The FDA Guerillas of Wonky DrugWonks - Part I

"The London-based BMJ, formerly called the British Medical Journal, did not retract its contention that the documents show the antidepressant is linked to increased risk of suicide or violence. All we have retracted is the statement that these documents went missing."

Pharmalot’s pg, posted quotes from Lilly documents in a May 9, blog, from exhibits in a Prozac trial presented to the jury in a timeline to show that Lilly knew Prozac caused patients to become violent or suicidal long before the drug was approved in 1988. For example, a May 1984 document states: “During the treatment with the preparation (Prozac) 16 suicide attempts were made, 2 of these with success. As patients with a risk of suicide were excluded from the studies, it is probable that this high proportion can be attributed to an action of the preparation (Prozac) . . .”

In a May 7, Pharmalot blog, Mr Pitts complained that the Slate article did not mention issues he raised about media coverage of the SSRI debate during an interview with one of the journalists. “A robust debate on the SSRI issue is very important,” he wrote. “Trying to stifle debate by personal attacks just shows a lack of intellectual rigor — and cowardice,” he said.

Pharmalot’s pg, responded to this charge by writing, “Personal Attacks - a Few Examples?” with links to 5 blogs on DrugWonks. In a May 8 blog, pg, posted this example: “…Where will Healy, David Graham and the rest go to wash the blood off their hands? And will the FDA do the right thing and stop handing black boxes out to protect themselves from Senator Grassley and the press?”

Attacks of this kind are posted all over DrugWonks, as part of a PR campaign to restart the mass sale of SSRIs to children obviously. The claim is that the black box suicide warning is causing all these kids to kill themselves because doctors are afraid to prescribe the drugs to depressed kids, and the persons who fought to add the warning are responsible for the deaths.

After reading the blogs written by Mr Pitts and Mr Goldberg, Pharmalot’s Eskimo wrote: “Mr. Pitts, looking at all those posts on drugwonks.com, I couldn’t tell who was making the personal attacks, the “kooks” and the “document stealers” or the site’s authors who label them that way.”

On May 8, in a blog with the DrugWonks headline, “Slate ‘n Slime,” Mr Goldberg wrote: “Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer did a smear job on Peter and Dr. Fred Goodwin in Slate”. He also stated:

“Drugwonks rarely expects other bloggers to focus on substance . Rather, we are flogged for the source of our contributions as if others uncovered a corrupt connection instead of the truth, which is that we proactively provided information.”

In the same blog, Mr Goldberg later wrote: “we will do what ever it takes, including legal action, when facts are deliberately omitted, misrepresented and distorted and then willfully repeated to set the records straight.”

“We are aware that our critics don't have the intellectual bandwidth or the maturity to actually engage on the issues or respectfully disagree or debate,” he said. “Still we expect accuracy and for others to provide some context even as they take their shots as they are entitled to in a free society.”

The next day in a Pharmalot blog, Jane reported that: “drugwonks changed their article - it orginally was titled “Slime-alot, Slime a lttile then ignore the real issues” and threatened to sue Ed.” That would be the Ed Silverman who runs Pharmalot.

In response to DrugWonks blogs accusing critics of lacking intellectual bandwidth and being immature, several Pharmalot bloggers simply pasted more links to more blogs written by Mr Goldberg and Mr Pitts on DrugWonks. But a May 9 blog from pg stated: “Woah Mr Pitts. What a shame you sold YOUR intellectual bandwidth (and your integrity) out to the pharmaceutical industry.”

In the end, the war ignited by “Prozac Nation” would rage on for weeks. Finally, on May 27, 2008, under a heading, “Disturbing Behavior,” Mr Goldberg claimed that he and Mr Pitts had gotten a taste of what others were subjected to on a regular basis, described as:

“abuse from out-of-control and obsessive hatemongers who receive succor and support -- or at the very least -- uncritical coverage by the media as the fail to engage on the substance of issues and instead attack motives and indulge in misleading and distorted use of selective reporting.”

“Our willingness to challenge those who have been responsible for scaring people from using antidepressants have diverted attention away from the consequences of a decrease in use with blind fury,” he said, “moving from antidepressants to antipsychotics without regard to the original argument or point, harping instead on funding sources with an obsession that reveals a lack of intellectual bandwidth and genuine hatred that borders on the personal.”

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