People under psychiatric treatment have a right to informed consent, as do all patients of any medical practitioners. However, psychiatric patients are often not clearly informed about the dangers and side effects of the drugs they are being prescribed. Especially young people and/or their families or caretakers. If you are prescribed a drug without clear discussion of the side effects, this violates your right of informed consent. We trust our doctors to let us know what is right for us. But do they?
One Example
For example, the atypical anti-psychotic, Seroquel, that is advertised on prime time television today, offers these side effects:
“Constipation; dizziness; drowsiness; dry mouth; increased appetite; lightheadedness; nasal congestion; nausea; sore throat; stomach pain or upset; tiredness; vomiting; weakness; weight gain.”
Additional informed consent would include this information:
“Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Seroquel:
Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); confusion; fainting; fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; increased saliva production or drooling; increased sweating; memory loss; menstrual changes; muscle pain, stiffness, or weakness; new or worsening mental or mood changes (eg, aggressiveness, agitation, anxiety, depression, exaggerated feeling of well-being, hallucination, hostility, impulsiveness, inability to sit still, irritability, panic attacks, restlessness); numbness or tingling; persistent, painful erection; seizures; severe or prolonged dizziness or headache; shortness of breath; suicidal thoughts or actions; swelling of the hands, legs, or feet; symptoms of high blood sugar (eg, increased thirst, hunger, or urination; unusual weakness); tremor; trouble concentrating, speaking, or swallowing; trouble sleeping; trouble walking or standing; uncontrolled muscle movements (e.g., arm or leg movements, jerking or twisting, twitching of the face or tongue); vision changes. This is not a complete list of all side effects that may occur.”
Loss of Sexual Ability and Interest
One side effect that is not clearly described but shown to be true in medical studies is a loss of sexual performance and interest.
Tardive Diskenisia
Also, those “uncontrolled muscle movements” may never go away even if you stop taking the drug.
Diabetes and Death
Also the listed side effect of high blood sugar can and does cause diabetes and fatality.
The Drugs Cause Psychosis
Of note are the side effects listed above: “aggressiveness, agitation, anxiety, depression, exaggerated feeling of well-being, hallucination, hostility, impulsiveness, inability to sit still, irritability, panic attacks, restlessness.” These are signs of psychosis. So it is clear on the scientific warning label itself, that Seroquel can and does potentially induce the very symptoms it is designed to lessen. If you were taking a drug for the flu that had a tested and listed side effect of creating “the flu,” it may not be considered an attractive choice for your treatment. There is a chance you would not give your informed consent to take this drug once this was fully understood.
A cynic might say that these side effects would certainly be lucrative to the people manufacturing the drug since it would be creating the very illness it was being sold to fix.
What Informed Consent Really Is
From http://www.america-healthy.com/alternatives-psychiatric-drugs-be-informed comes this well written discussion about what “informed consent” really is.
“In general medicine, the standard for informed consent includes communicating the nature of the diagnoses, the purpose of a proposed treatment or procedure, the risks and benefits of the proposed treatment, and informing the patient of alternative treatments so he or she can make an informed, educated choice.
Psychiatrists often do not offer patients non-drug treatments, nor do they conduct thorough medical examinations to ensure that a person’s problem does not stem from an untreated medical condition. At times, they might fail to inform patients of the nature of the diagnoses, which would require informing the patient that psychiatric diagnoses based on behaviors with little scientific or medical validity (no X-rays, brain scans, chemical imbalance tests to prove anyone has a mental disorder).
All patients should have what is called a “differential diagnosis.” The doctor obtains a thorough history and conducts a complete physical exam, rules out all possible problems that might cause a set of symptoms, and explains any possible side effects of the recommended treatments. [bolding is mine]
There are numerous alternatives to psychiatric diagnoses and treatment, including standard medical care that does not require a psychiatric label or drug. Governments should endorse and fund non-drug treatments as alternatives to potentially ineffective and dangerous drugs.
Limiting drug treatment can lead to the reduction of drug addiction.”
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