I just finished watching Bigger, Stronger, Faster.  In it, the father of Taylor Hooton rails against steroids because he thinks they caused Taylor to commit suicide.

I feel bad for him of course, but am pretty pissed off that he seems to completely ignore that his son was taking Lexapro, a psychiatric drug KNOWN TO CAUSE SUICIDES.

Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Psychiatric Drugs

Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, according to a report by a research charity Thursday, which called for a “serious rethink” of drug policy.

The Beckley Foundation, a charity which numbers senior experts and other academics among its advisors, said banning cannabis has no impact on supply and turns users into criminals.

“Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco,” says the report by the Foundation’s Global Cannabis Commission.

The government is pressing for cannabis to be re-classified in law as a Class B drug compared with its current, less serious, Class C classification.

Authorities are concerned notably by the growing prevalence of the potent “skunk” form of the drug. Around 80 percent of cannabis seizures are of this strain, said to be linked to mental health problems, official figures show.

The Beckley Foundation, a charitable trust, claimed only two deaths worldwide have been attributed to cannabis, while alcohol and tobacco use together kill an estimated 150,000 people in Britain alone.

“Many of the harms associated with cannabis use are the result of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment,” it said.
“It is only through a regulated market that we can better protect young people from the ever more potent forms of dope,” it added.

The decision to reclassify cannabis upwards into the more punitive Class B category — which includes amphetamines — is a U-turn for the Labour government.

Cannabis was downgraded from Class B when Tony Blair was prime minister, but Gordon Brown announced a review of its status soon after taking over in June last year.

An earlier review of the cannabis classification, at the time of the last 2005 general election, resulted in it remaining Class C.  I know I tended to get in more trouble when I was younger from drinking booze than smoking the odd joint.

A patient dies while being left in a chair for 22 hours with no food or water. Some of the practitioners were instead caught on tape playing cards, watching TV and talking on the phone.

And if that isn’t enough, another doctor was caught hitting a teenage patient!

After all that, the practioners got only a slap on the wrist.

Tags: Psychiatric Restraints and Hospitalization, Psychiatric Treatment

This advertisment for a stop nail biting product is a mouth full!

There was an interesting survey done where doctores could talk about their pet-peeves as it relates to their patients.  Here are a couple that I found intereststing:

Your doctor generally knows more than a website. I have patients with whom I spend enormous amounts of time, explaining things and coming up with a treatment strategy. Then I get e-mails a few days later, saying they were looking at this website that says something completely different and wacky, and they want to do that. To which I want to say (but I don’t), “So why don’t you get the website to take over your care?”
–Family, MD

I know that Reader’s Digest recommends bringing in a complete list of all your symptoms, but every time you do, it only reinforces my desire to quit this profession.
–Family, MD

To me I think the above two statements probably mean the person should consider a new profession.

Now here are a couple I agree with:

One of the things that bug me is people who leave their cell phones on. I’m running on a very tight schedule, and I want to spend as much time with patients as I possibly can. Use that time to get the information and the process you need. Please don’t answer the cell.
–pain specialist, New York City

I wish patients would take more responsibility for their own health and stop relying on me to bail them out of their own problems.
–ER physician, Colorado Springs, Colorado