Have You Had Enough Glaxo or do You Want Some More?

If paying out over $3 billion in fines for their scandalous behaviour and disregard for patients, GlaxoSmithKline, the British company that claim to help people do more, feel better and live longer, find themselves under the spotlight again with yet more offences and disregard for human health.

Forbes are reporting that two leading US attorneys, Michael Baum [Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, P.C.] and Sean Tracey [Tracey Law Firm] have more irons in the fire where Glaxo are concerned.

The Forbes article, 'GlaxoSmithKline's $3 Billion Hit: Deterrent or Business Expense?' throws out some interesting observations regarding Glaxo's recent guilty plea over it's off-label promotion of many of its best selling drugs.

Where this article, penned by Rob Waters, excels more than most I've read is that it gathers the opinion of a former Paxil user and two US leading attorneys. A pseudonym, given to the former Paxil user because she wishes to remain anonymous, writes, “I think it’s despicable what they did and I think a $3 billion fine is pathetic,” adding,  “No specific individual executive has been prosecuted or punished or fined; there’s nothing to take away the incentives for huge drug companies to commit fraud. I’m infuriated.”

She's right and kudos must go to the author of this piece for allowing someone to voice their opinion who knows exactly what it feels like to be on the brink of suicide caused by Glaxo's drug, Paxil.

Baum goes further...

“Their admissions in the plea agreement and the information puts GSK’s experts and corporate representatives in a corner,” adding, “It makes it difficult for them to say they did not hide information from physicians.”

Both Baum and Tracey are well equipped when it comes to litigation against Glaxo. In 2001 Baum Hedlund represented more than 3,000 people across the United States in personal injury cases against GSK. More recently, The Tracey Law Firm were successful in showing a jury how Glaxo failed to properly warn doctors and pregnant users of Paxil’s risk. Lyam Kilker was born with heart defects, his mother took Paxil during her pregnancy.

More To Come

Glaxo, it appears, are desperately trying to keep Avandia documents under lock and key. “They’re fighting us on releasing these documents that show what really happened. They should allow the press and the public to see them,” Baum told Forbes.

Tracey added to the Glaxo onslaught with, “If pharma companies can flout the law and then simply write a check when they get caught, they’re never going to stop. “The money is too large. Until and unless someone’s liberty comes to jeopardy, they simply consider this the cost of doing business.”

They're right.

Glaxo have had their behinds kicked severely by Michael Baum and Sean Tracey. One would think that they would have learned their lesson. But Glaxo being Glaxo will continue to suppress which is why their CEO's recent statement on the $3 billion settlement is more laughable today than it was when he and his company first released it.

Witty blamed an era of GlaxoSmithKline, kind of a perverse comment considering he played a major role in marketing Glaxo's products during that era.

Both Baum and Tracey continue to seek damages for children born with heart defects as a result of their mothers ingesting antidepressant medication. Today, Pfizer are on their radar, more specifically their product, Zoloft [known as Lustral in the UK] Baum Hedlund have over 400 Zoloft birth defect cases and The Tracey Law Firm are representing another 150 clients.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Legal Services Commission [LSC] have been presented with evidences to extend further the funding for the Seroxat litigation. A decision by the LSC is imminent.


According to the British drug regulator's yellow card reporting system there have been 33,142 reports of reactions to patients when taking Seroxat, 10,597 have been adverse reactions whilst there have been 178 reported deaths in the UK related to Seroxat.


The drug remains on the market and Glaxo have no intention of settling the UK litigation.


I'm glad they don't want to. I can't wait to talk about this particular case... and I will once it's over... regardless of the outcome.


When I grow up I want to become a lawyer - Bob Fiddaman 47





Fid

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GlaxoSmithKline: The Andrew Witty "Era"

GSK's Andrew Witty. What was his role in 1997/98?

First off let's take a look at Andrew Witty's statement that came on the back of his company pleading guilty to violations over a number of its drugs.

“Today brings to resolution difficult, long-standing matters for GSK. Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.

“We are deeply committed to doing everything we can to live up to and exceed the expectations of those we work with and serve. Since I became CEO, we have had a clear priority to ingrain a culture of putting patients first, acting transparently, respecting people inside and outside the organisation and displaying integrity in everything we do.

 “In the US, we have taken action at all levels in the company. We have fundamentally changed our procedures for compliance, marketing and selling. When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct. In the last two years, we have reformed the basis on which we pay our sales representatives and we have enhanced our ability to ‘claw back’ remuneration of our senior management. 

 “We have a vital role to play in bringing innovative medicines to patients and we understand how important it is that our medicines are appropriately promoted to healthcare professionals and that we adhere to the standards rightly expected by the US Government.”

All seems 'sweet' until we delve deep into Andrew Witty's tenure at Glaxo Wellcome and GlaxoSmithKline.

Glaxo's PR Department must have been hard at work these past few months or so. Searching for Witty's previous roles at the company have been exhausting. His bio page on the GlaxoSmithKline page doesn't really tell us anything about him at all, particularly between the years of 1997 and 1998 when he was head of the Glaxo Wellcome marketing team. One would think that winning an award for his marketing achievements during this period would sit proudly on any person's bio or CV...not Andrew Witty's though. Maybe it's a past that he would rather forget about or maybe his recent statement [above] would seem utterly ridiculous given that he himself was part of the problem [era]

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'sVP-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. [1]

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 is 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. See back story here and it will show you how Glaxo hired a famous radio personality to promote Wellbutrin for  increasing someone's orgasmic potential.

If we use the generic name, buproprion, rather than the brand names it gets slightly easier to follow.

You see bupropion is used to treat major depressive disorder and seasonal affective disorder and it is also used to help people stop smoking by reducing cravings and other withdrawal effects.

So, in 1997, Witty pushed Zyban, Wellbutrin, call it what you will, onto the TV screens and into the homes of millions of Americans. He was in actual fact pushing an antidepressant onto an unsuspecting public.

Here's a Zyban ad from 1997, this is one that Witty would have been behind as Glaxo Wellcome'sVP-General Manager of Marketing. What I find remarkable about this ad is that they do not distinguish the two brand names as being practically the same. The only warning they off is, "Don't take Zyban if you are taking Wellbutrin" - Surely it would have been morally ethical to tell the consumer, "If you take Zyban and Wellbutrin together you will actually be overdosing on the active ingredient, bupropion." But hey, why would a pharmaceutical company, like Glaxo, wish to inform its consumers that a drug that could help you quit smoking was  really an antidepressant?

Of course Glaxo got around this by altering the molecule structure. Change a molecule here and there and it can give you a whole new brand name with an even bigger target audience, case in point being Celexa and Lexapro, Forest pharmaceuticals blockbuster antidepressants, they are pretty much the same, save for a bit of laboratory tweaking.

So, with Witty's marketing strategy he and his team launched Zyban.

Are we to believe that Witty had no input to the sales team? Remember his statement at the top of this post?

"Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made."

We?

A number of other drugs mentioned in the whistleblower suit seem to have fallen on deaf ears in the mainstream media. Lotronex,[alosetron] a drug made by Glaxo Wellcome that was on the US market for nine months, during which time it netted them an estimated $56 million. 

Why was it taken off the market?

According to Wikipedia alosetron was withdrawn in 2000 following the association of alosetron with serious life-threatening gastrointestinal adverse effects. The cumulative incidence of ischaemic colitis was 2 in 1000, while serious complications arising from constipation (obstruction, perforation, impaction, toxic megacolon, secondary colonic ischaemia, death) was 1 in 1000. 

This from The Lancet [2]

By July, 2000, concerns about the balance of risk and benefit were being voiced.3 Between February and June that year, seven patients had developed serious complications of constipation, three of whom required surgery. Eight further cases of ischaemic colitis were reported. The FDA had an opportunity then to take stock of its earlier decision. The clinical data confirmed the substantial and potentially life-threatening risks hinted at during pre-approval review. But instead of withdrawing Lotronex and calling for more evidence, the FDA issued a medication guide designed to warn patients of escalating risks, while keeping the drug on the market.

This decision was to prove fatal. On Nov 28, GlaxoWellcome withdrew Lotronex from the market after the deaths of five patients taking the drug. There had been 49 cases of ischaemic colitis and 21 of severe constipation, including instances of obstructed and ruptured bowel. In addition to the deaths, 34 patients had required admission to hospital and ten needed surgery. A letter from Janet Woodcock, director of CDER, declared that the "FDA is committed to working with pharmaceutical sponsors to facilitate the development and availability of treatment options for patients with IBS". There was no word of sorrow or regret for the families of those who had died.

Strangely it was reintroduced to the market in 2002, although it carried warnings that were not put in place during the nine months it was previously on the market.

Although it can be said that Andrew Witty was not head of marketing during the Lotronex debacle he was, however, still Vice President - General Manager of Marketing of Glaxo Wellcome when their drug Raxar was pulled to task regarding violations of its marketing. Raxar wasn't mentioned in the whistleblower suit but it's worth mentioning because Witty was in charge of marketing during this specific time.

In 1997, Barbara Thompson, Assistant Director, Advertising Policy, FDA, wrote to Glaxo Wellcome. She told them that, after reviewing the Raxar press release it was found to be in violation [Fig 1]

Fig 1

Raxar was withdrawn from the market in 1999 for causing Prolonged QT interval.

Witty would have been in charge during the advertising faux pas and quite possibly would have been behind the press release slated for violations by Barbara Thompson [above.]

Records filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that Raxar was cited as a suspect in the reported deaths of 13 patients. [3]

Imitrex, a migraine product that was mentioned in the whistleblowwer suit, was approved by the FDA in 1992. Documents from the lawsuit showed how Glaxo had pushed Imitrex for mild headaches and for use in children even though it was not indicated for both.

Here's an Imitrex ad from the 1990's, it's not known if Andrew Witty was head of marketing during this particular TV ad.

Here's Glaxo's 'self test' they created with the National Headache Foundation.

Lamictal, [lamotrigine] yet another drug mentioned in the lawsuit, was FDA approved in 1994. Once again,  I think it safe to assume that any promotional push via the marketing team would have come from Witty, at least during the 1997/98 campaign.

During the promotional push for Lamictal, after Witty had moved on from his role of marketing, Glaxo hired speakers to 'big up' the drug. Documents from the whistleblower suit show 7 pages of paid speakers, many of which were child neurologists. 

In 2010 the FDA issued a warning that Lamictal use can cause aseptic meningitis, an illness characterized by serous inflammation of the linings of the brain.


Maybe Witty should come clean or maybe documents will one day surface that shows how he, as head of marketing, pushed the off-label promoting of drugs that he was in charge of. I'm sure there are lots of internal emails that haven't made the public domain... yet.

Are we really expected to believe that Andrew Witty is whiter than white and he never knew what was going on or, indeed, he never once promoted the use of drugs in people or illnesses that they were never indicated for?

I'm surprised no journalist has asked him these questions. I'd just love him to go on record and state that he has never promoted the use of any drug for off-label use either personally or by proxy to the 9,000 or so pharmaceutical reps Glaxo once had, a figure that has almost halved over the years. Nonetheless, there's approximately 9,000 potential whistleblowers who would know whether or not Andrew Witty is the shining knight in armour who has been left to stifle the stench of JP Garnier, Glaxo's former CEO.

The violations, which amount to a humongous lump of excrement, cannot all be left at the feet of Witty's predecessor, JP Garnier. Witty, himself, has to take some blame on a personal level. 

I've yet to see him do this.

Special thanks to the Truthman for digging out the 1997 article from The Advertising Age.


[1] Do Ads Really Drive Pharmaceuticai Sales? By Steven Findlay
[2] Lotronex and the FDA: A Fatal Erosion of Integrity - Volume 357, Number 9268, 19 May 2001
[3] RAXAR: Warning on Label Omits Deaths - LA Times, Fri, 02 Sep 2005





Back Stories:


GSK - The Company With Great Ethics

GlaxoSmithKline - Pinsky, Bradshaw and Promises

GlaxoSmithKline's Perverse Olympic Games

Glaxo's Qui Tam Paxil Complaint

Advair Launch 2001: GSK's “Myth of Mild” Campaign

Scum! - The GSK Video

Scum - Slang One, such as a person or an element of society, that is regarded as despicable or worthless.


Mark McGowan pretty much sums up the way a lot of people feel about GSK.

Back Stories:



GSK - The Company With Great Ethics


GlaxoSmithKline - Pinsky, Bradshaw and Promises

GlaxoSmithKline's Perverse Olympic Games

Glaxo's Qui Tam Paxil Complaint

Advair Launch 2001: GSK's “Myth of Mild” Campaign




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

Advair Launch 2001: GSK's “Myth of Mild” Campaign

The Department of Justice website has uploaded video excerpts of GlaxoSmithKline's promotional push of Advair to its reps. The video excerpts, from Las Vegas, even show former Glaxo head, JP Garnier, get in on the act, relaying the message, “...it would be criminal to not put an asthmatic patient on Advair”. It's hard to know who or where this message originated from as 'JP', it seems, is quoting someone else.

Hmm, nice use of the word 'criminal', JP.

GSK's Advair is used to prevent asthma attacks, and to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] and the recent whistleblower suit, that GSK plead guilty to and paid a record $3 billion in fines, shows how they aggressively marketed it with promotional 'get togethers' as shown in the video  excerpts [below]

The whistleblower filings in the US Courts also name senior managers at GlaxoSmithKline for aggressively urging sales of Advair for forms of asthma that it was not indicated for, such as mild intermittent attacks, such as the senior manager telling the audience in the video, "The clinical data that supports Advair, you know you gotta just ask the simple question...what patient with asthma is not appropriate for Advair?" [Video around the 2 minute mark] whilst another tells the audience, "...there are people in this room who are going to make an ungodly amount of money selling Advair."


According to documents Glaxo even launched a “Myth of Mild” asthma campaign, its sole purpose, it seems, to target sufferers of mild asthma, even though Advair was not indicated for patients who suffered with mild asthma.


All Glaxo reps needed to do was to tell the doctors prescribing it. 



Documents also reveal that in 2004 Chris Viehbacher, former head of US pharmaceuticals at GSK, told investors at a meeting in London, “The real opportunity for us with Advair is that we can now convince physicians that there is no such thing as mild or severe asthma.” 


Amazing isn't it? And there was me thinking that pharmaceutical companies invented illnesses, not dismissed them!


Viehbacher is now Chief Executive Officer at Sanofi.


GSK's CEO, Andrew Witty, said in a statement about the record payout that “Today brings to resolution difficult, long-standing matters for (Glaxo). Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of (Glaxo), I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made,” 


A different era?

In actual fact, and what the mainstream press seem to be missing here, is that Andrew Witty was the Vice President and General Manager of Marketing of Glaxo Wellcome Inc. [GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham merged in 2000 to become GlaxoSmithKline.] Some of his responsibilities included, strategy development, marketing execution and new product positioning. Witty and his team were awarded a Medical Marketing Association [MMA] award [Medical Marketer of the Year] in 1998. He also worked in the Company’s International New Products groups, both in the Respiratory and HIV/Infectious disease fields.

Two words - Marketing and Respiratory. Alarm bells anyone?


In a perverse twist of fate during Witty's rise to success he was actually a sales representative for the respiratory business!

I'm just left wondering if, whilst a rep for Glaxo, Witty offered incentives to doctors... or if he actually thought that was morally wrong. If he did then any talk of era's at GSK must land at his feet and the buck-passing blame game must stop.

Apart from Paxil [Seroxat] and Advair, GSK also violated the promotional terms of  Imitrex, Valtrex,  Lotronex and Lamictal.

GSK's corporate tagline is, "GlaxoSmithKline helps people to do more, feel better and live longer."

Can someone please hand me a vomit bag!

Related:

GSK - The Company With Great Ethics

GlaxoSmithKline - Pinsky, Bradshaw and Promises

GlaxoSmithKline's Perverse Olympic Games

Glaxo's Qui Tam Paxil Complaint




Fid

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

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Glaxo's Qui Tam Paxil Complaint

Is GSK boss, Andrew Witty, about to break his promise?

Just going through the complaint made by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et at, ex rel
GREGORY W. THORPE and BLAIR HAMRICK, Plaintiffs, Vs SMITH KLINE BEECHAM, INC., and GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC d/b/a GLAXOSMITHKLINE, Defendants.


The Paxil section, page 18, is interesting to say the least, particularly sec 58.

58. However, the bulk of Paxil and Paxil CR sales stemmed from GSK's unlawful promotion for off-label uses in adult patients for such diverse disorders as premature ejaculation and general social phobias, anxiety, ADHD, shyness, and bipolar disorder. As part of this scheme, GSK concealed that Paxil is highly addictive.

Now, we've always known about Paxil's addictiveness and we've always heard Glaxo spokespersons deny this.

It would be interesting to see if any exhibits produced in the above case showed that Glaxo hid evidence that Paxil is highly addictive. It would certainly open the creaky door to the UK Seroxat litigation. Although the wheels seem to have grinded to a halt on the UK litigation, it is still live, despite misinformed individuals making statements that the case has collapsed.

Anyway, the full complaint against GSK can be downloaded here. The Paxil section reads as thus:


Paxil [Known as Seroxat in the UK]

Paxil (paroxetine hydrochloride) was initially approved by the FDA on December 29, 1992 for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adults. Thereafter, the FDA approved the drug for other uses, however neither Paxil, nor its extended release formulation known as Paxil CR, has been approved for any use whatsoever in patients under the age of 18.

Nevertheless, GSK has aggressively promoted Paxil and Paxil CR as a safe and effective treatment for a litany of mental issues for children, including, depression, anxiety, ADHD, shyness, and bi polar disorder, among others.

GSK's off-label marketing for pediatric use was particularly egregious because GSK knew no later than November 1998 that Paxil was ineffective in this age group and, even worse, that depressed pediatric users of Paxil were up to three times more likely to commit suicide or engage in other self-harming conduct. GSK not only knew these seminal facts, but withheld its own clinical study data that proved them to be true from the medical community and the public to protect pediatric Paxil sales.

However, the bulk of Paxil and Paxil CR sales stemmed from GSK's unlawful promotion for off-label uses in adult patients for such diverse disorders as premature ejaculation and general social phobias, anxiety, ADHD, shyness, and bipolar disorder. As part of this scheme, GSK concealed that Paxil is highly addictive.

Finally, GSK aggressively promoted Paxil as safe and effective for use during pregnancy. This marketing scheme rivals the contemptibility of its pediatric scheme. GSK characterized Paxil as having treatment benefits that outweighed the risks, when in fact GSK knew the opposite to be true. GSK knew that the drug substantially increased the risk of severe congenital birth defects, particularly holes in the heart of the fetus. The drug is now also known to cause Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn. When information about Paxil's link to birth defects finally became public in December 2005, the FDA reclassified the drug as Category D. Category D classification is reserved for drugs with a proven link to birth defects when used during pregnancy.

Paxil is the only SSRI with a Category D designation. GSK's concealment of evidence of birth defects deprived physicians and expecting mothers of the ability to make informed choices about the risks of its use during pregnancy. Had GSK disclosed the truth, undoubtedly the use of Paxil during pregnancy would have been severely curbed, which is exactly what GSK endeavored to avoid. This is particularly true of off-label use of Paxil, where safer alternatives would have been available.


----


Andrew Witty, Glaxo's CEO on the $3 billion settlement made by his company:


"“Today brings to resolution difficult, long-standing matters for (Glaxo). Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of (Glaxo), I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made,” [LINK]

The UK Seroxat [Paxil] litigation is based upon withdrawal and that the claimants, in the litigation, had difficulty withdrawing from the Seroxat.

Now, I'm no Albert Einstein but I'd say that a drug being highly addictive would cause severe withdrawal problems, wouldn't you?

It will be interesting to see if Witty sticks to his word, more so to see if he and his company really have learnt from the mistakes that were made.

I'm assuming that they [GSK] and their lawyers, Addleshaw Goddard, won't be contesting the claims against them in the UK then?

A pig has just flown past my window... I'm sure it had a French accent.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.


GlaxoSmithKline are a British Company that have been successfully sued by American attorneys on numerous occasions.

With Glaxo's CEO being part of British Prime Minister's Business Advisory Committee and with the British Drug regulator, the MHRA, having two ex- Glaxo employees on their staff, is it any wonder that it's easier for the UK man/woman in the street to split an atom then it is to get justice from GlaxoSmithKline.


Fid

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

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GlaxoSmithKline's Perverse Olympic Games

One of the most popular posts on this blog over the last month or so has been '2012 Olympics - Team Glaxo', a post I wrote almost a year ago. It's picked up quite a lot of hits as the games approach [approx 15,000]

With this in mind, and because of recent events, I've fired off a second email to the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] - For those of you that don't know, WADA last year announced that GlaxoSmithKline would be part of their team at this year's Olympics.

To be honest, Glaxo should resign from their position but then again the words 'honest' and 'Glaxo' just don't marry, do they?

Here's the email:


Dear Sir/Madam,


A short time ago I wrote you voicing my concerns regarding the decision to allow British pharmaceutical giants, GlaxoSmithKline, to gain a position within the World Anti-Doping Agency to investigate medicines that could having performance enhancing potential in sport.


For reasons unknown to me you decided not to reply.


Once again I must draw your attention to GlaxoSmithKline, although I am sure you are probably aware of the recent media events concerning them.


They have recently pleaded guilty to misdemeanors regarding unethical tactics used in promoting dangerous medicines to vulnerable populations, namely children. Glaxo's pharmaceutical reps were shown to be bribing doctors with lavish meals, cash payments, holidays and concert tickets which had the effect of increasing prescriptions of antidepressants to children...when the product/s were not indicated for children.


I once viewed the Olympic Games as a prestigious event, one where families gathered around TV sets to cheer on their heroes. 


I can no longer do that because of your affiliation with a party who have pleaded guilty to crimes against children.


Many children have suffered as a result of GlaxoSmithKline's aggressive marketing tactics, some, it has to be said, have died as a result of induced psychosis from Glaxo's antidepressant medication, those poor souls committed suicide, a known adverse reaction when given to children and adolescents.


As I stipulated, I am sure WADA is aware of recent events, probably embarrassed too?


I wrote an article back in July, 2011 when I first heard of GlaxoSmithKline teaming up with WADA. That post has been read by over 15,000 people, it continues to be read.


For your convenience I have added, at the foot of this email, some recent newspaper articles with regard to GlaxoSmithKline's abhorrent behavior.


My two questions to you are simple;


1. In light of recent events do you still believe that GlaxoSmithKline should be allowed to be associated with WADA and the Olympic Games?


2. Do you think it perverse to include a company as part of a team of drug investigators when that company, by its own admission, promote unsafe drugs to children?


I look forward to your response.


Yours sincerely


Bob Fiddaman


Glaxo in $3 Billion Settlement - Wall Street Journal - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299704577502642401041730.html

Glaxo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion in Fraud Settlement - New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/business/glaxosmithkline-agrees-to-pay-3-billion-in-fraud-settlement.html?pagewanted=all

GlaxoSmithKline pays $3bn for illegally marketing depression drug - The Independent - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/glaxosmithkline-pays-3bn-for-illegally-marketing-depression-drug-7904555.html



Related stories from this blog:

GSK - The Company With Great Ethics

GlaxoSmithKline - Pinsky, Bradshaw and Promises



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

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

GlaxoSmithKline - Pinsky, Bradshaw and Promises

,

"Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored."
Andrew Witty, Monday 02 July 2012

Documents released as part of a settlement between the Department of Justice and GlaxoSmithKline showed how the British drug maker hired the services of Dr. Drew Pinsky, a host of the radio show LoveLine.

The released documents reveal that Pinsky was paid over $100,000 in 1999 to promote the use of Glaxo's antidepressant Wellbutrin "in settings where it did not appear that Dr. Pinsky was speaking for GSK."


True to his word...ahem contract... Pinsky, according to court transcripts, delivered.

On May 22, 1999, Pinsky appeared on the David Essel Alive radio program. Before being introduced the show's listeners heard a woman phone-in to speak about how she had become "super multiple orgasmic", she told listeners, "...it doesn't seem that possible to me to have that many, we're talking, I counted 60 one night."


The show's host, David Essel, seemed amazed by the call. His introduction for Dr Drew confirmed this:

"We have an expert right now that is going to bring on in just a second and I'm going to ask him some questions about that call because it still amazes me...


"...I'm talking about Dr Drew Pinsky..."


This, it seemed, was a golden opportunity for Pinsky to 'big up' Glaxo's product Wellbutrin.

Essel asked Dr Drew if it was possible to have as many orgasms as the caller had claimed.

Dr Drew told Essel that kind of thing typically happened from medication. On being asked by Essel, "What type of medication would increase someone's orgasmic potential where they go from three or four to 60?", Dr Drew replied:

"Interestingly lots of antidepressants, but the one that I have most...I've seen that from in my clinical practice is Butrin or **Buproprion. It's actually the one we advocate, one of the things we suggest people do if they're getting decrease in their libido or decrease in their arousal from an antidepressant which frequently occurs in the serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication. We think about adding Wellbutrin..."


**Buproprion is marked as Wellbutrin and Zyban by GlaxoSmithKline

To be fair, Dr Drew did mention two other medications.

Payments made to Dr Drew can be seen in Fig 1 & 2

FIG 1

FIG 2

This isn't the first time GlaxoSmithKline have used the voice of well known celebrities.

In 2004 American football hero Terry Bradshaw was, it appears, hired by GSK to promote another of their antidepressants, Paxil [known as Seroxat in the UK]

Bradshaw had gone public regarding his battle with depression and he 'took to the road' as a mental health advocate. His tour, which took in 12 US cities, was sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline.

Glaxo even offered Bradshaw his own web page, hosted on their own website. Sadly, the page does not appear when using the original url but with the modern wonders of the internet we can still access it here.

Here's a snapshot of how it appeared in 2006

As activism goes I have to take my hat off to former Paxil activist Rob Robinson. There's a chapter in my book dedicated to Rob so I won't go into too much detail about him in this particular post other than he once put the fear of God into Terry Bradshaw.

Bradshaw had planned to visit the Fortwood Center in Chattanooga, the hometown of Paxil activist Rob Robinson. Rob, who had previously organised a protest outside the offices of GSK, felt obliged to be present during Bradshaw's speech and had informed readers of his ground-breaking Paxil Protest website of his intentions.

Bradshaw caught wind and decided not to show thus leaving the Fortwood Center red faced and out of pocket as they had spent thousands of dollars promoting the event, including billboards around the city.

When Glaxo's CEO, Andrew Witty made a statement yesterday regarding his company and their appalling behaviour he blamed bygone era's. Thing is, how far back does Witty blame, does he include Glaxo's use of Terry Bradshaw to promote Seroxat [Paxil] during the tour of 12 US cities or was he just referring to the documents that are now publically available on the Department of Justice website?

It's safe to assume that I am not a fan of GlaxoSmithKline or Paxil. Their constant misdemeanors strike me as having a total disregard for human health [few links at foot of this post].

Can we really trust what Andrew Witty has to say? - "On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.”

Where is the cut-off point that Witty is referring to here, is it 1999, 2004 or any other year that he wasn't in charge? By laying the blame on era's, he lays the blame on former Glaxo chief, Jean Pierre Garnier, that's quite a buck-pass, even by Glaxo's standards.

Witty became CEO of GlaxoSmithKline in in May 2008, any misdemeanors from that date onwards cannot surely be blamed on era's, can they?

Here's a few:

Glaxo Fined £60,000 For Killing 14 Babies - In 2012 GlaxoSmithKline were fined a measly £60,000 for its part in the 2007/08 vaccine trials conducted in Argentina where 14 children died. This was approx 1 year before Witty took charge of GlaxoSmithKline, can 2007 be deemed as a lesson learned and an era that Witty would rather forget about?


There are many more, some of which happened during Witty's reign as Glaxo chief.


The video below highlights just some of Witty's era at GlaxoSmithKline, much of which can be blamed on his predecessor, JP Garnier or at least the era while Garnier was in charge.


One has to remember Witty's remark following Glaxo's $3 billion payout - "Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored."


I can just hear old JP Garnier... plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

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GSK - The Company With Great Ethics

Some of the headlines these past 24 hours or so regarding Glaxo's moral values:


Glaxo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion in Fraud Settlement
New York Times



GlaxoSmithKline settles healthcare fraud case for $3 billion

Reuters

GlaxoSmithKline Reaches Plea Agreement Over Drug Labeling
Businessweek


So, what's the hoo-ha all about?

Well, Glaxo, the company that likes to think it runs on great ethics, have just paid a record-breaking $3 billion for their part in illegally...yes, illegally, promoting their products to patient populations that their products could potentially harm, kill. Products such as their antidepressants, Paxil and Wellbutrin.

Paxil is known as Seroxat in the UK and Aropax in Australia and New Zealand.

Wellbutrin, on the other hand, is also used as an anti-smoking drug. Glaxo basically rebadged it to Zyban.

Part of this huge settlement is also because GlaxoSmithKline failed to report important safety data regarding their diabetes drug Avandia. We're not talking about damaged boxes here, we're talking about Avandia causing heart problems in those who took it.

How ethical, huh?

So, how did Glaxo promote Paxil and Wellbutrin illegally then?

Well, they'd get their reps to do the dirty work. Reps would visit doctor's and give them kickbacks, a kickback that would range from lunch being bought for the doc and his staff to lavish gifts and expensive restaurants. Not content with food bribes, the reps would then offer money to high prescribing doctors and psychiatrists to 'give a talk' to other doctors that would see them promoting the use of Paxil and Wellbutrin "off-label" to children.

You see, Glaxo didn't have to tell millions of TV viewers that their medications were safe and indicated for certain populations with their advertisements - they simply got doctors and child psychiatrists to do it for them. Why? Well, to advertise these facts would have been deemed as fraud. So with a little bit of jiggery-pokery they advertised by proxy to those that really mattered - the prescribers.

What astounds me, as a former consumer of Paxil, is the statement made by Glaxo chief Andrew Witty:

“Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored,” he said in the statement. “On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.” [source]

So, Glaxo have learned from their mistakes hey Andrew?

Last year Andrew Witty turned down the chance to speak with Janice Simmons. Janice runs the Seroxat User Group and she wished to talk to Witty about the withdrawal problems people were facing when trying to taper from Glaxo's drug.

This end, I have requested a similar type of meeting with GlaxoSmithKline New Zealand. They told me to "Talk to my doctor"

"On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.”

Ho hum Sir Andrew.

How many deaths resulted in Glaxo's illegal promotion of Paxil and Wellbutrin? How many deaths resulted in Glaxo's failure to warn of the safety issues with Avandia?

One small piddling apology that, in essence, blamed another era of GSK, is simply not good enough. It's an insult to those who have lost their lives, an insult to those that have been left to carry the loss around on their shoulders.

Andrew Witty was knighted at the head of this year. Her Majesty rewarded him - for what exactly?

What kind of a message was this sending out? Hey, Glaxo have been bad but Andy is getting things back on track.

Yup, sure he is.

You know, money doesn't make the problem disappear overnight. The $3 billion had been earmarked at the start of the year. This is the sort of blasé attitude we have come to expect from GlaxoSmithKline, it's akin to a shrug of the shoulders and a smug smile, it's akin to a mass murderer or serial killer apologising just before he is administered a lethal injection.

GlaxoSmithKline have been caught time and time again with their trousers down. Out of court settlements are all well and good but they just pave the way for this industry to continue on their path of destruction. It allows them to wipe the blood from their hands, using the bank notes of any settlement to clean their conscience.

It's abhorrent... more than that...it's pure evil at work.

GlaxoSmithKline's Andrew Witty may want to think about changing the company tagline, "GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer."


Evidence of this huge settlement would suggest that the tagline is wrong. It would also suggest that GlaxoSmithKline are in disarray and if it were a single entity then it would have been diagnosed, using DSM criteria, as being narcissistic, delusional and, dare I say it, psychopathic.

The UK Seroxat litigation, where consumers of Seroxat, had difficulty withdrawing from Glaxo's product, still continues. Glaxo deny any wrong doing.


Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Buddha


Documents and Resources from the July 2, 2012 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Press Conference




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CafePharma Boards

Was browsing through the boards over at CafePharma earlier, I enjoy reading some of the threads on the GlaxoSmithKline page where disgruntled employees, many of them reps, attack the likes of Andrew... [**coughs]...sorry, Sir Andrew Witty.

I'm sure many of the anonymous posters on these boards are legit and are genuinely miffed about the company they work for. Long hours, promises of bonuses, changes in company mantra, promoting drugs off-label to doctors whilst wining and dining them or bringing their staff in coffee from Starbucks or donuts from the company that tell you to 'dunk them'

With what seems like a bitchin' pot of messages to Glaxo it surprises me that none of the disgruntled army of ex and current employees have ever thought about blowing the whistle on those they target.

Sure, it's great to beeatch and off-load your angst against the company but does it really change anything?

Glaxo aren't the only pharmaceutical company that comes under fire, there's different boards for each of the leading pharmaceutical companies, each of which are ladened with current and ex-employees attacking the various policies and management [ahem mismanagement] of the companies they once worked/work for.

I'm writing this in the hope that someone from these boards will pick up on it. By all means carry on bitchin', it makes great reading, but do something about it. Let's face it, the companies you work/ed for don't exactly look after you as they do their key opinion leaders [thought leaders] do they?

When was the last time a rep was given a big, fat meaty cheque for promoting a drug? Okay, they get a wage and, sometimes a bonus [when it's paid on time] but nowhere near to the sums paid to thought leaders such as Karen Wagner, Josef Biederman and/or Marty "bling bling" Keller.

I'd be miffed if I were an employee or ex-employee of major pharmaceutical companies. I'd be pissed at the fact that my employee had used me to promote drugs to children when, in actual fact, my company knew all along that these drugs were not safe for children. I'd be pissed that my company had paid out millions of dollars to thought leaders yet made me work extra-long hours for a mere pittance and a performance based bonus... based on how I could promote drugs for populations that weren't meant for those populations.

I'd be so pissed off with allowing myself to be manipulated by company spin just so I couldn't see the wood through the trees, the dense forest hiding the facts that I had been used as a drug peddler, my objective being to push doctors to prescribe to the vulnerable populations out there... Children.

Hey ho, thankfully I've never been down that road. My conscience is clear.

The bitchin' on CafePharma continues, the main objective, it seems, being just a place to let off steam.

Only way these disgruntled masses can get back at those who treated them with contempt is to start blowing whistles. I'm sure there are many whom have witnessed fraudulent acts against the US government. Whether or not they have been part of these acts is irrelevant - they can and should try to bring about change.

I'm a big fan of US attorneys, Baum Hedlund. They've kicked GlaxoSmithKline's ass to infinity... and beyond on many occasions. They, I'm sure, would welcome employees or ex-employees of big pharma to bitch at them down the phone.

Whistleblower suits are becoming more popular these days, particularly against pharmaceutical companies.

Allen Jones blew the whistle on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit for promoting the off-label use of Risperdal in children. J&J settled with a payment of $158 million, some of which went Jones' way for blowing the whistle. The settlement came less than a month after J&J officials agreed to pay more than $1 billion to the U.S. and a number of states to end a civil investigation into Risperdal marketing practices.

Cheryl Eckard, who humiliated GlaxoSmithKline with regard to the appalling lapses at their manufacturing plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico, was also paid handsomely for whistleblowing. A cool $96 million went her way.

Helen Ge was a former contractor at Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. She learned that Takeda have been playing down risks of three of their drugs, particularly when combined with other drugs. She was fired from her position when she brought this to the attention of her seniors. She has now filed a whistleblower suit.

The more the merrier, I say.

So, I do hope that this post makes it across cyberspace to CafePharma. I also hope that I can somehow tap into the conscience of those who throw the flames anonymously on the boards over there.

Do what's right. Blow the whistle.

Just click on the image to start the ball rolling.

Alternatively, drop me an email... cos I just love blowing the whistle.






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PAXIL: Unleashed in the East

GlaxoSmithKline have unleashed Paxil CR on Japanese citizens according to the Asahi Shimbun.

It's unknown whether GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical reps will be promoting its use 'off-label' to doctors. Glaxo did, however, carry out a Japanese Paxil study in 7 - 17 year olds a few years back, the results of which proved very little by way of safety and efficacy for this age group.

Despite previous failed clinical trials in children GlaxoSmithKline advertised for children to be part of a new clinical trial in Japan. The promotional poster [Fig 1] showed cartoon images of children feeling sad and tired whilst asking for recruits.

Fig 1

I previously covered Glaxo targeting Japanese children [Links at foot of post] and even telephoned their Japanese HQ to ask for the clinical trial results. Glaxo officials told me that, although the trials had finished, they did not have the results to hand.

With Paxil CR being unleashed I envisage lots of marketing spin from GSK Japan, the poster [above] is just another example of how they target children.

Here's the previous posts regarding Glaxo, Paxil and Japanese children.


Monday, January 12, 2009 - GSK Just won't stop trying to push paroxetine on children!.

Thursday, January 15, 2009 - Email to Japanese Embassy regarding New GSK paroxetine study in Children. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00812812.

Friday, April 03, 2009 - Email to Ministry of Health - Japan.

Friday, April 03, 2009 - Japan/GSK - 329 All Over Again!.

Saturday, July 25, 2009 - Paxil Study 329 All Over Again?.

Friday, May 21, 2010 - Email To GlaxoSmithKline Re; Paxil Study In Children.

Friday, September 24, 2010 - HEY, GLAXO!... LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE.

Friday, May 13, 2011 - Glaxo remain tight-lipped on new Japanese Paxil study in children..

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - GSK JAPAN - PAXIL STUDY IN KIDS UPDATE.

Monday, May 23, 2011 - Are GlaxoSmithKline Japan Putting Children At Danger With Paxil Trial?.

Sunday, October 23, Japanese Paxil Study in Children Proves Very Little

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Ontario Coroner Gives Up Body Parts

Kind of a macabre title for a post doncha think?

Can you imagine, years after saying goodbye to a loved one, you are going about your daily routine, trying desperately hard to remain strong, to fight back the tears... because even after years of apparent healing one still grieves... despite what the DSM tells us all about grief.

In modern day society death is treated with disdain, grief is somebody else's problem as positions of power continue to make mockery of those poor souls that have passed, be they someone's elderly partner or someone's child who, through no fault of their own, fell victim to pharmaceutical madness and greed in life...and a total lack of respect from the Ontario coroner in death.

On Wednesday June 13, the Global Toronto ran with the story that the Ontario coroner had asked families what best to do with 4,000 stored autopsy organs.


Those bereaved didn't even know that the Ontario coroner had stolen/borrowed their loved ones body parts. In my language one first seeks permission when they wish to borrow something of mine... they don't just take.

It appears that the excuse coming out of Ontario is that this was done to spare relatives added grief. What utter codswallop!

Two Ontario deaths spring to mind here, that of Sara Carlin and Brennan McCartney, two teens who both suicided, two teens, both in their prime of life, who were prescribed antidepressants, Sara, Paxil, Brennan, Lexapro.

It's bad enough having to endure burying your own child but to hear news that all of your child's body parts may not have been intact because some horse's ass down at the coroners office decided to play God is tantamount to an index finger being paraded in front of the bereaved.

I'm totally shocked by this abhorrent behaviour, this total lack of respect. What an appalling way to treat human life...even in death.

Dr. Michael Pollanen, the province's chief forensic pathologist,  has openly apologised and, quite unbelievably, added,  "Based on today's standards, we could have communicated more openly with families in the past."

Today's standards?

Does this mean that retaining body parts without the permission of families has been going on for some time in Ontario?

I thought the whole Coroner's Office in Ontario was beyond a joke after the way they dealt with Sara Carlin's inquest. This news leaves me shaking my head in disbelief and wondering who on earth the head honcho in Ontario thinks he is!

Heads should roll for this... metaphorically speaking of course.

Grieving relatives have now been urged to contact the coroner's office to find out whether an organ belonging to a deceased loved one may have been retained. The coroners office have offered to pay for costs and funeral/cremation expenses.

Whoopifookindoo!


Parents should not have to bury their children, alas it is part of life that some have to.

No parent should ever have to ask a coroner for remains of their child... years after their death.

Sickening.




Fid

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Guest Post: Sertraline Sufferers Stand Up and Be Counted!

Today's guest post comes from Sheila Herd who authors the Prozac Withdrawal blog. Sheila, like many others, feels the need to share her experiences because doctor's, drug companies and medicine regulators seem far too busy burying their heads in the sand.

Here's Sheila's story:

Sertraline Sufferers Stand Up and Be Counted!


It can often seem like it’s all about seroxat (paxil) to us folk struggling with the other SSRI’s; Seroxat Mad, Seroxat Sufferers, Paxil Progress, Seroxat User Group, Seroxat Secrets and so on, which is how this post came about, someone piped up  “hey what about us Sertraline sufferers?”, and then I commented about also being a Sertraline sufferer, we were both invited to do a guest post about Sertraline [Zoloft]

I was prescribed Sertraline in 1998 when I had postnatal depression. I went from deep depression/anxiety to euphoria in the space of about two weeks, I felt pretty damned fantastic and became super mum, there was nothing I couldn’t handle. As time went on I continued to feel well but my emotions were dampened down, so I was functioning well, no depression, but no “joy” either, my libido was totally gone but hell who has time for that anyway with a new baby?


After about five months I decided I was feeling so well I didn’t want to be on Sertraline anymore, didn’t read the patient information leaflet or talk to a doctor, not that that would have helped anyway (hollow laugh). I just stopped taking them. My head felt terrible, it began to feel water logged, if I turned my head there was a time lag between my eye balls catching up with the fact that my head had turned, so dizzy, gradually intense sadness would kick in, really really intense sadness and anxiety, oh the anxiety, pumping adrenaline and nerves shot to bits. I went back on the Sertraline.

The doctor told me to do the alternate day thing, alternate days for a fortnight, then every third day for a fortnight, then one tablet a week, I did this various times over the next few years to no avail. I tried a pill cutter and halving the tablet, it wouldn’t break down easily without crumbling so that was unsuccessful. Every time I tried something, I ended up in worse shape than the time before, it was all getting steadily worse. I tried meditation, healing, exercise, cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling, fish oil capsules, NOTHING touched it. I pressured my doctor to refer me to a psychiatrist for advice, but she had no clue and could only recommend switching to another drug. I did switch to Citalopram for a while, and Mirtzapine, I felt constant fatigue on Mirtzapine, and then back to Sertraline.

This is my description of how withdrawal felt from my blog, I only recently found out that what was happening had a name, akathisia:

“5am and for about the 3rd night in a row I’ve barely slept, I can’t stop the adrenaline pumping round my body, my stomach is tightly knotted, I’ve barely been able to eat properly it makes me feel sick. I’m clammy, sweating and crying and P is trying to reassure me, but he has to go to work. I get up and drag myself through all the motions of the day and making sure boys get to school, I feel like the living dead, I make sure they get fed and make sure they and no one else is aware of what’s going on, I don’t hang around at the school gates. Oh I do kind of tell a few people I’m not really feeling right but I play it down. The constant adrenaline is tormenting me on the inside and I can’t stop it. It’s been building up over a period of months and I’ve been fighting and fighting the feelings but it seems to have reached a peak of exquisite torture. It’s like being at the top of a roller coaster that never stops. Someone else mentioned birdsong, and it was a funny thing, the torture was worse in the mornings and over the summer months while it was slowly building, birdsong in the morning outside the window had become a kind of torture as well. I had to go to work only 2 days a week and God only knows how I managed it. I had taken my last Sertraline tablet months ago, and come off it as per the doctors instructions, and now my depression/anxiety was back tenfold to punish me for daring to presume I could stop taking it. I must be wired up wrong, no one else feels like this do they? What is wrong with me? Maybe I really am insane, maybe I just can’t cope with life without my tablets, how come everyone else can cope with life, and I can’t? There must be something fundamentally wrong with me. By now the Orwell Bridge was beginning to look a bit attractive and I just wanted to escape the adrenaline surges torturing me, my nerves were in shreds”.

This was 2003, at the end of 2003 I gave in and went back on the sertraline.

I can honestly understand how suicide happens on these drugs.

In 2006 I attempted another withdrawal, at the same time my father in law became terminally ill, I helped a lot with the hospital appointments and helping my mother and father in law to cope while Peter was working in London, I tried toughing out the withdrawals again, and gave in again. I spent my father in laws final days and his funeral in an unnatural state of euphoria from going back on the sertraline.

So here I was, several years later and no further forward, and not for wont of trying! Everytime I went in a book shop or library I would try and find anything I could about antidepressants and depression, but nothing really enlightened me. I rummaged around on the internet but couldn’t find the answers. Until one day, I was browsing around Waterstones, and “Coming off Antidepressants” by Joseph Glenmullen jumped out at me, I read it avidly, and discovered TAPERING!!!  But, all the examples in the book referred to liquid Seroxat or Prozac, I was really upset to find Sertraline was not available in liquid form. Armed with my new information about the simple concept of tapering, further digging led me to Dr Healy’s protocol of switching to the equivalent dose of liquid Prozac. These two pieces of information became my secret hope, I latched onto them. I decided to take a leap of faith and switch to liquid Prozac. At the beginning of 2007 I marked up my calendar with a schedule, I was going to go down from 5ml to 4.90ml the first week, 4.80ml the next week and so on, as my sons would say “epic fail”.  By about mid February the nightmare was unfolding again and I had to give in and go back to the top of my Prozac dose, I was devastated.

Still I hadn’t given up hope, Peter was sympathetic but he couldn’t understand why I didn’t just give it up and accept I “needed” the drugs like a diabetic needs insulin.

After lots more research, and Peter having interesting and enlightening conversations with a client who was a pharmacist about my problem, I started my taper again in May 2008, this time much much slower and here I am four years later down to 1ml liquid Prozac and still tapering. It has needed a lot of self-discipline. I kept a blog of my progress; I’ve been amazed to meet a few others who have been tapering longer than me.

My blog gradually opened up a whole world of people to me, and many heartbreaking stories of careers ruined, relationships broken and lives destroyed through these drugs. Seems I got away relatively lightly. Every time I hear a story on the news about a high school shooting, the shootings in Cumbria, violent suicides I wonder what the “hidden” story is. There is a huge assumption that these drugs are benign and harmless, they are not; they can cause extreme agitation and internal torture. They are dished out like smarties and people left to deal with the results. Starting them is like playing a game of Russian Roulette, you might be a lucky one who can take them and come off them with ease, or you might not. My understanding was that they were meant to be taken for only a year or so after you feel “well” but many many people are stuck on them for years or forever, I know many people who’ve given up hope of coming off SSRI’s and I hear many people say “oh I’ll be on these the rest of my life”. There is NO support or advice in place through doctors or psychiatrists on how to taper safely off the drugs.  I know Bob has been looking for it as well and has yet to find it....if anyone does find any help in the UK, please let me know, although it’s a bit too late for me now as I’ve almost done it myself bar the last 0.90ml but I know a lot of other people who might like to know!

Thanks Bob for inviting me to write a guest post here, huge admiration for the work you do, keep on keeping on!

----

Sheila's blog can be read HERE

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