FDA-sanctioned manslaughter?

[Guest guest]

FDA-sanctioned manslaughter? Sure

Again, you've heard me talk at great length about the

antidepressant/suicide link (Daily Dose, 12/26 and

12/30/2003) in the past, but there's a more ominous

component to this correlation that I've never mentioned

before - and it relates directly to the " selective

reporting " topic I discussed above...

According to a recent Washington Post online article, makers

of several of the most popular " happy pills " have refused to

divulge any details about the bulk of the antidepressant

trials they've conducted on children. As I've already

explained, hiding negative study results is par for the

course in the drug biz. But in this case, such conduct

clearly denies doctors and parents the facts they need to

make informed decisions about children's mental health. Why

is this so important all of a sudden?

Because of the abundance of evidence suggesting that taking

antidepressant drugs might cause kids to KILL THEMSELVES.

Not break out in a rash, gain a few pounds or develop

sleeping problems - but take their own lives. This tragic

correlation has been speculated about before, as several

instances of seemingly antidepressant-related suicide have

occurred in recent years.

In one 2004 trial for the antidepressant duloxetine, a 19-

year-old female test subject hanged herself in the drug

company's research lab at Indiana University. And here's the

kicker: She WASN'T EVEN DEPRESSED; she was just a perfectly

healthy, random participant in the trial. Not surprisingly,

the incident prompted 19 participants and study volunteers

to quit the test in fear for their own lives.

The bottom line is this: As long as drug companies are free

to submit for review and publication only that research

which is flattering to their patented medications, we'll

never really know the truth about what these chemicals are

doing to us - or NOT doing to us (like healing us). By

looking the other way and allowing pharmaceuticals makers to

keep negative findings about drugs under wraps, the FDA

becomes complicit in every adverse occurrence that happens

because of these drugs - including deaths. This is

manslaughter, in my eyes.

I say it's high time the FDA changed its rules to require

drug companies to submit ALL research related to ANY drug,

and to make these studies a matter of public record...

Then maybe we'd know what we're really risking every time we

pop a prescription pill.

Leading you AWAY from the slaughter,

s II, MD