The foundation of the charity APRIL (Adverse Psychiatric Reactions Information Link) began with the tragic death of Karen Kieve in 1995. Following a study of medicines side-effects at the British Library Medical Deprartment, Millie Kieve was a former trustee of Papyrus and worked on the MIND infoline. However she found no other charity focussed on the psychiatric adverse effects of everyday medicines and anaesthetics.
An article abot Karen written by mother, Millie, was published in The Guardian newspaper August 2004
A video on the Home Page has information about why APRIL was founded.
Articles by Millie Kieve can be found on ResearchGate
CV of Millie Kieve relating to APRIL charity from 1998 to 2013 - to be updated.
Activities by year
1997
The Charity APRIL was founded,
2000
Anaesthetics Inquiry - A Conscious Decision report by the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Dental Officer recommends the Royal College of Anaesthetists should colate information. Our submission was taken into account in the recommedations following the Inquiry into anaesthetics for dental anaesthesia.
2001
Lord Ted Graham wrote an interesting letter from a politicians point of view of APRIL's efforts and which explains why he kindly agreed to be our Patron. Lord Ted had been Labour MP for the London borough of Edmonton.
2001 Nov
with eminent speakers and as well as members of the public, delegates from hospitals and universities. We were later informed by a respected mental health journalist, that the opportunity for open debate at a independent meeting on the subject of psychiatric adverse drug reactions, being so rare, led to the BBCPanorama programme on Seroxat.
2001
Dr David Healy wrote a supportive letter following our November conference.
2003 22 May
We attended the Royal College of Physicians conference:
Problems and Perils of Prescription Medicines click title for review or
download pdf to access a rare review of the meeting.
Excellent presentations containing huge amount of valuable information that should have contributed to patient safety. However little, or no publicity about excellent suggestions to find the true extent of harm from prescribed medicines. Suggested ways to prevent avoidable harm. A meeting that is not easy to find a record of on The Royal College of Physicians web site or elsewhere.
Professor Steven Evans
2003 June
Fundraising event held at Pizza on the Park in Larry's Room (named after the harmonica player Larry Adler). With food and excellent magic and musical entertainment our many friends and family supported our event and donated money to support APRIL.
2004
Our second conference - Flyer with details of speakers.
2007
Article written by Millie Kieve published in Quality in Primary Care ' Adverse drug reactions (ADRs): a patient perspective on assessment and prevention in primary care'
2007
Article written by Millie Kieve published in the New Scientist ' Falling on Deaf Ears'
2012
The Oncologist article by Andrew Wasley and Bethany Hubbard mentions APRIL March 2012 -
Revealed: the prescription drugs and medications most likely to harm or kill you.
2009 October
Wellbeing workshops in Westminster Free sessions on nutrition, art, exercise, breathing, relaxation, acupuncture, recognising medicines' side effects. Organised by APRIL Funded by Westminster small grants & Awards for All and really supportive help from Westminster libraries with special thanks to TH library manager for his great support of our efforts.
2015
November issue of Prescriber journal published our editorial 'The Role of Relatives and Friends in Antidepressant Treatment' which was co-written by Millie Kieve and Janet Krska, Professor of Pharmacy Practice Kent University
More Harm than Good: confronting the psychiatric medicication epidemic A conference organised by Council for Evidence Based Medicine
2016
A long overdue recommendation for medical students to be examined on prescribing competence.
APRIL promoted 'Understanding and Responding to Pharmaceutical Promotion' an initiative to educate medical students on how to deal with pharmaceutical promotion and the influence of the industry on prescribing - A collaborative project by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the charity Health Action International (HAI)
2017
UK Government Health Committee Inquiry into suicide prevention conclusion published.
APRIL submitted written evidence about medicines linked to suicide .
6th Suicide Prevention Strategy Report by UK Government Health Committee 2016-2017
March 2017: This statement in the report, is the only one relevant to APRIL's concerns.
Section 3 page 18 : Drug treatments and suicide
"We concluded in our interim report that, whilst we heard concerns in some written submissions about the role of drug treatments and suicide, expert witnesses to our inquiry told us that there is greater risk from not using medication where appropriate, provided that it is following evidence-based guidelines.52 The Government did not address this issue at all in its progress report. We urge the Government to ensure that NICE guidelines on the appropriate use of drug treatments for depression, are promoted and implemented by clinicians."
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