An anonymous source sent confidential drug company documents that had been missing for more than 10 years to the British Medical Journal. The documents, which suggest a link between Prozac (fluoxetine, made by Eli Lilly) and suicide attempts and violence, will be reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The documents went missing during a 1994 product liability suit. They include reviews and memos indicating that as far back as the 1980s, Eli Lilly officials were not only aware that Prozac had side effects, but also they attempted to minimize those negative effects.
The liability suit surrounded a 1989 workplace shooting in which a man, who had been treated with Prozac, shot and killed eight people and wounded 12 others before killing himself.
The documents show that patients on Prozac are twice as likely (38 percent versus 19 percent on placebo) to display symptoms that can precede suicide or violent acts, including:
Another document displays an FDA official questioning how Lilly decided that suicide attempts in studies either weren't real attempts or were not related to Prozac.
Compounding the Lilly documents are the words of Dr. Martin Teicher, a Harvard psychiatrist who has come out saying, "Lives were threatened and Americans treated like "guinea pigs" because Eli Lilly & Co. officials lied 15 years ago in denying there was any evidence the anti-depressant Prozac could cause suicidal behavior."
In 1990, Dr. Teicher published reports showing a link between Prozac and suicide. However, months earlier Lilly officials had assured him that they knew of no such link. But according to Dr. Teicher, studies from the 1980s did show a risk, and German drug regulators refused to license the drug in 1985 citing "suicidal risk."
Dr. Teicher says the studies were "cherry-picked" and negative trials were not published.
Further, Dr. David Graham, associate director in the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, said that a problem with Prozac and suicide could not be ruled out given that many cases of suicidal behavior were left out of Prozac's safety record in 1990.
USA Today January 5, 2005
British Medical Journal January 1, 2005;330:7 (Free Full Text Article)
With prominent researchers and clinicians like Dr. Martin Teicher and my new hero, Dr. David Graham, speaking out against Lilly's potential covering up of the link between Prozac suicide; we have a strong signal that the health care system is moving, slowly but surely, in the right direction.
The drug companies are making prime examples of just what NOT to do to gain respect and trust among the American public, as more and more disturbing events are revealed. Along with this most recent betrayal of information regarding Prozac and suicide, here are some other things that have been revealed:
Since the mid-1990s, a group of major drug companies had paid off state officials who oversee treatment for patients with mental illness to sell more anti-psychotic drugs
In August 2004, Dr. Marcia Angell, former interim editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) wrote a book titled The Truth about Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It on the stronghold drug companies have over clinical trials and criticizing the way medicine is practiced today
In September 2004, the popular painkiller Vioxx was pulled from the market, weeks after it was approved to treat children
In the spring of 2004, an antidepressant linked to liver failure, Serzone, was pulled from the U.S. market
And this is only a small sampling of the dangerous and deceitful practices that are going on.
So, whenever possible, try to reduce your chances of being harmed, whether intentionally or not, by the drug companies, and educate yourself with the real facts, statistics and information about drugs and health conditions before deciding on your treatment.
A great place to start is, of course, by subscribing to the newsletter. A health care practitioner who understands natural medicine should also be an excellent resource. Later this year we hope to have links to physicians we believe can help serve you in this area.
For those of you taking Prozac or considering it, it should be noted that in addition to the covered up risk for suicide, other studies have found that Prozac can actually cause crucial damage to developing brains. If you haven't read my earlier article, Treatment Options for Healing Depression, I would highly recommend it as it offers some excellent advice for those of you struggling with this potentially devastating condition, and I urge you to pass it on to friends and loved ones who may benefit from it as well.
Related Articles:
FDA Urges Softer Antidepressant Warning Antidepressants and Suicide in Children: Why Did the Warnings Take so Long? How Could Drug Companies be so Evil? The Drug Companies Strike Back ... Conflict of Interests Between Doctors and Drug Companies Sins of Omission by Drug Companies Pose Dangers to Your Health
FDA Urges Softer Antidepressant Warning
Antidepressants and Suicide in Children: Why Did the Warnings Take so Long?
How Could Drug Companies be so Evil?
The Drug Companies Strike Back ...
Conflict of Interests Between Doctors and Drug Companies
Sins of Omission by Drug Companies Pose Dangers to Your Health