Replies to '09/28 Overmedicating America: The Cruise Controversy'

Hi there, 

Just wondering how you contacted Michael Moore?  I am sure there are a few of us on here that would send follow up requests.  There needs to be more exposure and as much as I hate to admit it, it will most likely have to come down to being exposed through Hollywood.  The FDA is surely working slowly on telling the public more since the public advisory warning in July.  I thought that by giving this warning that the ball would start rolling at a better pace....once again I thought wrong :-).  How many more will have to suffer and die before they make more of a public statement?  So many think that these meds only have adverse effects for children, but they do for adults too.  Not that I see many stopping use due to the black box warnings.  Many times we think that we are invincible and can't be touched by that...because it only affects a small percentage right?  Wrong...sometimes I think the only way this will all be resolved is to follow the footsteps of the UK in phasing the meds out.  If a whole country is taking steps towards this isn't that enough 'proof' of the dangers?  Anyway, I was just looking for contact info if you have it and are willing to share.  Thank you for joining in taking a stand on this subject :-).  

That is funny because I also emailed Michael Moore the same thing. I haven't heard back from him so I might email him again, I know right now he is in the Gulf Coast helping victims of Katrina.  

mike@michaelmoore.com is an email address I haven't tried yet, but I did use a different one found on his website when I first emailed him. 

  

Maybe we should put together a joint email and send it from all of us on this board who are like-minded. If you want, email me at amyphilo@yahoo.com 

  

Here is the copy of the email I sent the first time: 

  

Dear Mr. Moore,   Last night as I was reading through The Antidepressant Fact Book by Peter R Breggin, M.D., it occurred to me that you might be interested in or willing to document the horrors of these drugs, such as Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Paxil and Luvox (and other psychiatric drugs).   The reason I thought of you was because I learned in this book that when the FDA and Ely Lilly researchers had some safety concerns early on, following the release of Prozac to the market, the FDA decided to help cover up the problems. They hid the fact that patients in the clinical trials had to be administered benzodiazepenes to counteract the manic, psychotic effects of Prozac. Why would the FDA do this? Ely Lilly had already invested millions into this drug, and George H.W. Bush, a former executive on the board of Ely Lilly was pressuring them to do so. Dan Quayle also had former company employees on his staff.   The administration allowed a dangerous drug, whose "side effects" have been hidden for years and whose efficacy has been overstated or fabricated, to stay on the market without requiring accurate warnings! Studies show that antidepressants are only marginally effective, or not effective at all, compared to placebo. This is true despite the fact that suicides, homicides, and other harmful effects are actually occurring in the antidepressant group but not in the placebo group. Drug makers disguise these side effects by lumping them into categories like "depression," "overdose," or "no effect," or by not mentioning them at all, excluding them because the patients dropped out of the trial due to the harmful effects.   In addition, once evidence starts to surface on the post-marketing adverse events on a drug, such as Prozac, newer drugs are introduced as though they are superior with fewer side effects and more efficacy. But this is not true. According to Breggin, these newer versions all work the same way and are perhaps stronger in their effect on the brain in terms of impacting serotonin. But there is no improved efficacy, only similar if not more severe harmful effects. That is why people take drugs like Luvox, Zoloft, and Celexa. Their doctors believe it to be better and safer when in fact they are probably more dangerous.   Here is an example: In 2001, as the Prozac patent was expiring, Ely Lilly attempted to market the mirror image or right-handed form of Prozac that was co-invented by Sepracor (a Marlboro drug firm). But the FDA denied the drug due to safety concerns including causing abnormal heart rhythms. However, the pre-release marketing that had already taken place for the "new Prozac" claimed that it was better because it did not have any of the serious side effects of the old Prozac, including akathisia, suicidal thoughts, and self-mutilation. If these serious side effects are ones the drug companies are willing to admit, just imagine how serious are the ones they hide!   I don't know how you feel about psychiatric meds in particular, but I have a good idea about your feelings for George H.W. Bush (and his little son), the Columbine shooters, school shootings, and corporate corruption.   My husband told me you are in the process of filming a documentary on the health care industry. I am curious if you are including any of these issues on psychiatry and off-label prescriptions in your film.   In addition to Eric Harris, who was on Luvox the whole year before the Columbine shootings and still had a therapeutic level in his body at death, Andrea Yates was on several psychiatric drugs, as well as the mother in Plano, Texas who killed her baby last year by cutting off her arms.   The list goes on.   I care about this issue for personal as well as societal & ethical reasons. I was injured by Zoloft and the off-label prescribing practices of my OB last year. I sought help from my doctor for anxiety and many physical symptoms including high blood pressure 6 days postpartum (this was July 2004). Within 3 days on Zoloft I was suicidal and homicidal and had to check myself into a psych ward for two days. There they didn't help me whatsoever, they just tried to administer additional drugs, and I refused. The only reason I was discharged so soon was because my husband threatened to call lawyers and contact the press if they didn't release me. I was told I was psychotic and had to agree to stay on Zoloft and take "parenting classes." I went through 3 months of treatment, counseling, and emotional trauma before deciding to stop Zoloft against my doctors' advice. Once I had withdrawn from Zoloft I began to improve and now I am able to live a normal life again.   My OB declined to test my thyroid at the 6 day visit (even though I asked for the test), but he had no problem giving me Zoloft samples (foil packets of drugs which do not include warnings). As it turned out, I insisted on the thryoid check at my 6 week follow up, and I actually had post-partum thyroiditis, which means hyperthyroidism followed by hypothyroidism and then a return to normal over several months (for me normal is the chronic hypothyroidism I've had for years, which my doctor already knew about when I was pregnant). Postpartum thyroiditis masks itself as Post-partum depresssion and has similar numbers of women affected as post-partum depression. I believe this may explain many of the cases of PPD, but goes undetected and untreated in most women.   There is evidence that SSRIs may cause permanent brain damage in the patient, and may also harm babies of pregnant or nursing mothers who take them. I would be happy to give you many details about all the statistics, names of people killed, etc. by these drugs.   I realize that you may not have heard about all the harmful effects, or may be skeptical or uninterested at this point, but there are many cases of people speaking out that might make for interesting movie material. For instance, Tom Cruise recently spoke out against the drugs, and people ridiculed him for his disbelief in the chemical imbalance theory. Our society believes the messages from the drug industry so strongly, and we are so overly resistant to finding out that we might be harming our own minds and bodies with ineffective drugs. On top of that, we don't want to admit that people can be made to kill themselves or others by the drug, such as in the recent Christopher Pittman case, which made news on 20/20 (I think that was the show). But we do seem to understand that people who are high on street drugs can be made to do these things. How horrible it is to force dangerous drugs on children and then hold them completely accountable for the effects!    In addition, Brooke Shields recently spoke out in favor of antidepressants, stating that her friend committed suicide while he was off his meds, and that she got worse when she stopped taking them for her PPD. But there is no proof that the drugs prevent suicide. There is evidence to the contrary that they increase it, even in previously non-depressed patients.   I would like to know if this is something you are interested in. I would like to help with the research and/or give ideas for situations to be documented if I am needed. I would be willing to appear in the film, although that is not my goal and not my reason for writing. Peter R. Breggin, psychiatrist and author of The Antidepressant Fact Book, has been the expert witness for many of the successful lawsuits against drug companies in murder, robbery, and product liability cases. There is a lot of information in his books documenting the enormous problems with these drugs, as well as proof of countless coverups he found during discovery while preparing for trials, and thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.   Here are a couple of websites that may explain some of these issues in greater detail, and I would be glad to provide additional personal info. or research stats I have learned of. http://www.drugawareness.org/   http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/sertral_wcp.htm (This link is the official list of side effects published with the dispensed drug Zoloft, but it does provide a few clues as to the actual side effects which are being downplayed.)   And here is the website of a father who lost his daughter to a Celexa-induced suicide in 2004. http://www.jamestorlakson.com/   I haven't yet decided if I will sue my doctors or Pfizer, though I am considering getting myself checked for heart problems that can be caused by the drugs, and I am wondering if I need to get my son checked out for brain or health problems he could have from nursing while I was taking Zoloft.   The message I want to get out is that these drugs are a sham and cause pain and suffering, murder, suicide, and many other health problems. I wish I had been aware of the dangers prior to taking them, or that my doctor had been willing to tell me about them. When I asked about side effects or implications for the baby, he said "It will make him happy too."    Sometimes you have to learn the hard way, but so many people are suffering because of them and never considering getting off of them. They usually end up on multiple drugs, at high doses, and never recover - case in point, Andrea Yates.   I hope to hear from you regarding this topic and I am looking forward to your next film. By the way, Fahrenheit 9/11 was the first movie my little newborn son ever went to with me!     Amy Philo