GSK Call In the Fireman

I've recently finished reading, for the second time, John Grisham's excellent, 'The King of Torts', a novel that highlights underhand tactics used by the pharmaceutical industry. 

In 'Torts' we are introduced to a character who goes by many names. To keep this simple I'll just be referring to him as 'Max Pace.' Pace is hired by pharmaceutical companies to douse the flames when it arises that a drug that has been on the market has serious and life-threatening side effects. The information is purposely leaked by the pharmaceutical companies via Max Pace whose job it is to target prosecuting attorneys in the hopes of a quick and cheap settlement. Pace describes himself as a fireman, someone whose job it is to 'put out the fire.'

The character reminded me a great deal of Peter Humphrey, the outsider who was brought in by GSK China to douse the flames of a whistleblower who, at the time, was threatening to spill the beans on GSK China's illegal activities which included, but weren't limited to:

• Bribing Mark Reily, GSK's head of China Operations, in the form of 'sexual relations' in return for maximizing business for China Comfort Travel (“CCT”). - CCT was an important part of the GSK bribery and promotion scheme because it facilitated a money laundering operation in connection with the bribing of hospitals and doctors who prescribe GSK drugs to patients. 

• Funneling 3 billion yuan (US$482 million) through this network to recipients. Receipts were forged for purchases and transactions that never took place, including fake conferences.

• Bribing doctors and other medical staff were to sell GSK products, the cost of those bribes was added to the price of the products that consumers paid for.

Enter the fray Peter Humphrey and his wife Yu Yingzeng who were hired by GSK China to investigate a whistleblower whom they believed was behind a series of emails sent to the company big-wigs, including the then CEO of GSK UK, Andrew Witty. Humphrey and Yu operated ChinaWhys, an International Business Risk Advisory Firm.

Humphrey and Yu were told by GSK China that they believed Vivian Shi, then the company’s government relations head in China, was the whistleblower but they needed proof. The allegations made by the anonymous whistleblower did not concern them.

In a nutshell, it was the job of Humphrey and Yu to create a report on Shi to frame her as a vindictive former employee.

The Sex Tape

Whilst in talks with GSK China, Humphrey, and his wife learned of a sex tape that the anonymous whistleblower had sent in via an email attachment. The sex tape showed Mark Reily and an unnamed woman and was sent to GSK executives along with the corruption allegations. A further 23 emails were sent to Chinese governmental entities throughout China.

GSK told Humphrey and his wife that the allegations had previously been investigated and were false.

According to a court document, during an April 15, 2013, meeting, Humphrey asked GSK officials for copies of the anonymous whistleblower allegations, but GSK refused to provide them. Instead, the document claims, GSK officials stressed that GSK had improved its compliance mechanisms following earlier corruption and other illegal activities that led a DOJ settlement in 2012 ($3 Billion to resolve fraud allegations and failure to report safety data)

The court document. PETER HUMPHREY; YU YINGZENG; CHINAWHYS COMPANY LTD Vs GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC; GLAXOSMITHKLINE LLC, was filed in United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on 1st January 2018.

More on this 'appeal' later.

In essence, GSK was playing down the allegations, even though they knew them to be true, and using Humphrey and Yu into advancing GSK’s efforts to conceal its bribery activities.

The court document, which I have a copy of, also states:

On June 26, 2013, a GSK employee finally sent two of the whistleblower emails to Humphrey while he was in the United States.

Over the next two days, police raided multiple GSK China offices. Following those raids, GSK senior legal counsel Jennifer Huang asked ChinaWhys to investigate the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and to “prepare an Organic analysis ASAP on the Chinese political regime, particularly on Chinese Communist Party Regime, PSB, and state council with official’s name identified.” 

Humphrey and Huang had a phone call that same day, while Humphrey and Yu were in the United States. Huang said she wanted to investigate the PSB “to find out who’s who in the investigation.” At that point, Humphrey became concerned that GSK was seeking now to obstruct the investigation by Chinese authorities and replied that he could not do anything that could be deemed as violating state secrets and thus could only use public information for his research.

On July 1, while Humphrey and Yu were still in the United States, GSK China’s head of business development, Leslie Chang, asked Humphrey to investigate various government organs. Humphrey refused. Then, after returning to China, Humphrey met again with Mark Reilly (the head of GSK China) in a hotel room as Reilly was preparing to flee the country. At that time, Humphrey advised Reilly that ChinaWhys could no longer provide service to GSK. 

On July 10, 2013, ChinaWhys was raided by the police who told Humphrey, “This was ordered from above. This is related to GSK.”

Around the same time, four senior GSK China executives were also arrested.  In response to those arrests, GSK’s global CEO, Sir Andrew Witty, claimed that GSK’s head office in London lacked knowledge of the whistleblower’s allegations and “had no sense of this issue.” This, according to the court document, was untrue.

Humphrey and Yu were arrested for illegally buying and selling private information and detained for almost a year before their trial. During this year of detention and whilst awaiting trial, GSK stated that its China business “hired ChinaWhys in April 2013 to conduct an investigation following a serious breach of privacy and security” (the Reilly sex tape) but that ChinaWhys was “not hired to investigate the substance of the allegations of misconduct made by the whistleblower.” This, according to the 2018 court document, was a misleading statement by GSK and prolonged Humphrey and Yu’s incarceration because British diplomats attempting to intervene on Humphrey and Yu’s behalf did not have accurate information about what had led to their arrest.

One British official involved in those efforts to intervene on behalf of Yu and Humphrey claimed,“GSK were really cagey. They just kept saying it was routine work and kept the information deliberately vague. When we went to the Chinese we were arguing with one hand tied behind our backs.”

On September 19, 2014,  GSK PLC issued a Statement of Apology to the People of China in which it announced that “GSK China Investment Co. Ltd (GSKCI) has been identified according to Chinese law to have offered money or property to non-government personnel in order to obtain improper commercial gains, and has been found guilty of bribing non-government personnel.” GSK was fined $492 million for its bribery activities in China in the biggest such penalty ever imposed by a Chinese
court. The then GSK CEO, Andrew Witty, stated that “Reaching a conclusion in the investigation of our Chinese business is important, but this has been a deeply disappointing matter for GSK.” In addition, Mark Reilly, the head of GSK China, was convicted for his part in the bribery scheme. He was sentenced to three years prison with a four-year reprieve and ordered deported, meaning he will never serve his sentence.

Humphrey and Yu. however, were treated less favorably. In August 2013 they were both convicted and imprisoned in China under harsh conditions for almost two years in squalid conditions and crowded jail cells. They were both denied urgent medical attention and were separated from each other  Humphrey developed prostate cancer, for which he did not receive proper treatment and as a result, the cancer became life-threatening.

In June 2015, the couple was released from prison.

Humphrey watched the TV coverage of the GSK trial from his Shanghai prison cell. He was shocked by the contrast between his punishment and theirs.

"Suspended jail sentences for three or four of the main culprits when I and my wife had been sentenced to years in prison," he says, adding, "Someone asked me recently why someone like Mark Reilly (GSK China's boss) could be set free and we were in jail. I think it's very simple, we don't have half a billion dollars. That story was about money from the beginning. Money got them into trouble and money got him out."

In November 2016, Humphrey and his wife filed suit against GSK where they sort to seek damages from GSK relating to the loss of their business (ChinaWhys), compensation for the emotional and physical harm and damage to their reputation.

Almost one year later, U.S. District Judge Nitza Quinones Alejandro, threw out the case claiming that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling barred lawsuits filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) over injuries that occur entirely outside the United States such as this one involving incidents in China.

“For this reason", he said, "Plaintiffs lack standing to assert civil RICO claims, and these claims are dismissed."

Undeterred, Humphrey and Yu have now appealed this decision, hence the Jan 1, 2018, filing. They are requesting that the United States Court of Appeals reverses the order of the District Court dismissing the Complaint for failure to plead a “domestic injury”.

I covered the Chinagate scandal in great depth when news broke back in 2013. A chronological list of the blogs can be seen below. To date, it's some of the most rewarding research and reporting I've ever done on this old blog of mine.

Remarkably, GSK re-hired the services of Vivian Shi, whom they thought was the whistleblower. Reily, according to MalayMail Online, became part of GSK's senior executive team in London


Bob Fiddaman

BACK STORIES:

Glaxo - The Sex Tape Scandal

GSK's Mark Reilly Accused of Running a "massive bribery network"

I'm Just a Blogger - Here's GSK Served on Prawn Crackers

GSK Hiked Product Prices to Fund Bribery Scam

GSK's Sales Reps Want Their Money Back

GSK's Private Investigator [The Video]

Peter Humphrey's 2012 Presentation - Pharma Bribery

GSK's Chinese Whispers and David Cameron

“GSK were really cagey", Claims Whitehall Official.

Glaxo Hire Ropes & Gray to Delve Into its Chinese Operations.

GSK CHINA - Bribery was Rife 13 Years Ago

Witty Plays Down China Scandal

Witty Witty Bang Wang. The Glaxo Gangbang...Allegedly

Book Your Holidays With GSK Travel

Andrew Witty... I know narrrrrrrrthing

Glaxo's Private Investigator Arrested

葛兰素史克公司 腐败 For Researching Chinagate

Andrew Witty... I know narrrrrrrrthing - Part II

Hammer to Fall on GSK's Chinese Executives

Cronyism, Chinese Style

Will Cameron Call off the GSK Hounds?

GSK's Mark Reilly Accused of Running a "massive bribery network"

I'm Just a Blogger - Here's GSK Served on Prawn Crackers

GSK Hiked Product Prices to Fund Bribery Scam

GSK's Sales Reps Want Their Money Back

Glaxo - The Sex Tape Scandal

GSK's Private Investigator [The Video]

Peter Humphrey's 2012 Presentation - Pharma Bribery

GSK's Chinese Whispers and David Cameron

"GSK were really cagey", Claims Whitehall Official

Glaxo Hire Ropes & Gray to Delve Into its Chinese Operations

GSK CHINA - Bribery was Rife 13 Years Ago

GSK's Hired Detectives - Day One, As It Happened

So, What Do You Think, Mr Harvey Humphrey?

GSK Plead Guilty For Being "Very Decent"

Glaxo's PI Released From Prison

The Penny Drops for GSK's Private Investigator

GSK's Mark Reilly and the Word, 'Opaque'

Glaxo and Former Whistleblower Suspect Reunite

GSK China Bought Patient’s Silence for $9,000

Lawsuit Alleges GSK's Witty Lied to the Media - Part I

ChinaWhys Vs GSK - The Claims - Part 2

More Woes for GSK as Peter Humphrey Files Suit

Business as Usual Means Bad News for Consumers

As an advocate for drug safety, I sometimes feel as if I'm pissing in the wind. Today is one of those times. (For American readers, the Cambridge Dictionary describes pissing in the wind as "trying to do something when there is no hope of succeeding.")

This week President Trump nominated Alex Azar as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Azar is former senior vice president of corporate affairs and communication for US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. This US announcement comes on the heels of similar incestuous behavior by the UK government which recently announced Andrew Witty, former head of GlaxoSmithKline, has been selected to head its new pathway, 'Accelerated Access Review' (AAR). Days later, GSK's website highlighted another kick in the teeth for British drug consumers: Patrick Vallance, who is currently GSK's president of research and development, will become the UK government's new Chief Scientific Adviser.

What a sick few weeks for health consumers. Three top executives from Big Pharma land positions that are supposed to better protect health consumers by ensuring scientific information is accurate, and drugs are safe and effective. These three appointments should prompt Britain and US residents to take notice and be on full DEFCON alert. I'm certain families across the globe who have lost loved ones to Prozac and Paxil won't be jumping for joy at this week's announcements, and I imagine their dead relatives are turning in their graves.

Lilly & GSK are two companies that have frequently been sued by consumers who were harmed by their dangerous products. Further, both companies have engaged in abhorrent and illegal tactics to peddle their pills. Some of these unscrupulous behaviors include paying doctors to prescribe, bribing government officials, and fraudulently marketing drugs for unapproved uses. But apparently, this type of leadership is rewarded by governments that prefer corporate collusion to consumer care.

GSK and Lilly have paid billions in fines and lawsuits because their illegal activities caused the suffering and deaths of countless innocent men, women, and children. In 2009, Lilly was fined $1.42 billion to resolve a government investigation regarding off-label promotion of the antipsychotic Zyprexa. Zyprexa had been approved for the treatment of certain psychotic disorders, but Lilly admitted to promoting the drug in elderly populations to treat dementia. The government also alleged that Lilly targeted primary care physicians to promote Zyprexa for unapproved uses and “trained its sales force to disregard the law."

Similarly, in 2012, GSK agreed to pay a fine of $3 billion to resolve civil and criminal liabilities regarding its promotion of drugs and its failure to report safety data. This is the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the United States to date. The company pled guilty to misbranding the drug Paxil for treating depression in patients under 18, even though the drug was not approved for children. GSK also pled guilty to failing to disclose safety information to the FDA about the diabetes drug Avandia. These pharmaceutical companies don't mind paying a couple of billion dollars here and there for criminal violations because shady criminal behavior reaps more sales profits than does subsequent fines. This unethical behavior is just part of pharma's business plan.

Back to Those Incestuous Appointments

Alex Azar has had previous connections to the US government. He was deputy secretary of Health and Human Services under George W. Bush and served as the chief operating officer for two years. In that role, Azar oversaw such agencies as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In May 2007, Azar became senior vice president of corporate affairs and communication for Lilly. This revolving door employment agency is standard US practice. Corporate execs leave the industry for cushy jobs in government, then they leave government for industry and lobbying jobs, etc.

This incestuous fox guarding the hen house is commonplace and will continue to put consumers at great risk. It was US President George W. Bush who named Eli Lilly President and CEO, Sidney Taurel, as a Homeland Security Advisory Council member in 2002. Further, soon after the Homeland Security Act was signed in 2002, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert discovered what had been slipped into the Act at the last minute. On November 25, 2002, he wrote, “Buried in this massive bill, snuck into it in the dark of night by persons unknown…was a provision that incredibly will protect Eli Lilly and a few other big pharmaceutical outfits from lawsuits by parents who believe their children were harmed by thimerosal.” (Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that is used in vaccines. It was developed by Lilly in the 1920s and by the 1990s its use was widespread)

In 2003, Bush appointed Taurel to the President’s Export Council. The same year, “60 Minutes II” aired a segment on Lillygate and Prozac. Lilly's patent for Prozac had run out so they began marketing a new drug, Prozac Weekly. According to 60 Minutes II, Lilly sales reps gained access to “confidential” patient information records and mailed out free samples of Prozac Weekly. Regulations, proposed under Bill Clinton and later implemented under George Bush, contained a provision that allowed healthcare providers the right to sell a person’s confidential medical information to marketing firms and drug companies.

Bush was later rewarded for his job placements and overseeing provisions when he left the White House. He went straight to Eli Lilly headquarters where he served as an Eli Lilly Board of Director.

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, huh?

Assuming he's confirmed, Azar will oversee 11 agencies including the FDA, Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

When Patrick Vallance of GSK takes over the role of UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, he will oversee science and technology-related activities and recommend policies to the Prime Minister and  Cabinet. He will also sit as chair of the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

Witty's new title is self-explanatory. He will head a new UK government initiative known as 'Accelerated Access Review' (AAR) where his role is to get new drugs and devices on the market quickly.

If you want to know more about how Lilly operates, I highly recommend John Cornwell's book, "The Power to Harm: Mind, Medicine, and Murder on Trial." It's a jaw-dropping insight regarding how far Lilly went to cover up the deadly ADRs caused by their lucrative drug, Prozac. If you want to know how GSK operate, well, there are more than 2,000 posts about GSK's shenanigans on my blog alone.

Unreported Terror & Risk

These appointments are scary and put citizens at greater risk of being harmed by unsafe, ineffective drugs, many of which should never have been approved. In both the UK and the US, we see frequent media reports about terrorist threats and acts, but we almost never hear news about pharma created deaths. When was the last time you heard a news report or read an article highlighting that prescription drugs are the fourth leading cause of death? In America, I chalk this up to the lucrative drug advertisements that essentially pay for TV news production. In the UK we don't have drug ads, but we still have pharma money negatively influencing government policy and political appointments.

Hiring CEO's of criminal corporations to protect citizens is wrong. But these types of crimes pay. If you don't like the status quo, you can petition your respective government and share your disgust. I'm sure they'll be happy to send you a form letter response within 30 days...

So, back to pissing in the wind: It's understandable I'm disgusted by this week's news. It's easy to throw up my hands when hearing such outrageous appointments. But sometimes those who've lost a loved one to pharma help me persevere. As one mom whose child died from pharma products recently said, "To the world, my child was just one person, but to me, she was the world. If my advocacy saves even one child, I have saved someone else's world."

In other news involving incestuous revolving doors, the FDA has now approved a new "digital pill." The pill contains a sensor that digitally tracks whether or not patients have ingested their medication. And what pill has this sensor been embedded into? ~ aripiprazole, (Abilify) a drug used to treat multiple mental mood disorders, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

On top of this, the commissioner of the FDA, Scott Gottlieb, is opposing a natural plant, Kratom, (mitragyna speciosa) that could help people effectively treat an addiction caused by opioids.

More on the aripiprazole and kratom scandals next week.

Bob Fiddaman

More Woes for GSK as Peter Humphrey Files Suit

GlaxoSmithKline are rarely out of the news. Regular readers will know that I'm covering the wrongful death lawsuit in Chicago, Dolin Vs GSK. Now, it appears the whole squalid 'Chinagate' scandal has, once again, reared its ugly head as Peter Humphrey, who was incarcerated in a Chinese prison, along with his wife, has filed suit against GSK claiming federal racketeering and conspiracy claims under RICO, as well as state law claims for fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy.

Glaxo wouldn't be Glaxo if they admitted to any wrong-doing so, in spectacular fashion, they are disputing the complaint, citing that Humphrey should go back to China to arbitrate these claims.

The suit, filed in the United States District Court of Pennsylvania, argues that the case does not have to be filed in China because...

 - Defendants are part of the GSK Group, which holds itself out as an integrated “global healthcare company.” 

 - Directors of GlaxoSmithKline plc manage the risks of the Group at a group level, rather than at an individual business unit level.

 - GSK’s General Counsel, Dan Troy is based in the United States.

GSK’s General Counsel, Dan Troy, is based in the United States and manages the companies 400 lawyers based in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Belgium and the UK. As discussed further below, Troy “played an active role” in forming GSK’s response to the whistleblower’s revelations of corruption in China.

For those who don't know, Troy is the former Chief Counsel for the FDA. During his time at the FDA he ordered that all decisions to take action against false prescription advertising go through his office -- after which the enforcement actions mysteriously dropped by two-thirds. He also got to work revising the agency's regulations to allow drugmakers to promote drugs for uses not yet supported by clinical research.

Quite a revolving door and Troy is a subject I will be covering soon on this blog.

Meantime, Humphrey's lawsuit intends to highlight, once again, how GSK attempted to bribe doctors around the world by various means in order to increase the sale of their drugs. This, despite  settling a multi-billion dollar settlement agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2012.

GSK’s China-based bribery and illegal promotional activities extended to at least June 2013.

More coming soon.

Bob Fiddaman.

More on Peter Humphrey and the Chinagate scandal here.

ChinaWhys Vs GSK - The Claims - Part 2

Following on from the first parter, Lawsuit Alleges GSK's Witty Lied to the Media - Part I, today sees part 2 (The claims of ChinaWhys against GSK) - Part 3 (Coming later this week) will focus on the incarceration of Peter Humphrey and his wife, Yu Yinzeng and also the rehiring of accused whistleblower, Vivian Shi)

Here is what Peter Humphrey and his wife, Yu Yinzeng, of ChinaWhys, are alleging...


 - Between 2010-2013 GSK spent nearly $225 million on planning and travel services. Approx 44% of the sampled invoices were inflated and approximately 12% were for events that did not occur.

 - GSK set up a special "crisis management" team in order to bribe Chinese regulators with money and gifts. A GSK executive attempted to bribe a Chinese investigator with an IPad and a lavish dinner. All bribes were approved by the head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly.

 - GSK planned to suppress evidence of its illegal bribery activities.

 - As far back as 2008, GSK China deliberately falsified its books and records in order to conceal its illegal practices in China. These included, bribery and promotion of drugs for purposes that have not been approved by the Chinese authorities.

 - GSK paid a patient RMB 50,000, who nearly died after being given Lamictal off-label. Despite having knowledge of Lamictal causing near death in this patient, GSK still told its reps to promote the use of Lamictal for off-label purposes.

 - GSK targeted 'persuasive doctors' in attempts to influence purchasing decisions at their hospitals. GSK are to said to have forged a connection with these doctors by taking them to expensive lunches and dinners and also giving them gifts and cash.

 - GSK paid between 500 and 1,000 doctors to go on an all-expenses paid holiday to locations such as Brazil, India, Israel, Greece, Japan and Hungary. GSK covered all costs, including cash to cover meals and sight-seeing excursions. These were disguised by GSK as "Conference trips."

 - Head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly, received a bribe in the form of 'sexual relations' in return for passing business on to China Comfort Travel, a travel agency who organised 'conference sevices' for GSK.

 - GSK paid doctors based on their prescription numbers.

 - GSK's senior legal counsel, Jennifer Huang, asked private investigator, Peter Humphrey, to investigate the Public Security Bureau and to prepare an analysis of the Chinese political regime. Huang told Humphrey that she wanted to find out who's who regarding the team who were investigating GSK.

 - Humphrey became concerned that GSK were trying to obstruct the investigation and declined to investigate state secrets.

 - Humphrey was also asked, by GSK, to look into the Ministry of Public Security, the Economic Crimes Investigation Department regarding the relationship between them and  the Public Security Bureau. Humphrey, once again, declined.

 - Head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly, told Humphrey that the alleged whistleblower, Vivian Shi was "coming after him." (Humphrey).  Reilly then fled China the following day.

 - GSK China told its employees to "destroy all non-compliant promotional materials and gifts." They also implemented a new email system and deleted emails that were more than a year old. They claimed this was to "reduce unnecessarily legal costs."

--

Bob Fiddaman.

Back Stories from the Fiddaman Blog

Glaxo - The Sex Tape Scandal

GSK's Mark Reilly Accused of Running a "massive bribery network"

I'm Just a Blogger - Here's GSK Served on Prawn Crackers

GSK Hiked Product Prices to Fund Bribery Scam

GSK's Sales Reps Want Their Money Back

GSK's Private Investigator [The Video]

Peter Humphrey's 2012 Presentation - Pharma Bribery

GSK's Chinese Whispers and David Cameron

“GSK were really cagey", Claims Whitehall Official.

Glaxo Hire Ropes & Gray to Delve Into its Chinese Operations.

GSK CHINA - Bribery was Rife 13 Years Ago

Witty Plays Down China Scandal

Witty Witty Bang Wang. The Glaxo Gangbang...Allegedly

Book Your Holidays With GSK Travel

Andrew Witty... I know narrrrrrrrthing

The Penny Drops for GSK's Private Investigator.

GSK China Bought Patient’s Silence for $9,000

Lawsuit Alleges GSK's Witty Lied to the Media - Part I

Lawsuit Alleges GSK's Witty Lied to the Media - Part I

Lawsuit Alleges GSK's Witty Lied to the Media - Part I  

~ Bob Fiddaman

A 42 page complaint was filed on November 15, 2016, by Peter Humphrey and his wife, Yu Yingzeng, in relation to GSK's nefarious activities in China which saw the pair incarcerated for around 2 years in Chinese slum-like conditions prison cells.

The complaint delves deep into the whole sordid affair and alleges bribery on a huge scale, more importantly, the complaint alleges that GSK hired the services of Humphrey and Yu in efforts to smokescreen the corruption in China, corruption, according to the complaint, that they had known about for many years. Furthermore, the 42 page document alleges that GSK's CEO, Andrew Witty, lied to the media when he was asked about the corruption in China.

Humphrey and Yingzeng were the founders of ChinaWhys, a professional-services consultancy that specializes in discreet risk mitigation solutions, consulting and investigation services to corporate clients in matters of high sensitivity across Greater China and the Asia Pacific.

On April 15, 2013, Humphrey met with GSK's Head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly, April Zhao, GSK China legal counsel and Brian Cahill, also GSK legal counsel. It was at this meeting that Humphrey was told that GSK had been sent a series of emails from a whistleblower alleging widespread corruption - GSK told Humphrey that they believed they knew who the whistleblower was.

Vivian Shi had previously worked for GSK as a government affairs director, GSK had terminated her services with them in December 2012. According to the complaint GSK claimed that Shi had orchestrated a "smear campaign" against GSK involving a total of 23 emails that had been sent to Chinese officials throughout the country, a letter had also been sent to GSK's 'top management' alleging widespread corruption in GSK's pharmaceutical and vaccine business that had been approved by GSK China's senior management.

These were allegations brought to Humphreys attention just months after GSK had been fined a record breaking $3 billion by the Department of Justice in America - the fine was handed down after a guilty plea by GSK who, after the settlement, entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. The agreement requires enhanced accountability, increased transparency and wide- ranging monitoring activities conducted by both internal and independent external reviewers.

One month after meeting with GSK officials Humphrey was told that GSK's global CEO, Andrew Witty, had been made aware that GSK had been using a travel agent to channel kickback to customers and doctors throughout China. Days after Witty had been made aware, the whistleblower also sent a video to him and other senior management that showed GSK China's Mark Reilly engaged in sexual activity - Reilly later claimed that the woman in the video was his "regular girlfriend".

GSK officials told Humphrey that they had launched their own internal inquiry regarding the whistleblower allegation and that they were false. They told Humphrey, "There is nothing there". This, according to the complaint, was a lie.

Humphrey and his wife offered to investigate the whistleblower allegations but GSK declined the offer, opting instead for Humphrey to investigate Vivian Shi, the woman they believed was the whistleblower.

Two months after Humphrey and Yu started their background search of Vivian Shi, GSK received another letter from the whistleblower alleging that GSK China continues to engage in systematic bribery of doctors, this email focused on GSK China's botox business whereby the whistleblower claimed that...

GSK had a 'pay to prescribe' scheme that funneled money through a central source at Beijing Medical College whereby 'lecture fee payments' were made to doctors who could "...incentivize and reward doctors for prescribing Botox."

At no point did GSK show either Humphrey or Yu this letter.

On June 12, 2013, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran an article highlighting GSK China's massive bribery network. In July of that year 4 senior GSK China executives were arrested and, according to Humphrey's filed complaint, GSK CEO, Andrew Witty told the worlds media that "...it appears that certain senior executives in the Chinese business have acted outside of our processes and our controls to both defraud the company and Chinese healthcare system." Witty also claimed that GSK's Head office in London lacked knowledge of the whistleblower allegations and "had no sense of this issue."

According to the complaint, this made no sense as since the previous month GSK did, indeed, "have a sense" of the issue since it announced its 4 month internal investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption in China and found "No evidence of corruption or bribery."

The complaint states...

Witty argued, nonsensically, that the previous whistleblower allegations were "quite different" from the more recent charges, saying, "they are two completely different sets of issues, we fully investigated the first and, of course, this has now surfaced in the last couple of weeks."

This was a lie, since "what surfaced" in the PSB investigation and raids of GSK offices in July was precisely the illegal activity that the whistleblower had documented and threatened to reveal in January.

The complaint was filed in The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Humphrey and Yu are represented by Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP



**Coming in Part 2**
 - A full and comprehensive list of the allegations made by Peter Humphrey and Yu.
 - GSK ask Humphrey to 'overtly' obstruct the Chinese government investigation.
 - Evidence, including emails, to be destroyed as not to implicate any wrong-doing by the company.



Bob Fiddaman


Back stories.

Glaxo - The Sex Tape Scandal

GSK's Mark Reilly Accused of Running a "massive bribery network"

I'm Just a Blogger - Here's GSK Served on Prawn Crackers

GSK Hiked Product Prices to Fund Bribery Scam

GSK's Sales Reps Want Their Money Back

GSK's Private Investigator [The Video]

Peter Humphrey's 2012 Presentation - Pharma Bribery

GSK's Chinese Whispers and David Cameron

“GSK were really cagey", Claims Whitehall Official.

Glaxo Hire Ropes & Gray to Delve Into its Chinese Operations.

GSK CHINA - Bribery was Rife 13 Years Ago

Witty Plays Down China Scandal

Witty Witty Bang Wang. The Glaxo Gangbang...Allegedly

Book Your Holidays With GSK Travel

Andrew Witty... I know narrrrrrrrthing

The Penny Drops for GSK's Private Investigator.

GSK China Bought Patient’s Silence for $9,000

GSK China Bought Patient’s Silence for $9,000

A truly fascinating read regarding the corruption in China, all committed by the hand of British based pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline.

The New York Times (NYT) recently ran a superb article regarding GSK's nefarious activities in China, activities that saw them plead guilty, a result of which saw them being handed down a $500 million dollar fine.

The article by David Barboza, although brilliant, is tantalizing, in as much that The Times claims to have in its possession emails and documents, none of which they have provided, at least in their entirety.

The China scandal is a story of greed, corruption, cover-ups, bribery and pay-offs, all combined with a sex scandal video and a company burying it's head in the sand over its China practices - preferring instead to go after the person who blew the whistle on the whole sordid affair.

It's a subject I covered many times on this blog (Links at the foot of this post) and one that seems to be rehashed with additions on a regular basis.

The Times article throws out some very interesting facts about the case that were previously kept under wraps - one such fact being that they (The Times) have evidence that "Glaxo “almost killed one patient by illegally marketing its drug Lamictal,” said the email, which was obtained by The Times. “GSK China bought the patient’s silence for $9,000.”"

Glaxo buying a patient's silence? Surely not?

There was me thinking they only did that in litigation, Paxil withdrawal (Over 3,000 patients 'paid off') - Paxil Birth defects (Over 800 patients 'paid off')

So, who was the patient in receipt of Glaxo's $9,000, moreover, what did this patient have that GSK didn't want others to see?

According to the NYT...

The email was one of nearly two dozen that the whistle-blower sent over the course of 17 months to Chinese regulators, Glaxo executives and the company’s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In 2012 Glaxo plead guilty to a whole host of violations throughout America, the guilty plea resulted in a record breaking fine of $3 billion. At the time, Glaxo Chief, Andrew Witty, pledged, “We’re determined this is never going to happen again.”

Witty, who had been made aware of the unfolding stench in China shortly after the 2012 guilty plea in the US, is stepping down from his CEO position in April next year - It's quite a legacy he has left behind, one which he took over from former Chief, JP Garnier who, in essence, oversaw the corruption in America and left Witty to suck up the fallout.

What an abhorrent company this is. Corruption, bribery (of officials and patients) and the manufacturer of prescription meds that have either killed people or disfigured them in such a way that they need to continue having surgery for the rest of their lives. Let's not forget those that have suffered as a result of becoming addicted to GSK's medications either.

The Times article also digs deeper into the involvement of Mark Reilly, who, at the time, was Head of GSK's China operations. They claim...

An email alleged that Mr. Reilly, a British national who had helped manage the company’s China operation for four years, was complicit in a bribery scheme tied to a travel agency called China Comfort Travel, or C.C.T. According to the email, Glaxo funneled money through the travel agency to pay off doctors. The travel agency also supplied Mr. Reilly with women, as a way to secure that business.

“In order to acquire more business, C.C.T. bribed Mark Reilly, the general manager of GSK (China) with sex,” the email said. “Mark Reilly accepted this bribery and made C.C.T. get the maximized benefits in return.”

That's some perk to have!  China Comfort Travel bring a whole new meaning to the word 'comfort'.

Any jobs going whereby the employer offers a bonus of playing hide the salami?

I'm sure red-blooded males would have been first in-line for such a job working for a company complicit in fraudulent activities. Sadly, for those red-blooded males at least, Reilly was offered (and took) the perk - I wonder if he claimed for the 15 minutes of overtime too? (Assuming that Reilly could last that long in the sack)

When faced with over 17 months of emails from the whistleblower Glaxo decided to seek help, they did so by hiring a private investigator, Peter Humphrey and his wife, Yu Yingzeng.

Humphrey did some digging and, at the time, provided information to Glaxo that pointed to the possible whistleblower. Vivian Shi, was a 47-year-old executive handling government affairs in Glaxo’s Shanghai office, I say former because she was previously fired by GSK for their belief (Before Humphrey was hired) that she was behind the whistleblowing allegations. The 'official' line of her dismissal was that she had been falsifying travel expenses.

Humphrey, it appears, was merely suggesting that Shi may have been involved - he, at no time, ever provided GSK with any evidence that their former executive was the one who was whistleblowing. Shi, who remember had already left GSK, denied any part in the whole Chinagate scandal.

During his investigations Humphrey obtained information that was deemed to be by false means according to Chinese officials. Both he and his wife were later arrested, charged then sent to prison. Meantime, Reilly, who was the mastermind of the whole scam, was sent back home to the UK - No jail time. It's unknown what Reilly is doing today, presumably he doesn't work for GSK in any capacity, although I wouldn't put it past them to re-hire him, just as they did with Vivian Shi, the very person they had fired because they thought she was the one blowing the whistle on its Chinese operations.

Remarkably, GSK re-hired Shi last year, although it is unclear in what capacity. (See Glaxo and Former Whistleblower Suspect Reunite)

GSK must be a truly great company to work for, not only do they offer, by proxy, free blowjobs to heads of operations but they re-hire you after previously sacking you for, ahem, "falsifying travel expenses."

The Times article is a must read and once again highlights how GSK prefer to target people who bring the company's misdemeanors to their attention rather than target the person carrying out the misdemeanors.

GSK Corporate motto claims, "We are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better, live longer." - I just never knew this included blowjobs via complicit bribery deals - the re-hiring after breaking rules - and buying patients silence.

Nice job (blow) Glaxo!

Bob Fiddaman

Back Stories

Glaxo - The Sex Tape Scandal

GSK's Mark Reilly Accused of Running a "massive bribery network"

I'm Just a Blogger - Here's GSK Served on Prawn Crackers

GSK Hiked Product Prices to Fund Bribery Scam

GSK's Sales Reps Want Their Money Back

GSK's Private Investigator [The Video]

Peter Humphrey's 2012 Presentation - Pharma Bribery

GSK's Chinese Whispers and David Cameron

“GSK were really cagey", Claims Whitehall Official.

Glaxo Hire Ropes & Gray to Delve Into its Chinese Operations.

GSK CHINA - Bribery was Rife 13 Years Ago

Witty Plays Down China Scandal

Witty Witty Bang Wang. The Glaxo Gangbang...Allegedly

Book Your Holidays With GSK Travel

Andrew Witty... I know narrrrrrrrthing

The Penny Drops for GSK's Private Investigator.

“Honestly, I don’t regret a single decision,” says Witty

'How GlaxoSmithKline Took Its Medicine' by Forbes journo Matthew Herper is an interesting read. It's fairly balanced and, for once, we see a journalist not blowing smoke up the ass of GlaxoSmithKline's Chief Executive, Andrew Witty.

'How GlaxoSmithKline Took Its Medicine' sees Herper delve into Witty's time in charge of the British pharmaceutical giant, much of which has been tainted by the stench left for Witty by his predecessor, JP Garnier. Heper's peice even features some selected quotes from Witty, many of which kind of stick in my teeth, given that so many people have been harmed by his company's medicines.

Herper's post tries to show how Witty, unlike his predecessor, JP Garnier, has strived to make things better at GlaxoSmithKline since he took the hot seat off the Frenchman 8 years ago. In doing so, Herper has missed a couple of key factors that have arisen during Witty's control of GSK.

Witty seems to paint the picture that he is whiter than white with his carefully chosen quotes, one such is his apparent apology following the $3 billion fine handed down to his company when they plead guilty to a host of violations, including fraud and bribery.

Herper notes that at the time of the guilty plea Witty offered the following apology in a prepared statement. “On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.” 

No mention of the patients harmed and killed by the drugs in question. No mention, apart from a line or so, of the sickening way in which Glaxo's reps targeted Dr's to prescribe Paxil (a drug known to induce suicidal thoughts and completion in this population) - okay, it happened on Garnier's watch but are we expected to believe that Witty knew nothing about the way in which Garnier set his stall?

No mention, either, of when Witty used to work under Garnier .

Witty's Wellbutrin Years

Between the years of 1997 and 1998 Witty was head of the Glaxo Wellcome marketing team. (1)

1997/98 is a period of time where Witty was heavily involved in marketing although there are very few articles left on the internet that show this.

Glaxo Wellcome's VP-General Manager of Marketing Andrew Witty, as he was known between 1997/98, worked very closely with prescription drug ads on TV. This is known as DTC or Direct to Consumer advertising.

In August 1997 the US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] relaxed its rules on DTC, it basically meant that the FDA were giving carte blanche to the pharmaceutical industry whereby they could promote their products in TV ads without giving detailed medical information on the indications, potential side effects, or proper use.

Witty was quick to pounce. Why wouldn't he? DTC is lucrative for the pharmaceutical industry, well, it is in America and New Zealand as these are the only two countries that allow TV ads for prescription medication.

Witty added more products in 1997 with Glaxo's new anti-smoking pill Zyban, [buproprion] which got an estimated $55 million in support (the brand even got TV teaser ads prior to its launch)

For those who don't know, Zyban is also in fact Wellbutrin which is an antidepressant that Glaxo marketed off-label for a whole host of reasons that it was never indicated for.  They subsequently pleaded guilty and this plea was part of the reason why a $3 billion fine was handed down to them.

So, if Witty was Vice President of marketing for Glaxo in 1997 he, surely, would have known the ins-and outs, or Garnier's policy, on illegal marketing, right?

It emerged through the DOJ suit that Glaxo hired celebrities to promote Wellbutrin via radio shows, something Herper picks up on in his article...

"Glaxo paid Drew Pinsky, who parlayed a radio show giving teenagers sex advice into the celebrity persona of “Dr. Drew,” $275,000 for two months to talk about antidepressants and sex. Dr. Drew gave an interview where he segued from talking about a woman who said she had 60 orgasms in a row to saying how Glaxo’s Wellbutrin was better for the libido than other antidepressants. Pinsky didn’t disclose at the time that Glaxo was paying him; no charges were brought against Pinsky."

Question is, did Witty, as VP of marketing, have anything to do with payments made to Pinsky? Someone made the decision, someone signed off and agreed.


Transparency for Victims of Glaxo Products

Nothing has been mentioned about Witty's role of VP of marketing. Instead we see deflection and Witty cover himself in garlands by making claims that Glaxo have opened its doors to published and unpublished clinical trial results - good ones and bad ones. Witty fails to mention that his company were forced to do so as part of a settlement agreement. It's akin to someone on parole helping pensioners around their homes - they, the parolees, have to do it - just as Witty had to open the door of transparency into GlaxoSmithKline, even though it's only slightly open - to open it fully takes a lot of hoop jumping as the authors of the RIAT study found out when requesting information on the Paxil trial results in children and adolescents.

Witty has also been approached regarding the current UK Seroxat (Paxil) litigation where over 100 people have claimed that GSK's drug caused them severe withdrawal problems.

Back in 2011, Janice Simmons, who operates the Seroxat User Group, wrote to GSK to request a meeting with GlaxoSmithKline's CEO, Andrew Witty. To her surprise, GSK’s UK medical director Dr Pim Kon wrote back asking what she wished to discuss...adding that they cannot give advice to patients, they need to seek that from their healthcare professionals.

Janice informed Dr Kon that she wished to discuss the issue of Seroxat withdrawal. Kon wrote back telling Janice that they was not allowed to discuss personal matters with patients and that they should 'talk to their doctor'.(2)

Witty had a golden opportunity here to show his caring side, sadly, he chose not to, leaving the 100 or so in limbo, many of whom were still trying to taper off Seroxat.

Furthermore, when it was brought to Witty's attention that corruption was rife in its China operations, what did he do? Did he inform the authorities immediately or did he follow up the allegations? Well, neither, opting instead to hire a private detective (Peter Humphries) to try and find out who was making the allegations - it was only through the investigation that Witty and co, on the advice of Humphries, were told that there was a bigger problem than the anonymous whistleblower, the corruption was widespread. Only then did Witty and co come clean.

In Herper's piece Witty claims that at the time of the Chinese investigation into his company's bribery (funneled illegal payments to doctors and government officials in order to boost sales) he found it “Distressing”, adding that, “It was so counter to everything we were trying to do.”

Glaxo were subsequently fined almost $500 million after the investigation by Chinese authorities were complete. No prison sentences, apart from suspended sentences, were handed down to either Witty or the then Head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly.

And what of the litigation brought against his company during his spell there? Okay, the litigation is a result of Glaxo's actions before Witty became Chief, but an apology would have been nice to the 800 or so women who either gave birth or aborted infants with birth defects caused by Paxil (Approx 800 cases have been settled out of court in the USA)

Witty, and GSK, are quick enough to sell their wares through Direct to Consumer ads but both are silent when it comes to making an apology to those very same consumers.

During Witty's reign its also come to light that his company played around with clinical trial results with Paxil, in as much that they hired a ghostwriter to say that the drug was safe in kids, when in actual fact it wasn't. The ghostwritten article still remains today and calls for its retraction have fallen on deaf ears. Again, Witty had a golden opportunity to show, at the very least, empathy but, for reasons unknown, he chose not to make any effort to retract the fraudulent article from the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Herper's article also sees Witty claim, “Honestly, I don’t regret a single decision.” Maybe not but it's the decisions that Witty never made that may just cause him a conscience in his later years as he nears a natural death from old age. After all, isn't it when we are on our death beds that we tend to repent or ask for forgiveness for the things we did, or didn't do?

Witty is set to leave GSK sometime next year. I'll leave the final words to him...

“Is everything right?” he asks. “No. Did we make mistakes? Yes. Did things go wrong? Yes. But it hasn’t put us off trying to improve. And I hope whoever takes over will continue trying to improve. Because there’s still plenty of things to keep improving.”


'How GlaxoSmithKline Took Its Medicine' can be read, in full, here.



Bob Fiddaman.

On-going GSK v Consumer litigation regarding Paxil.

UK Seroxat Litigation (Severe Withdrawal Problems)
US Paxil Suicide Litigation
US Paxil Birth Defect Litigation


(1) GlaxoSmithKline: The Andrew Witty "Era"
(2) GSK's Andrew Witty in Patient Aftercare Snub

Q&A With the "Truthman"

It's always difficult taking the step into the world of blogging, particularly when one finds an unscrupulous opposition in GlaxoSmithKline. Let's face it, we've seen their complete disregard for children with the whole Study 329, we've even seen how they, seemingly, bully anyone who files a suit against them, Wendy Dolin currently feeling the wrath of Glaxo's American defence attorney's, King & Spalding.

There were very few people writing about the perils of Seroxat when I started researching the drug 10 years ago ~ a forum was in place called Paxil Progress (PP) , it has since been removed. (PP) is where I first came into contact with The Truthman, although his 'handle' was different to the one that we've all come accustomed to these days.

His blog is brilliantly titled "GSK: Licence to (K)ill" and has been running now for around 9 years.

I've met the Truthman, in fact I'm one of the very few who know who he actually is. He's become a major force over the years and now, it would appear, he is the pit-stop for Glaxo employees, past and present, wishing to spill the beans on activities that include bribery, off-label marketing and plant violations.

Truthman and I always correspond, he'll often give me a heads-up in what's about to be published - in fact over the past few months or so we have been both reading documents that were sent to the Truthman from an alleged GSK whistleblower from the Yemen - keep your eyes on the Truthman's blog (link at the foot of his Q&A's) for an explosive revelation that GSK have been keeping out of the press.

The world needs more Truthman's, a shy unassuming young man with a courageous heart and an inbuilt empathy that shows just how effective one can be when they are passionate about seeking justice for those harmed by Glaxo's powerful antidepressant Seroxat.

Here's the Truthman's Q&A's...



Full name: Truthman30
Age: 30's
Location: A chilly island



Q: Truthman, first off, the burning question that I'm sure will be of interest to readers. Why do you choose to remain anonymous when writing?

A: Good question, there was no reason in particular as to why I started writing anonymously, it just happened like that- however I think it has been good in a way because some of the topics that I deal with perhaps I can do better by writing anonymously. Also, I am actually very shy... but who knows, maybe some time in the future, I will not write anonymously.

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Q: Your blog has a brilliant name ~ GSK Licence To Kill. Can you tell me why you came up with that name?

A: I called the blog GSK licence to (K) ill because I was a big fan of 'The Beastie Boys' growing up and they had an album called 'Licence to ill'. I believe that GSK have a licence to kill with drugs like Seroxat (Paxil) and many people have died because of that drug (and other GSK products) and many more have been harmed and maimed. So the name of the blog is quite accurate I think, and also it's a pun on GSK having a licence to make you ill too, as you would know from taking Seroxat yourself- it's a drug that makes people very ill.

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Q: Tell me about your experience with Seroxat (Paxil)

A: Where do I start? Well, I was prescribed it initially for depression in my early twenties but the side effects almost killed me. I had a seriously debilitating withdrawal and at least 6 years of my life were taken from me due to being on the drug and suffering multitudes of side effects on a daily basis (suicidal thoughts, self harm, violent urges, personality changes, akathisia, etc etc) then through a withdrawal that lasted at least 18 months, and then of course the 'recovery time'. The loss from a severe Seroxat reaction is incalculable, the side effects are inhumane. I am sure that some people don't fully recover from a severe reaction like I had, I still get some weird lingering symptoms.

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Q: On average, how much time do you spend with work that relates to your blog?

A: Another good question, I would spend often at least 3 hours a day, but it depends on what research I am doing, often I have done much more.

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Q: You started writing about a year or so after I created this blog. Back then there was hardly any negative news that surfaced on Google with regards to how dangerous Seroxat can be. Why have you persevered so long with your blog?

A: There was a good bit about Seroxat's under its US trade name- Paxil but yeah not a lot on Seroxat really back then. I first got involved with researching Seroxat through the Paxil Progress forums (which is now gone unfortunately). I don't really know why I have persevered, I suppose the blog just morphed into something bigger than my own personal experience with Seroxat. I also believe that Seroxat is the canary in the coalmine when it comes to dodgy drugs on the market therefore its hugely important to keep bringing awareness.

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Q: If you could pick just one story on your blog where you felt you were starting to make a difference, what story would that be?

A: Difficult question, there are so many threads and stories over the years which I was interested in. I guess one which seemed to garner a lot of hits and still does was my post on 'SSRI's and Emotional Blunting'. People still seem to find it through Google when they are looking for answers about an adverse reaction they are having on an SSRI and they seem to identify strongly with it. I think in general my blog has made a difference, like yours has also, but often it's difficult to measure the difference, we can only guess, however I suspect both of our blogs have made a bigger impact than we could ever really imagine.

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Q: Would you recommend writing a blog or public diary to people who had suffered severed antidepressant withdrawal events?

A:  Absolutely yes, I think blogging, or writing in general can be very cathartic, whether that's just writing on your interests, or personal experiences, for expression, activism or whatever, it's all a good process for the mind, or at least it is for me.

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Q: Your blog seems to be very attractive to whistleblowers of late. Can you tell me a little bit about the whistleblowers who have contacted you over the past few years or so and also what they are alleging?

A: Well, I have been in contact with several, or should I say they have been in contact with me (they initiate it- I don't). They come mostly from lower down the food chain in the GSK corporate machine- drug reps etc. Mostly they seem to be very unhappy with the way GSK behaves internationally, and the genuine ones (some are not so genuine but most are) seem seriously concerned about the impact that unethical behavior has on consumers of GSK products. GSK's unethical behavior is global. I recently had a whistle-blower alleging that GSK have a 'ticking time bomb' in their global manufacturing because of their failure to comply with proper health and safety regulations in the production line. These allegations would echo previous allegations from a separate whistle-blower who contacted me last year about asbestos contamination in a GSK plant in Sligo, Ireland. And of course, there are the current allegations which I am investigating from a whistleblower who contacted me in Yemen. Stay tuned for that one...

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Q: Have you ever considered writing a book about your journey?

A: I have , but the blog takes up most of my writing head space at the moment.

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Q: What do you say to people who believe that antidepressants are safe and effective?

A: I say, that's nonsense.

They aren't even really 'anti' depressants at all. To say that an SSRI is an 'anti-depressant' implies it's similar to an 'antibiotic' or 'anti-viral' drug. They aren't, in fact they are more like hypnotic - narcotics. The so called benefits are no different to what we would term 'street drugs' in the sense that they create an altered state, however they have no medicinal qualities. They are not safe, nor are they effective. The reason why they appear to me effective for some, is the same reason why alcohol or cigarettes appear to help some people with their nerves etc. If you drug someone they will feel different, and they will rely on the drug as a crutch. These are extremely unsafe drugs too.

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Q: If you could ask GSK's Andrew Witty three questions what would they be?

1. How do you sleep at night?
2. How much would you be worth if you were penniless tomorrow?
3. Is Seroxat safe and effective, and if you think it is - prove it.

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Q: Do you think that Seroxat and other SSRis need to be banned or do you feel that they do benefit some people? 

A: I think Seroxat should be banned yes, and all the SSRI's should be severely restricted until full reviews are taken into their effects. I think they could be useful (in the sense that Valium and sleeping tablets are useful) but in the short term only and with very close supervision by experienced medical professionals. I feel that any perceived benefit is because of the 'emotional blunting' aspect, but it's debatable whether that's really 'beneficial' - particularly long term.

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Q: For you, what is the most frustrating part about being a patient advocate?

A: The most frustrating part is how slow change comes.

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Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

A: Woah.. I have no idea! Hopefully not blogging about Seroxat and GSK! But who knows!

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Q: Finally Truthman, some personal questions...

1. What book are you currently reading?

Not reading currently anything really, although I read (a novel called) 'A short history of tractors in Ukranian' last Summer and I thought it was hilarious, very sharp and well written.

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2. What was the last CD you listened to (in full)?

Chequerboard- 'The Unfolding'


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3. What is the best movie you have seen this year?

Dallas Buyers Club

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4. What country would you most like to visit?

So many. I'd like to see some of India.

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5. If you had the choice of being either a defence or prosecution lawyer, which would you choose and why?

A defence lawyer, I'd choose that because I am drawn to fighting for the underdog. However I couldn't defend someone if I knew they were wrong, so I don't think the legal profession would suit me! I'll stick to blogging for the time being!

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GSK: Licence to (K)ill


Bob Fiddaman



Previous Q&A's

Q&A With Ablechild's Sheila Matthews-Gallo

Q&A With Leonie Fennell