Re: The Prozac Calamity~Checkbook Science~Video

[Guest guest]

This is a great cautionary tale. Especially when you tell your doc

that you were exposed to mold and the profession largely refuses to research the

appropriate diagnostic blood (or other) diagnostic tests and must represent that

the doc did " something " during the course of treatment.

No story is told better than from the lens of an " insider. "

>

> _http://www.cchrint.org/2009/08/12/the-prozac-calamity/_

> (http://www.cchrint.org/2009/08/12/the-prozac-calamity/)

>

>

> The Prozac Calamity by award winning Scientist Shane Ellison

>

>

> By Shane Ellison, Award winning Scientist, Masters Degree in Organic

> Chemistry

> I love Big Pharma. After getting a masters degree in drug design, I was

> fortunate enough to work within their stinky labs and learn the inner workings

> of corporate drug making (and dealing). My most important lesson: Not all

> drugs are bad. Some are really bad. Take the so-called antidepressant

> Prozac as an example.

> In 1990, Prozac appeared on the cover of the pharmaceutically compliant,

> Newsweek magazine with the headline “Prozac: A Breakthrough Drug for

> Depression.†It was designed almost twenty years prior. And during that

time, some

> ghastly findings were made which proved the drug to be the antithesis of

> what popular media touted it as. Such findings were kept hidden. Patients are

> learning the hard way.

> Thirteen days after taking the SSRI Prozac, on April 28, 2003, Jordan’s

> wife of 56 years, Kathy, found his lifeless body hanging from a beam in a

back

> room of their shop. Not depressed at the time of his appointment, Jordan

> was given a free sample of Prozac for “chest pains!†Apparently, a pretty

> drug rep convinced Jordan’s doctor that Prozac could be used for these

types

> of “off-label†purposes. By FDA standards, this is totally illegal. But

> those standards are never enforced by the consumer watch dog turned Big

> Pharma lap dog. Regardless of what they are prescribed for, Prozac is a real

> and present danger to SSRI users.

> SSRI’s strive to increase the levels of a “coping†molecule known as

> serotonin in the brain. It helps us FIND happiness when it’s covered in an

> avalanche of nastiness. SSRI’s attempt to boost serotonin by

“selectivelyâ€

> stopping the “reuptake†of it among brain cells. This is where the whole

SSRI

> acronym came from †" “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.†It’s a

> slick name that seems to hypnotize medical doctors into prescribing

submission,

> but it’s a really stupid idea.

> Nothing is selective in the body. While trying to block the reuptake of

> serotonin, SSRI’s can also prevent its release. The areas of the brain

> responsible for release and reuptake are so damn similar (after all, they work

on

> the same molecule) that an SSRI isn’t smart enough to understand which one

> it is supposed to work on. So it does what any dumb drug would do, it

> blocks both. The end result: no coping molecules in the brain. Deep sadness,

> fear or anger can set in. Early studies proved this.

> The first testing of Prozac was performed on dogs and cats. Every trial

> showed that Prozac use caused aggression amongst these normally calm and

> friendly animals, as could be seen by increased hissing and growling. When the

> animals were taken off of the drug, they returned to their usual friendly

> behavior. Researchers concluded that Prozac use causes aggressive behavior.

> By mid 1978, Prozac testing moved to humans in controlled clinical trials

> involving more than 4000 patients. In an attempt to hide its aggressive

> tendencies, the study allowed for voluntary dropout of those who experienced

> the most severe side effects. Additionally, clinical investigators were

> allowed to administer concurrent sedatives to patients to further mask

Prozac’s

> side effects that would most likely lead to violence/suicide. This is a

> common loophole used by drug company-funded drug trials and is known as “

> checkbook science.†Despite the lack of scientific methodology, this study

> concluded that Prozac works well to a “statistically significant†degree

in a

> population of depressed patients.

> Since its approval, the potential for Prozac calamity has become

> frighteningly clear amongst both professionals and the public. Reports of

> Prozac-associated suicide, written by D. Hagerty and distributed by the

Drugs

> and Devices Information Line at the Harvard School of Public Health,

> dominated the “Letters to the Editor†section of the American Journal of

> Psychiatry during the fall of 1990.

> Under the FDA’s own analysis, there have been more than 20,000

> Prozac-related suicides since 1987.

> Clinical studies performed on Prozac show 191 negative side effects per 100

> people. This equates to almost two negative side effects for every user of

> the drug.

> The FDA continues to ignore the Prozac body count (they approved Prozac’s

> use for children in 2003). To make matters worse, the FDA granted its

> manufacturer, Eli Lilly, extended patent protection. In order to procure

thirty

> additional months of earning power, Eli Lilly changed the name of Prozac to

> Sarafem, while at the same time labeling common personality and biological

> shifts as a disease among women; this “disease†being premenstrual

> irritability. As a result, thousands of unsuspecting women were given Prozac

for

> premenstrual irritability while at the same time increasing their chances of

> suffering from the aforementioned negative side effects such as

> aggression, and suicide.

> Such lessons got me out of corporate drug making. Thankfully, they taught

> me how not to be healthy: Take prescription drugs. You can do the same, just

> say no to Prozac.

> About the Author

> Ellison’s entire career has been dedicated to the study of molecules; how

> they give life and how they take from it. He was a two-time recipient of the

> prestigious Medical Institute Research Grant for his

> research in biochemistry and physiology. He is a best selling author, holds a

> master’s degree in organic chemistry and has first-hand experience in drug

> design. Use his knowledge and insight to look and feel your best with his

> Secret Cures monthly report. Get it free at _www.thepeopleschemist.com_

> (http://www.thepeopleschemist.com/)

> (http://www.cchrint.org/blog/)

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Some good discussion and info today. I can add that when our third moldy house

my husband starting having seizures. He didn't get sick at the other places

like I did. The second time he had a seizure he was in the hospital they gave

him zoloft and lipitor. It was only a day after he started this medication and

he was hallucinating. I never saw anything like it.. He was telling me his

boss was talking to him though the tv and radio. That they were rotating the

walls and something about the boss was doing some special operation because of

the 9/11 tragedy.I had been married to him for over twenty years at that point

and never heard him talk this way. Finally a day or so later he realized what

he was saying and just stopped taking the medication-- and he was fine. Who was

I to tell after calling everyone I could after the mold houses. I called the

pharmacy, and they said he probably had an allergic reaction to it. Very scary

how much they do not know or-- don't listen. ---