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Myself and Janice Simmons, co-ordinator of the Seroxat User Group, have compiled a list of questions for UK readers of this blog to print off and to ask their doctors.
Personally, I believe we will never get help from the UK Medicines regulator [MHRA] nor the UK government regarding the safety of Seroxat and other SSRi's.
I also believe that it is the patient who has to educate the doctor because too many of them have been indoctrinated by ghost-written papers in medical journals and the hard sell of pharmaceutical reps.
This questionnaire, depending on the answers given to you by your doctor, should highlight the failings of the MHRA. Their 'don't give a damn' attitude is staggering as is their ignorance at accepting that there is a major problem with this particular class of drugs.
While pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline continue to make out of court settlements to people who have complained that Seroxat has caused heart defects, suicide and withdrawal problems, the MHRA will bury their heads in the sand. The undeniable proof that is kept hidden from the public in sealed files suits both pharma and the MHRA. If there is no admittance then there is no problem.
Doctors need to be made aware of the truth - the MHRA have been made aware but continue to hold hands with their paymasters.
The safety of patients should be paramount and not the protection of pharmaceutical products and their reputations.
'15 Questions To Ask Your Doctor' are questions we should all be asking. There should be no problem asking these questions - even GlaxoSmithKline told me to ask my doctor if Seroxat was a teratogen - they refused to answer it themselves. The MHRA, as is the norm, sat on the fence with a limp-wristed and cowardly answer.
The MHRA are well aware that patients are struggling with Seroxat and other SSRi's. Listening to patient stories is simply not good enough. They have to act and the only way to get them to act is to highlight their failings.
There is a printible PDF for you to download. Ask your doctor, don't be afraid to ask questions regarding these drugs - any patient information leaflet will direct you to 'ask your doctor' if you have a problem with the drugs. Way I see it is their is a problem with doctor's not knowing the full facts because the UK medicines regulator are stuck in an outdated system of regulatory madness that protects the product and its manufacturer and NOT the patient.
For ease you can cut and paste the questions into your own word document.
ORDER THE PAPERBACK
'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
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