Antidepressant Destruction in London

I'm just back from London, well, not just back - I arrived home yesterday after spending the night in Kensington and an afternoon in Harlesden, which is in the London district of Brent, ironically just a few miles from the cesspit that is GlaxoSmithKline HQ.

I think it's safe to call it a cesspit given the stench emanating from its bowels this century.

So, why had I travelled to London? Well, there's a new kid on the block, she has just launched her new book, The Pill That Steals Lives, I wrote a review for the book here.

Katinka "Tinks" Newman is, by trade, a documentary filmmaker. She's now a published author too - her story of antidepressant induced violence and psychosis an all too familiar one.

Tinks held her book launch at the Waterstones book store in Kensington on Tuesday evening. I travelled the tube from Earls Court along with long time friends Leonie, Tony, Brian and his lovely wife. Brian runs the antidepaware website - More about this later.

Upon arrival at Waterstones we were greeted with many familiar faces. Another long time friend of mine, who for many years has remained anonymous via his online blog, Seroxat Secrets, was also there - his own review of the launch can be read here.

I met Olga, a charming woman from Holland. Olga lost her daughter in a bus crash in Sierre in 2012. The driver of that bus, Geert Michiels, had traces of Seroxat in his system and a subsequent investigation into the crash found that he had deliberately mounted a pavement in a tunnel and crashed the bus head-on into a wall. There were 52 on board, 28 people perished, 22 of them were children. The other 24 pupils, all aged between 10 and 12, were injured, including three who were hospitalized with severe brain and chest injuries. (Back story).

I really wish I could have spoken more with Olga and her husband but as things are at these types of gatherings more and more people introduce themselves.

Steph Lynch and I.

Next up was Stephanie Lynch and her husband John. Their son, Jake, was just 14 when he took a gun to his mouth and shot himself to death. Jake had been prescribed Prozac after a 10 minute consultation with a psychiatrist. There was no diagnosis made. Jake was prescribed Prozac because he was anxious about up-and-coming school exams. (Back story)

Kirk Brandon was next. Kirk and I became friends a few years ago now and we met previously in Birmingham when he was touring with his band. For those that don't know, Kirk formed post punk new wave band Theatre of Hate back in 1980 and has since enjoyed success both as a solo artist and by forming other bands. Kirk was prescribed Seroxat - Kirk suffered severe psychosis as a result of ingesting Seroxat.

Tinks reads an extract from her book, 'The Pill That Steals Lives'

After the launch some of us headed to Bill's Burger bar just down the street from Waterstones. Food, conversation and great company. I arrived back at my hotel in West Kensington after midnight and slept like a baby.


Day Two

Look who's here - It's those pesky Panorama people again!

Tinks, as I mentioned above, is, first and foremost, a documentary filmmaker and has made many films for the BBC in Documentary Features and in News and Current Affairs.

On the back of her book she has now been commissioned by the BBC to make a documentary about antidepressant induced violence and homicide, prescripticide, if you will.

This isn't the first time Panorama have covered antidepressants. They have previously aired four special documentaries about Seroxat, all of which are available here.

To my joy both the cameraman and sound guy had previously worked on the Seroxat documentaries and we had an interesting discussion about the individuals who featured in those series of programmes.

Cameras roll. The Panorama film crew filming us during lunch - Photo taken by Leonie.

We sat around a colourful table at Katinka's house in Brent and basically just talked naturally about our experiences on the various drugs. Leonie spoke eloquently of her son, Shane, who was prescribed citalopram after the break-up of his relationship with his girlfriend. Shane, after citalopram induced psychosis, killed a young man then himself and Leonie has been campaigning since.

Brian of antidepaware and his wife sadly couldn't make lunch at Katinka's.

Brian's website, to me at least, is a welcome addition to the fight in creating awareness and holding people accountable. Brian and his wife lost their son in 2009. He had never been depressed in his life, went to see a doctor over insomnia caused by temporary work-related stress. He was prescribed citalopram, and within days he had taken his life.

Brian has a list of UK inquest reports from 2003 - to present, all of which mention the use of antidepressants, the majority of which have resulted in coroners concluding the death was suicide. It's an important website and yet another angle to come from when trying to seek the truth. Coroners, just as much as drug regulators and the mainstream press, need to seriously wake up and see what is in front of them. They need to give the dead a voice so future generations can be, at the very least, warned how some people can have a severe reaction to antidepressant use; namely completed suicide. Katinka talks about the 'defective genes' in her book.

Also missing from the lunch was Australian author Rebekah "Becks" Beddoe (Dying for a Cure). Becks had travelled over a few days before but had to travel back unexpectedly for family reasons.

All in all it was two days spent with remarkable people, each with their own heart-wrenching stories. Tears, laughter and strong friendships were born. I love them all ~ There was a lot of pain felt in the room but this was enshrouded with an overwhelming presence of love. I'd like to think that those who have passed were present in the room too, offering us all their guidance and love.

It's something that will remain with me forever.

Thanks Tinks for making it happen.

Leonie, Steph and I. (Three caged monkeys)
SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, TELL NO EVIL.

We see it - we hear it - we tell it!

Bob Fiddaman.

Pharmageddon – David Healy

I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of Dr David Healy's new book, Pharmageddon. It's taken me a while to read it due to other commitments.

Here's my review.



Pharmageddon – David Healy - University of California Press 2012


Pharmageddon is a meticulous look at the inside workings of the pharmaceutical industry and the way in which prescription drugs are marketed throughout the world and how this aids in the survival of some of the most richest and influential global organisations in the world today.

Dr David Healy, a Professor of Psychiatry at Cardiff University and the author of many publications, has painstakingly chartered the history of pharmaceutical wares and shows, in many instances, how ‘evidence-based’ medicines aren’t really evidence based at all. In fact, quite the contrary.

Clinical trials that were initially designed to find faults in a product have found their way into a world where time (and money) is of the essence and where trials carried out today appear to put the onus on the patient to report any faults in the product...after it has been granted a licence by the regulatory bodies...sometimes many years after its release into the market.

Medical journals, in which prescription drugs are often promoted as being safe and effective, have also played a huge role in the prescribing of drugs, that are, in many instances, not safe or effective at all.

Healy explains why this is so in a carefully crafted and extensively researched book that throws light on the internal misgivings of a complex industry where kickbacks and ghostwritten material are commonplace.

His walk through history and to present will leave the reader, be they professional or patient, in no doubt that Pharmageddon is just around the corner and we are, indeed, in our end days of pharmaceutical control and manipulation.

Pharmageddon is not a critique of the pharmaceutical per se but it does show how the dollar has become the main objective opposed to helping a patient battle an illness with drugs that, on many occasions, make the illness worse or, indeed, create a new illness for patients to deal with.

Many side effects to prescription drugs go unreported, more often than not those side effects are seen by healthcare professionals as a need to prescribe more drugs because they fail to see that the medications are actually making matters worse. Moreover, these same healthcare professionals are visited by pharmaceutical reps who, after leaving free gifts, tell them that their drugs are better than others, proving efficacy by pointing to opinions given by respected thought leaders that have published papers in medical journals showing how safe and effective the drug is.

It’s a marketing strategy played out to perfection by an industry whose promotional tools include marketing an illness before the product, to reel in prospective buyers of a future product.

The launch of Pharmageddon comes on top of Healy’s new website, RxISK, a domain that offers a reporting system for patients and doctors to report adverse reactions caused by a myriad of pharmaceutical products.

It is only by reading Healy’s book and using reporting systems such as Rxisk that the wheels of Pharmageddon can grind to a halt and that the concept of treating patients can return to the days of patient care rather than pharmaceutical profit.

Pharmageddon can be ordered via Amazon UK here or direct from the University of California Press, here.


Fid


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The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg - Book Review

Doug Bremner's aptly titled second book, 'The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg', arrived in the post last week. A reader had kindly sent it to me after telling me how riveting a read it was...she wasn't wrong.

Bremner, a Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology and Director of the Emory Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, lifts the lid on the way pharmaceutical companies protect their products at all costs, in this instance, it's Hoffman-La Roche, the manufacturers of the acne medication Accutane, known as Roaccutane in the UK.

After being approached to carry out a study on Accutane, Bremner finds his life turned upside down as he finds opposition to his findings that Roche's drug has a sinister side. Bremner goes on a journey that sees him called as an expert witness where he is grilled for hours on end in a 'breaking of the spirit' fashion by Roche's lawyers who cross examine him during deposition.

Bremner is as open as one can possibly be when writing. His story also deals with his deceased mother and his thirst to battle his demons in seeking her final resting place [she had died when Bremner was just 4 years old] and her biological family. The 'Goose' moves from Bremner's past and present in unrelenting fashion and highlights the mechanics of the human psyche when faced with the need for truth.

One feels for Bremner in his quest to bury his own demon and, at the same time, seek justice for those harmed by Accutane. It clearly shows that speaking out against the pharmaceutical industry can have dire consequences as lawyers pull out all the stops to try and discredit.

From the off Bremner lays his cards on the table and tells the reader how he was wined and dined by the industry with lavish trips and hotels thrown in for good measure. It's an insight into the internal workings of Emory, more importantly the free luncheon vouchers supplied to key opinion leaders in return for favourable reviews of pharma drugs.

It's a journey that sees a passionate man fall foul of dirty tricks and one which sees him fight for his own sanity, his quest for the truth and even his marriage.

The world needs more Doug Bremner's, his offering is, indeed, a golden egg.

'The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg' is available as both paperback and Kindle HERE and you can read more of Bremner's work on his website, 'Before You Take That Pill, HERE.

Fid


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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
US & CANADA HERE OR UK FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE  

SEROXAT PAPERBACK LAUNCH APRIL 2011

It's anticipated that the book should be on sale by the start of April.

Here's the cover.

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Alison Bass Honoured

...and rightly so.

Alison Bass, author of Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial, has been named a winner of the 2009 NASW Science in Society Awards. [press release]

I remember when Alison sent me a copy of her book and how eager I was to read it. It reads like a Grisham novel and one has to keep pinching oneself as a reminder that this book is not fiction. It's a true account of how GlaxoSmithKline suppressed information regarding the use of Paxil in children. More so, Alison takes you inside the litigation process, a mechanical maze of the American dollar and how powerful it can be...and what lengths pharmaceutical companies will go to to 'save face', or rather save their products from being hurt financially.

The Paxil debacle should never be forgotten, questions should be asked about the part GlaxoSmithKline played in keeping data from the public eye - prosecutions should follow. Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial is, and will always be, a testament in how deceit will always be uncovered. The truth will always out.

I'd like to congratulate Alison Bass on being part of the process in seeking the truth. A woman who stood up to be counted.

Alison's book, Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial, can be purchased via - alison-bass.com

Fid

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SSRi's - "DO NOT STOP ABRUPTLY"

We are warned by the patient information leaflets and by the regulators to not stop SSRi treatment abruptly.

It would be nice if we had a choice!

Monday, 24 August 2009

Concerns over vital drugs shortage

Shortages of certain medicines is causing patients "extreme distress" and even seeing them admitted to hospital, pharmacists have warned.

Of more than 150 community pharmacies surveyed, nearly a third said patients had suffered because they had difficulty sourcing medicines including those for breast cancer, blood clots and anti-depressants.

One pharmacist reported that a patient had panic attacks waiting for the anti-depressant Cipralex, and another said the wait for the breast cancer drug Femara had caused "extreme distress".

In another case, a shortage of the blood clot drug Plavix had contributed to a hospital admission, it was claimed.

More HERE

Hat-Tip - Janice Simmons

Fid

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The SSRi Road To Hell by Bob Fiddaman

I have previously wrote about Pfizer's anti-smoking [mind-warping] drug, Champix [Chantix in the US], where I had learned that both the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] and the Civil Aviation Authority [CAA] had banned this particular drug for use in their pilots and Air Traffic Controllers [ATCO's].

It came as no surprise to me seeing as Champix can cause some pretty nasty side-effects, some that could basically turn those prescribed it into a raving lunatic.

It got me thinking. If Champix was banned for use in our pilots and ATCO's then what of other mind-altering drugs such as SSRi's?

It's two-fold really. Who would want to fly with 'Loony Airlines' whose pilots and ATCO's are drugged up on SSRi's? And being treated for an illness that needed SSRi's has to come into the equation too... unless of course they had been given an SSRi for premature ejaculation - no problem with a pilot who arrives to quickly in my book.

I wrote back to the CAA and also made a fresh request to the MHRA.

Have pilots and ATCO's been banned from taking Seroxat and other SSRi's?'

The answer is a resounding Yes. This from Jill Vening, Senior Aeromedical Adviser, CAA, Gatwick:

"Dear Mr Fiddaman,

Thank you for your e/mail query regarding Seroxat & pilots/ATCO's. I can confirm that the UK CAA does not permit this medication or any other of the SSRI group of drugs and psychotropic medication in general to be taken whilst holding a valid medical certificate. This is because of the side effect profile and the condition for which it has been prescribed."

Short and sweet but transparency at its best.

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The Mothers Act Disease Mongering Campaign - Part IV

Read Evie Pringle's next installment - 'The Mothers Act Disease Mongering Campaign - Part IV'.

Here's a segment that will have you wondering just who is in control...or rather who wants that control.

Sad Daddies

As part of this overall disease mongering scheme, the Mothers Act campaign has now taken aim at new fathers. All the gals provide links to the "PostpartumMen," website. And in return, PostpartumMen dedicates a whole webpage to promoting the Mothers Act, complete with a link that takes readers directly to the website of Susan Stone's treatment center.

"PostpartumMen is a place for men with concerns about depression, anxiety or other problems with mood after the birth of a child," according to its website.

Dr Will Courtenay runs the site. Courtenay is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has served on the clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the University of California, San Francisco, Medical School, according to his bio.

"Yes, men do get postpartum depression," he writes on PostpartumMen.

"It's a fact that most people – and even many health professionals – don't know," he claims.

"Depression, anxiety or other problems with mood can occur anytime during the first year of your child's life," he tells men.

"The truth is, depression, anxiety and other mood disorders are common," he states. "In fact, they're just as common – and just as real – as physical problems, like heart disease and diabetes."

"It really pains me to see so many men suffering alone, in silence," Courtenay says on PostpartumMen. "Especially since depression, anxiety and the other mental health problems that afflict us are treatable."

For men, the newly coined disorder is called "paternal postpartum depression," and referred to as "PPND."

"Up to 1 in 4 new dads have PPND," Courtenay tells readers on PostpartumMen. "In the United States alone, that amounts to 2,700 new fathers who become depressed every day."

And as it turns out, Courtenay hosts a total of six websites for men, accessible with live links from PostpartumMen, including one for his "Men's Health Consulting," firm.

In advertising for this firm, he provides a webpage on, "Media Coverage of Dr. Will Courtenay," and posts selective remarks and comments made regarding himself or PPND and men.

For instance, this description of himself was listed as coming from Newsweek: "An expert on why fathers can also become depressed after the birth of a child, and what couples can do about it."

Read the whole article - it will have you uttering profanities under your breath. This is not Hollywood folks - this is real. Pharma are running the show.

Fid

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Madness Radio: Paxil [Seroxat] On Trial Alison Bass - The Podcast

Source: Madness Radio

When GlaxoSmithKline was caught lying about the risks of its blockbuster anti-depressant Paxil [Seroxat], it set off ongoing investigations. How did New York state take on one of the world's most powerful companies? Was NY Governor Eliot Spitzer driven out by his corporate enemies? Pulitzer-nominated Boston Globe journalist Alison Bass, author of Side Effects: A Prosecutor, A Whistleblower, And A Bestselling Antidepressant On Trial, discusses legal battles to clean up drug company corruption, including pay-offs to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Duration: 51:47


If you have not read Alison's book yet then I recommend you do. It's a fascinating read and highlights how far GlaxoSmithKline went to suppress information regarding their best-selling antidepressant drug Paxil/Seroxat.

Fid

Madness Radio: Voices and Visions From Outside Mental Health is a weekly FM show produced through WXOJ-LP in Northampton MA, aired on KWMD in Anchorage Alaska. Madness Radio is syndicated through the Pacifica community radio network and shows are picked up by stations around the country and internationally.

Here is a list of their Latest Shows

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Rebekah Beddoe - Dying For A Cure

Late last year, Rebekah Beddoe kindly sent me a copy of her book, Dying for a cure. Her story is remarkable and horrific at the same time. I previously gave her book a brief review here

Her book, which was initially for sale in Australia only, has now been re-edited and is available to the British public.

Rebekah was recently interviewed about her ordeal and the item was largely missed as it only appeared in a Sunday Supplement that is not available online.

I've uploaded the interview for your perusal and urge you to buy a copy of her book

Here's Rebekah's interview.

Click on images to enlarge.

Fid

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DEATH BY PRESCRIPTION

Death by Prescription is the new book by Terence Young. Terence is the founder and Chair of Drug Safety Canada, a research and public advocacy organization based in Oakville. He has been active in issues related to prescription drug safety since 2000, after losing his fifteen year old daughter Vanessa to the Johnson & Johnson prescription drug Prepulsid.

His website, http://www.deathbyprescription.com/ carries the tag:

DEATH BY PRESCRIPTION
A FATHER TAKES ON HIS DAUGHTER'S KILLER - THE MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Terence Young’s Book Launch Speech can be read HERE and HERE you can listen to Terence’s April 14, 2009 talk with Mike Stafford, host of the Stafford Show on AM640 Toronto Radio.

Terence, along with Neil Carlin and Mary Ann Murray, have all been campaigning for stronger measures to prevent such deaths in the future.

Their story can be read HERE

I stand right beside Terence, Neil and Mary in their quest for the truth.

You can order a copy of the book HERE

In Death by Prescription you will learn:

That the Canadian Pharmacists’ Association – who have good business reasons to want people to buy drugs, report that between $2 – $9 billion is wasted every year on inappropriately used drugs.

How forty-one drugs have been pulled off the market since the sixties and no one at Health Canada even kept a record of why.

How one drug was responsible for the deaths of as many U.S citizens as the Vietnam War.

How in Ontario, when a drug causes a patient death, the Coroner’s office routinely categorizes that as a ‘natural’ death.

How the big pharma companies cover up deaths by blaming them (in many cases with no evidence) on overdose, another drug, or the patient themselves.

How one decision by a lone drug reviewer at Health Canada could lead to over $100 million in sales for one drug if they approve it, yet reviewers attend closed-door meetings, where no minutes are taken, with drug company executives.

How doctors accept and distribute over $4 billion a year in ‘free samples’ of new drugs that are in fact in Phase Four of clinical trials, and any patient taking a new drug is part of a giant trial to which few have consented.

How the pharmaceutical companies spend $20,000 a year on average per doctor – mostly to “high scrip docs” – to create debts of gratitude the doctors have only one way to repay: by testing the newest and most expensive drugs on you and your family members.

Fid

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Books: The Blue Nowhere

I've not long finished reading a fictional novel by Jeffery Deaver called 'The Blue Nowhere', a truly outstanding read. I've been meaning to read it for some time but had others to read as they were sent to me. Alison Bass sent me a copy of book, 'Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and A Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial.' and I have promised to review it soon. Rebbekah Beddoe sent me a copy of her book, 'Dying for a Cure', and I've been helping her as she re-edits it for the British market.

It was a change to read something unrelated to antidepressants and cover-ups. 'The Blue Nowhere' is gripping. It's basically about a hacker who uses different names across the Internet so he can lure his victims to their demise . Its called "social engineering", conning somebody, pretending you're someone you're not.

Here's the blurb:

When a sadistic hacker, code-named Phate, sets his sights on Silicon Valley, his victims never know what hit them. He infiltrates their computers, invades their lives, and lures them to their deaths. To Phate, each murder is like a big, challenging computer hack: every time he succeeds, he must challenge himself anew— by taking his methodology to a higher level, and aiming at bigger targets.

Desperate, the head of The California State Police Computer Crimes Division frees Wyatt Gillette, imprisoned for hacking, to aid the investigation — against the loud protests of the rest of the division. With an obsession emblematic of hackers, Gillette fervently attempts to trace Phate's insidious computer virus back to its source. Then Phate delivers a huge blow, murdering one of the division's own — a "wizard" who had pioneered the Internet — and the search takes on a zealous intensity.

Gillette and Detective Frank Bishop — an old-school homicide cop who's accustomed to forensic sleuthing — make an uneasy team. But with a merciless and brilliant killer like Phate in their cross hairs, and his twisted game reaching a fever pitch, they must utilize every ounce of their disparate talents to stop him.

I highly recommend 'The Blue Nowhere' as I do 'Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and A Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial' and 'Dying for a Cure.'

I'm a quarter of the way through Dan Brown's 'Deception Point' now. So don't be a spoilsport and ruin the ending for me.

Fid

Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal

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Dying For A Cure - Rebekah Beddoe

Dying For A Cure - Rebekah Beddoe

I have just finished reading Rebekah Beddoe's 'Dying For A Cure' and am in no doubt that she was another victim of misdiagnosis and mismanagement by doctors and psychiatrists.

Basically, Rebekah went to see her doctor because she was having trouble sleeping [she had not long given birth to her first child]. Unbelievably, her doctor prescribed her Zoloft to help her with her sleeping [Zoloft is an antidepressant of the SSRi family]. What followed was three years of hell for Rebekah and her family.

Beddoe writes eloquently and 'Dying For A Cure' is like a diary of one persons nightmare that is being controlled by the ignorance and stubbornness of Australian doctors and psychiatrists. The book throws open many questions and as an observer [reader] one has to ask oneself why she was diagnosed with post natal depression when she was merely having sleep problems. From a minor complaint Rebekah endured an horrific journey of mind boggling drugs that included: Zoloft, Prozac, Xanax, Zyprexa, Serzone plus a whole host of others... not to mention the Electroconsulsive Therapy [ECT].

One is left in bewilderment at the lack of education in the field of metal illness. The signs were blindingly obvious that Beddoe's demeanor changed once given her first taste of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor [SSRi]. Quite why the medical profession failed to see this boils down to the way these particular drugs are promoted by pharmaceutical companies. Initially, they were promoted for depression and/or manic disorders. Pharma convinced a gullible world that this was caused by a 'chemical imbalance' of the brain, a theory that has never being scientifically proven and one that today is pretty much used as only a possibility and not an actual cause.

Pharma have also convinced the world that SSRis are not addictive. One only has to read 'Dying For A Cure' to dispel the non-addiction label.

Time after time Beddoe returned to the medical profession, time after time she was misdiagnosed and more drugs were prescribed to her, plunging her into deeper despair. This is a huge problem and one that I personally feel has been cleverly crafted by pharmaceutical companies. If a drug is touted as being non-addictive then doctors and psychiatrists will ignore the possibility of withdrawal and delve deeper into the so called illness of the patient, this lines the pockets of Pharma and destroys the lives of those who are unfortunately diagnosed on the strength of what Pharma marketing say rather than what patients tell their doctors and psychiatrists.

'Dying For A Cure' should be read by doctors and psychiatrists and should remain in their minds when they next see a patient walk through their door whose demeanor has drastically changed as a result of them being prescribed an SSRi. SSRi withdrawal is clearly an issue overlooked by the profession and by those that regulate medicines in all countries and not just Australia.

What saddens me is the fact that there is still ignorance regarding this issue. The benefit/risk factor regarding SSRi's is upside down, there is far more risk involved then any benefit in taking these drugs. 'Dying For A Cure' is proof of that.

Rebekah Beddoe is currently re-editing 'Dying For A Cure' for a launch in the UK [2009]. I strongly urge anyone that has ever suffered episodes of depression to read it. It may just be that your illness was misdiagnosed and the very drug you took to cure it was in actual fact the cause of it.

Bob Fiddaman, UK

Interview with Rebekah - Press Play

Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal

By Bob Fiddaman

ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE


PAPERBACK COMING SOON

Author to speak about the background of Paxil

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Keith E. Jacobson
Filed Under Newton people

Newton author Alison Bass will speak about her recently published book “Side Effects,” the true story of a groundbreaking court case and the personal drama that surrounded the making and unmasking of the best selling drug Paxil. Ms. Bass will give an author talk at the Newton Free Library on Thursday, September 25 at 7:30 pm.

Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal

By Bob Fiddaman

ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE


PAPERBACK COMING SOON

Young Girls Abused In Care!

I'm currently reading Teresa Cooper's 'Trust No One'. It focuses on her time at Kendall House.

The blurb reads thus:

Thrust into care at six months of age because of an alcoholic father and mentally ill mother, Teresa Cooper's life began in a less than perfect way. Teresa spent an unsettled childhood in a variety of children's homes before being sent to Kendall House in Kent, which would become her prison and worst nightmare. At Kendall House, Teresa became a victim of a terrible regime, being injected with dangerously high doses of drugs and sexually abused. This cruel and vicious treatment, accompanied by punishments such as 163 days spent in solitary confinement, meant that it was not long before Teresa began to harm herself and even attempt to take her life. After three years of hell, Teresa thought her nightmare was over but another was about to begin. Teresa Cooper is a survivor. Fighting against a corrupt social care system, she has taken her case of abuse and drugging to parliament, and is fighting to prevent many more children from suffering at the hands of unethical doctors and abusive foster parents.

Teresa has now petitioned the UK Government to look in to this matter - I've just signed - I urge you all to follow suit. HERE

Fid

Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal

By Bob Fiddaman

ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE


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Sydney Psychiatrist 'Poo Poo's' Patient Experience

Shortly after the birth of her daughter Rebekah Beddoe was diagnosed with post-natal depression. Two years later she was taking six different drugs, including lithium, a tranquilliser, an antipsychotic, and antidepressants. She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder; given electric-shock therapy; made numerous attempts on her life; and was alternately manic and consumed by crippling despair during which she could barely move. She had a two-year-old daughter she hardly knew and a mother and partner who were at their wits' end, unable to recognise the formerly ambitious, vibrant and highly successful woman they loved so much.

Her book 'Dying For A Cure' has been on sale in Australia for over a year now and will shortly be launched here in the UK.

Yesterday I recieved an email from an Australian who had stumbled upon my blog. They pointed me in the direction of a critique left by Michael Robertson, a psychiatrist from Sydney, Australia.

Robertson goes about disecting Rebekah Beddoe's experience with what we [SSRi sufferers] have come to expect from those who would rather blame the illness than the drug.

His opening para sets a precedent for his rebuke of Beddoe's experience:


Dying for a Cure reads like a prolonged formal complaint, rather than a considered piece on this controversial area. Rebekah Beddoe makes no attempt to conceal her contempt for the psychiatrists who tried to care for her during her crisis. The book depicts psychiatrists as either lecherous and hapless, or arrogant and officious. Regardless of the accuracy of these portraits, her frank account of her life story betrays a deeper problem which it would seem explains some of her anger. In describing the challenges motherhood presented her psyche, she invites us into the poisonous transference responses which lurk throughout the book’s narrative:

Robertson, also appears to have a dig at Breggin and Healy. He writes:


The book is quite well researched all the main scientific papers addressing the adverse effects of newer antidepressants are mentioned, although this scholarly dimension is undermined by the book’s overemphasis on the opinions of SSRI critics like Peter Breggin and David Healy. Indeed, this incessant use of the rhetorical device of ‘appeals to authority’ weakens Beddoe’s arguments considerably. Beddoe proffers little more than straw-man arguments against psychiatry delivered in an excessively contemptuous tone.

It was hardly surprising to learn that Robertson has recieved over $2 Million in grants from, as yet, unknown sources.

Maybe this rather large sum of money he has recieved 'weakens his argument considerably'

I wrote to Robertson but as yet I have not had a response.

I will keep you posted if he responds.

Fid

Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal

By Bob Fiddaman

ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE


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DYING FOR A CURE

Currently being revamped for the UK

Shortly after the birth of her daughter Rebekah Beddoe was diagnosed with post-natal depression. Two years later she was taking six different drugs, including lithium, a tranquilliser, an antipsychotic, and antidepressants. She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder; given electric-shock therapy; made numerous attempts on her life; and was alternately manic and consumed by crippling despair during which she could barely move. She had a two-year-old daughter she hardly knew and a mother and partner who were at their wits' end, unable to recognise the formerly ambitious, vibrant and highly successful woman they loved so much.

Australians have embraced antidepressants: twelve million prescriptions are written annually, mostly by GPs. But, what do we really know of the pills' effects? The idea that they correct a chemical imbalance in our brain is by no means proven, indeed there is much evidence that contradicts this view. It is commonly thought such drugs are not addictive; in fact, as Rebekah found to her great distress, they are hard to come off and those who do may suffer debilitating side effects.

This is a powerful memoir of the nightmarish three years Rebekah endured as she was repeatedly misdiagnosed, only to realise that her medication was the cause of her mental deterioration. In this book Rebekah calls for better information from the pharmaceutical companies about the risks associated with antidepressants and similar classes of drugs - facts, rather than marketing dressed up as medical science - and for a re-examination of the ways some psychiatrists treat their patients.

Australians can purchase the book HERE

Read the new book, The Evidence, However, Is Clear...The Seroxat Scandal

By Bob Fiddaman

ISBN: 978-1-84991-120-7
CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE


PAPERBACK COMING SOON