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Families of several soldiers who died while taking the very potent anti-pyschotic drug known as Seroquel say the government is not being up front about the drug's risks and they are now asking asking Congress to investigate this drug.

Many questions remain unanswered with Seroquel treatment.

It is currently unclear how many soldiers have died while taking Seroquel, or if the drug definitely contributed to the deaths. However, the drug's potential side effects, including diabetes, weight gain and uncontrollable muscle spasms, have resulted in thousands of lawsuits.

Physicians interviewed about the success of AstraZeneca's second-best-selling product said they began prescribing Seroquel because it was the only drug that offered relief from the nightmares and anxiety of PTSD.

"By accident, some people were giving them Seroquel for anxiety or depression, and the veterans said, 'This is the first time I have slept six or seven hours straight all night. Please give me more of that.' And the word spread," said Dr. Henry Nasrallah of the University of Cincinnati, who has treated PTSD patients for more than 25 years.

Seroquel is approved to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, but it has not been endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for insomnia. However, psychiatrists are permitted to prescribe approved drugs for other uses in a common practice known as "off-label" prescribing.

Most of the soldiers and veterans seeking treatment for PTSD do so at hospitals run by the VA or the Defense Department. The VA's spending on Seroquel has increased more than 770 percent since 2001. In that same time frame, the number of patients covered by the VA increased just 34 percent.

Seroquel has been the VA's second-biggest prescription drug expenditure since 2007, behind the blood-thinner Plavix. The agency spent $125.4 million last fiscal year on Seroquel, up from $14.4 million in 2001. Spending on Seroquel by the Department of Defense has increased to $8.6 million last year, according to purchase records.

The drug, approved in 1997, is AstraZeneca's second-best-selling product, with U.S. sales of $4.2 billion last year. But that success has been marred by allegations that the company illegally marketed the drug and minimized its risks. In fact, AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million in April to settle federal allegations that its salespeople pitched Seroquel for numerous off-label uses, including insomnia.

Meanwhile the military families are devastated and are asking Congress to investigate this potentially deadly drug Seroquel. http://www.emaxhealth.com/1357/military-families-asking-congress-inves
tigate-seroquel should bloody well think they ARE. It doesn't mention suicide, but the other article I posted in the thread on military suicides covers that. As I said in the other thread, we in the mental health community are very familiar with it, and I posted an article by someone concerned that the use of multiple psychotropics prescribed our soldiers may well be part of the reason for so many suicides. I definitely agree, especially where Seroquel is concerned!

Some more:

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The widely used Seroquel antipsychotic was never approved to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or the insomnia sometimes related to the afflication, but that hasn’t stopped the drug from being prescribed for that purpose by the US Department of Veteran Affairs and, in the process, becoming one of the VA’s biggest expenditures.

Since 2001, VA spending on Seroquel jumped more than 770 percent, while the number of patients covered by the VA increased just 34 percent, the Associated Press writes. Seroquel is now the VA’s second-biggest prescription drug expenditure since 2007, behind the Plavix bloodthinner. The agency spent $125.4 million last fiscal year on Seroquel, up from $14.4 million in 2001, and the growth in spending outpaces the growth in personnel who have gone through the military during that time.

Meanwile, thousands of soldiers have taken the med, and several soldiers and veterans have died, raising concerns among some military families the government is not being forthcoming about the risks, the AP writes, noting that they want Congress to investigate. The trend, by the way, is not confined to Seroquel. An investigation earlier this year found that at least one in six service members is on some form of psychiatric drug.

According to the VA, Seroquel is only prescribed as a third or fourth option for patients with difficult-to-treat insomnia stemming from PTSD, the AP writes. And the US Defense Department’s deputy director for force health protection, Michael Kilpatrick, tells the news service that the government has not seen any increase in dangerous side effects from Seroquel and other drugs. http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/08/the-military-post-traumatic-stress-an
d-seroquel/

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If it's only prescribed as third or fourth option, why has its use increased so dramatically? According to that other article, Seroquel is prescribed a LOT for soldiers, so I don't buy that. "Not seen any increase in dangerous side effects"?? Potential suicide is one of the biggest side effects of Seroquel, so how can they say that??

You don't prescribe something--especially something like Seroquel!--if someone says it worked for insomnia and they want it! That's malpractice, to say the least! I know our military has been found to have done many things wrong with regard to the troops throughout history, and this is just another example, but it needs to be brought to people's attention, badly!

And what other psychotropics are used in conjunction with Seroquel in the military? I can't find anything (yet), but mixing psychotropics is something regular p-docs do VERY carefully with individual patients; how can the military possibly keep track of individual reactions to these drugs (which can vary widely from individual to individual), especially if they are giving them in conjunction with other meds of ANY kind, especially other psychotropics?

This knowledge infuriates me; Seroquel is one of the heaviest anti-psychotics around, and is usually only prescribed for schisophrenics, bipolars and depressives who experience extreme symptoms; how in hell does our military rationalize using it so much? Yes, off-label medicating is common, for a long time I took one of the newer meds which failed to be recognized for bipolarity by the FDA, but was used frequently for it by p-docs, and it worked quite well for me. But off-label prescribing of such a heavy anti-psychotic, with the well-documented potential side effect of suicide, for relief from nightmares or merely as a sedative for sleeping is WAY off label, and this is just insane!