'neurodevelopmental disorder'…,' Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, MULTIMEDIA; Image link for media: Image caption: The mounting international warnings about ADHD drugs highlight a failure of informed consent on a massive scale. This is a complete breakdown of a system that should uphold the highest standard of informed consent. NEWS SOURCE: Citizens Commission on Human Rights Keywords: General Editorial, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, CCHR International, Jan Eastgate, ADHD drugs, LOS ANGELES, Calif. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P127866 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). 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BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Northamptonshire health teams issue contaminated drugs warning
A county's public health leaders have issued a warning about contaminated drugs circulating at festivals and parties over the North and West Northamptonshire councils said some drugs bought off the street or online could be as much as 10 times stronger and could cause serious harm or 18-year-old told the BBC he saw a friend hospitalised after taking contaminated Bethea, director of public health at North Northamptonshire Council, said: "The risks to inexperienced or recreational drug users are increased by the rapidly changing drug market." The councils warned that by buying illegal drugs, users "can't be sure what is in them or the effect they will have". Ms Bethea said: "Festivals are a particular setting of concern given there can be a number of street drugs circulating at these events, and those that take them may be inexperienced or experimenting for the first time, and so have low tolerance."She said there were particular issues with potent synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes, being mis-sold, and high availability of contaminated Gay, director of public health at West Northamptonshire Council, said: "Your drugs may look the same, even if they are contaminated, so I urge all recreational drug users to stop and think, and if they go ahead then to abide by the advice."The councils are working with charities such as Change Grow Live and Ngage on the White, from Ngage, said: "We have young people who are ending up in A&E because of contaminated substances."It is really shocking actually how many of our young people it is affecting." 'He started seizing on the floor' Deano is a former drug user who now works with 18-year-old from Northamptonshire, who did not want to give his surname, said he started taking drugs to help him told BBC Radio Northampton's Annabel Amos: "I am a massive insomniac, always have been."Also, I've got ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder], so they bounce off each other."So that's what I initially started using substances for."He said when buying drugs "there's always going to be a risk" they could be said when he was 16, he was with a friend, who was about his age and took what he thought was ketamine, but the substance also contained amphetamine and fentanyl - a powerful said: "He was bugging around for a bit, getting all excited because of the amphetamines and then what I assume happened is the fentanyl took over after that."He started seizing on the floor, foaming [at the mouth] and he got taken away by ambulance."It's still a shock because you don't know what they've taken."His friend later recovered and now Deano is working towards rebuilding his life and has applied to college. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Party safer: Tips for a safe summer party season
If you or someone near you is using drugs, you'll want to know some important safety tips. With summer festival season in full swing and vacations underway, it's party time for thousands of people across Ottawa. Ottawa Public Health has launched a new online tool to help people party safely, especially when alcohol or drugs are involved. 'We know that alcohol and drugs are a part of the festivities and celebration often, too,' Megan Francoeur, with Ottawa Public Health, told CTV Morning Live. 'Just making sure that we're not mixing substances, starting low, going slow, looking out for each other, getting naloxone, making sure that we know how to respond to overdose and intoxication.' includes free online trainings, printable materials, social media tools, and community resources for event goers and event organizers. 'There's resources for event staff and volunteers, free trainings that take 15 minutes with some really practical tips and also resources for parents and guardians to talk about substance use with your teens and also festivalgoers and school students,' said Francoeur. The site has details on commonly used substances like alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and tobacco, along with information on harm reduction and naloxone use, including where to get naloxone kits. Naloxone A naloxone kit is shown in this undated image. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa) The site also has information on mental health and addictions resources, bystander intervention and violence prevention, and safe sex. 'People are out more and we've been out at special events recently and it's been so nice to see the response from thousands of people coming up, saying they're happy to be doing this type of training and we love to see it when somebody walks by our tent and goes, 'I already have a (naloxone) kit,'' Francoeur said. The free trainings require an Olearn account, which is free to set up, but other resources including tips, information, and links to service providers are freely accessible on the website.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Parents of reveller who overdosed on MDMA at notorious Boomtown festival blast organisers' drug safety policy
A reveller died after taking a 'drug bomb' of four MDMA pills at a notorious music festival, an inquest heard. Former film student Ben Buckfield died after overdosing on MDMA, also known as ecstasy, on a hot day at Boomtown festival, an inquest heard. At the hearing, the 22-year-old's devastated parents questioned whether the festival provided 'adequate and appropriate care' criticised organisers over their drug safety policies. It emerged that 'deeply caring' Ben was not taken to a hospital for two hours after he suffered a seizure. Georgina and David Buckfield said it was 'a hell of a long time' for their son to 'not be in a proper hospital'. The couple urged the Hampshire event - which they said is a 'high-risk environment' - to put up 'clear and powerful messaging about the dangers of drugs'. The director of operations that runs the medical facilities at Boomtown told the inquest their medical tent is as good as an A&E ward and that he 'wouldn't do anything differently' if he was presented with Mr Buckfield's situation again. The court heard Mr Buckfield had recently finished a film studies degree at Winchester University, achieving a 2:1, before going to Boomtown in August 2024. Boomtown, held at Matterley Estate near the Hampshire cathedral city, is a festival that is known for incorporating rave culture into its production. Mr Buckfield's death is believed to be the fifth at the festival since it started in 2009. Winchester Coroner's Court heard that Mr Buckfield arrived at the festival on August 8 with a group of friends from school and university. He had been to the festival once before in 2023. He was seen taking cocaine, ketamine and drinking alcohol, but his friends said this was not 'out of the ordinary' at a social event. They said you could hear people shouting 'ket (ketamine), coke, pills' every twenty minutes or so in the tent area of the festival. Mr Buckfield had brought some drugs into the festival with him and is believed to have bought some more from vendors in the two days prior to his death. On the Saturday evening he arrived in a crowd with his friends and was 'profusely sweating'. He tried to get out of the crowd and then started suffering from seizures, being put into the recovery position by medics. He was later taken to the festival's medical tent, before being taken off to hospital, where he passed away at 3:45am the next day after repeated attempts to save him. Mr Buckfield's parents, who were at a wedding in Warwickshire, arrived at around 11:30pm and saw him in hospital before his passing. His cause of death was later confirmed as Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) toxicity. Mr and Mrs Buckfield, from Saffrom Walden, Essex, asked whether the festival has adequate medical support for the 70,000 annual attendees. Mrs Buckfield said: 'At 9:29pm on August 10 I got a message saying that Ben is not well to which I replied that I had spoken with him yesterday and he seemed well. 'I tried to call him again and was told that medical support was with him and he is being taken to Winchester and he was unconscious.' She said the couple arrived in the city at 11.30pm and discovered their son 'had taken MDMA and plaster of Paris', was bleeding internally and had had a cardiac arrest. Mrs Buckfield added: 'They wanted to open his abdomen but he was too poorly to go into the theatre. 'They came out to say he was bleeding from the oesophagus and wanted to let him go with dignity. 'They took him off the machine and he passed away at about 3:45am. We left the hospital at around 6:30am.' She said he son had previously taken drugs recreationally and had suffered with depression in secondary school. But Mrs Buckfield went on: 'We have since wondered what Boomtown did to counter the high risk environment at the festival. 'Do they provide adequate and appropriate care within that environment? 'We have had no personal condolences of sympathies from Boomtown festival since the incident. 'There should be clear and powerful messaging about the dangers of drugs at the festival. 'Why did it take two hours after the emergency for him to leave the site since this was a medical emergency and his life was slipping away?' Mr Buckfield said at the inquest: 'We just wanted to get some answers as two hours seems to be a hell of a long time to not be in a proper hospital.' Craig Harris, Director of Operations at Event Paramedic Services, has run the medical facilities at Boomtown Festival for 15 years. He said: 'We have 14 beds and four resuscitation bays in a hospital that is equivalent to an A&E. 'I choose my team specifically for the needs of Boomtown and they are all highly qualified. 'We can do exactly what would be done in an A&E on site and then using an ambulance allows for easier and better treatment than an air ambulance, since the staff can treat the patient while the vehicle is moving. 'We have all the right skills and right equipment on site and we had staff with Ben just two minutes after receiving the call. Three teams and myself eventually went to him. 'We treated 1,178 patients out of the 66,000 capacity in some way. This falls well within the national average which is 1.5% to 2%. 'Boomtown are extremely supportive of us as a company and if we ask for something then they will get it for us. 'If I was in that situation again I wouldn't do anything differently.' In August 2013, 18-year-old Ellie Rowe died after taking ketamine at Boomtown and her mother Wendy gives talks at the festival each year, as well as campaigning for drug-testing stations at such events. In 2011, mother-of-two Deborah Jeffery, 45, died after suffering a heart attack as a result of taking ecstasy at the event. The inquest continues.
Bloomberg
16-07-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
The Quest for a Hangover-Free Buzz
By David Nutt is an accomplished professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, but he hasn't always been great at reading a room. In 2009 he was the UK government's top adviser on drugs, a key voice on a council tasked with recommending changes to the nation's drug policies. That was until he argued that the field's greatest challenge, the substance responsible for the most widespread harm, was alcohol. While this would have been considered heresy in many societies, it proved to be an especially untenable position in Britain. He was asked to resign from his government post two days after he shared his views with the press. All these years later, Nutt is quick to clarify that he appreciates the upside of drinking. 'Most people meet their partners with the help of alcohol,' he says. 'It promotes sociability, and there's not much else like it.' What he's been after, he says, is a safer, healthier way to approximate the buzz of booze—something that can deliver the fun bits and skip the addiction, the cirrhosis, the sloppy aggro nonsense. By the time he was on the government council, research had made clear that the root of many problems with alcohol was its neurological complexity, that the good parts were intertwined with the bad ones. Once Nutt had more time on his hands, he decided to try making his own molecule, one that could give him the fuzzy feelings of a couple glasses of wine and leave it at that.
