About the Bonkers Institute

Doctor Finds Genetic Link to Everything

by Ima Debunker, MindFreedom News Service

For years, Dr. M.I. Bonkers, founder and president of the Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research, has been puzzled by one simple question: why isn't everybody exactly the same?

Bonkers, who earns a hefty six-figure income, lives in a comfortable five-bedroom home and drives a silver-gray Volvo wagon, is often heard muttering to himself, "Why can't everyone be as perfect as me?"

Dr. Bonkers says that his interest in this particular line of research began nearly a decade ago, when he was buying some groceries at the supermarket.

"I observed the lady behind the counter," he recalls, "and I couldn't help wondering why she worked at her job for only $8 per hour, instead of being a highly-paid medical professional like myself.   Instinctively I knew something wasn't right."

That moment was a turning point in Dr. Bonkers' career.   He received a $2.5 million grant from the federal government (with additional funding from certain really big pharmaceutical giants) to establish and operate the Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research.   Already, experimental laboratory tests conducted at the Institute have produced several promising new studies which might someday lead to a scientific breakthrough in our understanding of prototypical human somatogenic behavioral response, or something sort of like that.

"We used to believe people are different for no particular reason," Bonkers explained, "but now we're learning there's a biological, organic and/or genetic component to just about everything."

"For example," Dr. Bonkers continued, "I used to think people drive gas-guzzling Sport Utility Vehicles simply because they're misguided.   Now I understand they probably suffer from some kind of chemical imbalance."

This new way of thinking is important, Bonkers says, because it will reduce the stigma society often associates with certain automobiles, such as rusty Ford Escorts and badly-dented Mercury Sables.

"We know that certain kinds of vehicular choices run in families," Bonkers observed.  "Just the other day, a farmer told me he really likes his Chevy pickup.   After questioning the man, I discovered that both his father and grandfather had owned Chevrolets, clearly indicating a strong genetic predisposition."

Bonkers adds that pharmacological treatment (with new and constantly improved medications such as the highly profitable selective serotonin reputake inhibitors, which are 100% non-addictive if taken for life, have no invisible superficial side effects, and cost nothing if you have decent insurance) may be required in some but probably not all cases.

"One of my patients was an elderly woman who drove a dull tan-colored Chrysler.   After putting her on a combination of antidepressants, stimulants, sedatives and mood stabilizers, she began driving a more appropriate blue Buick."

Bonkers says that in many cases, years of treatment are required before patients achieve full recovery.

How do clinicians know when psychiatric medications may be safely discontinued?

"That's simple," the doctor says.  "When the patient drives a silver-gray Volvo wagon."

New York Times exposes nation-wide Medicaid scandal

In a front page story dated March 23, 2007, the New York Times quotes a mental health advocate in Michigan named Ben Hansen who obtained documents proving that drugmaker Eli Lilly has duped at least 20 states into promoting costly and harmful psychiatric drugs like Zyprexa, Strattera and Cymbalta.

Now for the first time, the true identity of the mysterious Ben Hansen is revealed: he is none other than Dr. Methodius Isaac Bonkers, founder and president of the Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research.

Mr. Hansen -- aka Dr. Bonkers -- issued the following statement in response to the public outcry over the latest example of pharmaceutical industry wrongdoing:

I'm the Michigan mental health advocate who described Eli Lilly's pharmacy program as "incestuous," quoted in Stephanie Saul's story, In Some States, Maker Oversees Use of Its Drug.

As a member of the Michigan Department of Community Health Recipient Rights Advisory Committee, for over a year I've been researching Lilly's pharmacy program in Michigan and 25 other states.   Through a series of FOIA requests, I've uncovered a lot of solid evidence that wasn't even mentioned in the Times.

I hope to hear from officials in Michigan and other states with similar programs funded by Eli Lilly and implemented by Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc.   Feel free to contact me directly or send me an anonymous tip if you wish.   This is a big story, and it's not going away.

In solidarity with all victims of pharmaceutical industry fraud,

Ben Hansen
Traverse City, Michigan
email: methodius (at) bonkersinstitute.org

Michigan Lawsuit Uncovers Psychiatry's Dark Secret:
Drug-Induced Movement Disorders in Young Children

Last month the New York Times exposed yet another example of unethical marketing practices by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.   The front page story, In Some States, Maker Oversees Use of Its Drug, focused on Lilly's efforts to coerce Medicaid officials into placing Zyprexa on preferred drug lists in at least 25 states.   Eli Lilly was caught in broad daylight with its hands in the "Medicaid cookie jar," yet the story behind the scenes is deeper than that.

For over a year I've been investigating Eli Lilly's subversion of Michigan's Medicaid program, and through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit I obtained nearly a thousand pages of documents showing how Medicaid is being milked like a huge cash cow by the pharmaceutical industry.   In July 2006 I alerted the New York Times to Lilly's antics in Michigan.   I provided several key documents and solid leads to the reporter covering the story, Stephanie Saul.   Overall I was pleased by the way Ms. Saul reported the Lilly/Medicaid scandal, but there's another part of the story the Times didn't mention.

The purpose of my FOIA lawsuit in Michigan is not simply to embarrass one pharmaceutical manufacturer -- my aim is to gain access to data that will blow the lid off the entire psychiatric drug industry.   This may be why the State of Michigan has fought me every step of the way, beginning with my first FOIA request in November 2005.   Instead of joining my attempt to shed light on Michigan's corrupt Medicaid system, the state attorney general's office has tried to block the release of the documents I've requested, even filing a motion to have my lawsuit thrown out of court.

Thankfully, a respected attorney has taken my case pro bono, and we're mapping a strategy to outmaneuver our opponents.   The lawsuit, Ben Hansen vs. State of Michigan Department of Community Health, boils down to a fight over the release of records which show a list of each patient's psychotropic drugs by drug NAME, not just by drug CLASS.   For example, we know at least one Michigan Medicaid patient is currently on a total of 17 different psychiatric drugs, but the State of Michigan doesn't want us to know the names of the drugs in the 17-drug cocktail!

By the time the next ICSPP newsletter is published, I hope to report a successful outcome to this ongoing legal battle.   For now I wish to share a sampling of the psychiatric prescribing data I've obtained so far.   The numbers speak for themselves.

During a 10-month period from January 2006 to October 2006, Michigan Medicaid statistics show:

• 100%increase in children under age 18 on 3 or more mood stabilizers.
• 100% increase in children age 6-17 on 4 or more psychiatric drugs.
• 79% increase in adults on 5 or more psychiatric drugs.
• 67% increase in adults on 3 or more psychiatric drugs.
• 49% increase in adults on 2 or more insomnia agents.
• 45% increase in children under age 18 on a benzodiazepine for at least 60 days.
• 45% increase in children under age 18 on 2 or more antipsychotics.

According to Medicaid records, the top 5 psychiatric drug classes prescribed to children under age 5 were:

• 1. Anxiolytics/Sedative Hypnotics (1,265 patients under age 5).
• 2. Antidyskinetics (972 patients under age 5).
• 3. Anticonvulsants/Mood Stabilizers (933 patients under age 5).
• 4. Sympathomimetics/Stimulants (408 patients under age 5).
• 5. Atypical Antipsychotics (322 patients under age 5).

The most recent data on children under age 5, from February to December 2005, shows a 100% increase in children under 5 prescribed antidyskinetics (also called antiparkinsonians) for movement disorders such as dystonia, dyskinesia, tics, and tremors. This is perhaps the most disturbing statistic I've uncovered so far.   If the same trend continued through 2006, it would mean the prescribing of antidyskinetics to children under 5 years old has quadrupled in the last two years!

If the increased prescribing of antidyskinetics is the direct result of an increase in the diagnosis and treatment of "mental disorders" in American toddlers, then we could be witnessing a public health disaster of monumental proportions.   Drug-induced movement disorders in children are increasing at an astonishing rate, yet little if any mention of this is reported in the news.   Certainly this is not something the pharmaceutical industry and its servant, the American Psychiatric Association, wishes to see publicized.   It is the urgent task of organizations like ICSPP to uncover this dark secret and shine a light on it for the world to see.