Abuse of Seroquel in Prisons Reported.

AstraZeneca "pushed" Seroquel contracts with large correctional healthcare firms, by offering it at about half the cost available in free world pharmacies. With continuity of care programs, AstraZeneca is aware that the free world doctors are most likely to continue the Seroquel upon the defendant's release. I would not be surprised if there is both a physical and psychological dependence on Seroquel. Just to note, Seroquel is one of the highest costing psychotropic medication there is.

Abuse of Seroquel in prisons reported
Antipsychotic medications are generally thought to have little potential for abuse. But a handful of psychiatrists have raised concerns about patients abusing and becoming addicted to Seroquel.


In separate letters in The American Journal of Psychiatry, psychiatrists in California and Ohio detail drug-seeking behavior, abuse and addiction to Seroquel among inmates at prisons in those two states.

According to a 2004 letter, staff members at the Los Angeles County jail said as many as 30 percent of the inmates seen by psychiatrists faked psychotic symptoms in order to obtain Seroquel. The psychiatrists said some inmates would take Seroquel by pulverizing the tablets and sniffing the powder.

In a letter published in the journal last year, psychiatrists Emil Pinta and Robert Taylor said inmates in Ohio threatened legal action or suicide when faced with ending their treatment of Seroquel, which is not an approved medication in Ohio prisons. Pinta wrote that in 35 years as a prison consultant, he could remember similar behavior only to obtain controlled substances.

In an interview, Taylor said Seroquel may be especially valued in prisons -- where sleeping can be difficult -- for its tranquilizing properties. He said he worked in the state mental health system for two years before moving to a prison in 2005.

"Within two weeks, it was apparent there was a Seroquel abuse problem in the prison that I had not seen in the state mental hospital," Taylor said.

Samantha Taylor, 29, of Claymont, said she started taking Seroquel while serving time at Delores J. Baylor Women's Correctional Institution near New Castle. Taylor said she thought a majority of the inmates in the prison were on Seroquel.

Delaware Department of Correction spokesman John Painter said about 42 prescriptions are written for Seroquel each month, which is "on the low end" of prescription drugs in Delaware prisons.

AstraZeneca would not comment on Seroquel's prevalence in prisons. Seroquel's label states that the drug has not been systematically studied for its potential for abuse, and patients should be observed closely for signs of misuse or abuse of Seroquel.

Although the problem seems to be most prevalent in prisons, a letter published last month in the psychiatry journal describes a 29-year-old man in California who checked himself into a psychiatric treatment unit with reported schizophrenic symptoms, for which he was treated with Seroquel.

The next morning, the man showed no signs of schizophrenia, and he admitted to abusing and reselling Seroquel after being confronted by a doctor.

The letter's authors said that prescriptions of Seroquel and other atypical antipsychotics for conditions like anxiety and insomnia have expanded their use to a broader patient population. If evidence of abuse becomes more widespread, they wrote, federal regulators may designate Seroquel as a controlled substance.

"Should such an unfortunate eventuality come to pass," the authors wrote, "we will be able to confidently lay the blame at the feet of our collective prescriptive imprudence."