Here is a wonderful example of Capitalism at work. Paxil is a drug that has caused suicides in people of all ages, and is remarkably similar to other drugs on the market. However, when the FDA decided to rule on this matter, they looked at only one BRAND NAME ... this from a watchdog group on the topic....who point out that the FDA is merely taking this one BRAND NAME away from humans under eighteen, while letting the Drug Companies continue to sell to adults, though they too commit suicide on this drug. Where is the logic? The almighty dollar is the only reason that I can think of. The FDA is not acting in the best interests of the people, so who are they acting for? Drug Companies.
I am not a fundamentalist about this matter, I welcome the new pharmacological ways of treating some forms of mental illness. However, these drugs, and indeed the mental diagnosis that go along with them, are doing a lot of harm.
Most people do not realize that they could be classified as bi-polar for practically nothing, and then be shuttled off to live in a motel, where they take all of your money except 30 bucks a month, and basically warehouse you away forever. This happens a lot in the city, to people who are disabled, especially, because the sleazy hotels they live in take all of their checks, then give them three meals and a bed. You can imagine how denigrated they are. They have no money and you meet them here everyday out scrounging up change. 30 bucks buys four packs of smokes in this city. Let alone weed and wine. What else do they have to do? The world effectively imprisons them.
I was put on a drug in error, that caused me to have seizures, go into the hospital every couple months,once not sleep for seven days... I had been treated by the same doctors for many years, then switched when I got good insurance to a general practisioner, which they had recommended I have. Well, he put me on something called Seroqel, which has a history of driving people mad. The drug made me what looked like madness. And I would go in and get treated for the symptoms, but none of the doctors just took me off the drug that was causing all of the problems.
Finally, I went back to my old doctors, who had treated me for chronic pain with my messed up back that has caused me countless surgeries (it feels like -- I have literally spent better than a year of my life just laying in bed recovering from massive infusions of hip bones being fused into my spine, etc...), and they took me off the Seroqel and I came back to my normal self. There is a lot more involved in this, I believe.... actually. Why I was put on this stuff and kept on it while being treated by various doctors is appalling enough -- if not so suspicious as to involve an unseen hand, and I was embroiled in a battle with the Bush folk at the time and they were fighting back... Oh, well, the point that you need to take home is that if someone you know is put on this drug, or a doctor tries to put you on it, that you should run the other way, or risk suicide, madness, all kinds of neuralogical diseases.
Not to say that I am convinced they never work. I had a freind who was on Zoloft who swore by the stuff. He described how his dosage was so high that he got bursts of joy flowing through his chest, and was afraid that he was actually 'too happy' in a social situation. I don't know what he was like before this stuff, but on it he was pretty happy. He was fun to be around because of this; at least he always laughed at my jokes.
Anyways, this is serious shit. I do not want to appear like a scientologist on this issue... but damn... The FDA just decided to ignore all the suicides that their ruling is going to cause. They sacrificed a few humans for the greater good, eh? The good of .... who? Drug companies.
I have been writing about the FDA since I first read about them. Once, optimistically, I wrote that the great 'we' would run the FDA when Obama took over... obviously, I am a chump sometime... I still like Obama, but he is in a rough spot with a lot on his plate, etc... I'll give him a few years before I come to any kind of judgement; Bush left the world in such shitty shape that no one can be expected to shovel out all that manure in a year....
Rhey focus only on Paxil. The truth is that this is an SSRI class-wide
phenomenon. For example, if the FDA would only look at the data in
Pfizer's May 1996 submission to them on suicidality regarding children
and adolescents in the Zoloft clinical trials, they would see (I) that the
suicidality data between Zoloft and placebo in that report was at least
as damning as the newly revealed Paxil data, and (ii) that, although
they tried to lay the blame for 7 of the 8 suicidal acts off on other
"stressors", even Pfizer ADMITTED that Zoloft triggered the self-
mutilation and suicide attempt of 8 year old "patient #4
phenomenon. For example, if the FDA would only look at the data in
Pfizer's May 1996 submission to them on suicidality regarding children
and adolescents in the Zoloft clinical trials, they would see (I) that the
suicidality data between Zoloft and placebo in that report was at least
as damning as the newly revealed Paxil data, and (ii) that, although
they tried to lay the blame for 7 of the 8 suicidal acts off on other
"stressors", even Pfizer ADMITTED that Zoloft triggered the self-
mutilation and suicide attempt of 8 year old "patient #4
On Thursday, June 19, 2003, the FDA, following the lead last week of
the British MCA, ruled that Paxil should not be given to kids 18 or under,
because of the increased risk of suicidal impulses.
There are several news stories on the Internet, but the most reliable
source of information is on the official website, www.fda.gov. You can
follow the links on that website to the story about their action, and then
to their Q&A's and "contact us" feedback form.
Our main concern about the FDA's action, and particularly about their
Q&A's, is two-fold:
(a) instead of acknowledging the wealth of information that indicates
that this phenomenon affects adults as well as children, they
specifically say that it does not -- people will die because of that
advice;
(b) they focus only on Paxil. The truth is that this is an SSRI class-wide
phenomenon. For example, if the FDA would only look at the data in
Pfizer's May 1996 submission to them on suicidality regarding children
and adolescents in the Zoloft clinical trials, they would see (I) that the
suicidality data between Zoloft and placebo in that report was at least
as damning as the newly revealed Paxil data, and (ii) that, although
they tried to lay the blame for 7 of the 8 suicidal acts off on other
"stressors", even Pfizer ADMITTED that Zoloft triggered the self-
mutilation and suicide attempt of 8 year old "patient #4".
Hopefully, with public and regulatory attention now focused on the
problem, the FDA will pay attention to REAL human stories from real
people.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Please go to the FDA website, again at http://www.fda.gov, to follow
the links to their action about Paxil and 18 year olds, and to click the
"contact us" button and then report the factual details of your family's
tragedy. Keep it short and simple.
"My husband got Paxil or Prozac or Zoloft from a GP for ____.
Seventeen days later, he hanged himself in our back yard. He was never
previously suicidal and this action was TOTALLY out of character."
It is important in this regard that the FDA see how well your story fits
the pattern of SSRI induced violence/suicide which Lilly recognized way
back in 1990-91. Specifically, the phenomenon has four distinctive
attributes: (i) the suicidality or violence came up suddenly, almost out
of the blue, (ii) it was violent, (iii) there was an obsessive or impulse
nature to the patient's actions, and (iv) it was out of character (they
used the word "egodystonic"). Make your report to them with those
elements in mind.
A copy of this email report could/should also be shared with the
Senator Schumer's office in NY (http://schumer.senate.gov/
webform.html) and with the client's senators and congressmen.
Also, please forward a copy of same to Mr. Andy Vickery, an attorney
who has been successful in litigating a number of these cases, at
andy@justiceseekers.com.
A WORD OF CAUTION.
Families who have settled their legal claims have continuing
confidentiality obligations. These do NOT preclude them from sharing
the particulars of their tragedies with the FDA or members of Congress,
or, indeed, if you choose, with members of the media (contact us and
we will give you email address of appropriate media representative).
However, NO MENTION should be made of a settled legal claim or
lawsuit. IF you have a suit that is currently pending, you might mention
the lawsuit but refer any inquiries about the case to your attorney.
Finally, if an attorney is representing you but the case is still in an
investigative stage, i.e. the claim has not been settled and no suit has
yet been filed, then NO MENTION should be made of any legal claim or
action.
Check out all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway
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