#4: “But Paxil Saved My Life”
March 15th, 2001. (Basic Facts – continued)
If Paxil saved your life, that’s wonderful. But please spare me the hate mail telling me what a jerk I am for giving Paxil such a bad rap. I have no desire to extinguish anyone’s neurochemical happiness. But I do not and will not hide the fact that I am angry about the injustice that I and thousands of others have experienced because of the deliberately deceptive, unethical practices of GlaxoSmithKline — the practices that have left the medical community mis-informed and uninformed as to the full and potential effects of paroxetine withdrawal.
In order to make their billions of dollars in profits from this drug, GlaxoSmithKline, by not being upfront about the potential effects of paroxetine, essentially lied to the FDA to get approval for Paxil and then continued to perpetuate that lie by hiding the information they had about the full effects of Paxil withdrawal from the medical community.
(Oct. 2006: Here it is five years later, and the wonderful people at GlaxoSmithKline are still up to no good. They are making so much money off Paxil, they can afford to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and still make a profiit. An informative article in The Scoop reads: “A limited review of the company’s involvement in the legal system over just the last five years reveals a clear pattern of habitual corruption. However, although Glaxo has paid billions of dollars in accumulated fines, penalties and awards to plaintiffs in civil cases, not one company official has been arrested and charged with a crime.” The power of a corporation like GSK is incredible. Making billions of dollars every year off Paxil allows them to get away with murder. They can afford it.)
When I first took Paxil, it did help. But when the time came to stop taking it, I suffered through the worst hell of my life — and all of it could have been prevented had GlaxoSmithKline told the truth from the start.
So if Paxil saved your life, good for you. If you want or need to take Paxil for the rest of your life, I’m not trying to talk you out of it. But not all of us who have taken this drug wanted or needed to be on it for the rest of our lives, and when the time came to stop taking it, many of us were completely unprepared for what happened to us. Glaxo SmithKline, who knew about the possible withdrawal effects of paroxetine, deliberately withheld that information so as to maintain their annual profit margins — an action that demonstrates disregard for the health and well-being of the thousands of people who have taken this drug and who, because of the horrendous withdrawal effects, have suffered through a neurological and psychological trauma worse than almost anything they would have experienced had they never been prescribed Paxil in the first place.
One of the objectives of this blog is to inform the public of the unethical practices of GlaxoSmithKline. Perhaps someone or some group with the means to address the public on this issue — and to make it a public issue — will become aware of what is happening and begin to take action to prevent this injustice from continuing.
I know I’m repeating myself, but it’s worth repeating: Paxil is causing the suffering of thousands of people because of the deliberate mis-information perpetuated by GlaxoSmithKline which is then passed on to professionals within the medical community.
Here’s a long email I received which I think does a good job of illustrating this point:
I had an appointment with my doctor today, and I must say we had an excellent conversation. He asked how I was doing, and I explained I’ve cut down to 10mg [of Paxil]. He asked how I was feeling, and I told him about the zaps. He indicated that he has a few other patients on Paxil and they also have been complaining about this zap problem. He indicated he was perplexed and asked them all to explain what the zap symptoms felt like. They all used the same analogy. He asked them if they learned this somewhere, like on the internet. Everyone said no, and that this was the only way they could describe the feeling. Interesting! I now have validity to my claim. I then asked him, “Where do you actually get your information on these drugs you prescribe?” We all know the answer to this one: The pharmaceutical salesman. I asked why he would take a salesman’s word, who is only looking to make the sale, rather than research the drugs himself via medical journals, independent testing, etc.
He then stated, “When do you think I would have time to do this? I rely totally on the information the pharmaceutical sales people provide; that’s their job.” I understand this, as many of these physicians just don’t have the time anymore. Patient loads, surgery, hospital rounds, etc. They, or many I know, really do have hectic schedules. I was in the medical industry for over 15 years, my wife is a nurse, and I have good friends who are physicians. Therefore, I don’t necessarily blame the doctors here. I blame the money-hungry pharmaceutical reps.
There is a code in this industry which is going by the wayside. Information should be shared — honestly! This is no longer happening. Money and profits take priority, not information.
My doctor knows I research the internet extensively; this is why we can have an intelligent conversation.
Our conversation then turned to the FDA. He agreed they don’t validate the claims made by the pharmaceutical companies, and that FDA applications and approvals rely in large part on an “honour system.” However, the penalties are great if falsified statements are found. He also indicated, here in Canada, we have our own regulatory board who have been under pressure lately about this very same thing by the medical community. Apparently, our medical community is seeking funding from our government to actually confirm any reports submitted by the pharmaceutical companies, before a drug can be administered for sale in this great country. So there’s hope yet.
We began a discussion on how the American pharmaceutical companies take advantage of lax advertising laws, and promote, gung ho, all drugs for all ailments, including the new Sarefem for PMDD. He agreed that it’s Prozac with a feminine name and that PMDD has been around for eons. Now there is PMDD “epidemic” — thanks to our advertising agencies. We never had this problem before Sarefem was advertised.
Then our conversation turned on Paxil. Well, good news, folks: a generic brand of Paxil is now in the works as GlaxoSmithKline’s exclusivity ran out this month. This is why my doctor’s shelf, as well as other physicians’ shelves, are now empty of the “free samples.” Why? Because it doesn’t matter what the physician writes on this little Rx pad — the pharmacy is going to suggest the generic. Ahhhh, poor GlaxoSmithKline. They won’t be providing free candy samples to the doctors, because they don’t benefit from it anymore. This is another reason liquid Paxil is not available in Canada. GlaxoSmithKline knew their patent on Paxil was going to run out soon and therefore didn’t want to spend all that money in getting it approved in Canada. Ahhh, can’t you just shed a tear for GlaxoSmithKline.
I went to the pharmacist with my Rx for Paxil, and when I met the nice pharmacist, I indicated I “needed my fix” because my head was zapping and floating from the withdrawal, and I needed that fix now. The pharmacist thought I was joking. I then asked her where she get’s her information from — and you know the answer: The pharmaceutical rep. I couldn’t help it; I just had to do this. “Have you ever heard of anyone experiencing withdrawal from Paxil?” I asked. “No,” she said. I then asked her if anyone complained about “side effects”? She indicated “very few.”
I asked, “If you would put it into a percentage, what would you say?”
She said, “About less then 1%.”
Well that was it, I was on her like stink on shit. “How about 78 to 84%!” She asked me where I obtained this information from, and I began reciting professional medical sites and independent test results from various sources on the internet. She looked at me like I was a kook. I told her I wasn’t surprised by her lack of response. Hell, I’m just a layman; she’s the pharmacist. I told her, “If you don’t believe me, then just do a little research yourself.” She apologized, then asked what I was experiencing. I told her, and she thanked me for giving her some valuable insight. Really!
Well, needless to say, I had a wonderful day, despite the zaps, dizziness, floating, lightheadedness, squeaky eyes — you know, the usual. I took my 10mg of Paxil at 6:00pm. It’s now 11:30pm and I’m getting sleepy. Finally!
I’m still feeling some zapage, but not as much. Here’s hoping the morning will see me refreshed, and zapless.