AstraZeneca Seroquel - More evidence tying Seroquel use to the development of Diabetes and related conditions

 A new abstract has been published once again showing the direct correlation between the use of anti-psychotic drugs and the onset of diabetes & related conditions (causation). Of course, we know from some of the very limited public release of AstraZeneca internal documents related to the Seroquel litigation; that AstraZeneca was well aware of these inherent adverse health risks related to Seroquel long ago ( background here astrazeneca-suppressed-drug-test-data ) , but instead of conducting further investigation and studies into these damaging and deadly relevant risk factors; they chose to bury the adverse data instead, and then turn Seroquel over to their marketing/sales department to make it the multi-billion dollar a year block buster it eventually became. 

In fact, the main hang up that has been so publicly touted in the Seroquel Litigation is that the plaintiff law firms haven't provided accepted expert medical testimony that Seroquel is a leading contributor to the onset of diabetes and related conditions to the court. That appears to be no longer a significant problem considering the new dear doctor letter  and studies showing the connection conclusively.

Studies have already shown that atypical anti-psychotics (Seroquel) have a much higher risk for metabolic disorders than the older anti-psychotics drugs (abstract of study here -> Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs and Diabetes Mellitus in the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Database : Conclusions: In the AERS database, lower associations with DRAEs were seen for haloperidol, aripiprazole and ziprasidone, and higher associations were seen for olanzapine, risperidone, clozapine and quetiapine. Our findings support differential risk of diabetes across atypical anti-psychotics, reinforcing the need for metabolic monitoring of patients taking anti-psychotics.). 

Yet, this newest study that isn't even differentiating between older anti-psychotics and the newer atypical anti-psychotics is showing a more significant correlation between the use of these drugs and the onset or development of diabetes and related conditions. ( you can reasonably imagine if they had only conducted this study using a-typical anti-psychotic drugs, the prevalence numbers would be much higher than are being portrayed in the abstract below) . This is vitally important health information that has been buried for far to long from the public and users of these drugs. 

The evidence is now showing that no longer can greedy pharmaceutical giants like AstraZeneca hide the reality of what they have done. There is no longer any doubt that they placed profits before patient safety in one of the most detestable crimes of our times. No more excuses, injured parties demand trials, they demand no more hidden secrets, no more backroom pay to play deals...the injured parties and the public have a right to know, & they have a right to justice.

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From The Journal Of Clinical Psychiatry

Prediabetes in Patients Treated With Antipsychotic Drugs

Peter Manu, Christoph Correll, Ruud van Winkel, Martien Wampers, and Marc De Hert

[Abstract] [Full Text] Posted 12/27/11

 Prediabetes in Patients Treated With Antipsychotic Drugs

Prediabetes in Patients Treated With Antipsychotic Drugs

Peter Manu, MD; Christoph Correll, MD; Ruud van Winkel, MD, PhD; Martien Wampers, PhD; and Marc De Hert, MD, PhD

J Clin Psychiatry

10.4088/JCP.10m06822

Copyright 2011 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

 Background: In 2010, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) proposed that individuals with fasting glucose level of   100–125 mg/dL (5.6–6.9 mmol/L) or glucose level of 140–199 mg/dL (7.8–11.0 mmol/L) 2 hours after a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test or hemoglobin A1c 5.7%–6.4% be classified as prediabetic, indicating increased risk for the emergence of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, the ADA formulated guidelines for the use of metformin for the treatment of prediabetes.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of prediabetes in a cohort of psychiatrically ill adults receiving antipsychotics and to compare the clinical and metabolic features of prediabetic patients with those of patients with normal glucose tolerance and those with diabetes mellitus.

Method: The 2010 ADA criteria were applied to a large, consecutive, single-site European cohort of 783 adult psychiatric inpatients (mean age: 37.6 years) without a history of diabetes who were receiving antipsychotics. All patients in this cross-sectional study underwent measurement of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, oral glucose tolerance test, and fasting insulin and lipids from November 2003 through July 2007.

Results: 413 patients (52.8%) had normal glucose tolerance, 290 (37.0%) had prediabetes, and 80 (10.2%) had diabetes mellitus. The fasting glucose and/or hemoglobin A1c criteria were met by 89.7% of prediabetic patients. A statistically significant intergroup gradient from normal glucose tolerance to prediabetes and from prediabetes to diabetes mellitus was observed for waist circumference, triglycerides, fasting insulin levels, and frequency of metabolic syndrome (P = .02 to P < .0001). Only 19/290 prediabetic patients (6.6%) met the 2010 ADA criteria for treatment with metformin.

Conclusions: Prediabetes is highly prevalent in adults treated with antipsychotic drugs and correlates with markers of increased intraabdominal adiposity, enhanced lipolysis, and insulin resistance. Criteria for using metformin to prevent the emergence of diabetes mellitus may need to be revised for this population.

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                         Or we can continue to do nothing...allow corporate greed to go unchecked, and have our population do the above instead