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Originally published July 22 2004

Syndicated news services lie about antidepressant drugs with blatantly misleading headlines

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

When a major study reveals that antidepressant drugs quadruple a person's risk of committing suicide, and when that study is backed by an analysis of three million patient records covering four SSRIs like Paxil and Prozac, a reasonable person can only draw one conclusion: these drugs tend to cause people to commit suicide. The research shows it: a 400% increase across the board.

But some journalists don't see it that way. This news story from the AFP syndicated news service headlines with, "No increased suicide risk seen with SSRIs: study." The rest of this highly-selective story goes on to explain that since all four antidepressants were equal in their increased risk of suicides, there is "no increased risk." Funny math, huh? The story wholly fails to mention the 400% increase in suicides found for all four antidepressant drugs.

The purpose of this sort of journalism is, of course, to mislead readers and make them think that SSRIs are perfectly safe. It isn't really journalism, actually: it's just an infomercial for the drug companies and a blatant attempt to spin news in a way that distorts the truth. Sadly, this is becoming standard fare in the popular press these days.

A reasonable person can only wonder who's behind this particular story. Was the journalist bought off by the drug companies? Is the wire service partially owned by a major pharmaceutical company? Are drug companies big advertisers on their content network? What's the financial relationship that could cause a journalist to concoct such a distorted story that grossly misleads readers?

I don't have the answers to these questions, but there's little doubt that if you follow the money, you'll find the answers.


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