Posted on 07/24/2004 5:40:58 PM PDT by neverdem
Umm... If the husband was depressed (aka suicidal) enough to take an anti-depressant drug, then he was depressed enough to harm himself, no? So, if anything, sue because the drug didn't work, but don't sue claiming that the drug caused the suicide. I mean, duh.
FINALLY, someone who GETS IT!!!
Of course you are right. Major Depression is an often fatal disease. The medicines are 65%-85% effective. The other 15%-35% get no relief, and the depression often then takes it normal course, which can on occasion lead to death by suicide.
Are they going to sue the antibiotic makers because people die of infections despite being on meds? (answer... yes if they can find crooked judges and get away with it!!)
This should get Bush quite a few votes if enacted.
Then that's an easy exception that should be written into the law.
One in Santa Barbara had that record. Forget the name. (Cottage as I recall)
If he gives pharmaceutical companies blanket immunity from suits, he'll lose my vote over it. I do not support frivilous law suits, but the courts are there to protect citizens as well. This issue needs to be brought more into balance, there's no denying it. Eliminating the right of redress of issues is no solution.
Thanks.
I would love to know what drug you are describing. I can think of only two drugs that were found to have such profound adverse effects after FDA approval was granted, thalidomide and DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide. BTW, if you're not pregnant, thalidomide can still be prescribed. There is now a more hurried process, justified by compassion, to decide whether or not drugs should be approved for some diagnoses like AIDS, when the prognosis is certain death. Otherwise, obtaining FDA approval is a very prolonged and laborious.
I doubt that any company attempting to defraud the FDA will be immune from criminal prosecution with appropriate sentencing for felons.
The whole commercial is a big scare-the-pants-off-you about the drug, then the end of the commercial says--"Do not stop taking any medication without consulting your doctor."
Heh. Could it be that we could go after the law firm for scaring people off their meds? Someone could see the commercial, stop taking their meds, then have some bad outcome. Wouldn't the law firm be liable for encouraging them to do exactly that?
This ad is beyond despicable, of course. I suspect it is directed at Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic drug that has revolutionized the therapy of previously untreatable cases of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Zyprexa in some patients greatly stimulates appetite, hence obesity, and hence possible adult diabetes.
I, too, had a horrible reaction to Paxil which I was taking to treat a colon problem. I work in the medical field and know that pharmaceutical companies provide a wonderful service, however, after taking this medication for only 2 months, I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin. I even felt like dying (literally) would be better than what I was feeling. It was at that point that I realized I needed to stop taking it. When I phoned my physician, I was told that I couldn't "just stop taking Paxil, people get suicidal when they do that". Wow, that was the first time I had been told that by anybody. So after a month of horrible side effects while titrating off of it, the suicidal thoughts, the crawling out of my skin feeling, itchiness, headaches, and the horrible realization that it had inflammed my joints, I felt better. I voted for President Bush, I still think he is a great president, however, I believe that in this act of siding with the pharmaceutical companies based upon FDA regulations, that he is stepping over the boundaries of our American right to protect ourselves from companies, any company, that might be doing harm to the public. There are too many documented cases of these reactions to drugs for FDA regulatory commissions not to step back and take a second look at the new "research" that has been handed to them without their even asking for it. The government should stay out of this one, because the individuals for whom they think they are continuing to provide medications for do not outweigh the growing number of individuals who are paying for this pharmaceutical problem with their lives.
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