The Pill That Steals Lives - A Review

Having received Katinka Newman's new book, 'The Pill That Steals Lives' through the post today I was contemplating on days/evenings when I could sit or lie down somewhere to read it. Much of my life is taken up with research, if not for me then for others. Then of course, France were playing Germany tonight in a semi-final (Euro 2016), a tournament that, for me at least, became insignificant when England were knocked out by Iceland.

So, no time like the present.

It's taken me five hours to read from start to finish a book that was written over the course of six weeks ~ it's a bit like slaving over a hot stove all day and serving up great food, only for it to be devoured in seconds.

'The Pill That Steals Lives' is great food.

Katinka "Tinks" Newman takes us on a personal journey that without explanation one would be left thinking, 'that poor woman who fell foul to depression, that poor woman had everything going for her then, Bam, she's struck down with a mental illness.' - Yup, I've been guilty in the past, before I became a writer and researcher of antidepressants, of throwing out words of sympathy to those less fortunate than me, those being struck down with a brain disorder - that was, of course, before I learned that the vast majority of brain disorders are merely marketing tools for the pharmaceutical industry.

Tinks was prescribed the antidepressant escitalopram, which is basically a modified version of citalopram, both manufactured and marketed in Europe by Danish pharmaceutical giant, Lundbeck.

Escitalopram is better known by it's brand names of Cipralex and/or Lexapro and is a class of antidepressant from the SSRI family.

Almost immediately after taking her first dose of escitalopram Tinks became distanced from reality - this was merely a pre-cursor of what lay in store for her. As in many cases I've read and heard over the years a bad reaction to one drug usually means another drug is added to the mix... and then another. In Tinks case she, at one point, was on five different psychiatric medications all because professionals failed to spot that her initial reaction to escitalopram (psychosis) was actually caused by the drug.

'The Pill That Steals Lives'  is compelling reading, it gives us an insight into how we, as patients, face many battles when prescribed these types of drugs, more importantly how difficult it is to persuade prescribers and even our own family members that it may not be the 'illness' that is causing the bizarre behaviour - it may just be the drug. I have experienced this personally with my ex-wife who still, to this day, believes that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance - she was never really one for reading anything outside of celebrity gossip so any books or journals I recommended to her have been met with her steadfast belief that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Tinks account rang a lot of bells for me, it had me nodding my head in agreement and if she were in the same room as me right now I'd probably be high-fiving her for writing such a creative piece. At times Tinks uses humour in her writing, one has to use humour when we learn how we have been duped by medical professions and pharmaceutical companies - what else can we do except for go public with our experiences and add humour to what is, it has to be said, quite harrowing.

I like the style of Tinks writing, she has the knack of putting you there, right in the scene - her storyboard being there for all to see and with elements of a Carla Lane (The Liver Birds, Butterflies, Bread) style for the middle-classes.

I had to email Tinks in the early part of this evening - I just felt compelled to as I know, as a writer, how nice it feels when someone reads back something you have created. I won't go into detail about the line she writes in her book, sufficed to say it was written with a comedic touch and follows the end of her one year harrowing experience at the hands of a misguided psychiatrist.

I've got a lot of time for Katinka, we met a few years back when I introduced her to former GSK rep cum whistleblower Blair Hamrick. We met again a few months ago in London for lunch - I was in London on business and she spotted me lunch in a hideaway in Notting Hill.

I'm glad she did - Sometimes reading personal accounts I get the feeling that this is just another story, having met Tinks in person it becomes much more than that.

'The Pill That Steals Lives' is a warts and all account of how the system failed and stole the lives of not only Katinka but her family too. Her children, Lily and Oscar, are mentioned throughout and one cannot help but bond with them. I know from personal experience the guilt I felt as my children, who at the time were very young, watched me turn into an obese monster during my time on and withdrawing from Seroxat.

Katinka not only tells her personal story, she also, after picking herself up from a year of psychiatric abuse (because that's what it was) writes about how she stumbled across other stories then felt the need to research how other's had become violent on SSRI type medications.

Every doctor needs to read this book, lets face it, the majority of antidepressants are dished out by GP's these days - if only they knew what harm they were doing. I'd suggest that psychiatrists pick up a copy of this book, those who are pro-medication and don't believe in antidepressant induced psychosis - Tinks story, although extensive, is one of many in this book.

There's a terrible injustice going on when one stops and thinks about those incarcerated up and down the country in mental health units, those same people diagnosed with illnesses that have, in the main, been caused by the prescriber. Moreover, there's a terrible injustice for those that have been sent to prison for committing crimes whilst under the influence of these medications - locked away for years for carrying out acts that they did not know they were carrying out until after the event.

There's quite a twist in the tale of 'The Pill That Steals Lives' - I certainly didn't see it coming - that's the art of a terrific writer, of which Katinka Newman certainly is.

Watching Kramer vs Kramer will never be the same, for me at least :-)

I'll be meeting up once again with Katinka next week in London for her book launch. Many others mentioned in her book will be there too - there's going to be one hell of a group hug!


'The Pill That Steals Lives' is available in most book shops and also online at Amazon (UK) (USA)


Will you be filmed for a panorama programme next week on SSRI's and violence. If so please contact katinka.newman@gmail.com today. 

Bob Fiddaman



More Info

http://www.thepillthatsteals.com/

The Homicide Files: Celexa & Lexapro

Following on from my last post, The Murderous Pills and The Keystone Cops (FDA), which highlighted 6 cases of Paxil related homicide, I now turn my attention to Celexa, known in Europe by its brand name of Cipramil and better known as its generic name of citalopram. Also included is the sister drug to Celexa, namely, Lexapro, known in Europe by its brand name of Cipralex and better known as its generic name of escitalopram.

Once again I will highlight just 6 cases of prescripticide* ~ there are many more in the Murder Meds database.


AERS Case Number 6301497

Homicide by male (age unknown. The patient was taking Celexa (40mg per day) between October 2003 to an unspecified date.

This was sent to Medwatch from a court clerk who had heard the evidence of the accused at trial. Pay particular attention to the side effects leading up to the murder. (Click on images to enlarge)

http://www.murdermeds.com/index.php/2016/01/30/aers-case-number-6301497/

--

AERS Case Number 7574444

Homicide by male (78). The patient was taking Celexa (20mg per day) for just 5 days.

Notice, in the report, how his whole mood changed once he started Celexa therapy.

http://www.murdermeds.com/index.php/2016/01/22/aers-case-number-7574444/

--

AERS Case Number 5850018

Homicide by male (54). The patient was taking Lexapro, unknown dosage, over a period of 2 to 4 weeks.


As you will see, the patient had no prior history of violence or aggression.

http://www.murdermeds.com/index.php/2016/01/16/aers-case-number-5850018/

--

AERS Case Number 7274376

Homicide by male (37). The patient was taking Lexapro, 10mg, over a short period of time before he shot and killed his girlfriend and critically wounded a young man. He then failed in his own suicide attempt.

http://www.murdermeds.com/index.php/2016/01/21/aers-case-number-7274376/

--

AERS Case Number 6044971

Homicide by male, 55, (Initially the report said he was 40 but this was later rectified)  The patient was taking Lexapro, unknown dosage, over an unspecified time before he shot and killed his wife.

Remarkably, his treating physician did not consider that Lexapro played any part in the, seemingly, induced psychosis. Something that truly baffles me given that this is based on an assumption of the doctor and not scientific evidence.

http://www.murdermeds.com/index.php/2016/01/17/aers-case-number-6044971/

--

Finally, the last case is familiar as it concerns 22 year old Shane Clancy from Ireland. His name is omitted from this report. After reading it may be worth listening to the podcast (Link after images) 3 pages of the 6 page report have been redacted (for reasons unknown)

Shane was on citalopram for just 17 days.

AERS Case Number 7164838

(Listen to Podcast for full details)

http://www.murdermeds.com/index.php/2016/01/21/aers-case-number-7164838/

The above case is explained in great detail in the following Podcast recorded between myself and Shane's mother, Leonie Fennell, back in 2011.

Bob Fiddaman.

*Prescripticide ~  is defined as a death that is caused by an adverse reaction to a prescription drug.

Previously in this Homicide series...

The Murderous Pills and The Keystone Cops (FDA) - Paxil

Database available on Murder Meds.

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Shane Clancy.

Celexa and Lexapro Refunds

A federal judge has ruled that parents, whose children were prescribed the antidepressants Celexa [citalopram] and/or Lexapro [escitalopram] are entitled to refunds.

Forest Laboratories and its subsidiary Forest Pharmaceuticals, have agreed to shell out up to $10.4 million in refunds.

Back in 2010 Forest  pleaded guilty to federal charges that its sales force team illegally marketed Celexa and Lexapro for use in children and teenagers when they knew that both drugs were only approved by the FDA to treat depression in adults. According to the charges, Forest bribed doctors with cash, meals and travel in efforts to persuade doctors to prescribe the drugs to children.

Why aren't we surprised by this anymore?

Once again we are seeing a pharmaceutical company quietly settle matters, once again there is no jail time for any of the executives, once again money is thrown at the problem.

The 2010 charges also allege that Forest covered up the negative results of their pediatric trials.

So they knew their drugs were no better than placebo yet still targeted doctors to prescribe them to kids.

Anyone familiar with the story Hansel and Gretel?

Dr. Greg Mattingly with his wife Judi

Dr. Greg Mattingly, a psychiatrist in St. Charles, was also named in court documents as one of the country’s top prescribers of Celexa. Evidence shows notes made from a phone call with Mattingly and a Forest sales representative where he agreed to include information about Celexa for children into his talks. Mattingly is alleged to have received more than $107,000 from Forest Pharmaceuticals in meals, travel and speaking fees in 2012 and close to $38,000 in 2013, according to trial documents.

Dr. Brian D. Barash

Dr. Brian Barash, a Kansas City psychiatrist and chief medical officer of the Marillac Children’s Psychiatric Treatment Center, was paid “thousands of dollars to give dozens of speeches to Missouri doctors about Celexa,” according to trial docuuments.

Take a good look at the photos above. Both have, it seems, been promoting drugs that not only don't work in children but drugs that are dangerous for children.

Forest has already agreed to pay out $313 million to settle allegations with the government and millions more in dozens of personal injury lawsuits.

• 13-year-old Andrew Tradd of Massachusetts, who died of a brain injury days after he tried to hang himself in 2004, two years after being prescribed Celexa. 
• The family of Danielle Henrikson, 15, sued the company after she hanged herself in her Idaho home the same year, weeks after starting the drug. 
• Alex Kim of Georgia, hanged himself in 2004 after his dosage of Lexapro was doubled.

Full article, 'Parents can get refunds for some anti-depressant drugs given to kids', here.

Celexa is known in the UK as Cipramil. Lexapro uses the brand name Cipralex in the UK.

Both drugs are also under scrutiny for causing birth defects.

More on the settlement agreement here.

Bob Fiddaman.

SSRi Withdrawal - A Lesson For Doctors

Far be it from me, a blogger, to give doctors a lesson in managing antidepressant withdrawal... but I'm going to anyway.

I've been writing this blog for 8 years now and, over this period of time, have been inundated with emails from patients struggling with withdrawal issues from their medication. Most popular question is along the lines of "How long does it take before these terrible side-effects go away?"

A good 90% of the emails start off by telling me the side effects, crying, sweating, electric-like zaps in the head, shaking, most of these conditions, if not all, appear when the patient starts to taper off the drug on the advice given by their healthcare 'professional'.



When I have told those who have contacted me about their medication being available in a liquid form they are flabbergasted. Why didn't my doctor tell me this? is the normal reply.

The liquid formulation for SSRi type medication came about as a result of pharmaceutical companies being able to persuade doctors [via their reps] that patients who had difficulty in swallowing their medication could always use the liquid. These 'patients' were the elderly and children. The liquid was never intended to be used as an aid to help people wean off the medication.

Wait a minute, these medicines aren't meant for children. Correct, but that has never stopped the pharmaceutical industry reps in their quest to boost company sales in return for that big bonus at the end of each month or quarter.

So, what about adults who have no trouble swallowing tablets? Well, the gist I'm getting from the emails I've received is that doctors tend to read the company spin on withdrawal.

Pharmaceutical companies never liked the word 'withdrawal' as it implied giving the patient a hard time so they changed it to 'discontinuation'. Doctor's when reading the product monograph for any of the SSRi's will read that 'discontinuation syndrome should only occur for around two weeks'. There is no information given to the doctor or patient about how much he/she should reduce their dosage by.

Contact the manufacturer of your particular SSRi and you are taken on a frustrating journey.

Pharmaceutical companies will tell you that they are not allowed to discuss individual patient cases and will refer you back to your healthcare professional, who remember has at his disposal the product monograph that claims 'discontinuation should only last around two weeks'.

Truth of the matter is, discontinuation/withdrawal can last months even years. Your healthcare professional won't acknowledge this because all he has to go on is what the pharmaceutical company have provided him [product monograph]

Some of the advice given by doctors that I've seen personally has ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime. Here's some:

• Cut your tablet in half
• Take 20mg Monday, 10mg Tuesday, 5mg Wednesday then stop.
• Try stopping altogether at the weekend as there will be less stress in your life, ie; work, dropping the kids to school. If you still feel bad then start again on Monday.

One patient, a 17 year old, was told by his trainee psychiatrist, to stop taking his Prozac at weekends so he could enjoy up to six bottles of beer then restart again after the weekend. That patient, Toran Henry, killed himself shortly after being prescribed a generic form of Prozac [Fluox]

So, where can doctor's go for their information on antidepressant reduction?

Product Monograph [Written by the manufacturers of the drug]
Patient Information Leaflet [Written by the manufacturers of the drug]
Medicines Regulator [A body fully funded by the pharmaceutical industry]

Where do patients go?

Well, they go to the one person they can trust, their doctor. It may take a while for the patient to realise that the doctor is as clueless as they are when it comes to withdrawal help, it's then that they turn to either friends or, more commonly these days, Google.

Many patients find themselves using search terms such as 'Escitalopram aggression', 'Seroxat Brain Zaps', 'Cipramil Agitation'. The hits, when I first started this blog, were few and far between. That's when I learned that Seroxat isn't called Seroxat in the USA, it's called Paxil. Back then I Googled the words 'Paxil + Withdrawal' - I hit the jackpot. Website after website, forum after forum appeared. Stories about brain-like zaps, aggression, suicidal thinking, self-harming. The same can be said today for Cipramil and Escitalopram [both brand names for drugs known in the US as 'Celexa' and 'Lexapro' - Try a Google search yourself and you will see much more can be learned by typing in the US brand names opposed to the British/European brand names.

Even if you do find evidence that you are not alone in this withdrawal hell don't expect your healthcare professional to thank you for bringing the evidence to his/her attention. More than likely you'll be told that it was he/she who went through med school, if he/she does tell you this then ask him/her how long he spent covering SSRi withdrawal.

He/she may also tell you not to do your own research as you are either not qualified in such matters or the information on the internet about SSRi's is just conspiracy theories.

What you, as a patient, must do is TELL your doctor that you need a liquid version of your antidepressant so you can taper safely and effectively. Remember, this is YOUR body.

Tapering by using the liquid is a very slow process but it is much safer than skipping doses or drastic reductions in dosage.

You may find the taste somewhat off-putting, Glaxo's Seroxat liquid is orange flavoured and tastes like 5 cups of sugar has been added. If you can get through the bad taste then it's better than having to endure mind-bending electric jolts through your head.

Apparently the liquid formulations of SSRi's cost more, probably one of the main reasons doctors won't write scripts for them.

Remember that SSRi withdrawal is your own experience, it does not belong to your doctor or anyone else for that matter. Don't frustrate yourself because the manufacturers of your medication won't help you - that's just their way of avoiding litigation. If they acknowledge you are having a bad time on their drug then they'd have to acknowledge that other people are too - that would just open the door and they'd be flooded with personal injury lawsuits.

So, how slow do you taper once you have the liquid? As slow as you need to is the answer. I came down 0.5mg per week. [20mg dose of Seroxat = 10ml of Seroxat liquid] It took me over a year to drop from 40mg per day to 22mg per day. I then quit cold turkey - not recommended.

So, if you are a healthcare professional using Google and you have stumbled on this post then I suggest you put your BNF to one side, disregard all the pharmaceutical propaganda you have at hand, take off your God hat and start listening to patients.

The pharmaceutical industry will get richer from you, the patient, snapping up their sickly, foul-tasting liquid but at least you will be reducing the money going in their pocket. What's it to be, a slow taper or a life-time hooked on SSRi's?

At the time of writing this I'm only aware of four SSRi's that are available in liquid. Namely, Fluoxetine, Sertraline, Paroxetine and Citalopram .








Bob Fiddaman

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Celexa/Lexapro... Or Your Money Back

Not for use in children and adolescents

Celexa [citalopram] and Lexapro [escitalopram] are two antidepressants in the family of SSRi's. Some would argue [I'm one of them] that both antidepressants are pretty much the same. Let's face it, Lexapro only ever came to market because the patent was running out on Celexa.

Forest Labs, the manufacturer, have argued that the two drugs differ, maybe so but the end result is the same particularly when it's been down to the marketing team of Forest Labs.

Once again, kids have been targeted despite these group of drugs bearing warnings that they were not recommended for pediatrics.

How do we know this for sure?




Well, in 2010 Forest Labs settled with the US government. Forest Labs were accused of illegally promoting Celexa for use in children and adolescents despite the fact it had not been approved for marketing in the United States.

In other words, they were promoting the use of Celexa in kids to doctors through "off-label" marketing.

We know how that works, right?

Kickbacks, holding back negative study results, ghostwritten papers, in general bending the law to suit their needs.

Forest Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Forest Labs, also pled guilty to a whole range of underhand practices including misbranding Celexa by marketing it for use in children from 1998 to 2002.

With these two settlements Forest Labs and Forest Pharmaceuticals have paid out a wad of cash, moved on and now, it seems, it's business as usual.

But there's one final twist in the Forest saga.

Both Forest Labs and Forest Pharmaceuticals, because of their illegal promotion, now may have to reimburse the families of those who paid for prescriptions of Celexa and Lexapro. Rightly so too.

A consumer fraud class action is underway, meaning that if you as a parent of a child who took Celexa or Lexapro can claw back what you paid. Quite a hefty amount if your child was on either drug for a long time.

These types of consumer fraud cases need a lead plaintiff, someone that not only represents their child or children but one who represents the whole class action. It's like a lead case. Classic example here being the Kilker V GlaxoSmithKline case. Lyam Kilker was born with heart defects as were 800 other kids. Kilker et al represented the class action, they won the case against Glaxo which meant Glaxo settled the majority of other cases.

The Forest lawsuit is looking for additional class representatives. There are already some lead cases in places for many of the US states but more are needed. I'm pretty sure those that represent a group action are compensated handsomely, and why not - putting yourself out front deserves to be rewarded.

I think it's important to keep the pressure on Forest. Settling with the government is one thing, now it's time to settle with the people they duped - the public.

A cynic would suggest that this is just about the dollar, they'd be wrong. This is about getting your teeth into a pharmaceutical company and biting them so hard that they think twice about doing any dirty deeds again.

If I had my way I'd put those responsible behind bars, to promote something that is harmful to any human is wrong, to promote it for children is despicable and abhorrent. Sadly, the only way to hurt big bad pharma is in the pocket and media.

Forest have made two settlements, they should now cough up to those who matter, the parents who forked out money for weekly prescriptions of Celexa and Lexapro.

The fact that some kids never experienced any adverse reaction is irrelevant here. The fact is both Forest Labs and Forest Pharmaceuticals played Russian roulette with children and for that two things should happen.

1. They should be held accountable.

2. They should compensate those they played Russian roulette with.

Both Forest Labs and Forest Pharmaceuticals made huge profit from Celexa and Lexapro, they did so by basically using children as guinea pigs, they did so by wining and dining doctors so they would prescribe more Celexa and Lexapro to children, they did so by withholding negative data about both drugs, data that showed that Celexa was no more effective than placebo for pediatric use.

Why should any company, be they pharmaceutical or a fizzy soda drinks company benefit from putting children's lives at danger?

So, did you or do you know anyone that paid for prescriptions for their children and/or adolescents for Celexa and Lexapro between 2001 and the present day? If so, then you may want to represent a class action in your state.

You can find out more information by calling 800-827-0087 or by filling in an online form HERE.

Forest Labs and Forest Pharmaceuticals should not benefit from your purse, particularly when the products they promoted for children and adolescents were actually dangerous for this vulnerable population. Their shareholders should not benefit from your purse either, namely, Wellington Management Company, LLP, Icahn Associates Corp and many more.

The full complaint can be read, in PDF form, HERE.


Bob Fiddaman

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Antidepressant Use in Children

Antidepressant use in children.

It's a no-brainer.

Same as it is with adolescents and adults too.

Two videos to watch.






Fid

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

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Lexapro - The Brennan McCartney Story

Brennan McCartney - A victim of Lexapro

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

You kill yourself.

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

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

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

Now, this is where pharmaceutical marketing comes into play.

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

So, what do they do?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is no better retailer for a product.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, suicide isn't a fatal result then?

And what of an inquest for Brennan McCartney?

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

Vanessa Young [Prepulsid] and Sara Carlin [Paxil]

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

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

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

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




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

SSRI Completed Suicides

There's been much talk lately as to whether or not there is evidence that SSRi's can actually cause a patient to take their own life. For me, at least, the answer to the question is a no-brainer.

RxISK now has a searchable database where one can research just how many suicides are associated with prescription medication. The information was gathered from the FDA.

Citalopram [Cipramil, Celexa]
1,161 completed suicides.
447 suicide attempts
423 suicidal ideation [thoughts about suicide]

Escitalopram [Lexapro, Cipralex]

841 completed suicides.
472 suicide attempts
623 suicidal ideation

Fluoxetine [Prozac]

919 completed suicides.
457 suicide attempts
540 suicidal ideation

Paroxetine [Paxil, Seroxat, Aropax]

2,273 completed suicides.
1,886 suicide attempts
3,643 suicidal ideation

Sertraline [Zoloft, Lustral]

776 completed suicides.
585 suicide attempts
816 suicidal ideation

Venlafaxine [Effexor] *SNRi

1,117 completed suicides.
797 suicide attempts
1,233 suicidal ideation



The field of psychiatry and medicine regulators, including the FDA, will tell you that the benefits of taking SSRi-type medication outweighs the risks, some psychiatrists actually still deny there are suicidal risks associated with antidepressants. The 'risks' aren't just suicide, suicidal thoughts or attempts. There's a whole host of risks...but they all are apparently outweighed by the benefits.

What exactly are the benefits and how can anything that carries a risk of death be deemed 'beneficial'?

The above figures are just those that have been reported, many go unreported because loved ones left behind don't make the connection partly because the key opinion leaders in the field of psychiatry claim there is no link to antidepressant use and suicide.

Key opinion leaders are just that. They lead the field with their opinions and many doctor's look to their published papers as a useful resource tool before prescribing these drugs.

Reading the statistics above one would feel that it's hard evidence and that it should serve as a stark warning to prescribers. One would think...

RxISK can be found HERE

Lundbeck Under the Spotlight

The parents of Shane Clancy, the young man prescribed citalopram, who committed an act of homicide before taking his own life, recently met with pharmaceutical giant Lundbeck. The meeting was covertly recorded and both Leonie and Tony, Shane's parents, have now had the audio enhanced and published it in full on their blog.

It's a fascinating insight into how big pharma show skill in the art of deflecting questions put to them.

Both Leonie and Tony have showed tremendous courage in getting this out to the public. I, for one, applaud them. You should too.

Full audio recording and transcript can be found HERE

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Anxiety UK Charity - Astroturfing?

Anxiety UK - Astroturfing?

An astute Seroxat Sufferers regular, Ruth, emailed me earlier with a charity she had stumbled across whilst researching. That charity is Anxiety UK.

Anxiety UK's 'About Us' page proclaims that it is a national registered charity formed 40 years ago by a sufferer of agoraphobia for those affected by anxiety disorders. It continues with:

Today we are still a user-led organisation, run by sufferers and ex-sufferers of anxiety disorders, supported by a high-profile medical advisory panel.

 All fine and dandy then. I have much respect for patient support groups...but a high-profile medical advisory panel?


The panel, which consists of medical advisers and patrons, throws up some names with interesting backgrounds in the field of psychiatry.

Top of the list is Professor David Clark. The Anxiety UK page describes him as thus:

Born in Darlington, England. He studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford University. His clinical training was at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London in Clinical Psychology. He was a lecturer in Clinical Psychology and Professor in Psychiatry research fellow at Oxford University.

A quick Google search shows that Clark is a firm believer in Cognitive therapy versus the use of medication. His co-authored paper, 'Cognitive Therapy Versus Fluoxetine in Generalized Social Phobia: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.' [1] found that Cognitive therapy is more effective than fluoxetine in people with generalised social phobia.

A decent approach but it leaves me somewhat baffled why Professor David Clark sits on a panel of a charity that directs readers of its website to Pfizer and Lundbeck?

"Generalised Anxiety Disorder" [GAD], writes Anxiety UK, "can be defined as a disorder in which the sufferer feels in a constant state of high anxiety and is often known as ‘chronic worrying’ or a ‘free floating’ anxiety condition."


Anxiety UK's GAD information page goes one step further, it would appear that they are cutting out the middle man [Doctor] as they offer you a self-assessment on their page.

If you can answer YES to most of the questions it is likely that you are affected by GAD.
During the past 6 months:- 

Do you feel that you have been nervous/on edge most days over the past 6 months?
Did you have problems falling asleep
Did you feel tension in your muscles because of feeling on edge?
Did you frequently feel tense and irritable? 

Anxiety UK strongly advises that people seek further information and guidance from their GP who will be able to make a formal diagnosis.

I cannot imagine for one minute that your average doctor would recommend Cognitive Therapy to any patient who had answered 'Yes' to most of the above questions. A prescription would more than likely be written for a medication that apparently can help with this 'disorder'.

The conveyor belt 


Fear not, even if you, like me, feel that medication can cause more harm than good, Anxiety UK are on hand to offer you more information. They do this by stating:


Want to know more?


The Anxiety UK site has information on a range of resources to provide more detailed information and help.

And that help directs you into the bowels of the pharmaceutical industry, whose main objective is to sell you drugs.

Here's a snapshot of Anxiety UK's GAD page:

Whilst I applaud the efforts of Professor David Clark to show that Cognitive Therapy works better than Prozac, I'm left scratching my head why he would wish to remain on a panel of a charity that directs its members to two pharmaceutical companies who manufacture drugs that, miraculously, can cure the very same symptom [GAD] that you have self-assessed yourself with.


Anxiety UK's medical advisers and patrons include:

Professor Cary Cooper CBE - Who is the author of over 100 books on occupational stress, stress medicine and industrial and organizational psychology.

Professor Robert Edelmann - Whose main research interests relate to chronic blushing.

Dr David Baldwin - Whose research interests include the clinical psychopharmacology of anxiety and depressive disorders and the prevention of suicidal behaviour.

I find myself wondering why Baldwin would be part of such a charity that directs members to Pfizer and Lundbeck, both have drugs known to cause suicide.

Pfizer's Sertraline, whose brand names are Zoloft and Lustral, has been reported to cause severe withdrawal problems, suicide and, some quarters now believe, birth defects.

Lundbeck's citalopram and escitalopram, whose brand names include Cipramil, Celexa, Lexapro and Cipralex, have all been associated with suicide, homicide, withdrawal problems and many believe, birth defects. More on Lunbeck and citalopram HERE.

Do you, like me, find it odd that a charity, with esteemed professionals as its medical advisers, would endorse the above pharmaceutical companies, or at least direct it's members to gain more information from these pharmaceutical companies?

With this in mind I contacted Anxiety UK early this morning with the following:

Dear Anxiety UK,


I am the author of the paperback, The evidence, however, is clear...the Seroxat scandal and also the blog, Seroxat Sufferers Stand Up And Be Counted.


An astute reader of mine recently alerted me to your page where I learned that you are directing readers/members to two pharmaceutical companies, namely Pfizer and Lundbeck, for 'recommended reading'


Question:


Why are you directing readers/members to two pharmaceutical companies whose antidepressant drugs are the subject of withdrawal problems, suicide ideation and birth defects?

By 5pm UK time, Anxiety UK had not responded.


Footnote:

In 2006 Pfizer announced that the European Commission has approved Lyrica [pregabalin] for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder [GAD] in adults.

In early 2010 Pfizer announced that the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] issued a Complete Response letter regarding the company's New Drug Application [NDA] for Lyrica [pregabalin] capsules CV as a monotherapy treatment for generalized anxiety disorder [GAD]. The FDA determined that the data contained in the NDA were insufficient to support approval.

The registrant of Anxiety UK is listed as The National Phobic Society. Their website, aptly entitled, "No More Panic" also offers help of the medication kind.

So, are Anxiety UK an astroturfing group? If not, why are they directing its readership to two pharmaceutical companies, with a history of manufacturing drugs known to cause suicide?

It's medical advisers may wish to reconsider their position on Anxiety UK's panel, I know I would.







[1] Cognitive therapy is more effective than fluoxetine in people with generalised social phobia


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Audio Recording of Meeting With Lundbeck to Hit the Internet

Tony Donnelly and Leonie Fennell, parents of Cipramil victim, Shane Clancy

Courage (also bravery, fortitude, or intrepidity) is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. [Source]

On August 15 2011, the parents of Shane Clancy travelled to Denmark to confront Lundbeck, the pharmaceutical company that manufacture Cipramil [citalopram] and Lexapro [escitalopram]

Back in 2009 Shane attacked a group of teens [killing one] before stabbing himself 19 times.

Armed with a hidden video camera and audio recorder, Tony Donnelly and Leonie Fennell, Shane's parents, recorded their meeting with Lundbeck.

I have been privy to hear the full recording, it's explosive and is likely to cause a bit of a stink.

A pre-cursor to the audio recording, video footage, appears on Leonie Fennell's blog [HERE]

I have the utmost respect for any parent who confronts the might of the pharmaceutical industry. Their bravery boils down to an act of unselfishness in wanting to create awareness to others about the dangers of taking SSRi mediction.

Tony and Leonie...I salute you.

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Lundbeck Open Doors To Grieving Parents

Tony Donnelly and Leonie Fennell, parents of Cipramil victim, Shane Clancy

Last week Danish pharmaceutical giant, Lundbeck, opened its doors to Leonie Fennell and Tony Donnelly, the parents of 22 year old Shane Clancy.

Shane had been taking Lundbeck's antidepressant, Cipramil [known as Celexa in the US] for just 17 days before ending his life in bizarre fashion by attacking three people [killing one] before stabbing himself 19 times.

The resulting inquest returned an open verdict, a finding by a coroner's jury of death without stating the cause.

Both Tony and Leonie are convinced that Cipramil played a major part in Shane's decision making that day, research by experts would suggest that they have a point. Lundbeck, on the other hand, deny that their drugs citalopram and escitalopram can cause suicide.

It takes immense courage to face the murderer of your child, Tony and Leonie believe Lundbeck manufactured a product that resulted in their child brutally killing himself.

With this in mind they both travelled to Copenhagen earlier this week and met with Lundbeck officials, Dr. Madsen and a Public Relations Officer, Anders Schroll. It was the second anniversary of Shane's death.

Tony and Leonie also handed out 1500 leaflets outside the Lundbeck building [Fig1]

Leonie has wrote a precursor regarding this meeting, she has much much to come over the coming weeks on her blog.

It would appear that Shane's parents asked some hard hitting questions, many of which were deflected by Lundbeck's spokespersons Madsen and Schroll. It's one thing to open your door, but another to be less than forthcoming with the truth when answering questions put to you by your guests.

I have a deep admiration for anyone that takes on the might of the pharmaceutical industry. Leonie and Tony could have done what Lundbeck wanted, they could have accepted Shane's death and moved on with their lives but for them to 'move on' it is incumbent for them to seek the truth. That truth has not been forthcoming and I suspect Tony and Leonie are in this for the long haul.

Lundbeck won't like that.

Leonie's account of her meeting with Lundbeck is a must read, if only to see how their probing questions were deflected and...well, not really answered at all.

Full story HERE

Related:

Interview with Leonie Fennell [FIDCAST]


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Psychiatric Drugs - Even Psychiatry Isn't Sure.

A recent article on the CNN Health web page asked the question, Is it OK to be on antidepressants for years?

The answer, given by a psychiatrist, should embarrass those that manufacture these drugs, it should embarrass those that regulate these drugs. It should embarrass those that continue to prescribe these drugs.

Dr. Charles Raison, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University, and an expert in the mind-body connection for health.

Ten years ago my answer to this question would have been, "Certainly not."

A year ago my answer would have been, "Almost certainly not."

Now, unfortunately, the most honest answer I can give you is, "I'm not sure."

Coming from a guy who has treated thousands of people over the years with antidepressants, I have to admit that my uncertainty both shocks and distresses me.

I should probably get over my sense of shock. One of the glories of science is that it keeps moving forward, and as it does so, it usually sweeps old certainties into the dustbin.

Psychiatry's commitment to the unqualified goodness of antidepressants is one of those old certainties. That I'm distressed is understandable.

Dr Raison's full response HERE

If you put all the pieces of the jigsaw together, the picture becomes so much clearer folks.

Now watch the video:





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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
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Researchers Seek Prolonged Antidepressant Withdrawal Cases

An Italian researcher is collecting case reports of prolonged antidepressant withdrawal syndrome for important research papers now in progress. Something that should have been done by the pharmaceutical companies and medicine regulators years ago!

Please send your case report immediately -- instructions and an e-mail address are given below. Reports may be in English, French, Spanish, or Italian.

The research effort is led by Dr. Carlotta Belaise, a colleague of Dr. Giovanni A. Fava and frequent co-author with him of scientific papers challenging the long-term use of antidepressants.

Dr. Belaise is a research fellow in the Affective Disorders Program of the department of psychology at the University of Bologna in Italy. Her research team is collecting data on antidepressant withdrawal syndrome, "which we strongly believe is a very important, common and delicate clinical problem."

"A couple of manuscripts on this important issue are in progress."

Please send your case report immediately in this format:

Your pseudonym (to use if your report is published)
The date of this report
Your current age
Gender (if female, menopausal?)
Psychiatric drug history
When and how did you taper off each medication?
Your symptoms in the earlier phase of withdrawal
Your current symptoms
Which symptoms have gotten better? Which have gotten worse? What treatments have been helpful?
Is there anything else you would like to say about withdrawal and withdrawal syndrome?


Your identity will remain confidential. Researchers may contact you through your e-mail address for clarification, if necessary, and possibly for longitudinal follow-up periodically to track your recovery. Your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose.

Send your e-mail HERE

HAT-TIP: SURVIVING ANTIDEPRESSANTS FORUM

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

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