new major on the block Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Did anyone watch any of the 10:00 news channel special reports on Feb. 28? All three of them had weird stories involving aliens, demons, and hallucinogenic perscription drugs. ABC13's story had a lady who lives in Houston who claimed that she was abducted by aliens and they cured her sickness. NewsTwoHouston's story was about a lady who lived in houston and could see demons. She claimed they are fighting a holy war all around us. KHOU11's story described a man who took either precription or over the counter drugs that caused him to hear the voice of god. Then the voice told him to kill his child. A jury found him innocent of murder because of the drugs. Does anyone have any comments on those stories or any other news stories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 In Bryan/ College Station we get Channel 13 ABC and we also have our own ABC40, but anyways, I saw that lady, on TV last night also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 I did not see any of the stories you mentioned. That channels 2 and 13 had the sleazier ones does not surprise me in the least. UFO abductions and demon-sightings? Puh-leeze! This is supermarket tabloid fare.OTC and prescription drugs and their side effects is a serious issue, and deserves coverage. I commend channel 11 for taking the high road (no pun intended).If only we had an informative news channel! I'd like to see coverage of the issues before city council, and an accounting of how each councilmember votes. I am not in the least interested in the sex lives of pop stars or movie actors, which seems to be the thrust (no pun intended) of much of the local news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 I thought the most interesting statement during one of the broadcasts was that the ADD/ADHD drug called Adderall is being taken by a million people in the United States, most likely children. Now, that's scary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new major on the block Posted March 2, 2005 Author Share Posted March 2, 2005 I did not see any of the stories you mentioned. That channels 2 and 13 had the sleazier ones does not surprise me in the least. UFO abductions and demon-sightings? Puh-leeze! This is supermarket tabloid fare.OTC and prescription drugs and their side effects is a serious issue, and deserves coverage. I commend channel 11 for taking the high road (no pun intended). If only we had an informative news channel! I'd like to see coverage of the issues before city council, and an accounting of how each councilmember votes. I am not in the least interested in the sex lives of pop stars or movie actors, which seems to be the thrust (no pun intended) of much of the local news. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I agree totally with you. News should be for important issues that concern the city and surrounding area. After I had finished watching the stories, I wondered if the two ladies that saw the demons and aliens was taking the same prescription drugs that channel 11 brought to our attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Up Close: Safety of popular ADHD prescription questioned Adderall removed from shelves in Canada07:39 AM CST on Tuesday, March 1, 2005By Jason Whitely / 11 NewsMany consider it a miracle drug. It's called Adderall and prescribed to people with ADD or ADHD helping them better focus and concentrate. But the drug maker and doctors got a surprise this month when Canada ordered it removed from its shelves. Tarnow Center We looked into the drug, it's severe side effects, and why many are now defending it. In Bismarck, North Dakota, Tyra Ehlis was only 5-weeks-old when her father Ryan pointed a shotgun at her chest and pulled the trigger. In Scottsdale, Arizona, Dawn Marie Branson, with her 3-year-old son Nathaniel in her lap, heard voices telling her to let go of the steering wheel while driving in traffic. Nathaniel died moments later in a crash. Both families blame Adderall a drug they were prescribed for Attention Deficit Disorder. "The two cases I've handled," Houston attorney Andy Vickery said referring to Ehlis and Branson, "both were adults who became psychotic at normal doses. That's what's really significant that people just using it normally like their doctor says become psychotic and hear voices from God telling them to do bizarre things like shotgun their 5-week-old daughter." In a 2001 deposition, Adderall's then vice-president of marketing, Stefan Antonsson, admitted it's possible. Vickery can be heard on video asking: "Is psychosis a side effect of Adderall?" Antonsson responded: "Psychosis is a side effect, although extremely rare, can occur in certain individuals under certain circumstances of all the psycho stimulant methylphenidate amphetamines." On Feb. 9, 2005, Health Canada, that country's equivalent to the FDA, pulled Adderall "XR" off its shelves, not because of side-effects like psychosis, but after 20-deaths Canada believes may be due to the drug. Right now, it's estimated a million patients take Adderall every year in the United States and Canada. The number of adverse events it has had, though tragic, is not remarkably high. The decision to pull it off the shelves in Canada surprises many, causing them to wonder if that country is overreacting. "I was shocked when I saw it because the data had been reviewed by the FDA," said Dr. Jay Tarnow, a Houston psychiatrist, and owner of The Tarnow Center for Self-Management. According to its Web site, the FDA already investigated the 20 deaths Canada is questioning. Each happened in the United States and the FDA discovered the patients either had heart defects or other health problems that may have led to the death as well as their taking of Adderall. In a critical news release on Shire's Web site, the maker of Adderall, the company said "The FDA in the United States has had access to the same data but has had a very different interpretation and response to Health Canada. In the confusion over the interpretation of the data and Health Canada's response to it, Canadian parents are left with a suspicion of all medications." Despite Canada's decision and rare side effects like psychosis, Dr. Jay Tarnow also believes Adderall is beneficial to patients who are closely monitored. "Oh, I definitely have faith and confidence in Adderall XR," Tarnow said. "I think it's a good medicine that's very effective for a group of patients." One of them is 17-year-old Kate Rigsby. "I was really skeptical about taking it at first," Rigsby said. "I thought it was a cop out." She's a believer now. So is her mom. "She would come home and say she could follow more of what went on in class," said Dawn Rigsby, Kate's mother. "That was sort of a light switch [that went off]." "I started taking it and I really started to notice a difference," Kate remembered. "I just got really motivated to pursue my schoolwork." The high school senior's grades improved, too, after doctors prescribed her Adderall XR a couple years ago. Rigsby hasn't had any of the rare life-threatening side effects. Adderall's manufacturer, Shire, said it is confident this medication is safe. "Each month," the company said in a statement "more than 700,000 prescriptions are dispensed in the United States to help people diagnosed with Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder. Over the life of this medicine, more than 43.7 million prescriptions have been dispensed." The company went on to say "the data also shows that the number of people taking this medicine and who had an adverse event, including a sudden death event, is lower than the number of people in the general population who had experienced a sudden death adverse event and who were not taking this medicine." Shire Pharmaceuticals told KHOU it's considering responsive action to Canada after that country removed it from the shelves. The drug maker and the government are talking though it's unclear when or if Adderall XR will return to the market there. A jury acquitted Ryan Ehlis of killing his infant daughter. Prosecutors never charged Dawn Branson in her son's death. Adderall XR though powerful and immensely popular in the U.S. now faces an uncertain future in Canada, the only other country in which it's sold, after that country raised a red flag. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Online at: http://www.khou.com/news/local/education/s...e.f26bf45c.htmland more from Dr. Tarnow...regarding AdderallAdderall side effects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 No, I didn't see those stories but I prefer to get my news from more reputable sources than television news: Seriously, news on television is always going to be silly by its very nature, since it always depends on wide audience appeal and visual communicatiion. If you want a better quality of news sources, stick to printed media. That's not saying that all newspapers and newsmagazines are necessarily great, just that you're more likely to find something of value there than on television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Adderall, like Ritalin, is also a heavily abused drug by students who need an extra boost to stay up late. It's also, I've heard, popular among people who work on political campaigns. Kind of explains a lot. If you use it a lot you become completely ripped right around your eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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