Risperdal vs. Amanda Knox -- Who's Really Trying To Kill You
In this corner, we have the accused, Amanda Knox, Seattle's girl-next-door and alleged participant in the murder of one. Google News hits: about 1,811.
In the other corner, Risperdal aka risperidone, one of the most widely used anti-psychotics in the world, approved for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and marketed off-label for the "irritability" associated with autism, Asperger's, ADHD, and being teen-aged or elderly, and related to the deaths of at least 1,000 people (according the FDA's adverse events database) and whose manufacturer is now being accused by the Arkansas AG of being "engaged in a direct, illegal, nationwide program of promotion of the use of Risperdal (Risperidone) for non-medically necessary uses," and fraudulently reporting side effects. Google News hits: about 100.
Philip Dawdy over at Furious Seasons has the full post what the Risperdal suit means. While the Arkansas AG has this to say about Risperdal -- "At the time Risperdal was sold or placed on the market, it was in a defective condition and unreasonably dangerous to users and consumers" -- Dawdy points out that Risperdal's off-label marketing has become the norm for the new drugs called atypicals, and wonders loudly if maybe this isn't just the tip of the over-prescribed atypical iceberg.
Unless we're doing it wrong (typing "Risperdal" into their search bars), the last time the Seattle Times or P-I mentioned Risperdal was 2006. If you want to satisfy prurient interest re: Amanda Knox, they're fucking top-notch. If you want to know if the medication you are giving your son or daughter is causing neurological damage or is likely to leave them with diabetes, you'll have to go elsewhere. Sorry.
Why is that, we wonder. Critical local coverage of this kind of thing is close to non-existent. Are reporters unwilling to look into medications because they, their family or friends are on them? Why the circus around Knox, and the silence about so many people being injured and killed? The mis-prescription of under-tested medications is the big medical story of our time, with slow-motion effects for the next generation and their children. The crime here is not restricted to Arkansas borders.
