This Prize is part of a two-pronged attack on the unwillingness of the medical and regulatory establishments to listen to people with adverse events in general - not just the sexual dysfunctions mentioned here. The second front in the attack will be unveiled in a few weeks' time. The problem The idea for a RxISK Prize began with our involvement with sufferers from Post-SSRI … [Read more...] about Launching the RxISK Prize
Acne drugs
Prescription for Murder ABCD
If you look at the adverse events section of the sertraline - Zoloft - label you will see in small print that sertraline has been linked to psychosis, hallucinations and aggressive reactions. Its there in small print. These links have been there since the mid-1990s. Vanishingly few doctors understand what is going on here. They see a label saying something … [Read more...] about Prescription for Murder ABCD
What a Surprise: RxISK taking entrepreneurs
It is worth wading through some slow moving stuff at the start of this post to get to the juicy bits. The Things Drugs Do Drugs do things. Company marketing divides these things into the one good thing the company wants you to focus on - good for a company bottom-line and the ninety-nine other "side effects" that we are doing our best to minimize. This issue came up in … [Read more...] about What a Surprise: RxISK taking entrepreneurs
Drug Wrecked: Where Does Change Come From?
Editorial Note: There are two elements to RxISK. One is identifying adverse events in order to keep people safe and to widen our knowledge about what drugs do. But just as important is taking on a power structure that some of us get a glimpse of when we raise the possibility of an adverse event and our doctors dismiss us, or get nasty, and close ranks. The idea behind a … [Read more...] about Drug Wrecked: Where Does Change Come From?
You’ll Come a Taltzing Matilda with Me
Editorial Note: This post links to Are you Aware that Siliq causes Suicide and Otezla: Birth Defects and Suicide. Pharma companies have a great deal of skin in the dermatology game at the moment - perhaps more than in any other area of medicine. Taltz, aka ixekizumab, is yet another new drug for psoriasis. Others include Cosentyx aka secukinumab, and Stelara, aka … [Read more...] about You’ll Come a Taltzing Matilda with Me
Otezla: Birth Defects and Suicide
We've been here before - a woman in come hither mode or able to plunge into come hither mode at a moment's notice without the worry of being compromised by a minor skin blemish just below her hairline. See Stacy London and Welcome to Troy. AbbVie pioneered advertising like this for Humira, a hugely costly and highly dangerous drug. Humira can be very useful for some severe … [Read more...] about Otezla: Birth Defects and Suicide
Roche and The Perfect Circle
Editorial Note: This is part 2 of the post by Heather and David Roberts - See RoAccutane and The Perfect Circle. Ever since in 2012 our son Olly died after using it, we have tried to learn what it does to the body and the mind. For the most terrifying thing about it, apart from the teratogenic damage to unborn babies, is that it can seriously, and we feel irreversibly, affect … [Read more...] about Roche and The Perfect Circle
RoAccutane and the Perfect Circle
Editorial Note: This post by Heather and David Roberts is about their son Olly and the struggles he and they had with the health system, acne and its treatments. Our son Olly had RoAccutane prescribed for him aged 21, getting ready to celebrate his birthday at Bristol University and wanting to look his best. He was studying Biological Sciences. His results from his first year … [Read more...] about RoAccutane and the Perfect Circle
DRESS Syndrome: No Way to Treat a Lady
Black out Five minutes into yoga class, my sixteen year old daughter Hannah blacked out. Her face, white as a ghost. When she came to, she said she couldn’t see. Her pulse was almost nothing, and panic set in. I ran to my car to grab my phone and dial the infectious disease doctor Hannah had recently seen about an allergic reaction to a commonly prescribed antibiotic acne drug … [Read more...] about DRESS Syndrome: No Way to Treat a Lady
Becoming Suicidal on an Antibiotic
Editorial Note: The last post on Lariam and suicide mentioned an alternate treatment for malaria prophylaxis - doxycycline. Doxycycline is not without its problems. It can cause suicide - Suicide is Painless. It and other tetracycline antibiotics can also cause sexual dysfunction including enduring post-treatment sexual dysfunction - makes you wonder if they also inhibit … [Read more...] about Becoming Suicidal on an Antibiotic