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| What are Dr Alastair Benbow's sources? |
From: fiddaman robert
Sent: 25 June 2011 13:08
To: MHRA Central Enquiry Point
Subject: FOI Request
- Show quoted text -
MHRA Information Centre
The following request I make under the Freedom of Information Act.
To whom it may concern,
1. In a 2002 interview with BBC TV's Shelley Jofre, GlaxoSmithKline spokesperson, Alastair Benbow, claimed that, "... the majority of patients who experience withdrawal symptoms - and the majority of patients actually do not experience any withdrawal symptoms - of those that do the majority of those symptoms are mild to moderate in nature and will go away without any treatment within two weeks." He was, of course, referring to the antidepressant Seroxat. Under the FOIA I would like the MHRA to provide me with the study/studies that substantiate Dr Benbow's claim.
2. Furthermore, in the same interview, Dr Benbow claimed, "maybe that a small proportion of patients do get more severe symptoms...". Under the FOIA I would like the MHRA to provide me with the study/studies that substantiate Dr Benbow's claim.
The full transcript, which has recently been released, was part of disclosure and used in litigation against GSK in the United States and is attached for your perusal.
Yours sincerely,
Bob Fiddaman
Dear Mr Fiddaman,
Thank you for your recent enquiry to the MHRA.
We cannot give you a definitive answer, we would advise you to contact GSK directly to ascertain what studies Mr Benbow considered supported his statement. Any studies he may have considered should have been published on our website. You may wish to review the SSRI Expert Working Group report published on our website (link below), the report outlines all the data the Agency has considered in relation to the issue of withdrawal reactions with Paroxetine.
http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/Safetywarningsalertsandrecalls/Safetywarningsandmessagesformedicines/CON1004259
The Agency has previously released relevant data that has been submitted to us with regards to withdrawal reactions and also data submitted to us by GSK in the context of this review and the European Article 31 referral, which is also available on the GSK website.
Please contact us again if you need further assistance with this, or any other queries.
Kind Regards,
Central Enquiry Point
Information Services
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
Tel: 020 3080 6000
I sent the same FOI to GlaxoSmithKline - they never even bothered to acknowledge receipt of it.
Transparent as ever!
Fid
ORDER THE PAPERBACK
'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
US & CANADA HERE OR UK FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE
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