Paxil Progress unites people from all corners of the world, they share stories, offer advice, post latest news stories related to Seroxat, the FDA, MHRA and GlaxoSmithKline. They vent their frustrations at the ignorance of health care workers, psychiatrists and GP's. [Doctors]
Many people are angry at Glaxo mouthpieces such as, Alistair Benbow and Mary Anne Rhyne who have publicly stated that withdrawal isn't an issue regarding Seroxat.
Glaxo and, it seems, the drug regulators, put the onus on doctors to help patients through withdrawal. A tactic of 'passing the buck' because they really don't have a clue what to do about this problem, they deny it exists or at least pass it off as part of the illness. Many doctors are faced with patients complaining of head zaps, violent thoughts, akathesia, suicidal thoughts et al.
A doctor has to make a decision that a manufacturer and regulator cannot make... or refuse to acknowledge. His decision will be based on his training. What doctor is trained in the art of SSRi withdrawal?
Many patients on Paxil Progress vent their anger at their doctors. They, like Glaxo and the regulators, just don't want to hear about withdrawal. It's easier to up the dosage, more cost effective too.
There are huge cracks that have, for years, been merely cemented over when it comes to Seroxat withdrawal. The glass building in Brent, London, stands hideously with the logo GlaxoSmithKline emblazoned at the top. There are cracks appearing in the glass at GSK HQ mainly because patients write about their ordeals at the hands of one of their best selling drugs. One such person to recently vent his frustrations was 'Dan' over at Paxil Progress. The title of Dan's post is 'Doctor's Appointment - Utterly Disgusted'.
Dan writes about his doctor and it echoes many stories I have heard throughout the years about the naivety and stubbornness but more importantly, lack of training in this field.
Dan complained that he was struggling with Seroxat withdrawal. His uneducated doctor suggests it's time to switch from Seroxat to another SSRi - herein lies the problem.
If the Seroxat Patient Information Leaflet continues to put the onus on uneducated doctors then this problem will never go away. More and more people will suffer because GlaxoSmithKline haven't got the balls or morals to do the right thing. The regulators are listening, they know how powerful blogging can be and they don't want their name further tarnished but listening is not good enough, they have to act.
The MHRA were literally bent over a barrel and buggered by GlaxoSmithKline regarding the suppression of data in the Seroxat paediatric studies. Later interviews with the then CEO of GSK, JP Garnier, would highlight just how smug these people can be. Alistair Benbow was in defiant mood as ever, claiming that the company had done nothing wrong - basically a middle finger salute to the four year MHRA Investigation.
I see this as a door opening for patients, a door that was once behind a brick wall that has been chipped away by bloggers.
GlaxoSmithKline's doors will always remain firmly closed to the public, their offer of putting clinical trial data on their web page is too little too late. They cannot be believed after hiding or manipulating data to market a dangerous drug in children. That was an act of cowardice, to defend it is an act utterly shameful.
It's time for change. Stories such as Dan's on Paxil Progress will help bring about that change.
Fid
Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal
By Bob Fiddaman
ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE
PAPERBACK COMING SOON
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