You would think the first ever award would go to someone from Glaxosmithkline or even the MHRA or even possibly the FDA... alas, those awards for dumbness will come later.
Today, I want to focus on a particular individual who made a post on the British Medical Journal (BMJ) website back in 2003.
This individual was writing in response to an editorial by the BMJ that dared to advise against the use of Paroxetine in children.
The name of this individual... Keith L Meloff, Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics (Neurology) University of Western Ontario, London Ontario.
Here's why he has won the prestigious Seroxat Sufferers Dumbass Award:
Paxil(Paroxetine) is useful in children
Your editorial advising against the use of Paroxetine in children will create havoc in the care of children and adolescents with significant neuropsychiatric problems such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette syndrome, oppositional-defiant disorder, panic/phobia, etc. Paroxetine is widely used in Canada for these problems, often with considerable success. Your advice would be more acceptable if your experts offered reasonable alternatives- a regrettable omission. In fact, none of the alternatives for treating the above disorders has been approved in children- and this is a global problem in drug development, namely the lack of suitably controlled studies of psychotropic medicines in the 6-18 age group. The BMJ owes it to its readers to offer evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of childhood mental health problems especially when issuing dire warnings. Those of us engaged in the care of these children anxiously await your response. Respectfully submitted-Keith Meloff, MD, FRCPC
Competing interests: None declared
"Those of us engaged in the care of these children anxiously await your response"
Feel compelled to write to him?
Unfortunately he never left contact details
His bio can be viewed here
Congratulations Mr Keith Lyon Meloff. You are the winner of the very first Seroxat Sufferers Dumbass Award.
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