July 24, 2007 at 07:35:38

CDC Downplays Birth Defects of SSRIs to Boost Sales

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Evelyn Pringle (about the author) Page 2 of 5 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

In light of this clear lack of efficacy, it should be noted that as early as August 2004, the FDA label for SSRIs warned that "anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia (psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants for major depressive disorder as well as for other indications, both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric"

According to one of the world's leading experts on SSRIs, Dr Peter Breggin, author of The Antidepressant Fact Book, "few physicians realize that meta-analyses have shown that antidepressants work no better than placebo at lifting depression."

So in the case of pregnant women he says, "The risk/benefit ration weighs a placebo effect against increased parental suicide and violence, and babies with congenital defects, babies undergoing withdrawal reactions, and babies whose brains have been forever changed by being soaked in SSRIs during their development."

Dr Breggin also notes that the NEMJ researchers failed to consider the serious withdrawal reaction in newborns and the potentially disastrous consequences of SSRI use by pregnant women. "Withdrawal reactions confirm that the brain of the fetus has been bathed in SSRIs and that it has suffered significant functional changes," he warns.

"It should be no surprise that it is not good to bath the growing brain in toxic drugs like SSRIs," he says, "because serotonin is intimately involved in the development of the brain in utero and SSRIs inhibit normal brain cell development."

Experts say, SSRI use creates an unnecessary risk for fetus. Dr David Healy, another leading authority on SSRIs, and the author of "The Creation of Psychopharmacology," and "The Antidepressant Era," says, "the overwhelming majority of women who are prescribed SSRIs are at little or no risk for suicide or other adverse outcomes from their nervous state."

He points out that every pregnant woman may have symptoms of depression such as anxiety, disturbed sleep, fatigue, or a loss of interest in sex. "But having depressive symptoms and being depressed are two different things," he states.

Dr Healy also notes the lack of efficacy shown with SSRIs, and says the risks of the neonatal withdrawal syndrome and serious birth defects to the infant far outweigh any benefits of their use by expectant mothers.

Houston Attorney, Robert S Kwok is outraged by the new campaign to promote the use of SSRI with pregnant women. "It's ludicrous to think a woman is at greater risk of depression during her pregnancy and should take antidepressants despite the proven risk to her developing fetus," he states, "yet physician "opinion leaders" with industry ties are actively trying to convince doctors and patients of just that."

Mr Kwok represents the family of Gavin Shore, a baby born with a severe cardiac defect known as Shone's Anomaly after his mother was prescribed the SSRI Celexa during pregnancy and says Gavin's mother was not warned that taking an SSRI could double the risk of her baby being born with a severe heart defect.

Although some of the reports citing the NEMJ studies in media mentioned that Glaxo money was involved in funding the CDC study, most neglected to mention the financial contributions of the other drug companies for the study, or the steady stream of drug money that flows to the medical facilities and researchers involved in the studies.

When combined, the named universities, hospitals and researchers involved have received money from Lilly, Pfizer, Wyeth, Glaxo, Aventis, Sanofi Pasteur, and the 3 companies that make generic versions of SSRIs.

The CDC study lists Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital as participating and the Harvard Medical School receives nearly 25% of its funding from non-government sources, including nearly $3.5 million from Aventis Pharmaceuticals, $2.5 million from Bristol-Myers Squibb, and $2.1 million from Merck, according to an April 12, 2006 report in The Phoenix.

In addition, The Phoenix noted, SEC filings showed Harvard stock holdings of $16 million with Merck, $8 million of Bristol Myers Squibb, $34 million of Johnson & Johnson, and $33 million of Pfizer.

In one NEJM study, Dr Jan Friedman reported receiving honoraria for consulting from I3 Research, which is actually a huge conglomerate of "research" firms with names that begin with i3. The April 12, 2006 Phoenix reported that a firm called i3 Innovus, which co-authored 16 medical-journal articles in 2005, "provides integrated scientific strategies and solutions throughout the pharmaceutical product lifecycle."

The Phoenix also noted that this i3 firm had a Boston office for its vice-president of US operations, Milton Weinstein, who also happened to be a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5