Trending...
- KLEKT Announces Appointment of Jay Kimpton to Board of Directors
- Tacoma City Council Restricts Unauthorized Use of Public Property for Civil Immigration Enforcement
- Spokane: DUI Driver Taken Into Custody After Attempting to Flee from Officers
An in-depth investigation is needed into taxpayer dollars spent on bizarre research of animals, fish and insects, in a failed attempt to understand human behavior and improve mental health, watchdog reports
LOS ANGELES - Washingtoner -- With government waste raising economic concerns for the country, the mental health industry watchdog, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) says it is time to demand accountability for the $40 billion of taxpayer dollars allocated to federal agencies, such as the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) to study fruit flies, mouse brains, zebrafish, Siberian hamsters, Russian cats, and other animal groups, purportedly to address mental health issues. Recent research reveals over $2.14 million was spent to study fruit fly brains.[1] A further $457,500 was allocated to study how early-life trauma affects brain development in zebrafish which may increase the risk of psychiatric disorders.[2] A $1,334,079 study is investigating the anatomical and structural organization of a healthy mouse brain and how it might regulate computation.[3]
Dr. Roger McFillin, Ph.D., who recently wrote "The Billion Dollar Brain Myth," says, "Since 2000, American taxpayers have bankrolled over $40 billion in NIMH's futile quest to reduce human suffering to faulty genes and brain circuits, yet suicide rates have soared" and "youth mental health collapsed." With research prioritizing the "biomedical model," he says, "the biological paradigm hasn't just failed—it has actively harmed by teaching people their suffering is a brain defect rather than a meaningful response to life experiences."[4]
For years, Senator Rand Paul has exposed research waste, including a study of Russian cats walking on treadmills.[5] In a 2021 Congressional speech, he condemned such "ridiculous" taxpayer-funded research, citing $1.6 million spent studying "Lizards on a Treadmill."[6] He also criticized $356,000 spent studying whether or not "Japanese quail are more sexually promiscuous on cocaine," commenting, "Common sense would have told us one that cocaine is probably not good for you and that cocaine might make you do things that you wouldn't have done otherwise had you not been on cocaine."[7]
More on Washingtoner
The failure of such research was highlighted in a 2017 interview with Thomas Insel, a psychiatrist and former NIMH director, 2002-2015, who said: "I spent 13 years at NIMH really pushing on the neuroscience and genetics of mental disorders, and when I look back on that I realize that while I think I succeeded at getting lots of really cool papers published by cool scientists at fairly large costs—I think $20 billion—I don't think we moved the needle in reducing suicide, reducing hospitalizations, improving recovery for the tens of millions of people who have mental illness."[8]
Additionally, he conceded: "The United States, a country that leads the world in spending on medical research, also stands out for its dismal outcomes in people with mental illnesses. Indeed, over the last three decades, even as the government invested billions of dollars in better understanding the brain, by some measures, those outcomes have deteriorated."[9]
As an example, a 2011 government report found that just over one in 10 adults took prescription drugs for "problems with emotions, nerves or mental health," according to a JAMA study. In 2013, one in six (17%) of U.S. adults reported taking a psychiatric drug.[10] By 2021, it had escalated to one in four Americans over the age of 18 taking these drugs.[11] IQVia reported 70,307,316 adults aged 18 and above taking psychotropic drugs, and 6.1 million ages 0-17. Of the latter, there were 418,425 in the 0-5 age group.[12]
Since 1995, CCHR has been exposing bizarre psychiatric research. That year, CCHR's examination revealed that $20.3 million had been spent on 25 studies alone, which included budgerigars, crickets, rat pups, whiptail lizards, swamp fish, Siamese fighting fish, treefrogs, guinea pigs, and Siberian hamsters.
The research included a 31-year, near $11 million study of the effect of drugs on rats when they were "subjected to mild, persistent, inescapable stress," $1.5 million for a 21-year study of rat-pup behavior; a 21-year grant of $1.6 million to study the "electronic chirping" of electric fish; $875,382 on zebrafish and swamp sparrows; $333,000 for an 8 study of the sexual behavior of castrated quail and $200,000 on a 4-year study of sexual behavior of horses.
More on Washingtoner
At that time Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, and a former legislative director for Congressman Hamilton Fish Jr. stated: "It's time to part the veil of secrecy and esoteric semantics surrounding some of the…grants and let taxpayers know what kind of wacky, even sinister science-fair experiments they're paying for."
The ongoing waste of taxpayer funds on questionable and ineffective research underscores the urgent need for accountability within the mental health sector. Despite billions of dollars spent, the lack of tangible improvements in public health, particularly in addressing mental health, demands a reevaluation of research priorities. Ensuring accountability is needed now more than ever, and CCHR remains committed to investigating and exposing wasteful mental health research.
CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and eminent psychiatrist, Professor Thomas Szasz, and has campaigned for transparency and accountability in the mental health field, and for patients' human rights, obtaining legislative support and laws enacting patient protections.
Sources:
[1] "Accelerating connectomic proofreading for larger brains and multiple individuals," NIH Project Number 1RF1MH129268-01
[2] "Determining the impact of early adversity on the developing vertebrate brain," NIH Project Number 1R15MH132057-01
[3] reporter.nih.gov/search/2rXC5XA9tEmWshK2IpYcWQ/project-details/10505417
[4] drmcfillin.substack.com/p/the-billion-dollar-brain-myth
[5] www.hsgac.senate.gov/media/reps/dr-paul-releases-2023-festivus-report-on-government-waste/
[6] www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2872317/lizards-on-a-treadmill-rand-paul-calls-out-wasteful-research-spending-with-colorful-props-on-senate-floor/
[7] wjla.com/news/nation-world/spending-money-studying-quails-on-cocaine-is-waste-of-government-spending-says-rand-paul
[8] psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.202000739
[9] lifeprocessprogram.com/american-psychiatry-misled-the-world/
[10] www.scientificamerican.com/article/1-in-6-americans-takes-a-psychiatric-drug/
[11] quotewizard.com/news/mental-health-prescriptions
[12] www.cchrint.org/psychiatric-drugs/people-taking-psychiatric-drugs/
Dr. Roger McFillin, Ph.D., who recently wrote "The Billion Dollar Brain Myth," says, "Since 2000, American taxpayers have bankrolled over $40 billion in NIMH's futile quest to reduce human suffering to faulty genes and brain circuits, yet suicide rates have soared" and "youth mental health collapsed." With research prioritizing the "biomedical model," he says, "the biological paradigm hasn't just failed—it has actively harmed by teaching people their suffering is a brain defect rather than a meaningful response to life experiences."[4]
For years, Senator Rand Paul has exposed research waste, including a study of Russian cats walking on treadmills.[5] In a 2021 Congressional speech, he condemned such "ridiculous" taxpayer-funded research, citing $1.6 million spent studying "Lizards on a Treadmill."[6] He also criticized $356,000 spent studying whether or not "Japanese quail are more sexually promiscuous on cocaine," commenting, "Common sense would have told us one that cocaine is probably not good for you and that cocaine might make you do things that you wouldn't have done otherwise had you not been on cocaine."[7]
More on Washingtoner
- CAPO Supply Announces Opening of Second Location in New Castle, Pennsylvania
- $224 Billion Growing Market in Life Settlements Presents Major Opportunity for New Policy Acquisition Business Plan: DLT Resolution Stock Symbol: DLTI
- Fyt-02 Launches on Kickstarter The Smart Sensor That Turns Any Chair Into a Posture & Movement Track
- YieldOMega Launches $DOUB Airdrop Campaign Ahead of TimeCurve Launch
- Kaltra Expands Microchannel Water Coil Line for U.S. HVAC Market With New Corrosion-Resistant Tube Technology
The failure of such research was highlighted in a 2017 interview with Thomas Insel, a psychiatrist and former NIMH director, 2002-2015, who said: "I spent 13 years at NIMH really pushing on the neuroscience and genetics of mental disorders, and when I look back on that I realize that while I think I succeeded at getting lots of really cool papers published by cool scientists at fairly large costs—I think $20 billion—I don't think we moved the needle in reducing suicide, reducing hospitalizations, improving recovery for the tens of millions of people who have mental illness."[8]
Additionally, he conceded: "The United States, a country that leads the world in spending on medical research, also stands out for its dismal outcomes in people with mental illnesses. Indeed, over the last three decades, even as the government invested billions of dollars in better understanding the brain, by some measures, those outcomes have deteriorated."[9]
As an example, a 2011 government report found that just over one in 10 adults took prescription drugs for "problems with emotions, nerves or mental health," according to a JAMA study. In 2013, one in six (17%) of U.S. adults reported taking a psychiatric drug.[10] By 2021, it had escalated to one in four Americans over the age of 18 taking these drugs.[11] IQVia reported 70,307,316 adults aged 18 and above taking psychotropic drugs, and 6.1 million ages 0-17. Of the latter, there were 418,425 in the 0-5 age group.[12]
Since 1995, CCHR has been exposing bizarre psychiatric research. That year, CCHR's examination revealed that $20.3 million had been spent on 25 studies alone, which included budgerigars, crickets, rat pups, whiptail lizards, swamp fish, Siamese fighting fish, treefrogs, guinea pigs, and Siberian hamsters.
The research included a 31-year, near $11 million study of the effect of drugs on rats when they were "subjected to mild, persistent, inescapable stress," $1.5 million for a 21-year study of rat-pup behavior; a 21-year grant of $1.6 million to study the "electronic chirping" of electric fish; $875,382 on zebrafish and swamp sparrows; $333,000 for an 8 study of the sexual behavior of castrated quail and $200,000 on a 4-year study of sexual behavior of horses.
More on Washingtoner
- Collectibles EvoRelic Celebrates Stellar 4.8-Star Customer Rating
- Phoenix Hip-hop Artist Rhymi Hits 23k Monthly Listeners 12 Days After Album Release
- Pediatrician Launches "Confessions of a Detective Doctor" Children's Book Series
- Integrated Maintenance Platforms Are Transforming Aircraft Operations
- T. Jones Group's Cameron Jones Serves as Judge for the 2026 CHBA National Awards for Housing Excellence
At that time Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, and a former legislative director for Congressman Hamilton Fish Jr. stated: "It's time to part the veil of secrecy and esoteric semantics surrounding some of the…grants and let taxpayers know what kind of wacky, even sinister science-fair experiments they're paying for."
The ongoing waste of taxpayer funds on questionable and ineffective research underscores the urgent need for accountability within the mental health sector. Despite billions of dollars spent, the lack of tangible improvements in public health, particularly in addressing mental health, demands a reevaluation of research priorities. Ensuring accountability is needed now more than ever, and CCHR remains committed to investigating and exposing wasteful mental health research.
CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and eminent psychiatrist, Professor Thomas Szasz, and has campaigned for transparency and accountability in the mental health field, and for patients' human rights, obtaining legislative support and laws enacting patient protections.
Sources:
[1] "Accelerating connectomic proofreading for larger brains and multiple individuals," NIH Project Number 1RF1MH129268-01
[2] "Determining the impact of early adversity on the developing vertebrate brain," NIH Project Number 1R15MH132057-01
[3] reporter.nih.gov/search/2rXC5XA9tEmWshK2IpYcWQ/project-details/10505417
[4] drmcfillin.substack.com/p/the-billion-dollar-brain-myth
[5] www.hsgac.senate.gov/media/reps/dr-paul-releases-2023-festivus-report-on-government-waste/
[6] www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2872317/lizards-on-a-treadmill-rand-paul-calls-out-wasteful-research-spending-with-colorful-props-on-senate-floor/
[7] wjla.com/news/nation-world/spending-money-studying-quails-on-cocaine-is-waste-of-government-spending-says-rand-paul
[8] psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.202000739
[9] lifeprocessprogram.com/american-psychiatry-misled-the-world/
[10] www.scientificamerican.com/article/1-in-6-americans-takes-a-psychiatric-drug/
[11] quotewizard.com/news/mental-health-prescriptions
[12] www.cchrint.org/psychiatric-drugs/people-taking-psychiatric-drugs/
Source: Citizens Commission on Human Rights
Filed Under: Government
0 Comments
Latest on Washingtoner
- North Puget Sound League Launches New Player Development Academy (PDA) Tryouts
- T. Jones Group Named Finalist Across Multiple Categories at the 2026 Georgie Awards
- The Simplest Small Business You're Probably Not Thinking About
- San Francisco Writer Wins Webby Award, Internet's Highest Honor, for Website Based on her Novel
- EDC Weekend Comedy Special Featuring Don Barnhart & Friends — Use Promo Code FRIEND for 50% Off
- N Y S E: OTH Off The Hook YS Is Building a Vertically Integrated Marine Empire — And Investors Are Starting to Notice
- Concierge Title Agency Merges with Independence Title, Inc. to Deliver an Expanded Concierge Closing Experience Across South Florida
- Grow My Security Company Launches Next-Generation Website and Expands Strategic Marketing Solutions for the Security Industry
- $4.8M in Contracted AI Revenue with Projections of $30M Over 6-12 Months for Diversified AI Software and Platform-Based Services Provider XMax Inc
- Michelangelo's Great Secret Hiding in Plain Sight
- Longevity Academy Launches The Longevity Leaders Project with Interview of Respira Global CEO
- Virginia Marchese's Paradox: A Nation Still Deciding Who Belongs Examines Race, Migration, Law, and America's Unfinished Struggle for Equality
- From Blank Page to Published Book
- Larry R. Wasion's Jump Gate III RoadMaker Blends Cutting-Edge Sci-Fi with High-Stakes Space Exploration and Complex Technologies
- American Mensa and Davidson Institute Join Forces To Strengthen Support for Profoundly Gifted Youth
- SpeedyIndex Rolls Out Automated API for Mass URL Verification, Solving the Backlink Blind Spot for SEO Agencies
- KLEKT Announces Appointment of Jay Kimpton to Board of Directors
- Michigan Attorney General Closed FGM Licensing Investigations Months Before Federal Case Ended, Records Show
- Mensa Foundation Event Reframes Brain Health for Every Age
- DLT Resolution, Inc. (Stock Symbol: DLTI) Expands Into the $224 Billion Life Settlements Market While Accelerating Telecom Growth Across Canada