Vol. 6, No. 1 - Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto

help, fought back: on Jan. 3,she appealed the board'sdecision and applied to bereleased from Queen Street inorder to find her own home.Despite considerable evidencethat Mrs. J. was in no danger ofharming herself or others andthat she was not benefittingfrom the prescribed drugs, theboard upheld its ruling andordered her to be drugged forup to three months. However,after Berman's motion in theDistrictCourt in Toronto - heargued that Mrs. J.'s commitaland enforced drugging violatedthree sections of the CanadianCharter of Rights and Freedoms- the Ontario Ministry ofHealth abandoned its courtaction,andtheinstitutionagreed to an "unofficial understanding"that Mrs. J. is nottobe drugged while in QueenStreet, where she is stillincarcerated involuntarily.The second inmate, Mrs. S.,was firstadmitted to HamiltonPsychiatric Hospital lastDecember for a five-dayassessment - a form ofinvoluntary commital - andlater declared incompetent,forced to submit to drugging,and incarcerated on aninvoluntary basis. Mrs. S. wasdenied the right toDANGEROUS SIDE EFFECTSANTI-DEPRESSANTPHOENIX COMMENTSTAKEN OFF MARKETThe anti-depressant drugMeritalis being pulled off themarket in Canada after reportsof its many adverse side effects,including hemolytic anemia, asometimes fatal disease of thered blood cells.Merital, the trade name forthe drug nomifensine, has beenmarketed in Canada since 1983by Hoechst Canada Inc., whichsaid that reports have linked therepresentation at both her firstboard hearing and hersubsequent appeal, which wasrejected.In his motion filed in DistrictCourt in February, Bermanquestioned the validity of thecommital order and again citedthree sections of the Charter asarguments against the enforceddrugging of his client!Once again, the MinistryofHealth decided not to pursue acourt case; the board's druggingorder was allowed to expire andMrs. S.'s status was changedfrom involuntary to voluntary.Although both casesrepresented what Bermancalled "Indirect victories"- since neither was heardIn court, no precedentcould be set - we feel thedisposition of thesewomen's cases may causeOntario's Institutionalpsychiatrists and regionalreview boards to thinktwice before forcing drugson Inmates. We hopeadvocates such as Bermanwill continue to fight forpeople In psychiatricInstitutions - all the way tothe Supreme Court ofCanada, If necessary.drug to hemolytic anemia, inwhich antibodies are producedthat attack red blood cells. Thedrug has also been known toproduce hypersensitivityreactions with flu-likesymptoms.Federal health officials,whoare monitoring the recall, toldus in a letter that "very few"adverse reactions have beenreported in Canada - whereup to 50,000 people have usedthe drug - but that the numberhas been on the increase in theUnited Kingdom. As a result, thecompany has decided to extenditswithdrawal of the drug to itsworldwide market, includingthe United States and theUnited Kingdom.PHOENIX COMMENTSIt's chilling that acrossthe world, more than 14GOVERNMENTFILM ON INJECTIONAND CANADIANPHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATIONSHIRK RESPONSIBILITY TOCANADIANSmillion people have beensubjected to this dangerousdrug - a statistic theHoechst company boastedIn Its slick, glossyadvertising, while playingdown Its warning aboutserious reactions. Morechilling, still, to considerthe catch-phrase used bythe company In Its adcampaign: "Merltal - theanti-depressant you canfeel right about. "The government of Canada and the CanadianPharmaceutical Association (CPA) stillrefuse to inform patientsand the public about psychiatric drugs and their risks, includingTardive Dyskinesia (see our "Tardive Dyskinesia Epidemic,"Vol. 3, No.2, 1982). Instead, the government and the CPA aresimply leaving it to the "discretion" of doctors and pharmaciststo telltheir patients about these drugs.Since 1983, Health and Welfare Canada and the CPA havebeen sending littleslips of paper or "Supplementary InformationOn Medication" (SIMs) on various psychiatric drugs to doctorsand pharmacists - not to patients.The information on these SIMs is very skimpy when it comesto drug warnings and adverse effects. For example, in the blurbon the phenothiazines or neuroleptic drugs, there is absolutelyno information about tardive dyskinesia, the most serious andpermanent effect of these drugs. Further, doctors andpharmacists are not required to release this information to youwhen a psychiatric drug is prescribed.We believe our readers, and every Canadian, should havethe absolute right to detailed information about any psychiatricdrug which is prescribed. We should have the right to know thename, type, dosage, maximum safe dosage, major effects, and,especially, the many serious risks - including tardive dyskinesia- of these mind-disabling drugs.We urge you to write letters of protest to the Canadiangovernment and the CPA demanding that such detailedinformation be automatically given to you whenever apsychiatric drug is prescribed. Here are the addresses:Dr. A.J. Liston,Mr. Leroy Fevang,Assistant Deputy Minister, Executive Director,Health Protection Branch, Canadian PharmaceuticalHealth and Welfare Canada. AssociationTunney's Pasture,1815 Alta Vista DriveOttawa, Ont. KIA OL2 Ottawa, Ont. KIG 2Y6OF NEUROLEPTICSTHE LATEST TECHNIQUESOF CHEMICAL TORTUREThe following is quoteddirectlyfrom the October, 1985issue of Update, a quarterlypublished by the CommunityAdvisory Board of WhitbyPsychiatric Hospital. McNeill,the multinational drug companymentioned in the item,manufactures Haldol, one ofthe most powerful anddangerous neuroleptics which isusually forcibly administered to"schizophrenics. "Whitby Psychiatric HospitalAudio-Visual Departmentin cooperation with McNeill