Negative evidence continues to mount against the adverse side effects caused by drugs. While various drug classes have taken their rightful place under the microscope, a new class has been positioned for inspection: epilepsy drugs.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun an investigation into whether epilepsy drugs increase a patient's risk of suicide, especially those who use the drugs for purposes other than seizure prevention. That's because, in addition to being used by millions of people for epilepsy, anti-seizure drugs are largely used to treat psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder -- also known as manic depression -- as well as pain and other conditions.
It's the same kind of analysis the agency mandated when they examined suicide risks associated with young children and teens taking antidepressants.
Prompted by Claims Against Neurontin
The FDA asked makers of all epilepsy medicines to reanalyze research studies conducted on the drugs to determine if any evidence of increased suicide risks surfaced. This move was prompted in part by one New York attorney's claims against the leading epilepsy drug, Neurontin -- approved for particularly hard-to-control epilepsy, a very serious condition.
Specifically, the attorney:
Filed a petition asking the FDA to place a black-box warning on Neurontin -- citing 25 reports of suicides from the agency's own database. (The petition is still under FDA investigation.)
Sent the FDA 258 reports of suicides blamed on Neurontin.
Aired a brief national television ad searching for such cases and has filed 72 lawsuits against Pfizer, the manufacturer of Neurontin.
In light of the potential suicidal side effects evoked by taking these drugs, the FDA has given Pfizer (and other manufacturers of all other epilepsy drugs) six months to review their databases and report back to them.
MSNBC April 21, 2005
This is a good follow-up for the FDA on the heals of their action against Bextra.
Neurontin has a long standing, cloudy history that we first documented three years ago. Warner-Lambert, Neurontin's manufacturer at the time, was sued for allegations that its sales representatives had been promoting the drug to patients while they were being examined by doctors. More recently, Pfizer (the largest pharmaceutical company in the world that has since bought Warner-Lambert) pleaded guilty to illegally marketing Neurontin for use with ailments it had not been approved to treat.
It is obvious the sad reality that we continually document is that drug companies continuously and regularly put their bottom-line profits ahead of human health. The latest example, Neurontin, can cause serious side effects, but nonetheless was aggressively promoted; shockingly, even for off-label indications in helpless children.
This is particularly difficult to accept in light of the fact that there are a variety of natural treatment options available. One may want to consider the following natural treatment options for seizures:
Avoidance of aspartame and other types of excitotoxins. Stopping all artificial sweeteners is clearly one of the easiest and more effective strategies that should be done in nearly anyone with seizures.
Reduction of sugar and grain intake.
Optimizing intake of omega-3 fats.
Avoidance of TV.
Avoidance of alcohol, as it lowers the seizure threshold and increases the likelihood of seizures.
Related Articles:
Drug Companies Still Make Bundle Even When They Admit They Lie Drug Company Sued for Promoting Drugs in Exam Rooms Low-Grain Diet Great for Seizures Aspartame: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
Drug Companies Still Make Bundle Even When They Admit They Lie
Drug Company Sued for Promoting Drugs in Exam Rooms
Low-Grain Diet Great for Seizures
Aspartame: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You