MEDICINES OUT OF CONTROL

Early day motion 853, tabled 17 March 2004 by Paul Flynn (Labour). Signed by 38 members.

That this House hails the publication of the book 'Medicines Out of Control' as a remarkable account of history repeating itself over the last 150 years in the promotion of anti-depression drugs; congratulates Mr Charles Medawar and Anita Hardon for revealing mountainous evidence of incompetence and inaction by regulatory authorities and profit-driven pharmaceutical giants in advocating the use of cocaine, bromides, barbiturates, benzodiazepines and anti-depressants as safe drugs until use by millions of patients have proved them to be addictive, dangerous and of little or no utility; and regrets that more than six million people in Britain and 10 million children in the USA are currently using anti-depressants in spite of mounting evidence that they have been vastly over-prescribed for the mild depression that is an inevitable part of the human experience.

Signatures by party: Labour 24, Liberal Democrat 7, DUP 2, Labour/Co-operative 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Independent 1.