Mental Health Watchdog forced to say “I told you” about depression chemical imbalance

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24 July 2022

Landmark study disproves that a “chemical imbalance” causes depression—a scientifically meaningless theory that has misled consumers while driving up antidepressant sales to $15 billion a year.

In a long and carefully researched article, President CCHR International Jan Eastgate, “Lauds Study Disproving ‘Chemical Imbalance‘ causes Depression“, as demonstrating “it is a Myth“. The watchdog, even if at times provoking eyes wide shut on people [i.e.: a person refuses to see something in plain view, because of preconceived notions of what this something should look like], seems to have been right all along despite the controversies (who knows if provoked by so-called “Establishment” or “psycho-pharma industry”?).

In her report, Eastgate says that:

“CCHR has been exposing since the late 1980s: the chemical imbalance theory has always been a marketing campaign with no basis in science. The fact is, the chemical imbalance myth has helped drive $15.6 billion-a-year global antidepressant sales. In light of the study’s damning findings, media dubbed this the “$15 billion hustle.”

Christopher Lane, PhD, author of the blog Side Effects described the study as “a decisive blow to the serotonin hypothesis of depression.

Pill-prescribing psychiatrists have been aware for years that depression isn’t caused by low serotonin levels, despite continuing to prescribe the pills, Dr Jonathan Raskin, a chair of psychology from the State University of New York, told media.

In another article, Psychology Today called it “A Multi-Billion dollar Error” and reported that:

The hedge proved highly effective, even though, as David Healy explained in 2015 in “Serotonin and Depression,” in the BMJ, in practice, it entailed embracing or tacitly accepting “the marketing of a myth.” Through further oversimplification, a revised metaphor of a “chemical imbalance” took root as folk wisdom for multiple, dissimilar conditions listed in the DSM.

And so, this is the very uncomfortable moment for all those who ignored it or attempted to ridicule the warnings, in which the mental health watchdog that has been warning on the issue for at least 33 years, could tell them “I told you so”.

For accuracy, we reproduce in full her article to make it available also to our non-English readers in their language.

Gaston de Persigny

Original article:

Note in [x] to be found at the end of the article.

CCHR Lauds Study Disproving “Chemical Imbalance” Causes Depression; It’s A Myth

By Jan Eastgate
President CCHR International
July 22, 2022

A landmark study [The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence] has debunked one of the biggest mental healthcare marketing campaigns in modern history—that a “chemical imbalance in the brain causes depression” requiring antidepressants to correct it. Scientists at the University College London reviewed 17 major studies published over several decades and found no convincing evidence to support the theory (1).

The research confirms what CCHR has been exposing since the late 1980s: the chemical imbalance theory has always been a marketing campaign with no basis in science. The fact is, the chemical imbalance myth has helped drive $15.6 billion-a-year global antidepressant sales. In light of the study’s damning findings, media dubbed this the “$15 billion hustle” (2).

Lead author Professor Joanna Moncrieff said:

“The popularity of the ‘chemical imbalance’ theory has coincided with a huge increase in the use of antidepressants.”(3)

Although the theory dates back to the 1950s, it was used to launch a marketing “revolution” in mental health treatment with the release of the first SSRI antidepressant, fluoxetine (Prozac) in the late 1980s, and marketed in more than 90 countries. By 2005 more than 54 million people worldwide were taking antidepressants to treat a non-existent chemical imbalance (4). That figure nearly doubled to 100 million in 2016 (5).

In the U.S. today, an astonishing 45 million Americans of all ages take antidepressants, of which 2.1 million are aged 0-17, per statistics CCHR obtained from IQ Via data tracking.

The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, says the general public has been falsely led to believe that abnormalities in serotonin or other biochemical abnormalities are responsible for their moods. The idea that depression is the result of a chemical imbalance has influenced people’s decisions about whether to take or continue antidepressants and “may discourage people from discontinuing treatment, potentially leading to lifelong dependence on these drugs” (6).

The researchers warn [according to Jacqui Wise “’No convincing evidence’ that depression is caused by low serotonin levels, say study authors,” BMH, 2022]:

“In particular, the idea that antidepressants work in the same way as insulin for diabetes is completely misleading. We do not understand what antidepressants are doing to the brain exactly, and giving people this sort of misinformation prevents them from making an informed decision about whether to take antidepressants or not.” (7).

Christopher Lane, PhD, author of the blog Side Effects described the study as “a decisive blow to the serotonin hypothesis of depression” (8).

SSRI antidepressants, such as Prozac, Zoloft and Effexor, have no other proven way of working, Professor Moncrieff and colleagues said.

“Thousands suffer from side effects of antidepressants, including severe withdrawal effects that can occur when people try to stop them, yet prescription rates continue to rise.”

Pill-prescribing psychiatrists have been aware for years that depression isn’t caused by low serotonin levels, despite continuing to prescribe the pills, Dr Jonathan Raskin, a chair of psychology from State University of New York, told media (9).

The disinformation given to consumers is addressed in another study of which Prof. Moncrieff is also a researcher. Published in April 2022 in SSM-Mental Health and titled, “Is the chemical imbalance an ‘urban legend’?” researchers looked at highly cited reviews of the causes of depression, highly referenced papers that discussed depression and serotonin, and several textbooks published between 1990 and 2012. All of the textbooks examined and nearly all academic papers supported the chemical imbalance theory despite the lack of evidence: “The findings suggest that the serotonin theory was endorsed by the professional and academic community,” the authors wrote. “The analysis suggests that, despite protestations to the contrary, the profession bears some responsibility for the propagation of a theory that is not empirically supported and the mass antidepressant prescribing it has inspired (10).

This was in response to “leading psychiatrists suggesting the chemical imbalance theory was an ‘urban legend’ that was never taken seriously by the psychiatric profession.” However, the present evidence shows that “this position is patently false (11).

Table of Contents

A History of Cover-Up

Since 1989, following the approval of Prozac in the U.S., CCHR has exposed the chemical imbalance lie and the disservice to consumers who were told this.

In 1991, CCHR helped instigate a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel hearing into the evidence that Prozac could induce violent and suicidal behavior (12). The finding of this had the potential to adversely impact the newly launched marketing of the idea that a chemical imbalance caused depression if the drugs prescribed to treat it could chemically induce violence. It was not surprising that the psychiatrists on the panel, steeped in conflicts of interests with antidepressant manufacturers, rejected the evidence.

In 1997, international psychopharmacologist expert, Prof. David Healy, a psychiatrist, debunked the imbalance concept in his book The Antidepressant Era. He said there was plenty of evidence to confirm that doctors used the idea of an underlying chemical imbalance or serotonin abnormality to justify the prescription of antidepressants (13). In his book Let Them Eat Prozac Healy said that even in the 1970s research concluded that whatever was wrong in depression it was not lowered serotonin (14).

The “chemical imbalance” theory potentially spawned other dangerous ideas such as that the “serotonin deficiency hypothesis” could be responsible for violent behavior—rather than the drugs used to treat it (15). Meanwhile, psychiatrists and colleagues continued to reject the evidence that antidepressants can induce violent adverse reactions in some people taking them, while wide usage of antidepressants has coincided with increased acts of senseless violence in schools and the community.

In 2001, Healy testified in a trial in Cheyenne, Wyoming, involving Donald Schell, 60, who had been taking Paxil (paroxetine) for just 48 hours when he shot and killed his wife, his daughter, his granddaughter and himself. Healy said his own studies showed that SSRIs could cause one in four healthy volunteers to become agitated, and in some cases suicidal. The manufacturer’s internal documents exposed in the trial showed the company was aware that a small number of people could become agitated or violent from Paxil. Despite this knowledge, Paxil packaging did not at the time include a warning about suicide, violence or aggression, which made the company liable, according to a jury verdict that awarded $6.4 million to Schell’s surviving family (16). The FDA later rectified this for all antidepressants.

CCHR’s online report How Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide is a resource detailing more than 30 studies and over 60 cases of mass shootings and acts of violence committed by those taking or withdrawing from prescribed psychotropic drugs. For example, the British Medical Journal published:

“Perpetrators of school shootings and similar events have often been reported to be users of antidepressants….” (17) .

The mounting evidence of these potential risks did nothing to dissuade the marketing of the chemical imbalance theory and the need for more people to get hooked into taking antidepressants or other psychotropics.

Consumer Fraud

“A direct-to-consumer advertisement from 2003 told consumers that ‘while the cause is not known, depression may be related to an imbalance of natural chemicals between nerve cells in the brain’ and that ‘prescription Zoloft works to correct this imbalance.’”

As the study published in SSM-Mental Health notes: “This message was propagated on popular websites,” and “best-selling books, such as Listening to Prozac” by Peter Kramer (18).

In 2004, CCHR wrote a series of 20 widely distributed booklets in 17 languages about different aspects of coercive psychiatry, each of which included an important notice to readers on the inside cover:

THE THEORY THAT MENTAL DISORDERS DERIVE FROM A ‘CHEMICAL IMBALANCE’ IN THE BRAIN IS UNPROVEN OPINION, NOT FACT. One prevailing psychiatric theory (key to psychotropic drug sales) is that mental disorders result from a chemical imbalance in the brain. As with its other theories, there is no biological or other evidence to prove this. Representative of a large group of medical and biochemistry experts, Elliot Valenstein, PhD, author of Blaming the Brain says:

“[T]here are no tests available for assessing the chemical status of a living person’s brain.”

In a published study that same year, Jonathan Leo, Associate Professor of Anatomy at Western University of Health Sciences, advised patients:

“If a psychiatrist says you have a shortage of a chemical, ask for a blood test and watch the psychiatrist’s reaction. The number of people who believe that scientists have proven that depressed people have low serotonin is a glorious testament to the power of marketing” (19).

In 2005, there was continued national exposure of the chemical imbalance fraud, especially as by then, the FDA had done a turn-around on its 1991 hearing into Prozac and in October 2004 had ordered a black box on antidepressant packaging to warn the drugs could cause suicide.

A representative of People Magazine phoned CCHR for a comment and was urged to do as Jonathon Leo suggested—contact the American Psychiatric Association (APA) president to ask what test psychiatrists relied upon to confirm a chemical imbalance. People obtained the admission from Dr Steven Sharfstein, then APA president, that: “We do not have a clean-cut lab test” to determine a chemical imbalance in the brain (20).

Then followed Dr Mark Graff, Chair of Public Affairs of the APA telling CBS Studio 2 News that the theory was “probably drug industry derived.” “We don’t have tests because to do it, you’d probably have to take a chunk of brain out of someone—not a good idea,” he said (21).

At which point, APA could and should have put an end to the façade, but didn’t.

In December that year, professors and researchers Jonathon Leo and Jeffrey Lacasse’s article, “Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect Between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature,” published in PLoS Medicine, found repeated evidence, as Christopher Lane recently wrote:

“that the FDA had approved the marketing of SSRIs with two phrases still heavily in the subjunctive tense—that depression ‘may be due to a serotonin deficiency’ and that SSRI efficacy, ‘modestly’ outcompeting placebo, was ‘presumed to be linked to potentiation of serotonergic activity.’ However, the research itself could not identify the precise mechanism” (22) .

Lane further noted:

“The FDA had accepted aspirational language that the drugs ‘help to restore the brain’s chemical balance’ and ‘bring serotonin levels closer to normal,’ even though both claims were, and remain, scientifically meaningless.”

“There is no such thing as a scientifically established correct ‘balance’ of serotonin,” Lacasse and Leo cautioned (23).

In 2010, Andrew Scull, Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego, issued a scathing rebuke about the theory:

“Patients and their families learned to attribute mental illness to faulty brain biochemistry, defects of dopamine, or a shortage of serotonin. It was bio-babble as deeply misleading and unscientific as the psychobabble it replaced, but as marketing copy it was priceless” (24) .

There were psychiatrists that tried to distance themselves from the scandal. In 2011, Ronald Pies, editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Psychiatric Times reacted to a report that CCHR, established by the Church of Scientology, had published about the chemical imbalance, and asserted that no well-informed psychiatrist had ever believed the chemical imbalance myth, calling it an “urban legend.” However, Moncrief and colleagues refute this, stating:

“Unfortunately, he continued this had not been widely understood, and ‘opponents of psychiatry mendaciously attribute the phrase to psychiatrists themselves.’ According to Pies, the theory had been propagated by the pharmaceutical industry alone, and should be ‘consigned to the dust-bin of ill-informed and malicious caricatures.’”

But that was not true.

In a 2005 APA patient leaflet, the association—representative of its membership—continued to parrot the theory, declaring, “antidepressants may be prescribed to correct imbalances in the levels of chemicals in the brain (25)”.

Pies continued to defend the profession but later amended his stance slightly: “He confessed that many psychiatrists do use the chemical imbalance explanation. He went on to claim, however, that psychiatrists don’t fully believe it, so they ‘feel uncomfortable and a little embarrassed’ when they do so,” the SSM-Mental Health study says.

Uncomfortable and embarrassed?

The priority concern should have been that millions of Americans were lied to and have continued to be led to this day to believe their emotional upheavals in life are chemically caused, thus blocking avenues that may offer real recovery.

Psychiatrists such as Australia’s Professors Patrick McGorry and Ian Hickie continue to defend their turf, dismissing the London study as irrelevant. Hickie had once conducted a clinical trial that involved giving antidepressants to the elderly who were “at risk” of depression –drugging them before they were even confirmed to be “depressed (26)”.

In response to the London study, he defended:

“It’s been repeatedly shown that if you increase the concentration of serotonin or noradrenaline or dopamine, you observe an antidepressant effect.”

McGorry, who practiced pre-drugging teens and adults “at risk” of developing “psychosis” with antipsychotics, doesn’t want people to stop taking their antidepressants. He claimed, “There are many drugs that we have in medicine, across the board that are very effective, but we still are unclear exactly why they’re effective, and that’s a separate issue,” he said (27). [Emphasis added]

This smacks of more theories consumers are expected to believe—no-one knows how antidepressants “work,” but take them anyway.

CCHR has always stipulated no one should suddenly stop taking the drugs because of serious withdrawal effects and should withdraw only under medical supervision.

Dr Moncrieff says that telling patients their behavior is the result of a chemical imbalance conveys:

“the message that we are powerless to change ourselves or our situations. When things go wrong, it persuades us we need a pill to put them right. This approach may appeal to some people, and I am in no way disparaging those who chose to follow it. But it is important that everyone knows how little evidence there is to support it” (28).

In fact, the SSRI “miracle pills” are now acknowledged as being no more effective than a placebo. Studies show a 29-46% failure rate with antidepressants (29).

Yet, in tracking their usage in the U.S., CCHR provides statistics on its clearinghouse website and resource, www.cchrint.org. Take, for example, three of the top-selling antidepressants:

The number of Americans of all ages taking Prozac (including its generic version, fluoxetine) in the United States increased 27% between 2006 (4,451,617) and 2020 (5,655,422) (30).
Lexapro (including its generic version, escitalopram) usage increased 37% 2006 (5,957,349) and 2020 (8,170,580) (31).
For Zoloft (including its generic version, sertraline) there was a 61.6% increase between 2006 (5,843,138) and 2020 (9,447,275) (32).

The website also includes a page with expert quotes dismissing the chemical imbalance theory as false.

It is not surprising given the level of dishonesty in this chemical imbalance scam that the World Health Organization and UN Human Rights agencies have criticized the failure of the biological model relied upon in the mental health field. On July 6^th, 2020, Dr Dainius Pūras, a psychiatrist and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, addressed the UN Human Rights Council and advised that the dominance of the biomedical model has resulted in an overuse of medicalization and institutionalization. He warned against the exaggerated benefits of psychotropic medications and highlighted that their effectiveness is not comparable to other medicines that are essential for certain physical conditions, such as for example, antibiotics for bacterial infections. Further, “there are no biological markers for mental health conditions (33)”.

In February 2022, the UN Human Rights Commissioner reported that there is an overreliance on mental health drugs which are a “significant obstacle to the realization of the right to health (34)”.

The chemical imbalance lie has been one of the most significant obstacles.

Originally published by cchrint.org

References:

(1) Joanna Moncrieff, Ruth E. Cooper, Tom Stockmann, Simone Amendola, Michael P. Hengartner and Mark A. Horowitz, “The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence,” Molecular Psychiatry, 20 July 2022, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01661-0

(2) https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/antidepressant-drugs-market-size-to-reach-usd-21-004-8-million-by-2030-at-cagr-3-0-valuates-reports-839380083.html; “A $15 billion hustle? Expert says pill-prescribing psychiatrists KNEW that depression isn’t caused by low serotonin levels – as landmark study shows that pricy drugs do little to help mental health,” Daily Mail, 21 July 2022, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11035903/Expert-says-psychiatrists-KNOW-theory-low-serotonin-levels-cause-depression-incomplete.html

(3) “A $15 billion hustle? Expert says pill-prescribing psychiatrists KNEW that depression isn’t caused by low serotonin levels – as landmark study shows that pricy drugs do little to help mental health,” Daily Mail, 21 July 2022, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11035903/Expert-says-psychiatrists-KNOW-theory-low-serotonin-levels-cause-depression-incomplete.html

(4) Melissa Braddock, “Prozac: Purpose Antidepressant,” Chemical & Engineering News, 20 June 2005, https://cen.acs.org/articles/83/i25/Prozac.html

(5) “How do antidepressants trigger fear and anxiety?” Science News, 24 Aug. 2016, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160824135045.htm

(6) Op. cit., Molecular Psychiatry, 20 July 2022

(7) Jacqui Wise “’No convincing evidence’ that depression is caused by low serotonin levels, say study authors,” BMH, 2022, https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1808

(8) Christopher Lane, Ph.D., “A Decisive Blow to the Serotonin Hypothesis of Depression: An exhaustive new review debunks the ‘chemical imbalance’ theory of depression,” Psychology Today, 19 July 2022, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/side-effects/202207/decisive-blow-the-serotonin-hypothesis-depression

(9) “A $15 billion hustle? Expert says pill-prescribing psychiatrists KNEW that depression isn’t caused by low serotonin levels – as landmark study shows that pricy drugs do little to help mental health,” Daily Mail, 21 July 2022, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11035903/Expert-says-psychiatrists-KNOW-theory-low-serotonin-levels-cause-depression-incomplete.html

(10) Ang B., Horowitz M. & Moncrieff J., “Is the chemical imbalance an ‘urban legend’? An exploration of the status of the serotonin theory of depression in the academic literature,” SSM – Mental Health (2022), https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10147405/

(11) Ibid.

(12) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxJomeak4V4

(13) Op. cit., SSM – Mental Health (2022)

(14) Dr. David Healy, Let Them Eat Prozac, (New York University Press, New York, 2004), p. 12

(15) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-serotonin/serotonin-levels-affect-brains-response-to-anger-idUSTRE78E6D420110915; https://www.news-medical.net/health/Serotonin-and-Aggression.aspx

(16) “Will $6.4 Million Verdict Open a New Mass Tort?” Lawyers Weekly, 9 July 2001, https://www.fitzgeraldlaw.com/paxil-maker-held-liable-in-murder-suicide

(17) CCHR’s report, Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence and Suicide, Los Angeles, 2018, p. 31,

(18) Op. cit., SSM – Mental Health (2022)

(19) Kelly Patricia O’Meara, Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells Mental Illness and Pushes Pills That Kill (Author House, 2006), pp. 47-48, citing Jonathan Leo, “The Biology of Mental Illness,” 2004

(20) People Magazine, 11 July 2005

(21) Interview of Dr. Mark Graff on CBS Studio 2, July 2005

(22) Op. cit., Psychology Today, 19 July 2022

(23) Ibid.

(24) https://www.cchrint.org/2010/04/15/from-psychobabble-to-biobabble-how-drug-money-has-come-to-dominate-psychiatry/, citing: Susan Perry, “From psychobabble to biobabble: How drug money has come to dominate psychiatry,” MinnPost, 15 Apr. 2010, https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2010/04/psychobabble-biobabble-how-drug-money-has-come-dominate-psychiatry/

(25) Op. cit., SSM – Mental Health (2022)

(26) https://cchr.org.au/melbourne-symposium-on-youth-mental-health-transition-into-adulthood-conflicts-of-interest-putting-millions-of-childrens-lives-at-risk

(27) Oliver Gordon, “How does depression work? Analysis finds it’s not caused by low serotonin,” ANC News, 22 July 2022, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-22/low-serotonin-reuptake-inhibitors-depression-review/101262660

(28) Joanne Moncrief, “The Chemical Imbalance Theory Of Depression: Still Promoted But Still Unfounded,” 1 May 2014, https://joannamoncrieff.com/2014/05/01/the-chemical-imbalance-theory-of-depression-still-promoted-but-still-unfounded/

(29) https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/major-depressive-disorder/treatment-resistant-depression

(30) https://www.cchrint.org/people-taking-prozac/

(31) https://www.cchrint.org/people-taking-lexapro/

(32) https://www.cchrint.org/people-taking-zoloft/

(33) “The world must change the way mental health challenges are addressed, UN expert says,” UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, 6 July 2020, https://previous.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26039&LangID=E

(34) Annual report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, 49th session, 28 February–1 April 2022

Russia: the EU (Borrell) deplores the extension of the list of “unfriendly states”.

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Council of the EU and European Council

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23 July 2022

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Josep Borrell Fontelles - European Union, 2020 Copyright - Source: EC - Audiovisual Service

Russia: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the expansion of the list of so-called “unfriendly States”

The European Union deplores the decision of the Russian government on 20 July 2022 to add five EU member states – Greece, Denmark, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia – to the list of countries for which measures in “Response to Unfriendly Actions of Foreign States” are applicable. The EU considers allegations regarding unfriendly actions as unfounded and unacceptable, urging Russia to revoke all such listings.

This decision is yet another step by Russia towards continued escalation of tensions with the European Union and its member states.

The earlier Decree establishing the list of so-called “unfriendly” states is incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. The EU calls on Russia to review its decision and fully respect the Vienna Convention.

The EU continues to call on Russia to immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and all other violations of international law, including breaches of its own international obligations and commitments.

Luis F Salazar and Digital Art: “I love giving the freedom for the observer to interpret my art”

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Juan Sanchez Gil

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23 July 2022

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Digital Art – Luis Fernando Salazar is a Colombian contemporary artist who captures in his work the colours and sensations, he says: “I like to represent the warmth of bright colours, the beauty of the world around us“.

Writer of verses, he found his inspiration at the age of 8, drawing. At the age of 16, he began to write short verses in classical poetry. A lover of the mountains and nature, he wanted to capture his perceptions of the world around him in painting and drawing.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Luis F Salazar and Digital Art: "I love giving the freedom for the observer to interpret my art" — Image credit: Luis Fernando Salazar (from his Facebook account)

Very skilled since childhood, he began to create decorative objects for Christmas while he also learned pyrography on wood.

Then, in this ever-growing digital era, Digital abstract art has been the focus of his work, without losing his affinity for brushes and canvases. With not too many resources, Salazar decided to continue with his inspiration and creation in Digital Art composing with diverse methods, editing, assemblies, and diverse digital techniques to create a variety and artistic works that express his love, especially, for the colourful forms, many abstract and insinuating, “I love giving the freedom for the observer to interpret my art” he told to The European Times.

For the first time, a newsroom portrays these works and presents them to the public to share for inspiration.

See his gallery here

Monkeypox declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization

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officialinstitutions

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23 July 2022

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Monkeypox declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization

Monkeypox is an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission about which we understand ‘too little’, and which meets the criteria of an emergency under International Health Regulations.

“For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern”, the World Health Organization’s Director, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, announced on Saturday during a press conference.

Tedros indicated that the current risk of Monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region where the risk is high.

“There is also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low for the moment”, he added.

Currently, there are more than 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries and territories and five deaths.

Table of Contents

The outbreak can be stopped

WHO’s chief said that although he was declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment the Monkeypox outbreak is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners.

“That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups”, he explained.

Tedros said that it is essential that all countries work closely with communities of men who have sex with men, to design and deliver effective information and services, and to adopt measures that protect the health, human rights and dignity of affected communities.

“Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus”, he warned, calling on civil society organisations, including those with experience in working with people living with HIV, to work with the agency on fighting stigma and discrimination.

“With the tools we have right now, we can stop transmission and bring this outbreak under control”, he highlighted.

Undecided committee

Tedros clarified that the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations, convened last Thursday, could not reach a consensus about Monkeypox.

He explained that WHO has to consider five elements to decide whether an outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

Information provided by countries – which in this case shows that the virus has spread rapidly to many countries that have not seen it before;
The three criteria for declaring a public health emergency of international concern under the International Health Regulations— being an extraordinary event, a public health risk to other States and a potential need to require a coordinated international response;
The advice of the Emergency Committee, which did not reach a consensus;
Scientific principles, evidence and other relevant information – which according to Tedros are currently insufficient and leave them with many unknowns;
The risk to human health, international spread, and the potential for interference with international traffic.

Commitee member’s in support of declaring the emergency expressed that future waves of Monkeypox cases are expected as the virus will be introduced in additional susceptible populations, and that the current magnitude of the outbreak might be underestimated.

They also cited the “moral duty” to deploy all means and tools available to respond to the outbreak, as highlighted by leaders of the LGBTI+ communities from several countries, bearing in mind that the community currently most affected outside Africa is the same initially reported to be affected in the early stages of HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The experts underscored that the modes of transmission sustaining the current outbreak are still not fully understood.

Recommendations

In order to fight the Monkeypox outbreak WHO recommends countries to:

Implement a coordinated response to stop transmission and protect vulnerable groups
Engage and protect affected communities
Intensify surveillance and public health measures
Strengthen clinical management and infection prevention and control in hospitals and clinics
Accelerate research into the use of vaccines, therapeutics and other tools

A full set of recommendations adapted to different country contexts is published on WHO’s website, and the agency has also launched a live data dashboard for the monkeypox outbreak.

WHO now has three active public health emergencies of international concern: COVID-19, polio and Monkeypox.

Overview: what Parliament dealt with in first half of 2022

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European Parliament

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23 July 2022

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Overview: what Parliament dealt with in first half of 2022 | News | European Parliament

In the first half of 2022, the European Parliament continued work on the Conference on the Future of Europe, supported Ukraine and worked on legislation to help tackle climate change.

Election of the new Parliament President

The year started with the election of Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta) as the new President of the European Parliament. She is the third female President after Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999-2002) as well as the youngest President ever. Metsola will lead the Parliament until the 2024 European elections.

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Ukraine

In the wake of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine, Parliament held an extraordinary plenary session on 1 March, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed MEPs from Kyiv. Since the beginning of hostilities, the EU and its leaders committed to providing support to Ukraine. In April, President Metsola was the first leader of an EU institution to travel. to Kyiv. In addition to supporting sanctions against Russia and help for Ukraine, the Parliament strongly advocated giving the country EU candidate status.

Future of Europe

On 9 May 2022, following one year of intensive discussions and citizen-led debates, the Conference on the future of Europe concluded in Parliament’s building in Strasbourg.

The final report from the conference contains 49 proposals and more than 320 measures covering issues including climate change, health, social justice, EU values, democracy, security; the digital transformation and culture.

Climate change

As part of its commitment to fighting climate change and implementing the Green deal, Parliament adopted its negotiating position on a range of proposals in the Fit for 55 in 2030 package. They include:

Digital services

On 5 July, the Parliament adopted two pieces of landmark legislation: the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. The new EU digital rulebook establishes standards for accountability and protection for consumers from illegal content, unfair practises and certain types of targeted advertising.

Roaming

Parliament adopted a 10-year extension of roaming rules in April, allowing EU consumers to continue using mobile phones when travelling around the EU with no additional fees. It came into effect on 1 July.

Universal charger

Parliament reached an agreement with the Council to make USB Type-C the common charger for all small and medium-sized portable electronic devices in the EU by the autumn of 2024.

Equality

Parliament continued work on advancing gender equality, backing proposals to establish binding measures on pay-transparency and improve gender balance on boards.

Film prize

The 2022 LUX Audience Award went to Quo Vadis, Aida? by Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić. Accepting the award, she drew parallels between her film and the current situation in Ukraine, urging MEPs to find a way to stop the war.

26 June celebration across Europe: Putting an end to Drugs

By

Christian Mirre

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22 July 2022

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The United Nations General Assembly by the Resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987 decided to celebrate the 26 June, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, “as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.

“Supported each year by individuals, communities, and various organizations all over the world, this global observance aims to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society.”

The Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe since 2004 is channelling the views of a hundred Say No To Drugs (SNTD) organizations and groups of volunteers across Europe (including in Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Ireland) whose purpose is to inform, to educate the public at large including the most vulnerable: the youth, on the harming effects of drug use. Indeed, despite what is spread by any organizations with vested interests in the business of drugs, there are no soft drugs. And this is very clear on the materials all these groups used, known as “The Truth About Drugs” campaign.

It is important to remind that legally speaking, the drug’s availability is strictly regulated by the International Drug Control Conventions (1961, 1971, 1988) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000/C 364/01) – Directive (EU) 2017/2103, to protect the population and prevent their illicit use. More specifically, the protection of the youth is provided by the European Charter of the Rights of the Child – Recommendation 874 (1979) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, art.33, 1989.

But the data and legislations hardly reach the grassroots level despite the increasing efforts of the concerned institutions. Through contacts with the public, teachers, associations leaders or trainers at random from their booths/tents set up in the streets, markets, and squares and by visiting shops, the SNTD teams are witnessing a striking lack of education on this vital subject, thus leaving the way open for these highly organized and powerful networks of drug dealers. So, to contribute to raising the awareness of the public, educators, community leaders and officials, the SNTD Teams are distributing freely educative booklets on the 14 most used drugs and other video educative materials provided by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World in 17 languages. “Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance” rightly said the philosopher William Durant ( 1885-1981).

All the SNTD volunteers from Europe are very interested and concerned with this day celebration, enabling them to meet and inform the public and the youth and get them involved to take responsibility to protect themselves but also their family and friends from the harmful effects of drug use.

But drug use is not just harming. Ultimately and rapidly, due to the addictive psychoactive components, drug abuse is leading to the destruction of the user and more. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) recently reported that “drug-related mortality accounts for a considerable percentage of deaths among young people in many European countries”. According to the last estimation (31 August 2021) “at least 5,141 overdose deaths occurred in the European Union in 2019. This rises to an estimated 5,769 deaths if Norway and Turkey are included”. A dreadful ignorance!

Hereafter are some examples from Europe of SNTD Teams in action in the frame of the 26 June Celebration:

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1) Austria

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In Vienna, they held their tent at the Millennium City, a train station and shopping center, near the Donauinsel (Danube Island). The 8 volunteers distributed 800 booklets and collected 40 signatures on the board with the pledge to Stay Drug-free. In addition, they had their successful street paintings for the children and significant contacts were made with associations and educators for further lectures on drugs.

2) Belgium

The team organized in Brussels an Open House on the drug subject followed by a 1h30 seminar in Dutch and French. More than 50 people were attending, very interested to get factual data on drugs. Then, they took: 22 booklet sets (a set containing 14 different booklets on the most used drugs), 9 info kits and 6 DVDs (with testimonies and short presentations) in French; 7 booklet sets, 5 info kits and 5 DVD’s in Dutch; 8 booklet sets and 5 info kits in English.

3) Czech Republic

This year was their 18th Cyclo-run, starting on 13 June for 10 days, covering some 1200 Kms and crossing 41 towns. Along the way, the “bikers and runners” met with town representatives, and community leaders did to say the less, lectures in 30 schools to more than 4,500 children, distributed 10,000 fliers and 35,000 booklets to the public, got 5 TV reports, several radios and newspapers, raising the awareness on the untold harming effects of drug use and spreading the message on the importance of a drug-free life.

4) Denmark

A Team of some 10 persons were mobilized to hold info stands in front of the main train station of Copenhagen. This way 2,300 booklets from the series The Truth About Drugs and 200 fliers got distributed to the passers-by. This was also a good opportunity to answer questions on drugs and to get in relation with people interested in a follow-up on the drug subject.

5) France

Along the week some 4,261 booklets were hand-distributed and 160 shops were visited in cities and villages across France such as in Paris (with a singer) and suburbs, Lyon, Pau, Nice, Angers, Auray, Clermont-Ferrand, Riom, Erquy, Cahors and in Marseille who in addition got in 1,5 hrs some 272 signatures on their pledges: An Engagement to Stay Drug-Free.

6) Germany

The info stand was in the middle of the main walking street of Frankfurt for about 2,5 hours with 6 helpers. Among the visitors, they had a teacher interested in his school, ladies from the Techno-Scene for a lecture, and a group of 5 girls (around 13 years old) who took booklets for their friends. One came back half an hour later to take more booklets with her for more friends! 825 booklets were distributed and fruitful contacts were made.

7) Greece

They were 15 Volunteers from the Athens team who distributed 2,500 booklets during 1,5hrs in the Piraeus harbour area and also to some shops around. The motto: “Inform people before dealers do”. Adolescents, adults and young parents, all were interested to have more data on drugs and were happy to get these informative booklets for them and their friends. Many pertinent questions were answered to full satisfaction.

The FDFE and all the European SNTD volunteers are very concerned about the protection of the youth from the deleterious effects of drug use. The old saying “Prevention is Better than Cure” has a much greater implication than it seems: it encompasses not only the individual but the family circle and has a great incidence on the community and social living. Aligned with the purpose of the 26 June celebration, let us remember these words of the humanist Ron Hubbard (1911-1986): “The drug scene is planet-wide and swimming in blood and human misery. Research demonstrates that the single most destructive element present in our current culture is drugs.”

The drug problem is not a fatality. To curtail the drug demand an early education of the children as primary prevention, good parental examples, and the support of youth associations, community and authorities are the efficient tools. Indeed, as the old African proverb says: “It takes a whole village to educate a child”. This is the safe and sane way “to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse”.

New Technique Could Lead to Improved Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Lung Disease Drugs

By

Karolinska Institutet

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22 July 2022

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New Technique Could Lead to Improved Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Lung Disease Drugs

The paper provides a new technique for improving and changing the function of proteins.

Improved protein function opens the door to novel drug development possibilities.

Maurice Michel, assistant professor at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet. Credit: Stefan Zimmerman

In a paper that was published in the journal Science, scientists from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab reveal how they were able to enhance a protein’s ability to repair oxidative DNA damage while also creating a new protein function. The researchers’ ground-breaking technique may result in better treatments for oxidative stress-related illnesses such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and lung diseases, but they think it has even more potential.

Finding certain pathogenic proteins and developing medicines that inhibiting these proteins has long been the foundation of the drug development process. However, many illnesses are caused by a reduction or loss of protein function, which cannot be specifically targeted by inhibitors.

Inspired by a Nobel Prize-winning discovery

In the current study, scientists from the Karolinska Institutet enhanced the function of the protein OGG1, an enzyme that fixes oxidative DNA damage and is linked to aging and disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disorders, and lung diseases.

The team used a technique called organocatalysis, which was created by Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan, who were awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The process is based on the finding that tiny organic molecules have the ability to function as catalysts and start chemical processes without becoming a component of the end result.

The researchers examined how such catalyst molecules, previously described by others, bind to OGG1 and affect its function in cells. One of the molecules proved to be of particular interest.

Ten times more effective

“When we introduce the catalyst into the enzyme, the enzyme becomes ten times more effective at repairing oxidative DNA damage and can perform a new repair function,” says the study’s first author Maurice Michel, assistant professor at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet.

Thomas Helleday, professor of the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet. Credit: Stefan Zimmerman

The catalyst made it possible for the enzyme to cut the DNA in an unusual way so that it no longer requires its regular protein APE1 to work but another protein called PNKP1.

The researchers believe that OGG1 proteins improved in this way can form new drugs for diseases in which oxidative damage is implicated. However, Professor Thomas Helleday at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet and the study’s last author also sees broader applications, where the concept of adding a small catalyst molecule to a protein is used to improve and change other proteins as well.

New protein functions are generated

“We believe that this technology could instigate a paradigm shift in the pharmaceutical industry, whereby new protein functions are generated instead of being suppressed by inhibitors,” says Thomas Helleday. “But the technique isn’t limited to drugs. The applications are virtually unlimited.”

Reference: “Small-molecule activation of OGG1 increases oxidative DNA damage repair by gaining a new function” by Maurice Michel, Carlos Benítez-Buelga, Patricia A. Calvo, Bishoy M. F. Hanna, Oliver Mortusewicz, Geoffrey Masuyer, Jonathan Davies, Olov Wallner Kumar Sanjiv, Julian J. Albers, Sergio Castañeda-Zegarra, Ann-Sofie Jemth, Torkild Visnes, Ana Sastre-Perona, Akhilesh N. Danda, Evert J. Homan, Karthick Marimuthu, Zhao Zhenjun, Celestine N. Chi, Antonio Sarno, Elisée Wiita, Catharina von Nicolai, Anna J. Komor, Varshni Rajagopal, Sarah Müller, Emily C. Hank, Marek Varga, Emma R. Scaletti, Monica Pandey, Stella Karsten, Hanne Haslene-Hox, Simon Loevenich, Petra Marttila, Azita Rasti, Kirill Mamonov, Florian Ortis, Fritz Schömberg, Olga Loseva, Josephine Stewart, Nicholas D’Arcy-Evans, Tobias Koolmeister, Martin Henriksson, Dana Michel, Ana de Ory, Lucia Acero, Oriol Calvete, Martin Scobie, Christian Hertweck, Ivan Vilotijevic, Christina Kalderén, Ana Osorio, Rosario Perona, Alexandra Stolz, Pål Stenmark, Ulrika Warpman Berglund, Miguel de Vega and Thomas Helleday, 23 June 2022, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abf8980

The study was funded by the European Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, the Crafoord Foundation, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Torsten and Ragnar Söderberg Foundation, and the Dr. Åke Olsson Foundation for Haematological Research.

Many of the researchers involved in the study are listed in a patent application concerning OGG1 inhibitors and are associated with the organization that owns the patent. Two are employed by Oxcia AB, which licenses the patent, and many are shareholders in the company.

Yale Scientists Zero In on Genetic Causes of Parkinson’s Disease

By

Bill Hathaway, Yale University

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22 July 2022

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Yale Scientists Zero In on Genetic Causes of Parkinson’s Disease

New research by Yale researchers offers important clues into the genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease, a severe and incurable motor disorder.

Although the development of Parkinson’s disease has been closely linked to variants of at least 20 different genes, scientists are still investigating exactly how they cause the severe and incurable motor disorder that afflicts around 1 million people in the U.S. alone.

Yale researchers have just completed new studies that offer important clues. In two new research papers, scientists provide insight into the function of a protein called VPS13C, one of the molecular suspects underlying Parkinson’s, a disease marked by uncontrollable movements including tremors, stiffness, and loss of balance.

“There are many roads to Rome; likewise there are many roads leading to Parkinson’s,” said Pietro De Camilli, the John Klingenstein Professor of Neuroscience and professor of cell biology at Yale and investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “Laboratories at Yale are making progress toward elucidating some of these paths.”

De Camilli is the senior author of the two new papers, which have been published in the Journal of Cell Biology and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).

Previous research has shown that mutations of the gene VPS13C cause rare cases of inherited Parkinson’s or an increased risk of the disease. To better understand why, De Camilli and Karin Reinisch, the David W. Wallace Professor of Cell Biology and of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, investigated the mechanisms by which these mutations lead to dysfunction on a cellular level.

They reported in 2018 that VPS13C forms a bridge between two subcellular organelles — the endoplasmic reticulum and the lysosome. The endoplasmic reticulum is the organelle that regulates the synthesis of most phospholipids, fatty molecules that are essential for building cell membranes. The lysosome acts as the cell’s digestive system. They also showed that VPS13C can transport lipids, suggesting that it may form a conduit for the traffic of lipid between these two organelles.

One of the new papers (Journal of Cell Biology) from De Camilli’s lab demonstrates that the lack of VPS13C affects the lipid composition and properties of lysosomes. Moreover, they found that in a human cell line these perturbations activate an innate immunity. Such activation, if occurring in brain tissue, would trigger neuroinflammation, a process implicated in Parkinson’s by several recent studies.

The second paper (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science) from De Camilli’s lab uses state-of-the-art cryo-electron tomography techniques to reveal the architecture of this protein in its native environment supporting a bridge model of lipid transport. Jun Liu, a professor of microbial pathogenesis at Yale, is co-corresponding author of this study.

Understanding these fine-grained molecular details will be crucial in understanding at least one of the roads that lead to Parkinson’s disease and may help identify therapeutic targets to prevent, or slow, the disease, researchers say.

References:

“ER-lysosome lipid transfer protein VPS13C/PARK23 prevents aberrant mtDNA-dependent STING signaling” by William Hancock-Cerutti, Zheng Wu, Peng Xu, Narayana Yadavalli, Marianna Leonzino, Arun Kumar Tharkeshwar, Shawn M. Ferguson, Gerald S. Shadel and Pietro De Camilli, 3 June 2022, Journal of Cell Biology.
DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202106046

“In situ architecture of the lipid transport protein VPS13C at ER–lysosome membrane contacts” by Shujun Cai, Yumei Wu, Andrés Guillén-Samander, William Hancock-Cerutti, Jun Liu and Pietro De Camilli, 13 July 2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2203769119

Yale’s William Hancock-Cerutti is lead author of the paper appearing in the Journal of Cell biology and Shujun Cai is lead author of the paper published in PNAS.

Latvia files Allegations of Genocide re Ukraine v. Russian Federation

By

Newsdesk

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22 July 2022

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Grand_Hall_de_Justice_de_Palais_de_La_Paix_à_La_Haye_Pays-Bas — Lybil BER, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Latvia files a declaration of intervention in the proceedings under Article 63 of the Statute

THE HAGUE, 22 July 2022. Genocide – On 21 July 2022, the Republic of Latvia, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation).

Pursuant to Article 63 of the Statute, whenever the construction of a convention to which States other than those concerned in the case are parties is in question, each of these States has the right to intervene in the proceedings. In this case, the construction given by the judgment of the Court will be equally binding upon them.

To avail itself of the right of intervention conferred by Article 63 of the Statute, Latvia relies on its status as a party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”). It states that “[a]s a Party to the Genocide Convention, Latvia has a direct interest in the construction that might be placed upon that treaty in the Court’s decision in the [proceedings”, indicating that it “wishes to intervene in order to make submissions on [the] construction of the Genocide Convention on issues relating to merits as well as jurisdiction”.

In accordance with Article 83 of the Rules of Court, Ukraine and the Russian Federation have been invited to furnish written observations on Latvia’s declaration of intervention.

Latvia’s declaration of intervention will soon be available on the Court’s website.

History of the proceedings

The history of the proceedings can be found in press releases Nos. 2022/4, 2022/6, 2022/7 and 2022/11, available on the Court’s website.

Note. The Court’s press releases are prepared by its Registry for information purposes only and do not constitute official documents.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role. first, to settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.

Sri Lanka Cardinal condemns high-handed actions of new president – Vatican News

By

Vatican News

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22 July 2022

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Sri Lanka Cardinal condemns high-handed actions of new president - Vatican News

By Francesca Merlo

In a heartfelt address to the people of Sri Lanka and the international community, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, condemned Friday morning’s attack on the “beloved” citizens of Sri Lanka, in which security forces raided the main anti-government protest camp in the capital.

The Cardinal explains that the unarmed youth, even after having announced that they were preparing to leave the site, were attacked by an “unprovoked” group of policemen and army soldiers.

Some were injured and others were arrested, noted the Cardinal, stressing his desire to “completely condemn this high-handed action of the president”.

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Only 24 hours

President Ranil Wickremesinghe had been in power for less than 24 hours at the time of the attack, winning 134 votes in parliament, after former prime minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted.

“This is very sad”, stated the Cardinal, “because the president became president only on the vote of the parliamentarians, and because he came saying that he would protect the constitution”. Instead, continued the cardinal, “he has acted against the basic right of the people to protest, which is a democratic right, which was exercised non violently by the youth”.

The president’s attack on this youth is completely contradictory to what he publicly announced and to what his duty as president of the country is, continued the Cardinal.

He added that the parliament does not represent the majority of the people and that the president is trying to “dictate terms and force himself on the people with the use of thuggery and oppression is unacceptable”.

Responsibility for any consequences

“We hold the president responsible”, continued the Cardinal, “for any future disaster that might come as a result of his actions”.

Cardinal Ranjith then went to note that amongst those injured during Friday’s attack were members of both local and foreign media. He went on to condemn these attacks, too, and “, especially on those who came from overseas”, warning of the discredit Sri Lanka will receive as a result of one person’s actions.

A suffering nation

He then turned his focus to the suffering people of the nation, who with unemployment and a lack of basic necessities to live with dignity protested this reality, peacefully, and demanded change, only to be attacked.

“It is the responsibility of the President to look into this attack”, stated the Cardinal, demanding that an inquiry be opened and that those guilty be held responsible.

Turning then to the international community, Cardinal Ranjith asked that should the government fail to open an inquiry, members of human rights organisations do so instead. “To attack the very same people whose protests lead to this change is like kicking the ladder after one reaches the top”, concluded the cardinal, adding “we wish to condemn that very firmly and call upon him not to act in that high-handed fashion hereafter”.

Listen to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith

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