The latest chapter in the saga involving theNational Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, and the amount of money accepted from the pharmaceutical industry has millions being contributed to NAMI state chapters. And Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who has been probing the relationship between patient groups and drugmakers and how this may influence the practice of medicine, wants to know what the national organization is doing to make the state chapters more transparent, and how the money is used.
You may recall that a majority of donations made to NAMI, a big advocacy group, have come from drugmakers in recent years. And the disclosure comes after protracted criticism of NAMI for coordinating lobbying efforts with drug makers and pushing legislation that also benefits the pharma industry. NAMI subsequently promised to accept less pharma funding (background). Until recently, NAMI refused for years to disclose specifics of its fund-raising. But according to Grassley, between 2006 and 2008, drugmakers contributed nearly $23 million to NAMI, or about three-quarters of its donations.
Now, in an April 26 letter to NAMI officials, he notes that state chapters are also big beneficiaries. California's chapter received $632,000 last year (see here), while the Ohio chapter got $623,000 from drugmakers. Looked at another way, Lilly ponied up $2.2 million, AstraZeneca donated $1.6 million and Bristol-Myers Squibb gave $1.3 million. All three drugmakers market antipsychotics. The info was obtained by querying each state chapter, although Grassley is miffed that the Alabama, Arizona, Connecticutt and Hawaii chapters ignored him.
15 Comments
wonder how my home state of Florida racked in?
http://www.namipharma.org/
I wish I could say I was surprised. These orgs need to be transparent.
I went and saw the list of money NAMI receives on their website. Pretty bare bones if you ask me/ I guess the people running NAMI still do not really want to disclose much.
Here in Texas, our legislature gives NAMI money, and then NAMI goes right back into the legislature and testifies... Senate and House committee hearings, against legislative rules...
So, we have a non-profit group, funded by Pharma, who lobbies the hill, and each of the states for more "off-label" prescribing... A non-profit group that promotes the increased use of these drugs in Medicaid, foster care, and juvenile justice systems in each of the states...
Pharma is having it just the way they like it... Pharma gets hit with lawsuits to the tune of a half a billion, while the "non-profit" group, NAMI does the heavy-lifting... the promotion of these drugs, under the guise of doing public good...
What a crime!
Duane
These state chapters should disclose as well.
I look forward to the day when Chuck Grassley moves from Finance to Judiciary... maybe then, we'll finally see an end to this...
This isn't about only disclosure, it's much more than that, and I think Senator Grassley is becoming increasingly aware of that fact...
For instance, "bipolar" was once seen in about 1 or 2 percent of the population... with onset in late teens/early twenties... In some states, the majority of kids in foster care are given drugs... the majority!
How can a supposedly "genetic" illness show up in the majority of kids in foster care? It's insane... And it's not just the drugmakers, it's NAMI!!!!
NAMI is behind the pushing of these drugs like candy to kids.... Like candy! Atypical antipscyhotic drugs are tough enough on adults... They shut down the higher functioning of the brain... Peter Breggin, M.D. (former Harvard teaching professor, and consultant to the National Institutes of Mental Health) calls them "chemical lobotomies"... and NAMI keeps pushing these drugs on kids!
This is far more than "disclosure".... This is criminal behavior... some of these drugs shorten the lifespan by 25 years... rendering kids who are on them for any length of time permanently disabled by their use.... unable to work for the rest of their lives.....
No, this stuff needs to come to a quick-end... NAMI needs to be held accountable... Michael Fitzpatrick, Exec Dir of NAMI deserves a fair trail... with the best attorney he can find... and then he needs to be suited in an orange jumpsuit and put in prison... for reckless endangerment, involuntary manslaughter... convictions that transcend money crimes, and are seen for what they are... crimes against vulnerable children, often leading to their premature death!
Pardon the passion, I've had enough!
Duane
It's worth keeping in mind that a lot of national programs, or goals, are funded on a state by state basis. So what look like relatively small amounts per state may actually be quite large if the funding is towards national rather than state-specific goals.
the money trails of NAMI....
Duane - "chemical lobotomies". That's precious. Thanks for sharing Peter Breggin's description of atypical antipsychotics.
Patrons99 -
For more, see his website. He has a good section on antipsychotics (neuroleptics) -
http://breggin.com
Duane
"Patient" organizations are an oxymoron: virtually none give practical advise, all ask for donations and those like the AHA have become so massive that they paid $m3 to their executives alone in 2005 [for 37.5 hrs/week each worth of work: http://www.health-heart.org/AHA_CEOandV-Ps_2005.pdf Now, THAT is charity!
Moreover, the AHA [once audited by Anderson, the same artists that did Enron] does not publish a list of corporate benefactors. The law should dictate that any organization that solicits public or patient donations should publish a list of corporate gifters, with amounts, ON THEIR WEBSITES. Until then, I don't give to them.
It's coming down to this where whatever you do in America is becoming a struggle because so many people refuse to behave morally. It seems the people who cry foul, the conservative/republicans are the most crooked people in the country. I have a mental illness but my mind is as sharp as a tack.
Dear Nami Friends,
Please take the time to sign this petition asking President O'bama to set a state-wide standard of care to be funded for those with severe mental illness. This petition originated in Maine, with Jeanne Marisola, whose son is currently hospitalized for the 28th time. My son, as well, is currently in jail on a misdemeanor, the only way to get him off the streets of Illinois in his state of decompensation and anosognosia. There is an existing AOT law but no funding for it. Statistics show, however that funding such a program would save lives and a significant amount of money for each state. We must take this opportunity to again speak on behalf of those who are too ill to speak for themselves.
Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Joshua's Mother Donna Pitts 815-543-4003
http://www.hospital-data.com/hospitals/ILLINOIS-STATE-PSYCHIATRIC-INSTITUTE192.html