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In Reply to: Re: The cult of psycho-celebrity posted by susie on July 02, 2005 at 20:35:18:
Scientology is EXTREMELY powerful. In the US, they've taken on the pharmaceutical industry, specifically the manufacturer of Prozac (Eli Lilly Company) in a major liability lawsuit. It's like King Kong versus Godzilla.
The law suit being funded by Scientology involves the higher risk of suicide in adolescents on antidepressants. The suicides are not a direct result of the anti-depressant medication; they result when general practitioners (GPs) prescribe these drugs to adolescents and fail to carefully monitor the patient with case management or talk therapy. Depressed, angry kids start to feel more energy after a few weeks on the anti-depressant--enough energy, in fact, to carry out a suicide that they lacked enough initiative to attempt prior to medicating. IMO, this is a major why psychotropic medications shouldn't be prescribed for adolescents by GPs, because medication alone is not sufficient. If prescribed by child psychiatrists, treatment includes therapy and close observation, including hospitalization to prevent self-injury at the critical phase in medication titration.
Scientology has jumped on bad medicating practices by inadequately trained general practitioners as a way to go after Eli Lilly and the other antidepressant manufacturers. The truth is, the pharmaceutical companies are responsible for promoting the distribution of antidepressants through general practice doctors as a way to boost sales. There simply aren't enough pediatric psychiatrists to properly prescribe these meds and monitor treatment.
