THE INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR DRUG AWARENESS
www.drugawarness.org
Friday, July 1, 2005, the FDA issued strong warnings about the
dangers of antidepressants and increased risk of suicide. But we need
to ask if their warning has gone quite far enough and how many have
needlessly lost their lives to these drug in the interim due to the
lack of any warning?
By way of introduction I am Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D.,
Executive Director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness.
I am the author of Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? – Our
Serotonin Nightmare. The last 15 years of my life have been
devoted full time to researching and writing about
SSRI antidepressants. For 13 1/2 years I have testified and consulted
as an expert witness in cases involving antidepressants. Some of the
more high profile cases being: comedian Phil Hartman's murder/suicide,
Columbine, Red Lake and other school shootings, the Atlanta Day Trader
shooting and many other workplace violence incidents in which
antidepressants were involved. In September of 1991 and again in
February and September of 2004 I testified before the
FDA Advisory Committee on this issue.
The simple fact is that when LSD goes into the brain it mimics the
neurotransmitter, serotonin. Antidepressants work by impairing one's
ability to metabolize serotonin so that over time the level of
serotonin begins to rise. So why are we surprised when we see those on
antidepressants doing things we would expect to see from someone on LSD?
For many decades now medical research has shown that impairing
serotonin metabolism will produce migraines, hot flashes, pains around
the heart, difficulty breathing, a worsening of bronchial complaints,
tension and anxiety which appear from out of nowhere, depression, suicide –
especially very violent suicide, hostility, violent crime, arson,
substance abuse, psychosis, mania, organic brain disease, autism, anorexia,
reckless driving, Alzheimer's, impulsive behavior with no concern for
punishment, and argumentative behavior.
How anyone ever thought it would be "therapeutic" to
chemically induce these reactions is beyond me. Yet, these reactions
are exactly what we have witnessed in our society over the past two
decades as a result of the widespread use of these drugs. Why does the
FDA expect us to wait until "more definitive information"
than what we already have "becomes available?"
Can you remember when over two decades ago depressed people used to
slip away quietly to kill themselves rather than killing everyone around
them and then themselves as they do while taking SSRI antidepressants?
A study out of the University of Southern California in 1996 looked
at a group of mutant mice in an experiment that had gone terribly wrong.
These genetically engineered mice were the most violent creatures they
had ever witnessed. They were born lacking the MAO-A enzyme which
metabolizes serotonin. As a result their brains were awash in serotonin.
This excess serotonin is what the researchers determined was the cause
for this extreme violence. Antidepressants produce the same end result
as they inhibit the metabolism of serotonin.
These are extremely dangerous drugs that should be banned as similar
drugs have been banned in the past. They should be placed in the same
classification as PCP, a dissociative anesthetic.
As a society we once thought LSD and PCP to be miracle medications
with large margins of safety in humans. We have never seen drugs so
similar to LSD and PCP as these SSRI antidepressants. All of these drugs
produce dreaming during periods of wakefulness. It is believed that the
high serotonin levels over stimulate the brain stem leading to a lack
of muscle paralysis during the sleep state thus allowing the patient to
act out the dreams or nightmares they are having. The world witnessed
that clearly in the Zoloft-induced murder-suicide of comedian
Phil Hartman and his wife, Brynn. (And for those who may not be aware,
the wrongful death suit for their parents was settled by Pfizer on
behalf of Sean and Birgen Hartman.)
Connecticut witnessed the Prozac-induced case of Kelly Silk several
years ago. This young mother attacked her family with a knife, then set
the house on fire killing all but her 8 year old daughter who ran to the
neighbors. As she stood bleeding and screaming for help she explained,
"Help! My mommy is having a nightmare!"
Out of the mouths of babes we will understand these nightmares for
what they are. She understood that this was something her mother would
do ONLY in a nightmare, never in reality.
This is known as a REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. In the past it was
known mainly as a drug withdrawal state, but the largest sleep facility
in the country has reported that 86% of the cases they are diagnosing
are patients currently taking antidepressants.
Because this was known in the past as a condition manifesting mainly
in drug withdrawal you can see how dangerous the withdrawal state from
these drugs will prove to be. That is why it is so critical to make
sure patients are weaned EXTREMELY slowly so as to avoid ANY chance of
going into a withdrawal state.
For additional information go to
www.drugawareness.org where
you can find a wealth of information.
Find below, for your information, the FDA testimony of Mark Taylor,
the first boy shot at Columbine, given in September, 2004.
Mark Taylor's September 13, 2004 to the FDA (first boy shot at
Columbine High School)
I am Mark Allen Taylor and I am a victim of the SSRI antidepressant
era. I took six to thirteen bullets in the heart area in the
Columbine High School shooting when Eric Harris on Luvox opened fire
that now infamous day.
They almost had to amputate my leg and my arm. My heart missed by
only one millimeter. I had three surgeries. Five years later I am still
recuperating.
I went through all this to realize that SSRI antidepressants are
dangerous for those who take them and for all those who associate with
those who take them.
I hope that my testimony today shows you that you need to take action
immediately before more innocent people like me, and you, do not get
hurt or die horrible deaths as a result.
As Americans we should have the right to feel safe and if you were
doing your job we would be safe. Why are we worrying about terrorists
in other countries when the pharmaceutical companies have proven to be
our biggest terrorists by releasing these drugs on an unsuspecting
public?
How are we supposed to feel safe at school, at home, on the street,
at church or anywhere else if we cannot trust the FDA to do what we are
paying you to do? Where were you when I and all of my classmates got
shot at Columbine?
You say that antidepressants are effective. So why did they not
help Eric Harris before he shot me?
According to Eric they "helped" him to feel homicidal and
suicidal after only six weeks on Zoloft. And then he said that
dropping off Luvox cold turkey would help him "fuel the rage"
he needed to shoot everyone. But he continued on Luvox and shot us
all anyway.
So, why did these so called antidepressants not make him better?
I will tell you why. It is because they do not work.
We should consider antidepressants to be accomplices to murder.
