With no psychiatric drugs FDA approved as safe for use by pregnant and nursing mothers and doctors rightfully reluctant to prescribe any drugs harmful to the fetus, a new customer recruitment scheme was needed and the Mothers Act fit the bill.
Opposition to the Act stems from the certainty that it will lead to more forced drugging of infants with no voice of their own to prevent it, with antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antiseizure drugs that cause birth defects, a withdrawal syndrome and many other serious health problems, through pregnant and nursing mothers.
The Act is modeled after a mandatory screening law enacted in New Jersey, the home state of the bill's main sponsor, Senator Robert Menendez, and also the home state for many drug companies. Attempts to pass the federal version have failed for the past 8 years.
The postpartum websites strung out all over the internet to promote the bill, many run by people benefiting financially from the new treatment industry they created, argue that the Act does not call for mandatory screening, without mentioning that the screening language was removed last year due to strong opposition.
"There is NO MANDATED screening," Susan Stone wrote in a blog on the website for her treatment center, PerinatalPro, on May 29, 2009.
On May 12, 2009, the Herald News reported that the Act "lacks one vote for approval" in the US Senate, citing a speech made by Menendez, during a press conference. Menendez told the Herald that the national bill would not mandate screening. "Hopefully, states would adopt screening," he said.
This statement, in May of this year, clearly shows that the goal of passing the federal legislation is to set the stage for states to pass mandatory screening laws, like the one in New Jersey.
A June 16, 2006, press release, by Menendez and Senator Richard Durbin, announcing the bill stated, the "Act was introduced in response to a recently passed, first-of-its-kind New Jersey law requiring doctors and nurses to educate and screen expectant mothers about PPD."
The Theraurus on my computer lists "require" as an alternate word for "mandatory."
On June 8, 2009, NewJersey.com ran the headline: "E-mail: Drug lobbyist targeted Menendez to help with importation bill," and reported that the subject line of the email said: "URGENT"
The email called for New Jersey drug companies to ask Menendez to be their champion on an amendment that would effectively kill any attempt to allow cheaper drugs to be imported from other countries, according to the report.
"We need to locate a Democratic lead cosponsor for the second degree amendment," the e-mail said.
"Can … [Johnson & Johnson], Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and the other New Jersey companies coordinate and contact Senator Menendez's office and ask him to take the lead?"
The strategy to pursue Menendez became known when the email from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade group, ended up with Senator John McCain, a drug importation advocate. "And McCain read it on the Senate floor — twice," the article notes.
"Menendez's office said that while he supports the drug companies' position, he did not act as their champion," according to NewJersey.com.
The Mothers Act refers to "entities," as being eligible for grants and participating in research and the development of screening methods and treatments and delivery.
The bill states: "The Secretary may make grants to eligible entities for projects for the establishment, operation, and coordination of effective and cost-efficient systems for the delivery of essential services to individuals with a postpartum condition and their families."
Under definitions, it says the term 'eligible entity'— "means a public or nonprofit private entity;" and "includes a State or local government, public-private partnership, recipient of a grant under section 330H (relating to the Healthy Start Initiative), public or nonprofit private hospital, community-based organization, hospice, ambulatory care facility, community health center, migrant health center, public housing primary care center, or homeless health center."
"Lawmakers have not specified what constitutes an "entity" so it will be impossible to know if there are conflicts of interest between those who develop the screening tools and conduct research and the pharmaceutical companies who most certainly will benefit financially from the increased diagnosing," according to Kelly Patricia O'Meara in May 7, 2009 article, "Stress Testing the Mothers Act."
"Where is the guarantee that the "entities" are not pharmaceutical front-men?" she writes.
"Given that this research will be used to develop questions or tests for screening new mothers for possible mental disorders, one might find it important to know that the research has integrity and has been validated by the scientific community, free of pharmaceutical largesse."
The Act also calls for a "a coordinated national campaign to increase the awareness and knowledge of postpartum conditions." Activities under such a campaign may— "include public service announcements through television, radio, and other means;" which will basically provide the new pregnancy-related treatment industry with a tax-payer funded mass advertising campaign.
It would be interesting to know whether "entities" would include the treatment centers owned by Susan Stone and Karen Kleiman, and whether their programs would be eligible for funding. At the "Postpartum Stress Center," Kleiman teaches seminars for professional training with ads on her website and the heading: "Become an Expert in the Treatment of Postpartum Mood Disorders."
The first sentence in "Highlights" for this training states: "This is a crash course on diagnosis, screening, assessment, treatment options." The fee is $750 for a 10-hour course, but they do throw in a book titled The Postpartum Stress Center's Guide to Enhancing your PPD Private Practice: A checklist for successful practice, for the $750.
For this gig alone, Karen could make $7,500 per seminar by simply recruiting 10 trainees. Nearly all the websites pitch in to promote conferences and seminars, so rounding up 10, or even 20, trainees would likely not be too difficult.
The website shows 4 seminars a year, meaning Karen could earn roughly $30,000 for 40 hours of teaching people how to "Become an Expert." And if she could round up 20 trainees per class, she could make $60,000 a year, putting her up there with all the other highly paid speakers within the new industry.
In her May 29, 2009 blog, Susan mentions how the Act might help fund "inpatient maternal mental health" programs all across the US. "Just this morning," she says, "I completed an interview with Parenting Magazine, which plans to feature an article about the nation's first inpatient maternal mental health unit at UNC, Chapel Hill, NC, as well as focus on the federal legislation and how this bill might help fund other such programs across the country."
Many sites provide links to "experts" and treatment programs. For instance, Katherine Stone runs "Postpartum Progress," and in December 2008, she had links to the "Top Women's PPMD Treatment Programs & Specialists."
The first program on the list was Dr Stowe's at Emory, which primarily focuses on "the evaluation and treatment of emotional disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period," the website states.
In 2008, Dr Stowe was the primary investigator of an National Institutes of Health grant where the stated purpose was "to stimulate vigorous debate with the emphasis on the reproductive safety of antidepressant medications," according to Grassley's June 2, 2009 letter to the president of Emory.
During a 2008 deposition in a Paxil birth defect case, Stowe said that around "80% of his Emory salary ($187,000) comes from his NIH grants," the letter notes. His total Emory salary was $232,000.
In 2007, Paxil maker, GlaxoSmithKline, paid Stowe $154,400 for 57 promotional talks. He also received $99,300 in the first ten months of 2008 for 38 promotional talks for antidepressant drugs, according to Grassley.
Stowe's undisclosed income above was from one drug maker. In August 2007, he was listed as an author on a study titled, "Atypical Antipsychotic Administration During Late Pregnancy: Placental Passage and Obstetrical Outcomes," in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
According to the disclosure section, Stowe has received research support from Glaxo, Pfizer, and Wyeth. He has served on advisory boards for Wyeth, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Glaxo, and he has served on speaker's bureaus and/or received honoraria from Lilly, Glaxo, Pfizer, and Wyeth.
Dr Jeffrey Newport is the associate director of Emory's Women's Program. Newport was also an author on the "Antipsychotic," study. He has received research support from Lilly, Glaxo, Janssen, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, NIH, and Wyeth, and, he has served on speaker's bureaus for AstraZeneca, Lilly, Glaxo, Pfizer, and Wyeth, according to the disclosures.
On June 14, 2007, Katherine Stone posted a blog with the headline: "Upcoming Event in Asheville Features My Psychiatrist!", in an evening for prescribing clinicians called "Postpartum Mood Disorders: A Systemic Approach to Biopsychosocial Treatment."
"The key speaker will be Dr. Jeffrey Newport, associate director of the Emory Women's Mental Health Program here in Atlanta and also my psychiatrist!!!!", she said. "I have firsthand knowledge that Dr. Newport rocks."
An online announcement shows Dr Stowe gave a seminar titled, "Atypical Antipsychotics in Major Depressive Disorder: When Current Treatments Are Not Enough." The moderator for the seminar was Charles Nemeroff, who earned more than $2.8 million from drug companies between 2000 and 2007, but failed to disclose at least $1.2 million to Emory, according to Grassley.
On July 23, 2008, an article by Nemeroff titled: "Weighing Risk and Benefit for Treatment of Depression in Pregnancy and PostPartum," was available on Medscape. The Medscape website stated, "This article is temporarily unavailable," on March 17, 2009.
Nemeroff stepped down as chair of the psychiatry department in 2008 after an Emory found he had failed to report more than $800,000 from Glaxo from 2000 to 2006. "That matter is now being probed by the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services," according to the Wall Street Journal.
Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Scoop Independent News and an investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government and corporate America.
Comments (closed)
annie mcmillen
2009-07-04 10:13:55
its really horrifying that a lot of these children are abused sexually, emotionally, and physically...then they turn around and get abused chemically...emotional disorders like bi-polar are over diagnosed and mis-diagnosed constantly...i don't think anyone should be given pharama-therapy...
Angela Hager
2010-03-14 01:16:25
It is extremely sad that most are abused children, however, there are many that are not abused. I oughta know. I am Destiny Hager's mother and she was anything but abused. There were also other children in the facility she was at that were not abused as well. Thank You! .
Amazing word combinations.
Enjoyed!