What was the outcome of the following?
German officials probe SmithKline bribery claim
Source: Financial Times 2002
German prosecutors have launched an investigation into allegations that SmithKline Beecham, which merged with Glaxo Wellcome to form GSK in 2000, bribed doctors to use its products.
The investigation followed raids at a number of companies in Germany two years ago and allegedly involved bribes of up to DM60,000 ($26,000) being paid to more than 1,000 German doctors.
GSK was not immediately available for comment.
Zantac Lawsuit
Researching drug company and regulatory malfeasance for over 16 years
Humanist, humorist
Friday, August 10, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Manie's Story (Birth Defects Caused by Antidepressant)
Manie's Story (Birth Defects Caused by Antidepressant)
Read more about Manie at http://bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com/
To quote Manie's Grandfather:
"GSK, how are your grandchildren?
Is just one of them worth the Billions of profit?
Mine is !!!!
Manie's grampa
Read more about Manie at http://bigpharmavictim.blogspot.com/
To quote Manie's Grandfather:
"GSK, how are your grandchildren?
Is just one of them worth the Billions of profit?
Mine is !!!!
Manie's grampa
The Nimble Sumo - JP Garnier
Great summary of JP Garnier here
For convenience I will reproduce it in its entirety.
The blog it comes from is http://hcnew.blogspot.com
J.P. of GlaxoSmithKline
Face value
The nimble sumo
Aug 2nd 2007
From The Economist print edition
Jean-Pierre Garnier of GlaxoSmithKline defends the pharmaceutical industry as he overhauls his own drugs firm
THIS would seem to be a terrible time to be the boss of a big pharmaceutical company. Customers and regulators are fretting about safety after the high-profile recall of Merck's Vioxx, a painkiller that turned out to be dangerous for some patients. The number of new drugs gaining approval has plunged in recent years, casting doubt on the industry's research model. Poor countries are making noisy demands for free drugs and are threatening to override patents through “compulsory licensing”. All this has battered the shares of the drugs giants and forced out the chief executives of three of the biggest in the past two years. And yet here is Jean-Pierre Garnier, the boss of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), beaming confidently as he defends his industry. “My generation of chief executives is the first that ‘gets it’,” he declares.
What explains the ebullience displayed by J.P., as he is universally known? One reason is his successful defence of Avandia, a blockbuster diabetes drug that had threatened to go the way of Vioxx. A safety scandal blew up in May when a leading cardiologist published a statistical study suggesting that Avandia might increase the risk of cardiovascular problems. Sales, which topped $3.3 billion last year, plunged by a fifth in the quarter ending in June. In the wake of the Vioxx scandal many drug companies have been eager to avoid messy confrontations over safety. But not Mr Garnier. He came out swinging, accusing critics of politicising the regulation of drugs and rebutting the study's claims with his firm's own data. This week an expert panel convened by America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted overwhelmingly to keep Avandia on the market, albeit with stronger warnings about potential side-effects. As one analyst put it, GSK “dodged the FDA bullet”.
Another reason Mr Garnier is smiling is that GSK has the strongest drugs pipeline of any big firm. It has 33 drugs in the late stage of clinical trials, with perhaps two dozen due to be launched between now and the end of 2009. That is much better than at rival firms, and far better than the pitiful prospects Mr Garnier inherited when he took over as boss of SmithKline Beecham in 2000, just before the merger with Glaxo Wellcome. The industry's poor research output has led some critics to argue that the huge mergers of the past decade have produced giant firms that are too big and bloated to innovate. Mr Garnier disagrees. “R&D productivity is not linked to size,” he insists. He invokes the image of a successful sumo wrestler and says giants can be nimble if they are clever. Indeed, size can be an advantage in marketing, or when organising massive clinical trials, he observes.
But he accepts that size is a problem early in the drug-development process. “Drug finders” and innovators may well get tripped up by bureaucracy and tangled in red tape; good ideas are lost. Even worse, bad ideas may not be weeded out in time: Pfizer, for example, spent $1 billion to get Torcetrapib, a cholesterol drug, to late-stage testing only to discover dangerous side-effects that forced it to abandon the potential blockbuster.
So Mr Garnier has tried hard to decentralise. He did away with GSK's top-down approach to research, replacing it with a number of autonomous research clusters known as “centres of excellence in drug discovery”. The idea is that these smaller groups will take many more “shots on goal” than bureaucratic research monoliths like Pfizer. Crucially, he wants them to fail more quickly too, thus sparing the firm the huge expense of a late-stage withdrawal. Surprisingly for an industry veteran, Mr Garnier has also taken on the tradition of secrecy by experimenting with “open innovation” models. Managers are now rewarded for successful inventions whether they were developed in-house or acquired from outside. He reckons this eliminates the “not invented here” syndrome common at big drugs firms.
Self-confidence or arrogance?
A driving force behind Mr Garnier's success is a brash self-confidence that even one of his lieutenants considers “arrogant”. The American-educated Frenchman, who lives with his family in Philadelphia, has ended up in hot water a few times as a result. In 2003 he was branded a “fat cat” by the press for trying to push through a £22m ($36m) pay-and-benefits package. In a move rarely seen at a British firm, shareholders voted against the resolution. Mr Garnier now seems to have a healthy respect for shareholders, even initiating a recent share-buyback to appease their concerns about a weak share price. His instinctive cockiness also got him into trouble with developing countries. Soon after taking over as boss of GSK he found himself ensnared in a controversy over access to cheap HIV drugs, a row portrayed in the media as drugs giants cruelly ignoring the plight of dying Africans. Mr Garnier's first instinct was to fight. But although he was confident of his firm's legal position, he was losing the media war. So he chose to cut his losses and made a dramatic U-turn. “For the very poor countries of this world,” he explains, “we decided to sell our drugs completely not-for-profit.”
GSK's attitudes toward the poor are now regarded as a model for others. The firm encourages generics-makers to produce its formulations, so costs can fall further. It offers tiered pricing, linking the price of drugs to a country's ability to pay and offering subsidies for the poorest.
Even the World Health Organisation, a United Nations agency not known for cosiness with the pharmaceutical industry, applauded GSK's decision in June to donate 50m doses of its new flu vaccine to be held in an emergency stockpile. This transformation, of both GSK and of its boss, suggests there is hope yet for the pharmaceutical industry. “Society puts up with Big Pharma only because we come up with innovative drugs,” says Mr Garnier. The world desperately needs a self-confident drugs industry willing to take risks to discover new therapies, but will no longer tolerate its arrogance and neglect of the poor.
Garnier actually beleives in his own hype doncha think?
For convenience I will reproduce it in its entirety.
The blog it comes from is http://hcnew.blogspot.com
J.P. of GlaxoSmithKline
Face value
The nimble sumo
Aug 2nd 2007
From The Economist print edition
Jean-Pierre Garnier of GlaxoSmithKline defends the pharmaceutical industry as he overhauls his own drugs firm
THIS would seem to be a terrible time to be the boss of a big pharmaceutical company. Customers and regulators are fretting about safety after the high-profile recall of Merck's Vioxx, a painkiller that turned out to be dangerous for some patients. The number of new drugs gaining approval has plunged in recent years, casting doubt on the industry's research model. Poor countries are making noisy demands for free drugs and are threatening to override patents through “compulsory licensing”. All this has battered the shares of the drugs giants and forced out the chief executives of three of the biggest in the past two years. And yet here is Jean-Pierre Garnier, the boss of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), beaming confidently as he defends his industry. “My generation of chief executives is the first that ‘gets it’,” he declares.
What explains the ebullience displayed by J.P., as he is universally known? One reason is his successful defence of Avandia, a blockbuster diabetes drug that had threatened to go the way of Vioxx. A safety scandal blew up in May when a leading cardiologist published a statistical study suggesting that Avandia might increase the risk of cardiovascular problems. Sales, which topped $3.3 billion last year, plunged by a fifth in the quarter ending in June. In the wake of the Vioxx scandal many drug companies have been eager to avoid messy confrontations over safety. But not Mr Garnier. He came out swinging, accusing critics of politicising the regulation of drugs and rebutting the study's claims with his firm's own data. This week an expert panel convened by America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted overwhelmingly to keep Avandia on the market, albeit with stronger warnings about potential side-effects. As one analyst put it, GSK “dodged the FDA bullet”.
Another reason Mr Garnier is smiling is that GSK has the strongest drugs pipeline of any big firm. It has 33 drugs in the late stage of clinical trials, with perhaps two dozen due to be launched between now and the end of 2009. That is much better than at rival firms, and far better than the pitiful prospects Mr Garnier inherited when he took over as boss of SmithKline Beecham in 2000, just before the merger with Glaxo Wellcome. The industry's poor research output has led some critics to argue that the huge mergers of the past decade have produced giant firms that are too big and bloated to innovate. Mr Garnier disagrees. “R&D productivity is not linked to size,” he insists. He invokes the image of a successful sumo wrestler and says giants can be nimble if they are clever. Indeed, size can be an advantage in marketing, or when organising massive clinical trials, he observes.
But he accepts that size is a problem early in the drug-development process. “Drug finders” and innovators may well get tripped up by bureaucracy and tangled in red tape; good ideas are lost. Even worse, bad ideas may not be weeded out in time: Pfizer, for example, spent $1 billion to get Torcetrapib, a cholesterol drug, to late-stage testing only to discover dangerous side-effects that forced it to abandon the potential blockbuster.
So Mr Garnier has tried hard to decentralise. He did away with GSK's top-down approach to research, replacing it with a number of autonomous research clusters known as “centres of excellence in drug discovery”. The idea is that these smaller groups will take many more “shots on goal” than bureaucratic research monoliths like Pfizer. Crucially, he wants them to fail more quickly too, thus sparing the firm the huge expense of a late-stage withdrawal. Surprisingly for an industry veteran, Mr Garnier has also taken on the tradition of secrecy by experimenting with “open innovation” models. Managers are now rewarded for successful inventions whether they were developed in-house or acquired from outside. He reckons this eliminates the “not invented here” syndrome common at big drugs firms.
Self-confidence or arrogance?
A driving force behind Mr Garnier's success is a brash self-confidence that even one of his lieutenants considers “arrogant”. The American-educated Frenchman, who lives with his family in Philadelphia, has ended up in hot water a few times as a result. In 2003 he was branded a “fat cat” by the press for trying to push through a £22m ($36m) pay-and-benefits package. In a move rarely seen at a British firm, shareholders voted against the resolution. Mr Garnier now seems to have a healthy respect for shareholders, even initiating a recent share-buyback to appease their concerns about a weak share price. His instinctive cockiness also got him into trouble with developing countries. Soon after taking over as boss of GSK he found himself ensnared in a controversy over access to cheap HIV drugs, a row portrayed in the media as drugs giants cruelly ignoring the plight of dying Africans. Mr Garnier's first instinct was to fight. But although he was confident of his firm's legal position, he was losing the media war. So he chose to cut his losses and made a dramatic U-turn. “For the very poor countries of this world,” he explains, “we decided to sell our drugs completely not-for-profit.”
GSK's attitudes toward the poor are now regarded as a model for others. The firm encourages generics-makers to produce its formulations, so costs can fall further. It offers tiered pricing, linking the price of drugs to a country's ability to pay and offering subsidies for the poorest.
Even the World Health Organisation, a United Nations agency not known for cosiness with the pharmaceutical industry, applauded GSK's decision in June to donate 50m doses of its new flu vaccine to be held in an emergency stockpile. This transformation, of both GSK and of its boss, suggests there is hope yet for the pharmaceutical industry. “Society puts up with Big Pharma only because we come up with innovative drugs,” says Mr Garnier. The world desperately needs a self-confident drugs industry willing to take risks to discover new therapies, but will no longer tolerate its arrogance and neglect of the poor.
Garnier actually beleives in his own hype doncha think?
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
GlaxoSmithKline Receives Not Approvable Letter From FDA on Advair(
Source: BIOSPACE.COM
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK - News) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a not approvable letter for the supplemental drug application for the 500/50 strength of Advair Diskus® (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The FDA questioned how Advair 500/50 compared to the currently approved 250/50 strength in order to allow for appropriate dosing recommendations. GSK will be meeting with FDA to discuss this request in more detail and determine next steps, including discussion of data GSK has recently generated on the reduction of exacerbations with the Advair 250/50 strength.
Print Email GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Jobs) Receives Not Approvable Letter From FDA on Advair(R) 500/50 for COPD 8/8/2007RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK - News) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a not approvable letter for the supplemental drug application for the 500/50 strength of Advair Diskus® (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The FDA questioned how Advair 500/50 compared to the currently approved 250/50 strength in order to allow for appropriate dosing recommendations. GSK will be meeting with FDA to discuss this request in more detail and determine next steps, including discussion of data GSK has recently generated on the reduction of exacerbations with the Advair 250/50 strength.
"We are very surprised and disappointed by this FDA decision particularly given the outcome of the FDA advisory committee meeting earlier this year," said Katharine Knobil, M.D., Vice-President of Respiratory Clinical Development for COPD at GSK. "The advisory committee voted unanimously that Advair 500/50 demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk of exacerbations. We believe in the strength of the data; this application is based on the results of the largest COPD study conducted in more than 6,000 patients over three years. We are committed to working with the FDA to address any questions they have and to pursue a way forward."
Advair 250/50 is currently indicated for the maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with COPD associated with chronic bronchitis. Advair does not replace fast-acting inhalers to treat sudden symptoms. Lower respiratory tract infections, including pneumonia, have been reported following the inhaled administration of corticosteroids, including fluticasone propionate and Advair Diskus. Patients with COPD often have multiple risk factors for reduced bone mineral density. Advair Diskus may increase this risk, therefore, bone mineral density assessment is recommended prior to starting Advair Diskus and periodically thereafter. Long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids, including Advair Diskus, may increase the risk for cataracts or glaucoma. Regular eye exams should be considered.
Advair was developed and is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline, a research based pharmaceutical company and a world leader in respiratory care. GlaxoSmithKline is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
Oh well! More shares for JP to flog before GSK implodes on itself
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK - News) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a not approvable letter for the supplemental drug application for the 500/50 strength of Advair Diskus® (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The FDA questioned how Advair 500/50 compared to the currently approved 250/50 strength in order to allow for appropriate dosing recommendations. GSK will be meeting with FDA to discuss this request in more detail and determine next steps, including discussion of data GSK has recently generated on the reduction of exacerbations with the Advair 250/50 strength.
Print Email GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Jobs) Receives Not Approvable Letter From FDA on Advair(R) 500/50 for COPD 8/8/2007RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK - News) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a not approvable letter for the supplemental drug application for the 500/50 strength of Advair Diskus® (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The FDA questioned how Advair 500/50 compared to the currently approved 250/50 strength in order to allow for appropriate dosing recommendations. GSK will be meeting with FDA to discuss this request in more detail and determine next steps, including discussion of data GSK has recently generated on the reduction of exacerbations with the Advair 250/50 strength.
"We are very surprised and disappointed by this FDA decision particularly given the outcome of the FDA advisory committee meeting earlier this year," said Katharine Knobil, M.D., Vice-President of Respiratory Clinical Development for COPD at GSK. "The advisory committee voted unanimously that Advair 500/50 demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk of exacerbations. We believe in the strength of the data; this application is based on the results of the largest COPD study conducted in more than 6,000 patients over three years. We are committed to working with the FDA to address any questions they have and to pursue a way forward."
Advair 250/50 is currently indicated for the maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with COPD associated with chronic bronchitis. Advair does not replace fast-acting inhalers to treat sudden symptoms. Lower respiratory tract infections, including pneumonia, have been reported following the inhaled administration of corticosteroids, including fluticasone propionate and Advair Diskus. Patients with COPD often have multiple risk factors for reduced bone mineral density. Advair Diskus may increase this risk, therefore, bone mineral density assessment is recommended prior to starting Advair Diskus and periodically thereafter. Long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids, including Advair Diskus, may increase the risk for cataracts or glaucoma. Regular eye exams should be considered.
Advair was developed and is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline, a research based pharmaceutical company and a world leader in respiratory care. GlaxoSmithKline is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
Oh well! More shares for JP to flog before GSK implodes on itself
JP Garnier - The six million dollar man
How to make a quick 6 million!!!
... Be in charge of a multi million dollar/pound Pharmaceutical Company
...Be French
...Sell drugs that cause harm to patients
...Wait for lawsuit to be served against Company re Shit Drugs
...Sell your shares and net a cool six million
All's fair in love and war eh JP?
... Be in charge of a multi million dollar/pound Pharmaceutical Company
...Be French
...Sell drugs that cause harm to patients
...Wait for lawsuit to be served against Company re Shit Drugs
...Sell your shares and net a cool six million
All's fair in love and war eh JP?
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
July 2007 – "MANIA: The shocking link between psychiatric drugs, suicide, violence and mass murder"
Source: Whistleblower
From Columbine to Virginia Tech, every time another headline-making mass murderer is discovered to have taken antidepressants or other psychiatric drugs, rumors and speculation abound regarding the possible connection between the medications and the violence.
Now, reports the July 2007 edition of WND's elite monthly Whistleblower magazine, the time for speculation and guessing is over. The evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable, says Whistleblower's groundbreaking investigative report: Mood-altering psychiatric drugs – taken every day by tens of millions of Americans, including millions of children – actually can push some users over the edge into mania, suicide and horrific violence.
The issue is titled "MANIA: The shocking truth about psychiatric drugs and their link to suicide, violence and mass murder."
To begin with, many of the most notorious mass killers in recent memory have been on, or just coming off, prescription mood-altering drugs. Remember these headline names?
Andrea Yates, in one of the most heartbreaking crimes in modern history, drowned all five of her children – aged 7 years down to 6 months – in a bathtub. Insisting inner voices commanded her to kill her kids, she had become increasingly psychotic over the course of several years.
Yates had been taking the antidepressant Effexor. In November 2005, more than four years after Yates drowned her children, Effexor manufacturer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals quietly added "homicidal ideation" to the drug's list of "rare adverse events." But "rare" is defined by the FDA as occurring in less than one in 1,000 people. And since, according to an Associated Press report, about 19.2 million prescriptions for Effexor were filled in the U.S. alone in 2005, that means statistically almost 20,000 Americans could experience "homicidal ideation" – that is, murderous thoughts – as a result of taking just this one antidepressant drug.
Columbine mass-killer Eric Harris was taking the widely prescribed antidepressant Luvox when he and fellow student Dylan Klebold went on a hellish school shooting rampage in 1999, killing 12 students and a teacher and wounding 24 others before turning their guns on themselves.
Luvox manufacturer Solvay Pharmaceuticals concedes that 4 percent of children and youth taking Luvox developed "mania" – a serious mental derangement characterized by extreme excitement and delusion – during short-term controlled clinical trials.
Authorities investigating Cho Seung-Hui, who murdered 32 at Virginia Tech in April, reportedly found "prescription drugs" for the treatment of psychological problems among his possessions. Joseph Aust, Cho's roommate, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch Cho's routine each morning had included taking prescription drugs.
So what kind of meds had Cho been taking? Strangely, his medical records have yet to be released to the public – authorities claiming it's because an investigation is still ongoing, although critics suggest the purpose may be to protect the drug companies from liability claims.
Meanwhile, the list of killers who happened to be taking psychiatric medications is long and chilling. Remember these headline names?
Patrick Purdy's 1989 schoolyard shooting rampage in Stockton, Calif., was the catalyst for the legislative frenzy to ban "semiautomatic assault weapons" in California and the nation. The 25-year-old Purdy, who murdered five children and wounded 30, had been on Amitriptyline, an antidepressant, as well as the antipsychotic drug Thorazine.
Kip Kinkel, 15, murdered his parents in 1998 and the next day went to his school, Thurston High in Springfield, Ore., and opened fire on his classmates, killing two and wounding 22 others. He had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.
In 1988, 31-year-old Laurie Dann went on a shooting rampage in a second-grade classroom in Winnetka, Ill., killing one child and wounding six. She had been taking the antidepressant Anafranil as well as Lithium, long used to treat mania.
In Paducah, Ky., in late 1997, 14-year-old Michael Carneal, son of a prominent attorney, traveled to Heath High School and started shooting students in a prayer meeting taking place in the school's lobby, killing three and leaving another paralyzed. Carneal reportedly was on Ritalin.
In 2005, 16-year-old Native American Jeff Weise, living on Minnesota's Red Lake Indian Reservation, shot and killed nine people and wounded five others before killing himself. Weise had been taking Prozac.
In another famous case, 47-year-old Joseph T. Wesbecker, just a month after he began taking Prozac, shot 20 workers at Standard Gravure Corp. in Louisville, Ky., killing nine. Eli Lilly, which makes Prozac, later settled a lawsuit brought by survivors.
All very interesting, you may be thinking, but what do the drug companies say in their defense?
One of the most widely prescribed antidepressants today is Paxil, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
Paxil's known "adverse drug reactions" – according to the drug's own 2001 FDA-approved label – include "mania," "insomnia," "anxiety," "agitation," "confusion," "amnesia," "depression," "paranoid reaction," "psychosis," "hostility," "delirium," "hallucinations," "abnormal thinking," "depersonalization" and "lack of emotion," among others.
With a rap sheet like that, no wonder pharmaceutical companies are nervous about liability lawsuits over the "rare adverse effects" of their medications. In 1998, for example, GlaxoSmithKline was ordered to pay $6.4 million to Donald Schnell's surviving family members after the 60-year-old man, just two days after taking Paxil, murdered his wife, daughter and granddaughter in a fit of rage.
But reporting the truth about the relationship between psychiatric medications and mass murderers is just the beginning. "MANIA" also reveals clear and compelling evidence that psychiatric drugs hurt children physically – causing shrinkage of their brains, damage to their hearts and other significant effects.
Perhaps even more disconcerting, "MANIA" exposes the federal government's bizarre preoccupation with screening all American school kids to see if they're mentally ill – a process that often leads directly to a prescription for mood-altering drugs for the child who didn't answer the questions properly.
"The problem," said David Kupelian, managing editor of WND and Whistleblower, "is that many Americans don't exactly trust the federal government to determine what constitutes 'mental health.'" Incredibly, as this issue reveals, there is even a government effort to proclaim an infant-and-toddler mental health crisis!
With the numbers of people taking prescription psychiatric medications in the tens of millions and growing every day, this issue will touch virtually every reader in a profound way.
"I think this is one of the most important and frankly mind-boggling editions of Whistleblower we've ever produced," said Kupelian. "The information in it could very well be life-changing – or even life-saving."
Note: You can also order a subscription to Whistleblower magazine.
From Columbine to Virginia Tech, every time another headline-making mass murderer is discovered to have taken antidepressants or other psychiatric drugs, rumors and speculation abound regarding the possible connection between the medications and the violence.
Now, reports the July 2007 edition of WND's elite monthly Whistleblower magazine, the time for speculation and guessing is over. The evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable, says Whistleblower's groundbreaking investigative report: Mood-altering psychiatric drugs – taken every day by tens of millions of Americans, including millions of children – actually can push some users over the edge into mania, suicide and horrific violence.
The issue is titled "MANIA: The shocking truth about psychiatric drugs and their link to suicide, violence and mass murder."
To begin with, many of the most notorious mass killers in recent memory have been on, or just coming off, prescription mood-altering drugs. Remember these headline names?
Andrea Yates, in one of the most heartbreaking crimes in modern history, drowned all five of her children – aged 7 years down to 6 months – in a bathtub. Insisting inner voices commanded her to kill her kids, she had become increasingly psychotic over the course of several years.
Yates had been taking the antidepressant Effexor. In November 2005, more than four years after Yates drowned her children, Effexor manufacturer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals quietly added "homicidal ideation" to the drug's list of "rare adverse events." But "rare" is defined by the FDA as occurring in less than one in 1,000 people. And since, according to an Associated Press report, about 19.2 million prescriptions for Effexor were filled in the U.S. alone in 2005, that means statistically almost 20,000 Americans could experience "homicidal ideation" – that is, murderous thoughts – as a result of taking just this one antidepressant drug.
Columbine mass-killer Eric Harris was taking the widely prescribed antidepressant Luvox when he and fellow student Dylan Klebold went on a hellish school shooting rampage in 1999, killing 12 students and a teacher and wounding 24 others before turning their guns on themselves.
Luvox manufacturer Solvay Pharmaceuticals concedes that 4 percent of children and youth taking Luvox developed "mania" – a serious mental derangement characterized by extreme excitement and delusion – during short-term controlled clinical trials.
Authorities investigating Cho Seung-Hui, who murdered 32 at Virginia Tech in April, reportedly found "prescription drugs" for the treatment of psychological problems among his possessions. Joseph Aust, Cho's roommate, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch Cho's routine each morning had included taking prescription drugs.
So what kind of meds had Cho been taking? Strangely, his medical records have yet to be released to the public – authorities claiming it's because an investigation is still ongoing, although critics suggest the purpose may be to protect the drug companies from liability claims.
Meanwhile, the list of killers who happened to be taking psychiatric medications is long and chilling. Remember these headline names?
Patrick Purdy's 1989 schoolyard shooting rampage in Stockton, Calif., was the catalyst for the legislative frenzy to ban "semiautomatic assault weapons" in California and the nation. The 25-year-old Purdy, who murdered five children and wounded 30, had been on Amitriptyline, an antidepressant, as well as the antipsychotic drug Thorazine.
Kip Kinkel, 15, murdered his parents in 1998 and the next day went to his school, Thurston High in Springfield, Ore., and opened fire on his classmates, killing two and wounding 22 others. He had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.
In 1988, 31-year-old Laurie Dann went on a shooting rampage in a second-grade classroom in Winnetka, Ill., killing one child and wounding six. She had been taking the antidepressant Anafranil as well as Lithium, long used to treat mania.
In Paducah, Ky., in late 1997, 14-year-old Michael Carneal, son of a prominent attorney, traveled to Heath High School and started shooting students in a prayer meeting taking place in the school's lobby, killing three and leaving another paralyzed. Carneal reportedly was on Ritalin.
In 2005, 16-year-old Native American Jeff Weise, living on Minnesota's Red Lake Indian Reservation, shot and killed nine people and wounded five others before killing himself. Weise had been taking Prozac.
In another famous case, 47-year-old Joseph T. Wesbecker, just a month after he began taking Prozac, shot 20 workers at Standard Gravure Corp. in Louisville, Ky., killing nine. Eli Lilly, which makes Prozac, later settled a lawsuit brought by survivors.
All very interesting, you may be thinking, but what do the drug companies say in their defense?
One of the most widely prescribed antidepressants today is Paxil, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
Paxil's known "adverse drug reactions" – according to the drug's own 2001 FDA-approved label – include "mania," "insomnia," "anxiety," "agitation," "confusion," "amnesia," "depression," "paranoid reaction," "psychosis," "hostility," "delirium," "hallucinations," "abnormal thinking," "depersonalization" and "lack of emotion," among others.
With a rap sheet like that, no wonder pharmaceutical companies are nervous about liability lawsuits over the "rare adverse effects" of their medications. In 1998, for example, GlaxoSmithKline was ordered to pay $6.4 million to Donald Schnell's surviving family members after the 60-year-old man, just two days after taking Paxil, murdered his wife, daughter and granddaughter in a fit of rage.
But reporting the truth about the relationship between psychiatric medications and mass murderers is just the beginning. "MANIA" also reveals clear and compelling evidence that psychiatric drugs hurt children physically – causing shrinkage of their brains, damage to their hearts and other significant effects.
Perhaps even more disconcerting, "MANIA" exposes the federal government's bizarre preoccupation with screening all American school kids to see if they're mentally ill – a process that often leads directly to a prescription for mood-altering drugs for the child who didn't answer the questions properly.
"The problem," said David Kupelian, managing editor of WND and Whistleblower, "is that many Americans don't exactly trust the federal government to determine what constitutes 'mental health.'" Incredibly, as this issue reveals, there is even a government effort to proclaim an infant-and-toddler mental health crisis!
With the numbers of people taking prescription psychiatric medications in the tens of millions and growing every day, this issue will touch virtually every reader in a profound way.
"I think this is one of the most important and frankly mind-boggling editions of Whistleblower we've ever produced," said Kupelian. "The information in it could very well be life-changing – or even life-saving."
Note: You can also order a subscription to Whistleblower magazine.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Time for reflection - Another Seroxat victim
Whatever your faith or belief I'd like you all to take some time out today to reflect on yet another possible victim of GlaxoSmithKline's Seroxat.
As most of you are aware Paxil Progress is a forum where folk help one another through withdrawal problems - GlaxoSmithKline have never acknowledged the severity of withdrawal regarding Seroxat so it has been left to the layman to help those suffering.
Sadly, a former Paxil Progress member took his own life last night. He'd been struggling with withdrawal and ended it all with a bullet.
He left a note to his friend and told him to thank those at Paxil Progress.
Here is the post left by the victim's friend on Paxil Progress:
this is david singletary, criss had been living with me trying to get his life back, he told me he had spoke to a lot of people on this site. i do no know quite how to say this, i am in shock still. but criss left a note asking that i post this for him to say thanks to everyone who spoke to him, yesterday afternoon criss passed away due to a self inflicted gunshot wound.i did not know he had a gun on him, if i did i don’t think i could have stopped him he was twice as big as me and as strong as an ox. he had just went to his dr and they did not want to listen to what he had to say about his own treament. his life had fell apart lately, divorce, job, family, everything he had was gone. i keep asking my self what i could have done for him. criss was the guy everybody wanted to be, he had it all in college, the body, the girls, the football games, man i wanted to be him. but inside little did i know what a tortured person he was , i noticed serious mood changes in criss while he was on paxil, and i watched my best friend walk out my frontdoor into the middle of the street and shoot himself. in loving memory of my best friend criss, david singeltary
As most of you are aware Paxil Progress is a forum where folk help one another through withdrawal problems - GlaxoSmithKline have never acknowledged the severity of withdrawal regarding Seroxat so it has been left to the layman to help those suffering.
Sadly, a former Paxil Progress member took his own life last night. He'd been struggling with withdrawal and ended it all with a bullet.
He left a note to his friend and told him to thank those at Paxil Progress.
Here is the post left by the victim's friend on Paxil Progress:
this is david singletary, criss had been living with me trying to get his life back, he told me he had spoke to a lot of people on this site. i do no know quite how to say this, i am in shock still. but criss left a note asking that i post this for him to say thanks to everyone who spoke to him, yesterday afternoon criss passed away due to a self inflicted gunshot wound.i did not know he had a gun on him, if i did i don’t think i could have stopped him he was twice as big as me and as strong as an ox. he had just went to his dr and they did not want to listen to what he had to say about his own treament. his life had fell apart lately, divorce, job, family, everything he had was gone. i keep asking my self what i could have done for him. criss was the guy everybody wanted to be, he had it all in college, the body, the girls, the football games, man i wanted to be him. but inside little did i know what a tortured person he was , i noticed serious mood changes in criss while he was on paxil, and i watched my best friend walk out my frontdoor into the middle of the street and shoot himself. in loving memory of my best friend criss, david singeltary
Friday, August 03, 2007
'Catalogue of failures led to death'
This from today's Bromley Times
THE mother of an autistic boy who committed suicide claims that a catalogue of service failures led to her son's death.
Elizabeth Whattler, of The Grove, West Wickham, says that Bromley council was 'dreadful' when it came to children's psychiatric services.
She spoke out after her complaints to Bromley council's social services found that there was 'no case to answer' for her son Tim's death last February.
Branding its investigation a 'whitewash' she said: "There are many things they should have done. He should never have been out of education and he should have received proper psychiatric care. There were so many failings."
Tim was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that affects the ability to communicate, at the age of eight.
A bright child, with an IQ of 140, he wanted to learn but from the age of 10 he began suffering from chronic depression. Mrs Whattler and her husband, Dean, wanted Tim to live at home and be educated in Bromley but there were no special schools nearby so he had to be sent to Somerset.
Mrs Whattler said: "Depression in Asperger's is not uncommon but I think him being so far away from home didn't help. He wanted to live at home, but there have never been special needs schools in the borough. A suitable local unit didn't exist, there were limited places in Langley Park but all the Asperger's places were taken."
Tim attempted suicide several times and for years was taken out of education to live with his parents. He was prescribed with Seroxat, which is believed in some cases to increase suicidal tendencies.
Mrs Whattler said: "I wanted help. I was visited by two psychiatric nurses who told me he was suicidal and 'never leave him on his own - Cheerio!' I had to keep him with me while trying to work part time. I was on my own and got no help at all."
Read story in full HERE
THE mother of an autistic boy who committed suicide claims that a catalogue of service failures led to her son's death.
Elizabeth Whattler, of The Grove, West Wickham, says that Bromley council was 'dreadful' when it came to children's psychiatric services.
She spoke out after her complaints to Bromley council's social services found that there was 'no case to answer' for her son Tim's death last February.
Branding its investigation a 'whitewash' she said: "There are many things they should have done. He should never have been out of education and he should have received proper psychiatric care. There were so many failings."
Tim was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that affects the ability to communicate, at the age of eight.
A bright child, with an IQ of 140, he wanted to learn but from the age of 10 he began suffering from chronic depression. Mrs Whattler and her husband, Dean, wanted Tim to live at home and be educated in Bromley but there were no special schools nearby so he had to be sent to Somerset.
Mrs Whattler said: "Depression in Asperger's is not uncommon but I think him being so far away from home didn't help. He wanted to live at home, but there have never been special needs schools in the borough. A suitable local unit didn't exist, there were limited places in Langley Park but all the Asperger's places were taken."
Tim attempted suicide several times and for years was taken out of education to live with his parents. He was prescribed with Seroxat, which is believed in some cases to increase suicidal tendencies.
Mrs Whattler said: "I wanted help. I was visited by two psychiatric nurses who told me he was suicidal and 'never leave him on his own - Cheerio!' I had to keep him with me while trying to work part time. I was on my own and got no help at all."
Read story in full HERE
Thursday, August 02, 2007
MHRA announce the launch of 'Drug Safety Update'
From the MHRA website
We are pleased to announce the launch of 'Drug Safety Update', our new regular monthly electronic bulletin bringing you the latest information and clinical advice from the MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines, its independent advisor, about the safe use of medicines
it continues...
We have designed the bulletin so that you can find quickly the information that is relevant to your practice. Keywords on main articles enable you to locate items of particular relevance to your area of interest. Where possible, we have indicated where you can access additional information, and websites are highlighted with hyperlinks for ease of use. The bulletin will include regular updates on the Yellow Card Scheme, which remains a vital part of the Agency’s vigilance activities.
If the bulletin is anything like the Freedom of Information requests I have received from them then it would be pointless reading.
Too late Mr Kent Woods! It's no good trying to appear like you actually DO care about the health of the British public - This wouldn't have nothing to do with the MHRA's investigation into GSK would it? Wouldn't have nothing to do with the dawning of realisation that the MHRA have failed by allowing GSK in particular to peddle their drugs into a market that HAS NOT been protected by the MHRA?
Some quarters will no doubt give you the pats on the back you think you so richly deserve. Personally, I hold you, as the CEO of the MHRA, responsible for the Seroxat debacle. YOU have sat back and let people suffer at the hands of this drug. You have stood firm in your belief that Seroxat is a safe drug for adults - despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Your staff are ignorant, flippant and untrustworthy, many of which have shares in GlaxoSmithKline.
You may get the kudos from your peers but I for one hold you in complete disdain for what you have allowed to happen. Never mind the bulletins - sort your ethics out at the MHRA. Get rid of Ian Hudson and Alisdair Breckenridge both of whom were employed by GlaxoSmithKline, both of whom MUST HAVE known about the dangers of this drug.
Drug Safety Update? Don't make me laugh!
Fid
We are pleased to announce the launch of 'Drug Safety Update', our new regular monthly electronic bulletin bringing you the latest information and clinical advice from the MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines, its independent advisor, about the safe use of medicines
it continues...
We have designed the bulletin so that you can find quickly the information that is relevant to your practice. Keywords on main articles enable you to locate items of particular relevance to your area of interest. Where possible, we have indicated where you can access additional information, and websites are highlighted with hyperlinks for ease of use. The bulletin will include regular updates on the Yellow Card Scheme, which remains a vital part of the Agency’s vigilance activities.
If the bulletin is anything like the Freedom of Information requests I have received from them then it would be pointless reading.
Too late Mr Kent Woods! It's no good trying to appear like you actually DO care about the health of the British public - This wouldn't have nothing to do with the MHRA's investigation into GSK would it? Wouldn't have nothing to do with the dawning of realisation that the MHRA have failed by allowing GSK in particular to peddle their drugs into a market that HAS NOT been protected by the MHRA?
Some quarters will no doubt give you the pats on the back you think you so richly deserve. Personally, I hold you, as the CEO of the MHRA, responsible for the Seroxat debacle. YOU have sat back and let people suffer at the hands of this drug. You have stood firm in your belief that Seroxat is a safe drug for adults - despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Your staff are ignorant, flippant and untrustworthy, many of which have shares in GlaxoSmithKline.
You may get the kudos from your peers but I for one hold you in complete disdain for what you have allowed to happen. Never mind the bulletins - sort your ethics out at the MHRA. Get rid of Ian Hudson and Alisdair Breckenridge both of whom were employed by GlaxoSmithKline, both of whom MUST HAVE known about the dangers of this drug.
Drug Safety Update? Don't make me laugh!
Fid
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Does my MP have what it takes?
Here is an email I have just sent to my MP, Gisela Stuart.
Dear Gisela
On the 18th June 2007 a meeting was held with the Seroxat Users Group and Lord Hunt. Minutes of the meeting have now been posted via the Seroxat Weblog page and I have attached them for your perusal.
Reading through it, it seems Lord Hunt has made many promises. Only time will tell if Hunt sticks to these promises.
A point of interest though is the fact that Hunt has said that the MHRA's investigation into GSK WILL be made public. Now call me cynical but what's the betting that much of the 'report' will be undisclosed because of some rule that the MHRA invent so the public cannot see the truth?
You may like to know that the Seroxat Sufferers site has now reached in excess of over 23,000 hits.
After almost of three years of asking you, I think it's about time you said something in the house about Seroxat, GSK and the MHRA don't you Gisela?
Your constituent
Mr Bob Fiddaman
Seroxat Sufferershttp://fiddaman.blogspot.com
Dear Gisela
On the 18th June 2007 a meeting was held with the Seroxat Users Group and Lord Hunt. Minutes of the meeting have now been posted via the Seroxat Weblog page and I have attached them for your perusal.
Reading through it, it seems Lord Hunt has made many promises. Only time will tell if Hunt sticks to these promises.
A point of interest though is the fact that Hunt has said that the MHRA's investigation into GSK WILL be made public. Now call me cynical but what's the betting that much of the 'report' will be undisclosed because of some rule that the MHRA invent so the public cannot see the truth?
You may like to know that the Seroxat Sufferers site has now reached in excess of over 23,000 hits.
After almost of three years of asking you, I think it's about time you said something in the house about Seroxat, GSK and the MHRA don't you Gisela?
Your constituent
Mr Bob Fiddaman
Seroxat Sufferershttp://fiddaman.blogspot.com
GSK Web site, campaign call attention to diabetes complications
Source: ePharm5(tm)
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is sponsoring an educational program and Web site called the State of Diabetes Complications in America, which boasts as spokespeople former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs and his son, Washington Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs. According to the campaign's Web site, about three out of five people with type 2 diabetes have at least one of the other serious health problems associated with the disease. The site includes maps of the United States showing diabetes prevalence and blood sugar levels in each state. There are also resources for patients, including a diabetes complications risk assessment tool and steps to take for better blood sugar control. Ron and Shawn Springs will appear in Dallas next week on behalf of the campaign to talk about Ron's experience with the disease, as the campaign presents new report findings.
Great eh? Manufacture a drug to help diabetes patients, sit back and deny there is any problems with said drug once reports filter in about patients suffering heart attacks on drug. Then the creme de la creme - Hire a well known face to say how great GSK are.
You ever heard the Carly Simon song Glaxo?
You bunch of half assed fuckwits!
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is sponsoring an educational program and Web site called the State of Diabetes Complications in America, which boasts as spokespeople former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs and his son, Washington Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs. According to the campaign's Web site, about three out of five people with type 2 diabetes have at least one of the other serious health problems associated with the disease. The site includes maps of the United States showing diabetes prevalence and blood sugar levels in each state. There are also resources for patients, including a diabetes complications risk assessment tool and steps to take for better blood sugar control. Ron and Shawn Springs will appear in Dallas next week on behalf of the campaign to talk about Ron's experience with the disease, as the campaign presents new report findings.
Great eh? Manufacture a drug to help diabetes patients, sit back and deny there is any problems with said drug once reports filter in about patients suffering heart attacks on drug. Then the creme de la creme - Hire a well known face to say how great GSK are.
You ever heard the Carly Simon song Glaxo?
You bunch of half assed fuckwits!
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