Shane Cooke
Last week, I
learned a new term and planned to blog about it. Days later, I read "Gripped
by and Discarded by GlaxoSmithKline," a guest post on Dr. David Healy's
RxISK.org site. This blog explores how the two relate.
Fallacy of
Centrality
The term "fallacy
of centrality" was coined by Ron Westrum, a researcher who observed pediatricians' diagnostic
practices in the 1940s and 1950s. He found that many of these doctors assumed
that they were in a central position, and they presumed if something serious
was occurring, they would know about it. If something occurred that they didn't
know about it, well, it just wasn't happening. This distorted thinking
prevented many pediatricians from recognizing and reporting child abuse before
the early 1960s. The pediatricians' applied the "logic" that if
parents were abusing their children, they'd know about it.
A present-day
example of this type of magical thinking is below (Fig 1). The former head of
the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Wendy Burn, uses her "clinical experience" to
dismiss SSRI withdrawal. Burn hasn't seen SSRI withdrawal problems in her
practice; therefore, it doesn't exist or rarely occurs. The fallacy of
centrality is problematic among doctors, especially psychiatrists who expose
their illogical thinking via social media accounts. It took Burn and many of
her colleagues years to belatedly acknowledge the large SSRI withdrawal
problem. Their admission came about after many members of the prescribed harm
community and a handful of ethical researchers shared the real experiences and
scientific facts.
Burn and Professor
David Baldwin previously claimed in the national media that "...in
the vast majority of patients, any unpleasant symptoms experienced on
discontinuing antidepressants have resolved within two weeks of stopping
treatment." (Fig 2) Once again, they embraced the fallacy of
centrality.
Fig 2
The same arrogant,
illogical thinking is illustrated in "Gripped by and Discarded by
GlaxoSmithKline." It's the story of a young man, Shane Cooke,
who suffered SSRI harms and was later repeatedly victimized by a chain of
experts who employed the fallacy of centrality. Shane was just 21 when he
decided to leave his foster parents, whom he had been with for nearly 20
years. He became engaged to a young woman, and they agreed to move in together.
Both were in their final year at college, which caused understandable stress as
they finished their degrees.
Shane was having
difficulty eating and sleeping and was anxious about his coursework deadlines.
In 2002, he saw his GP, who prescribed two different SSRI brands that
precipitated Shane's suicidality. His GP then switched him to Seroxat, an SSRI
sold by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Prescribing Seroxat was the norm in the early
2000s given that doctors were not yet familiar with the serious risks the
product presents. However, GSK and the British drug regulator, the MHRA, were aware of the problems with
Seroxat.
In October of the same year, BBC's Panorama aired its first of four investigations into Seroxat. Scottish BBC journalist Shelley Jofre extensively reported the problems caused by the so-called 'wonder drug.'
Prescribing physicians have no excuse for pushing this dangerous
and risky drug after this date. Some doctors might argue they never watched the
show, but this is a lame excuse. Once again, however, the fallacy of centrality
comes into play here: What would an investigative journalist know about a drug
that the medical profession doesn't know?
After being prescribed Seroxat, Shane developed severe agitation, often asking his foster parents, "What's wrong with me?"
I can relate. The adverse effects I experienced while taking Seroxat and withdrawing from it are documented in my book, this blog, and numerous podcasts.
Shane's angry
outbursts worsened, and he drove a car through a glass entrance of the Ablett Psychiatric Unit in Clwyd after he had been drinking alcohol.
(SSRIs can increase cravings for alcohol and drive people to drink who have
never previously consumed alcohol.)
The Courts then
ordered Shane to leave the home he shared with his wife-to-be and move back in
with his foster parents. According to his foster parents, he complied with the
order but would often go missing and later be found hiding in hedges or grass
verges. His foster parents agreed that it was the medication causing Shane's
bizarre behaviour, which now had spiralled to threats of suicide. Two doctors
who then assessed Shane decided to decrease the Seroxat dose. Ten days later,
Shane said he became "normal" again.
Unfortunately,
Shane again became a victim of another professional's fallacy of centrality. A
judge at Caernarfon Crown Court jailed Shane for two-and-a-half years for
crashing his car through the doors into the foyer of the Ablett Unit Clwyd on
June 2. While Shane had been drinking on the night of the crash, the judge
failed to consider the role Seroxat had played. The judge wrongfully assumed
that alcohol made "Shane do it." If a judge has never witnessed
violence and alcohol cravings as adverse effects of prescription drugs, the
judge decides this simply cannot and does not happen. (It is also true,
however, that some judges do know but decide to blame alcohol; it is more
convenient and less problematic than blaming a pharmaceutical company's
drug.)
Devastated by
their son's incarceration, Shane's foster parents eventually heard about a
psychiatrist from Bangor, Wales, who was researching the link between Seroxat
and rage. That doctor is David Healy. They contacted Healy, who assessed
Shane's medical records and determined Seroxat had induced Shane's fury on the
evening of June 2.
The decision to
jail Shane was going to be appealed, but the appeals process would have been
lengthy. Shane was nearing his sentence's completion (shorter than the
punishment he was initially given), and he decided not to continue an appeal.
He served the prison sentence for his Seroxat-induced crime. GSK continues
to deny Seroxat causes dependency and suicidal thoughts and
actions. However, I do not believe GSK's false claims are products of the
fallacy of centrality.
Upon Shane's
release, he was electronically tagged and sent back to his foster parents. His
engagement, independence, and career all destroyed by a risky drug and repeated
fallacies of centrality. Despite these travesties of injustice, Shane went on
to complete his coursework and passed his exams. Today, Shane is active on
Twitter and hopes others won't suffer what he did. Shane and his foster mom,
Mary, now run the Prescribed Medication Withdrawal group in Wales.
You can follow
him here and read his full story here.
Mary, who is one of the unsung heroes in the advocacy world, can be followed on Twitter here.
The withdrawal group is now doing fortnightly zoom meetings. Anyone within travelling distance of Prestatyn, in particular, are welcome to join in. (this is in the hope of meeting face to face in the future)
You can reach Mary via email at ellen.hennessey@btinternet.com
--
If you still need
convincing that Seroxat isn't problematic, watch the four investigative reports
here. Perhaps you can share them with healthcare professionals who, like so many prescribers out there, probably suffer from a fallacy of centrality.
THE SECRETS OF THE DRUG TRIALS (2007)
Bob Fiddaman
