Editorial Note: On October 16, there is an FDA hearing about Chantix and violence which is widely expected to feature an effort by Pfizer to roll back the warnings on the drug. One of the fascinating things about the Chantix story has been to see perfectly normal friends who use it to stop smoking become very agitated, and distressed. I don't personally know anyone who has … [Read more...] about Chantix and Violence
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Medicines are not just a commodity
Editorial Note: This is not a RxISK Story - it's about preventing RxISK Stories. Those who read RxISK Stories are well aware of the economic might of the pharmaceutical industry (and the medical device industry) and their growing political clout with the government agencies that are supposed to regulate them. Their capture of the U.S. FDA, which operates within a largely … [Read more...] about Medicines are not just a commodity
Femininity and Drugs?
Just as the concepts of Recovery, Citizen Scientists and pretty well everything else can be captured by pharmaceutical industry, so also feminism and claims of sexism are now being hijacked by industry as marketing tools. FDA are accused of being sexist in not licensing a ‘female Viagra’. This claim is being used to mobilize pressure on them to license a pharmaceutical … [Read more...] about Femininity and Drugs?
When is a Drug Guilty?
Editorial Note: We desperately need you to undertake some jury duty - we need you to explore why we react so strangely when it comes to changes on behavior linked to prescription drugs? In the last two posts Doctor Faces Marriage-Buster and Homicide of a Husband, there were two scenarios where drugs were involved and the questions were - can a drug change a person so they … [Read more...] about When is a Drug Guilty?
Lupron: Homicide of a Husband
Editorial Note: This post starts with Michelle Millikan's report to FDA of the night she killed her husband. The event Several days after my 6th injection of Lupron Depot, in some kind of an impossible-to-understand and difficult-to-explain 'fugue state', I killed my husband with a gunshot to the head while he was sleeping. I have NO MEMORY of waking up at 4 am in the … [Read more...] about Lupron: Homicide of a Husband
Doctor faces Marriage-Buster: What should s/he do?
Editorial Note: This post is about an issue covered before - the effects of antidepressants on relationships - see My Wife Has Left Me. This post had thirty-four follow-up comments which show that this issue gets at the heart of doctoring - what do you do when a wife or husband tells you the SSRI their partner is on has changed their personality and this wish to leave the … [Read more...] about Doctor faces Marriage-Buster: What should s/he do?
Sudden Cardiac Death and the Reverse Dodo Verdict
Editorial Note: Ten years ago I was at a meeting in Ottawa Canada looking at the issue of adverse events on treatment and how to manage these. The attendees were mostly left leaning activists. But Terence Young, then recognizably a conservative and later a conservative Member of the Canadian Parliament was also there. He was the only person speaking from direct experience of … [Read more...] about Sudden Cardiac Death and the Reverse Dodo Verdict
Thalidomide: From Disaster to Recovery
A quiet man A few months ago Martin Johnson retired as the Director of Britain's Thalidomide Trust. Under his stewardship, UK Thalidomiders have become a major force for global drug safety. In a world where Brands are everything and even the BMJ seems to have sacrificed scientific content for good branding, the Thalidomiders adapted the British Army's Special Air Services … [Read more...] about Thalidomide: From Disaster to Recovery
Back in Olanzapine Waters
Editorial Note: Courtesy of Fast Forward, here is a 12 month follow up to Olanzapine Withdrawal: Sally’s Story; some good, some OK and some awful. Sounds and speech Twelve months later, I continue to have problems with my hearing. The serious sensitivity to sounds has settled a bit - so I don't jump out of my skin when a knife scrapes on a plate, or Rob, my husband coughs. … [Read more...] about Back in Olanzapine Waters
Olanzapine Withdrawal: Sally’s Story
Editorial Note: How long does withdrawal last? How much overlap is there between antipsychotic, benzodiazepine and antidepressant withdrawal? This is the first of two posts covering these issues. All answers later this week in part two. For Antipsychotic Withdrawal - see also Carole's Story. I was prescribed olanzapine 20 mg in 2001, as a mood stabilizer, following the … [Read more...] about Olanzapine Withdrawal: Sally’s Story