Posted on 01/28/2004 9:48:25 PM PST by neverdem
Makers of popular antidepressants such as Paxil, Zoloft and Effexor have refused to disclose the details of most clinical trials involving depressed children, denying doctors and parents crucial evidence as they weigh fresh fears that such medicines may cause some children to become suicidal.
The companies say the studies are trade secrets. Researchers familiar with the unpublished data said the majority of secret trials show that children taking the medicines did not get any better than children taking dummy pills.
Although the drug industry's practice of suppressing data unfavorable to its products is legal, doctors and advocates say such secrecy distorts the scientific record.
"Conflicts of interest and the company control of the data have thrown out the scientific method," said Vera Hassner Sharav, a critic of the drugs and a patients' rights advocate. "If hundreds of trials don't work out, they don't publish them, they don't talk about them."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
That's nice to know.
Whatever law firm gets its claws onto this super-lawsuit will be super-rich a few years down the road.
I predict the SSRI lawsuits will be bigger than the Big Tobacco lawsuits.
By the time they hit the fan, at least 2 major pharmacorps will have bit the same dust as Enron, MCI, Arthur Anderson, etc.
If they pay for the results of their research with only their own money, no gov't funding, they can use the results as they see fit.
I want to know WHEN they first learned this, and I want to know the % of kids affected.
My son became suicidal on paxil. He was being treated for anxiety. If the company knew from the beginning that suicide attempts happen in 1 or 2% of kids...I would have probably accepted that risk for my son. But if it were 10%, 20%, etc., I should have been given that info explicitly and been able to make a more informed decision.
Nothing's perfect in this world, neither the pharmaceutical industry nor Psychiatry, which has been described as one of the least advanced of the branches of Medicine. The issue of whether these SSRIs increase the risk of suicide versus depressed patients are more inclined to commit suicide has not been resolved.
Yes, in some cases, your point is valid. In other cases, the problem seems to be with agitation. That particular side effect seems to be a precursor to the suicide attempts.
My son was not depressed in the slightest. But after several weeks on paxil, and 3 days after a dosage increase, he became restless.
He is more stressed, in general, at school than at home. One Thursday, 3 days after a dosage increase, he was on a field trip and was acting very restless. His teacher mentioned that to my husband (the teacher knew about the meds).
I was aware enough to send a note to the teacher the next morning asking her to please give me all the details she could. I told her that I wanted to evaluate whether this was something I ought to contact his Dr about. She didn't respond. I found out later that she planned to call me, thinking she could explain better that way than in writing.
That weekend I watched my son and he seemed fine. On Monday morning, at school, he was trying to kill himself. Not only was he experiencing physical agitation, but his thought process was involved too. I would term him as manic at that point.
When it is your 9 year old son, attempting suicide while in a classroom of 25 other kids, and spending two weeks in a psychiatric facility, you might change your mind.
If they want to sell a product, they should have to disclose all the reliable information they have. We cannot make informed decisions any other way. Can a company sell toasters when they know that every 10th one will blow up?
If they can sell it, shouldn't you know that blowing up is a possibility before you buy it?
I'm afraid our therapeutic culture and nanny state, between teachers who can't cope and Child Protective Services, not to mention hapless parents and kids that truly are not normal, has society wanting, and even forcing, better living through chemistry.
A parent who has a child that:
stays up late worrying that he is going to die.
gets up 2 hours early because he's afraid he'll miss the bus
experiences a panic attack over the thought of detention (and would rather pay off 3 kids who are threatening to tell on him)
Is deathly afraid of heights (which means no ballgames, amusement parks, most museums, etc)
is so afraid he'll miss the bus going home that he forgets most of what he needs for homework (and then worries that he'll get detention because he doesn't have his homework)
goes into a tailspin because of a change in routine
worries that we are broke because we like to buy things on sale
doesn't like to leave the house at night because he's afraid we'll get lost
watches the gas gauge and badgers her if the needle is past half empty
would rather not to go to Disney World simply because it is a place he's never been before
is terrified of stupid, dressed up characters
gets increasing frightened watching dad pack the car for vacation, certain that "too much stuff" will make us crash and die
will not get on an airplane
is afraid of long car trips because we might crash out in the middle of nowhere and no one would save us.
I can go on. But, in short, the type of parent who would give her child these medications, just might, be a parent who is absolutely heartbroken because her son lacks the ability to really enjoy anything because he's too scared.
Trivial? To you, maybe. Anxiety IS this child's whole life. It affects his health, his schoolwork, his social relationships, any recreational activity, my younger son was learning to become fearful, any medical appt of any kind is a nightmare.
You think we coddle him? Think again. He's been forced up stairs, screaming all the way. Held down for shots and taken on vacations. We've deliberately gotten lost, made him miss the bus, etc. all in an effort to show him, "see, it's not as bad as you thought it was." The "next time" is just as scary for him as the first. Join the scouts? ROFL!! Life is just so simple for you. By the way, we did that too.
ALL those fears are just the ones he experienced in the few months before we started the meds. He took paxil for about 3 weeks. They certainly were NOT side effects.
As long as the drug company didn't withhold relevant information, I am satisfied that I did the best I could for my child. I accept that there is nothing further I can do for him. He'll either learn to live with it, or he'll kill himself over it. Either way, I have done EVERYTHING I could do to help him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.