The European Union is warning its member nations and their physicians about the increased suicide risk from patients taking a popular anti-depressant drug known as Seroxat. This drug is said to increase the risk of suicide in young adults, and it is currently being taken by as many as 800,000 people in the UK alone.
The European regulatory agency covering drugs is now issuing a warning to all member nations and recommending that the drug be prescribed with caution to people under the age of 30, noting that "there is a possibility of an increased risk of suicide-related behavior in young adults."
The maker of this drug is U.S. pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, a company that is now facing fraud charges in the United States for concealing information from the FDA about the links between its drugs and suicidal behavior in children. GlaxoSmithKline, of course, denies that its drug causes increased suicides. However, observers who have been watching anti-depressant drugs for several years, such as myself, have noted that, in general, SSRI drugs are frequently linked to violent behavior such as the Columbine massacre in the United States, which was perpetrated by students who were taking anti-depressant drugs.
What's most interesting about this news, however, is the fact that while European countries and doctors are being warned about the suicide risk associated with this drug, in the United States the FDA remains silent on the issue, appearing to be protecting the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of public health. Even when faced with the evidence that GlaxoSmithKline had been concealing negative studies showing this increased risk, the FDA has refused to take any action in terms of banning the drug or requiring stronger labeling to warn doctors about this potential risk.
Clearly this is yet another case where the FDA is looking out for the interests of the pharmaceutical industry -- an industry that it is supposed to be regulating, not promoting. None of this is surprising, however. It is the kind of behavior that is consistent with the position and behavior of the FDA -- an agency that should quite frankly be gutted and its directors prosecuted by the FBI for crimes against the American public.
About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a successful software entrepreneur, having founded a well known email marketing software company whose technology currently powers the NaturalNews email newsletters. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
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