Antidepressant Use in Children

Antidepressant use in children.

It's a no-brainer.

Same as it is with adolescents and adults too.

Two videos to watch.






Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Paxil Behind the Closed Doors of the FDA

"We have a challenging and inspiring mission: to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer."

Adverse reactions to Paxil [also known as Seroxat and Aropax]] reported to the FDA - June 2011 [Source]


Whilst reading through the adverse reactions, such as death, birth defects, withdrawal problems and hostility,  please remember the mission statement of the company that manufacture and promote Paxil.

GlaxoSmithKline Mission Statement:

"We have a challenging and inspiring mission: to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer."


7580479 PAXIL
29-Jun-11
Female
Abortion Induced, Anencephaly, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy

7577731 PAXIL
28-Jun-11
Male
Congenital Anomaly, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Heart Disease Congenital, Kidney Malformation, Maternal Drugs Affecting Foetus, Pulmonary Malformation

7578105 PAROXETINE HYDROCHLORIDE
28-Jun-11
Male
Drug Dependence, Drug Ineffective, Hypertension, Intentional Drug Misuse, Suicide Attempt, Tachycardia, Withdrawal Syndrome

7578229 PAXIL
28-Jun-11
Female
Aggression, Drug Withdrawal Syndrome, Dyskinesia

7591796 PAROXETINE HYDROCHLORIDE
27-Jun-11
Death Neonatal, Maternal Death Affecting Foetus

7568358 PAROXETINE HCL
23-Jun-11
50
Female
Psychotic Disorder

7568362 PAXIL
23-Jun-11
Female
Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Heart Disease Congenital, Pulmonary Artery Stenosis Congenital

7563384 PAXIL
22-Jun-11
Male
Coarctation Of The Aorta, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy

7560179 PAXIL
21-Jun-11
Female
Tachycardia

7577533 PAROXETINE HCL
21-Jun-11
80
Female
Depressed Level Of Consciousness, Disorientation, Drug Interaction, Incoherent, Respiratory Depression, Somnolence

7554502 PAXIL
17-Jun-11
75
Male
Parkinsonism

7555056 PAROXETINE HCL
17-Jun-11
Male
Abdominal Pain Upper, Agitation, Asthenia, Blood Pressure Increased, Chest Discomfort, Decreased Appetite, Depressed Mood, Depression, Dizziness, Drug Dependence, Drug Ineffective, Drug Withdrawal Syndrome, Dyspnoea, Fear, Hyperhidrosis, Impulsive Behaviour, Insomnia, Nausea, Paraesthesia, Suicide Attempt, Tachycardia, Tinnitus, Tremor, Vertigo

7560642 PAROXETINE HCL
17-Jun-11
Male
Obsessive Thoughts, Panic Attack, Product Substitution Issue

7551759 PAXIL
16-Jun-11
54
Male
Abnormal Behaviour, Mood Altered, Thinking Abnormal

7541988 PAROXETINE HCL
13-Jun-11
56
Female
Grand Mal Convulsion, Loss Of Consciousness, Syncope

7542630 PAROXETINE HCL
13-Jun-11
Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Drug Withdrawal Syndrome, Feeding Disorder Neonatal, Hypotonia, Respiratory Distress

7561055 PAROXETINE HCL
11-Jun-11
33 Male
Aggression, Drug Abuse

7571367 PAROXETINE HCL
11-Jun-11
33
Male
Aggression, Drug Abuse

7540512 PAXIL
10-Jun-11
Female
Arnold-chiari Malformation, Atrial Septal Defect, Cardiac Murmur, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy

7540539 PAROXETINE HCL
10-Jun-11
Female
Agoraphobia, Amnesia, Claustrophobia, Dependence, Drug Ineffective, Fatigue, Feeling Abnormal, General Physical Health Deterioration, Headache, Hypoglycaemia, Malaise, Muscle Twitching, Nausea, Psychomotor Hyperactivity, Suicidal Ideation, Teeth Brittle, Thinking Abnormal, Vision Blurred, Weight Decreased, Withdrawal Syndrome

7540560 PAXIL
10-Jun-11
75
Male
Parkinsonism

7540563 PAXIL
10-Jun-11
Completed Suicide

7545129 PAROXETINE HCL
10-Jun-11
Female
Decreased Appetite, Economic Problem, Inappropriate Schedule Of Drug Administration, Mania

7536690 PAXIL CR
09-Jun-11
Female
Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Fallot's Tetralogy, Lung Disorder, Patent Ductus Arteriosus

7536696 PAXIL
09-Jun-11
Male
Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Pneumomediastinum

7536704 PAXIL CR
09-Jun-11
Female
Atrial Septal Defect, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Pulmonary Artery Stenosis Congenital, Transposition Of The Great Vessels, Ventricular Septal Defect

7556669 PAROXETINE HYDROCHLORIDE
09-Jun-11
55
Male
Drug Interaction, Loss Of Consciousness, Pulse Absent, Syncope, Torsade De Pointes

7532673 PAXIL
08-Jun-11
Female
Anhedonia, Autophobia, Brain Injury, Decreased Activity, Depression, Educational Problem, Emotional Disorder, Ill-defined Disorder, Intentional Self-injury, Myocardial Infarction, Palpitations, Product Quality Issue, Psychiatric Symptom, Scar, Suicide Attempt

7532705 PAROXETINE HCL
08-Jun-11
Female
Aggression, Autophobia, Depression, Drug Ineffective, Intentional Self-injury, Palpitations, Product Quality Issue, Suicide Attempt

7532705 PAXIL
08-Jun-11
Female
Aggression, Autophobia, Depression, Drug Ineffective, Intentional Self-injury, Palpitations, Product Quality Issue, Suicide Attempt

7532750 PAXIL
08-Jun-11
Female
Atrial Septal Defect, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Patent Ductus Arteriosus

7532755 PAXIL
08-Jun-11
Male
Atrial Septal Defect, Coarctation Of The Aorta, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Patent Ductus Arteriosus, Ventricular Septal Defect

7532757 PAXIL
08-Jun-11
Female
Atrial Septal Defect, Cardiac Murmur, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy

7532791 PAXIL
08-Jun-11
Aggression, Personality Disorder

7529403 PAXIL
07-Jun-11
Female
Cardiac Malposition, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Fallot's Tetralogy, Maternal Drugs Affecting Foetus, Pulmonary Artery Stenosis Congenital, Right Ventricular Hypertrophy, Ventricular Septal Defect

7529710 PAROXETINE HCL
07-Jun-11
Female
Abnormal Dreams, Abortion Induced, Amnesia, Anger, Antisocial Behaviour, Cold Sweat, Depressed Mood, Depression, Drug Exposure During Pregnancy, Headache, Hyperhidrosis, Malaise, Nervousness, Panic Attack, Paraesthesia, Recurring Skin Boils, Self-injurious Ideation, Suicidal Ideation, Therapy Cessation, Tremor, Vertigo, Withdrawal Syndrome

7545472 PAROXETINE HYDROCHLORIDE
06-Jun-11
42
Female
Coma, Self Injurious Behaviour

7523387 PAXIL
03-Jun-11
Ulcer Haemorrhage

7519659 PAXIL
02-Jun-11
Male
Parkinsonism

7535819 PAROXETINE HCL
02-Jun-11
Female
Confusional State, Disorientation

7536981 PAROXETINE HCL
02-Jun-11
32
Male Dysarthria, Hypotension, Multiple Drug Overdose Intentional, Respiratory Depression, Suicide Attempt, Tachycardia, Vomiting

7515898 PAROXETINE HYDROCHLORIDE
01-Jun-11
30
Female
Anxiety, Drug Prescribing Error, Incorrect Storage Of Drug, Panic Attack, Withdrawal Syndrome

7515898 PAXIL
01-Jun-11
30
Female
Anxiety, Drug Prescribing Error, Incorrect Storage Of Drug, Panic Attack, Withdrawal Syndrome

7540521 PAXIL
01-Jun-11
83
Female
Blindness Unilateral, Eye Haemorrhage, Reading Disorder

7563268 PAXIL
01-Jun-11
49
Male
Balance Disorder, Cerebrovascular Accident, Chest Pain, Emotional Disorder, Hypoaesthesia, Psychotic Disorder

7563399 PAXIL
01-Jun-11
90
Male
Food Aversion, Hallucination, Refusal Of Treatment By Patient


Here's the British drug regulator, the MHRA, and former GlaxoSmithKline spokesperson, Alistair Benbow, telling millions of UK viewers how safe Seroxat [Paxil] is.

Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Lexapro - The Brennan McCartney Story

Brennan McCartney - A victim of Lexapro

You are young, you have relationship problems with your partner, you talk things through with your doctor, you are prescribed a drug, that drug is not recommended for people of your age group.

You kill yourself.

An all too familiar story has recently been aired on Canadian TV.

Brennan McCartney was just 18 years old when in November 2010, he was prescribed Lexapro [known as Cipralex in Canada]. 4 days later Brennan hanged himself.

Lexapro is the sister drug to Lundbeck's earlier antidepressant Celexa [also known as Cipramil]

Now, this is where pharmaceutical marketing comes into play.

Celexa's patent was running out, in other words, other companies could make generic versions of it, thus making heaps of money... money that Lundbeck wished to keep for themselves.

So, what do they do?

They play around with a molecule or two of Celexa then re-badge it as Lexapro. Voila! A new antidepressant hits the market.

The company hail it as a much better drug than their previous best-seller. Doctor's, convinced by pharmaceutical spin and ghostwritten articles start switching patients from one drug to another which is, in essence, the same drug.

Canadian Brennan McCartney was prescribed a sample pack of Lexapro, a pack that would have been left behind by a visiting Lundbeck rep who more than likely would have failed to mention the suicide link in Brennan's age group. The rep would not have cared who the doctor was prescribing it to, nor would he have intervened if the doctor was prescribing off-label to patients that the drug was not recommended for.

Brennan's doctor may or may not have told the 18 year old about the dangers of taking Lexapro, particularly during the first two weeks. Even if he did, Brennan really wouldn't have believed that a pill manufactured to help lift his apparent depression could actually make him worse.

SSRi's such as Lexapro make you do things that you wouldn't normally do. You lose your inhibitions, you lose your fear, two traits that are embedded in us for a reason. They tell us what is right and what is wrong, they are pre-cursors... warnings, insights into consequences.

Brennan was contemplating a split with his partner. He, like millions of others, was trying to deal with the heart-ache. His doctor, for reasons that I am unaware of, deemed Lexapro as a pill to help heal his heart, a heart, that remember, was broken...only metaphorically speaking.

Instead of healing the gut-wrenching feeling of a relationship split, Lexapro managed to do the complete opposite. It fixed nothing. The chemicals released into Brennan's system would have more than likely been the cause of his chemical imbalance - they would have changed because Lexapro gives you a re-uptake of serotonin - the substance, claim doctor's, psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies, that needs boosting when one becomes depressed.

This, as many of you know, is pseudo-science, it's claptrap, it's pharmaceutical spin designed only to sell more and more drugs to an unsuspecting public.

Man in white coat treats poorly patient - man in white coat is deemed as God.

There is no better retailer for a product.

So, what happens when a patient commits suicide when taking one of these types of drugs?

We've all seen the warnings that they 'may' cause suicide...yet when they actually do cause a person to take their own life we get no admittance of liability from the companies that make them. The victim...or rather the victim's original illness is blamed, in Brennan's case, heartache.

Brennan's parents have called for toxicology reports to be carried out on their dead son. Those wonderful folk at the Coroner's Office in Brampton, Ontario have denied their request citing, "the results would be inconclusive"

Genetic testing could determine if Brennan was in a susceptible population, there are certain folk who metabolize these drugs better than others. By not allowing Brennan's parents this one simple test the Coroner's Office of Brampton, Ontario are failing to protect the public, they are sweeping a young death under the carpet because any result from a toxicology report that raised a red-flag to this particular patient population would have to be tackled and Coroner's just don't want to get involved in something so irrelevant.

The Coroner's Office in Brampton should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Quite how they arrived at such a decision is baffling...to say the least

Brennan became agitated, so much so that he told his parents that he 'had to get out'. Brennan left the family home - he never returned again.

It's plainly obvious, to me at least, that Brennan's agitation was a result of ingesting Lexapro...as was his suicidal act.

Brennan McCartney was not depressed, he was saddened because that's how people with a heart get when they split with partners.

Lundbeck, the manufacturers of Lexapro, will no doubt use that in a defence - they will use the fact that Lexapro was not indicated for someone with sadness, particularly someone who fell into the age-group of Brennan. They don't mind doctor's prescribing it though!

So, another kid dies because he was prescribed a drug 'off-label', a doctor who was given carte blanche by medicine regulators who stubbornly refuse to ban SSRi use in children and adolescents. Not recommending use of a drug is not the same as banning it. It's a limp-wristed gesture to show the public that the regulator, in this instance Health Canada, are doing their job correctly.

The segment [below] was aired on 16x9. In it, Lundbeck are quoted as saying that 'there is no evidence that the drug increases the risk of suicide'

According to the FDA, the American drugs regulator, Lexapro was given a black box warning because it indicated that it can cause serious side effects, including disabling reactions, life-threatening conditions or fatal results.

So, suicide isn't a fatal result then?

And what of an inquest for Brennan McCartney?

Well, we've seen just how utterly useless Coroner's courts can be in the past. Two in Canada spring to mind:

Vanessa Young [Prepulsid] and Sara Carlin [Paxil]

In both cases recommendations were made. None of the recommendations made have ever been implemented.

It's ironic that the word 'recommendations' is used twice here. Not recommended for children and adolescents and recommended that A,B or C be carried out to protect future patients.

The word 'recommendations' means nothing, it's yet another smokescreen to make it look like something will eventually be done about a problem...when in actual fact there is no intention to do anything about a particular problem.

The segment about Brennan's suicide can be seen from 7.14 onwards.




Brennan's mom, Nancy, can be followed on Twitter - @NancyMcCartney2

New Seroxat/GSK Videos Appear on YouTube

There's someone out there who just doesn't like GSK.

A series of videos, 14 in all, have appeared over the weekend and all are pretty damning for GSK.

I'd like to take credit for these, alas I can't.

Much respect to the creator who uploaded them though.

The YouTube Channel, 'Seroxat Stuff', can be viewed HERE.

Here's just one of the 14 videos that went live this weekend.

Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

GSK - Ka Ching The UK Taxman

On Monday 14 May BBC Panorama aired a programme about UK Corporate companies and the way they dodge paying tax.

Unsurprisingly, pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline were named and shamed by the BBC for using a tax haven at the heart of Europe to save millions in tax.

Glaxo, of course, deny any wrong-doing:

“GSK is very disappointed with this programme which was extremely misleading and lacking in context.  Specifically, the programme’s selective use of facts led to a misrepresentation of GSK’s actions and a failure to recognize GSK’s significant UK tax contribution. 


"GSK strongly refutes any allegation of wrongdoing. At all times the company proactively disclosed its tax transactions to the relevant authorities and both the UK and Luxembourg tax authorities are agreed that GSK paid all the taxes due." 


A short video of the BBC show has surfaced on YouTube, whereas the full half hour exposé can be viewed by UK viewers on the BBC IPlayer located HERE - Sadly, due to contractual obligations, the BBC cannot show this documentary to other countries.

The Global Tax News website has picked up on this story and write:

GSK used interest payments paid on loans from Luxembourg subsidiaries, which, it was said, was effectively taxed at less than 1%, to reduce its UK income tax bill by GBP34m (USD54m). Narrator, Donal McIntrye, added, "The company puts its money into Luxembourg and borrows it back. It just sends money round in a circle and picks up a tax break on the way,"


It's unknown if GSK plan to sue the BBC, one would have thought that if they [GSK] were so cocksure that they had done no wrong then the BBC should be held accountable for what was broadcast.

This isn't the first time GlaxoSmithKline have been involved with allegations of financial shenanigans.

1996: Price Fixing
Fifteen big drug companies formally agreed yesterday to pay more than $408 million to settle a class action lawsuit charging them with conspiring to illegally fix prices that they charged to thousands of independent pharmacies. In the settlement, which is subject to approval by a Federal district judge in Chicago, the 15 companies agreed to pay more than $388 million in cash. One of the defendants, SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. of London, agreed to supply the plaintiffs with a generic version of cimetidine, SmithKline's Tagamet brand ulcer treatment, valued at $20 million, as well as $30 million in cash. [LINK]


1996: Medicad Fraud
In the latest big settlement by a clinical laboratory company of Federal Medicare fraud charges, SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. expects to pay the Government about $300 million this year, without admitting any wrongdoing. [LINK]


1997: Overbilling Private Insurance Companies
SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. has been sued by 37 private health insurers contending that the company's clinical laboratory division overbilled them by hundreds of millions of dollars. [LINK]


2002: Illegally Inflating Prices
The state attorney general sued 18 drug makers and marketers, accusing them of illegally inflating prices and costing the state and consumers tens of millions of dollars. The scheme hurt taxpayers because they finance the Medicaid and Medicare programs that were forced to pay the exaggerated drug prices, Attorney General Mike McGrath, left, said. The lawsuit names Abbott Laboratories; American Home Products; Amgen; AstraZeneca; Aventis Pharma and Hoechst Marion Roussel, both owned by Aventis; Baxter Pharmaceutical Products; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Eli Lilly; Chiron; Dey; GlaxoSmithKline and SmithKline Beecham, which have merged [LINK]


2002: Bribery
SmithKline Beecham, which merged with Glaxo to become Glaxo SmithKline, has become embroiled in a criminal investigation into the alleged bribing of more than 1,000 German doctors in order to secure orders for the drugs it manufactured in the late 1990s. [LINK]


2003: Payments To Doctors

New York plans to sue two major pharmaceutical companies today, accusing them essentially of paying doctors and pharmacists to choose the companies' drugs over competing medicines.

The lawsuits contend that GlaxoSmithKline and Pharmacia, the two large drug companies, gave discounts to doctors and pharmacies that bought their drugs. [LINK]

2004: Bribery

Italian officials claim GlaxoSmithKline gave more than US$275 million in cash, holidays and other incentives to physicians, pharmacists and others [LINK]

2005: Non-Payment of IRS Taxes

GlaxoSmithKline said a tax dispute with the United States might cost the company $7.8 billion, after it received a second claim from the government yesterday. The Internal Revenue Service is seeking $1.9 billion in taxes on profits earned from 1997 to 2000 [LINK]

2005: Overcharging The US Government

GlaxoSmithKline PLC will pay $150 million to settle claims it overcharged the government for two anti-nausea drugs, and prosecutors say they're looking into 150 cases of drug price fraud. [LINK]

2006: Inflating The Average Wholesale Price of its Medicines

GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company, said yesterday that it had agreed to pay $70 million in a national settlement of civil lawsuits that accused the company of inflating costs of several medicines, including its blockbuster Zofran nausea drug. [LINK]

2008: Tax Evasion

GlaxoSmithKline still can’t get its tax right. The IRS is now challenging it concerning the period from 2001 to 2003. The dispute is over inter-company financing arrangements. Call that transfer pricing by any other name.


GSK, of course disputes the claim. But let’s recall, this is the company that has already settled $3.4 billion over transfer pricing issues with the IRS in 2006 (the biggest tax settlement ever), and remains in conflict with HM Revenue & Customs on the same issue for all periods since 1994. [LINK]


...And don't even get me started on Paxil and Avandia!

Paxil [Seroxat] Withdrawal

Anger, aggression belligerent, irrational, self-harm, suicidal, weight gain, personality change, strange behaviour.

All of the above became apparent during Paxil increase and withdrawal.

Paxil is the US brand name for paroxetine.

It is known as Seroxat in the UK and Europe.

Seroxat is marketed and sold by GlaxoSmithKline.

GlaxoSmithKline deny allegations that Seroxat has caused a significant amount of litigants withdrawal problems.

Now...

...watch and learn...

Related


GlaxoSmithKline/MHRA - When Ignorance Turns To Bliss - Part I of IV

GlaxoSmithKline/MHRA - When Ignorance Turns To Bliss - Part II of IV - Witness For The Defence

GlaxoSmithKline/MHRA - When Ignorance Turns To Bliss - Part III of IV - Expert Statistician

GlaxoSmithKline/MHRA - When Ignorance Turns To Bliss - Part IV - The Colour of Money


MHRA To 'Re-educate' UK Doctor's on SSRi's Part I

MHRA To 'Re-educate' UK Doctor's on SSRi's Part II "Keeping A Stiff Upper Lip"
 
MHRA To 'Re-educate' UK Doctor's on SSRi's Part III - MHRA's Ghosts In The Machine

MHRA In Buck-Passing Specialist Cahoots

SEROXAT/PAXIL WITHDRAWAL GUIDANCE - FIDDAMAN 2011



Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Seroxat/Paxil/Aropax...and Some - The Videos

Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Sara Carlin - 5 years on

On May 6, 2007, Sara Carlin, a beautiful young woman from Ontario, tragically took her own life.

Her parents requested  an inquest to try to get to the bottom of why such a bright teenager would do such a thing.

A three week inquest culminated in the 5 person jury making 16 recommendations, one of which was a call for an independent regulator to monitor the safety of prescription drugs.

Not one of those recommendations have been implemented.

Sara Carlin was prescribed Paxil [known as Seroxat in the UK]. Paxil is not recommended for use in teenagers but doctor's still prescribe it anyway.

I've since met with Sara's family, they remain firm friends. They always will.

I created this video sometime ago, it's had over 11,000 views on youtube.

Today, just before 11am, my son and his wife gave birth to a bouncing 10 pound baby girl, Ruby Rose Fiddaman. I'm not going to draw any comparisons here.

Sara's voice is being heard

Nessun Dorma

Sara Carlin - coverage of the inquest HERE


Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Irish Minister Kathleen Lynch Meets With Patient Advocates

Seeking changes. Leonie Fennell meets with Irish Minister, Kathleen Lynch

Two days ago Leonie Fennell and Tony Donnelly, along with a supporting cast of patient advocates, met with Irish mental health minister Kathleen Lynch.

It was a meeting that Lynch wished to remain private and out of the public domain.

One has to ask why?

Is Lynch trying to suppress voices here? Is she merely playing lip service and wishes to be seen as an advocate that is pro-antidepressant use...but doesn't want people to know about her stance?

I cannot fathom why a mental health minister would make such a suggestion, does she not think this is a matter of great public concern?

Leonie...being Leonie, has published details of the meeting on her blog...and so she should.

I'm fed up of governments telling us what to do when by suppressing voices only serves to make them look good.

Well, the meeting isn't private any more, it's in the public domain and if Lynch doesn't like it then boo hoo.

The focus is solely on her now. What is she going to do with the evidence supplied to her at the meeting, is she going to ignore it or just pass it on to departments that have a template specially designed for queries involving antidepressants and suicide? You know the types of letters that contain the words 'benefit outweigh risks' and how they [SSRi's] have 'benefited millions of people worldwide'.

Lynch, or any other politician for that matter, cannot suppress voices, to even think that she has that power distances her from the real people. She's not the only politician or minister that use their power like wand-waving wizards.

We have a huge problem here and throwing a blanket over it, as Lynch wanted to, merely serves the purpose of burying ones head in the sand in the hope that the problem will disappear.

Lynch is in for a surprise as I envisage that Leonie Fennell will not let go of this.

I suspect that the template is already in place and those present at this meeting will receive the kind of limp-wristed response that ensues when politicians, ministers and regulators are backed into a corner regarding antidepressant use.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

Read about the meeting HERE

Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

SSRi Benefit v Risk v Suicide

SSRi medication.

Endorsed by the regulators.

Manufactured, marketed and promoted by the pharmaceutical industry.

So, what are the benefits and exactly who is responsible for those that have tragically lost their lives?

Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Actos With SSRi - Complete Madness!

An article appeared in yesterday's Daily Mail highlighted a published paper that suggested taking Pioglitazone [Actos] in conjunction with SSRi's could boost the effect of the antidepressant.

SSRi's, such as Seroxat, Cipramil, Prozac!

The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, an international scientific journal, is yet another example of poor research skills by the authors of the paper and by the journal itself.

Actos, manufactured by Japanese company, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, has recently hit the headlines in the US for causing bladder cancer in patients. Many lawsuits have been filed, not to mention the lives that have been damaged by the prolonged use of this particular diabetes medication.

As for SSRi medication, well we all know how dangerous they can be and we all know how the UK regulator likes to play down those dangers such as suicide, akathesia, homicidal thoughts and horrendous withdrawal problems.

When studies, such as the one in Neuropsychopharmacology appear, it would be of huge benefit if the UK regulator, the MHRA, actually wrote to the authors or the journal to warn them of the bladder cancer risk with Actos. A 2011 warning on their website does not cover them in garlands neither does it alter the fact that they are responsible for safeguarding human health, a line that they proudly boast at every given opportunity.

I'd write to them if I thought it would make a blind bit of difference but to be honest I'm sick and tired of their worn out phrase that the 'benefits outweigh the risks'.

No doubt doctor's up and down the country will have been told that Actos is not recommended...but they can still prescribe it if they believe the benefits outweigh the risk.

To even suggest that it could be useful if used in conjunction with SSRi's will have tapped into the psyche of those that read it. There are still doctor's that won't know about the Actos bladder cancer link and I know for a fact that there are still doctors who utterly refute any suicide link with antidepressants, they are normally the ones who like to think that the patient is never right.

The editors at Neuropsychopharmacology should, at the very least, add a warning to the recent paper, particularly when the risk of bladder cancer is 40 percent greater in patients taking Actos for longer than one year.

More about Actos and the bladder cancer link HERE





Fid


ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE


AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE