Showing posts with label FDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FDA. Show all posts

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Death, Destruction, Lies, Deceit, Bribes, Corruption

All the makings of a good movie or a great novel? Where do you think writers get their inspiration? I say one week as a fly on the wall inside Big Pharma would give them enough material for a lifetime!

Big Pharma execs and attorneys themselves would make the best authors and screen writers. Not only do the have the knowledge of all of these vile events (and many more) but think of the imagination and forward thinking they must also posses.

From a business standpoint, it is almost admirable and awe-inspiring; the way Big Pharma controls the industry and the world to protect their cash cows. I said almost - if it wasn't for the fact that these loathsome and wicked acts are all too real. People become very creative when it comes to money; and money, of course, is what fuels this hideous beast known as Big Pharma. It stretches out like a multi-tentacled monster controlling, altering or completely blocking every harpoon hurled its direction. Money causes and in-turn enables the beast to infiltrate everywhere, everyone and everything.

Imagine fighting an opponent that knows your next move even before you do. That has anticipated every path that you may use to harm it and has closed those paths down. That has intertwined itself and infiltrated every mean with which you may hope to get any form of a victory.

Yes the beast has thought of that. Whether you are looking for the ultimate goal of destruction, some sort of recourse or just some honest answers from it, the road blocks are already in place.

The beast’s tentacles reach from the White House to your house and everywhere in-between. To the news media, to your government officials, to the school systems, to your doctors, to your pharmacists and to your medicine cabinet. Plus many of its tentacles have off spring that bi-furcate to perform double duty.

The tentacle that encases the FDA, for example comes in the front door promising miracle drugs and a better way of life while, at the same time, coming in the back with inaccurate test results, threats and bribes. The FDA is being used! They are a front for drug dealers with more cash to go around than any third world cartel ever had. If anyone questions Big Pharma, the FDA has placed itself to protect them and even take the fall if need be. Like some over zealous secret service agent taking one for the president they stand between anyone who would dare threaten their leader. Big Pharma just produces it. All the FDA has to do is approve it for use and be the front man. Forget the fact that approval was based on incorrect reporting of the facts; that many members of the FDA have ties that should be considered a conflict of interest or that Big Pharma is paying for all this! Big Pharma runs the FDA. It's no secret. All it takes is money.

The tentacles have a grip on modern medicine too. Not just psychiatry either. We're talking about general practitioners, nurse practitioners and counselors who have all been empowered with mind altering psychotics. There are also the drug distributors, drug reps, salespeople, and pharmacists too. Big Pharma has everything from free lunches and promotional material to cash for prescribing their products more. They hide the truth with false reports, fixed studies, mislabeling of adverse reactions and non-reporting of negative test results. They also use their influence with the FDA and clever advertising to create the perceived need for every person to take their drugs. Most anyone who goes to the doctor today will walk out with "FREE SAMPLES" of the SSRI Antidepressant of the doctors choosing (in other words the one that has courted and wooed the doctor the most in any manner necessary).

How convenient for them to market a drug labeled "Anti-Depressants" that actually cause depression! They also cause a large number of other horrific side effects such as suicide, homicide, diabetes, heart disease, mania and akethisia! The purported cure is making us sick! Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) Anti-Depressants by definition and by Big Pharma's own admittance raise levels of the "feel good" hormone Serotonin in the brain. Excess serotonin has been proven to cause mental disorders not prevent them! Through all the tests and trials and experiments on people, SSRI's have yet to be proven effective in treating depression. Effectiveness is not a concern of Big Pharma, however. They have positioned their drugs to sell and sell big whether they work or not. In fact the list of off-label prescriptions is growing so rapidly, Big Pharma is assured that this Beast they have created will be nearly impossible to defeat. As many as 75% of the prescriptions written for SSRI's were for treatments not approved by the FDA. SSRI's are being prescribed for such things as pain, insomnia, anxiety, shyness, menstrual discomfort, dementia, restless leg syndrome, eating disorders and many others (most if not all of which are just made up) with little or no proof of effectiveness. In addition, a sub-market is being created for hundreds of other drugs that are used to counter the side effects of the original drug!

It's also extremely convenient for Big Pharma that these drugs are so very difficult to stop taking! Once on them, the worst thing you can do is stop abruptly. Too many times we hear in the news how the person who shot those people, drowned their child, murdered their parents or set themselves on fire recently stopped taking their medication. Big Pharma’s answer is don't stop! What type of sick and twisted company will take someone’s tragedy and spin it to promote the very thing that caused the problem?

Even our children are under direct attack by the tentacles of Big Pharma. When they go to school they are subjected to hundreds of other people who are on these medications. Any student or staff member on SSRI's has the potential to be a ticking bomb. What's more, when the ticking stops you don't know if they will implode or explode. Now our children are even being screened in the schools for potential disorders which, of course, are automatically treated with SSRI Anti-Depressants and other medications. 90% of our kids who have gone through the screening process walk out with a prescription! "Teen Screen" is supported, financially and otherwise, by Big Pharma in an effort to create more paying customers. Their goal is to screen all school age children; millions of which will end up on psychiatric drugs!

Big Pharma is also trying to create patients in the womb! Another would be victim is the pregnant mother and her unborn child. The latest of the beast’s efforts to control the world is "The Mothers Act" Bill which would have Government mandated testing of as many pregnant women and new mothers as possible for depression and then treat them with antidepressants! This is despite the myriad of studies showing a link between antidepressants and violence, abortion and birth defects. Being pregnant or a new mom is stressful enough without being on a medication that has been proven to make people "crazy"! There are worse things than depression! On December 8, 2005, the FDA issued a public health advisory to report that women who take Paxil in early pregnancy are at an approximately 2-fold increased risk of having an infant born with a cardiac defect compared to the general population. Another study finds that infants exposed to SSRI's in late pregnancy showed a 6-times greater risk of developing the lung disorder known as persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a condition that, despite treatment, results in the death of approximately 10 to 20 percent of affected infants.

Alert the public you say? Why not just tell them the truth about what Big Pharma is doing? They surely will not allow this to continue once they know, right? The beast has thought of that too. As always, we've been beaten to the punch. There's another tentacle that has already alerted the public! And they're telling us more nearly every day about the dangers of SSRI Anti-Depressants. They tell us this horrific news and reveal unconsciousable side effects but they do it with smiley faces and cartoon characters to create a rosy public perception. They use direct to consumer advertising to boost this perception to a point where the drugs are revered. So many organizations, such as ours, "The COPES Foundation", "The International Coalition for Drug Awareness" and many others are continually making attempts to educate the public of the horrors of Big Pharma and the caustic chemicals they promote but they ALREADY KNOW! They know because their best bud, Big Pharma, told them so! They don't see the mealy beast for what it is. They feel the tentacle around them but think it's comforting! They think it protects them! They don't know they are victims! Victims of Deceit, of Corruption, of Death and of Criminals with Forward thinking.

Big Pharma has high ranking politicians, high powered lawyers, decision making officials in psychiatry, coveted news media and others in positions of power in place to defend it when needed. These tentacles seem to act separately and independently until called upon and then seamlessly become a part of the beast putting in or taking out legislation as need be; thwarting any attempts of litigation with counter suits, invasions of privacy and threats; inventing new illnesses and spewing the lies and propaganda of the drug companies to the unsuspecting public.

Don't they care that people are killing themselves and others because of these medications? I think they do. Not for the normal, humanitarian reasons however. We see it as the loss of a loved one. The loss of our daughter, someone’s mother, someone’s sister. They see it is a loss of revenue! They care because each person who dies is one less potential customer. One less person to feed the thriving beast.

What is to be done? Do we keep throwing stones just to see them be swatted away? Do we continue to tell people the information they don't want to hear? Do we alienate our friends and family by imposing this pile of information on them? Do we talk to legislators and the news media (those that may have not gotten wrapped in tentacles yet)? YES to all of the above. What options do we have? We won't sit idle. Others may but we won't. Remember what I said? People become very creative when it comes to money. The key to this is people. People have the power. Unfortunately, people are not as strong as we would like them to be. We've learned they can be a down right disapointment. But maybe things will be different. We will be here to support each other. We will not fade away! We will work together against the beast. I have to believe we will make a difference. I KNOW we WILL make a difference. For Sarina, for our family, for your families and for the world. I was going to say I've learned not to expect too much from people but that would be inaccurate. Now, more than ever, I expect so very much from all of us. Give me and the world a reason to hope. A reason to believe. WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN!

Brian Milke
Father of Sarina Angel
COPES Foundation

Friday, February 15, 2008

ALL who witness these crimes and do nothing are GUILTY!

Shame on the FDA, Bush, and all who witnessed the harms of the drugs and did
nothing. Every "so called protective agency (Texas DHS, Texas O.I.G., Texas
MEFU, CMS, APS, the Attorney ADLitem in Hood County guardianship case, 3 nursing
home doctors, lazy nurses who just want all patients drugged into perpetual
objects, all saw the harms of the Texas Medication Algorithm Projet (TMAPS - read more "HERE")drugs to Mom, they all ignored and even
tried to cover-up. You may also add much of the media for not reporting to
inform and warn citizens.
Yes, I'd love to go before the FDA. But, the big picture is that the
pharmaceutical companies, doctors, corrupt over-sight agencies, and G.W. Bush
should be prosecuted for the harms and killings of the atypical antipsychotic
drugs which are mandated by Bush's TMAPS for-profit scheme.
There have been far more deaths to nursing home residents and children due to
the side effects of the drugs, than there have been due to suicide, and caring
family members who did research and tried to stop the prescribing of the drugs
being forced upon our loved ones, only got retaliated against.
There are plenty of listed side effects of the drugs, even without those that
were hidden, and though suicide is a high concern, patients and family members
should not continue to take side effects lightly.
G.W. Bush and all those involved should be prosecuted for all the harms and
killings (not just suicides). With criminal charges that the pharmaceutical
companies are facing due to TMAPS, why leave the other criminals out. If you
want change, justice, care, and accountability, the mission should be to impeach
and prosecute to send a strong message to the industries and the politicians who
have put their love of blood money above delivering care, justice, and
accountability.
Tell Congress, it's not too late to impeach and prosecute Bush for all the
reported harms, killings, and frauds.
Brenda A. Durant

Sunday, January 6, 2008

The FDA is an Agency of the Public Health Service....Right? Or is it just a "Cop on the Take?"

There are so many attacks on the FDA (rightfully so) that there are articles all over the Internet.
There is so much information about SSRI Anti-depressants. It's also all over the Internet.
The fact that most medications have several undesirable side effects is just accepted. We know there will be discomfort but that's the extent of it right?
The FDA, an agency of the Public Health Service, would not release any medication with more harmful side effects than that right?

Wrong and Wrong.

The Pharmaceutical industry is paying the FDA more and more money while Congress is doing less and less to hold the FDA accountable. In general, people expect drugs that have recently gained FDA approval to be better, more effective and safer than the older and existing drugs they are competing with or replacing. The fact of the matter, however, is that the drug companies are in such a rush to get new drugs on the market; to get their piece (or pieces) of this Billion dollar industry that things like effectiveness and safety are not as important as they used to be. How can this be you ask? Well, Big Pharma is paying the FDA. Big Pharma wants the drugs released sooner than later and, lets face it, the one paying the bills is boss. Having the pharmaceutical industry directly fund the FDA may have started with the best of intentions but now that we see it doesn't work, maybe we should stop it don't you think? Can it be that the FDA has become so corrupted that it actually suppresses information about unsafe drugs in order to get them to market quickly. I would say that is exactly what's happening. I agree that there are certain "new" medications that offer great potential and are unrivaled in the current marketplace. These drugs are the exception and if they offer tremendous potential benefit, then they may need to be gotten to market quickly. Like I said, they are the exception. Most drugs being turned out are just slightly different than current medications offering no tremendous benefit, but being unproven, are capable of untold harm.
Back to the "pieces" of the Billion dollar drug industry. Let's say a certain drug company has 11 drugs currently approved by the FDA and in use. For the sake of an argument we'll call each drug a "piece" and assume all "pieces" get an equal share of the Billions. So this drug company has 11 pieces. If they modify each of their eleven drugs just slightly and "fast track" FDA approval on 2 new versions of each, they now have 33 pieces of the billions! Granted each "piece" will now be worth slightly less but overall profits sky rocket! Lets not forget the FDA gets paid for each of these new drugs too. We are now flooded with similar medications that are no more effective or beneficial than their predecessors, but due to their slight modifications, are unproven and may pose dreadful side effects yet to be determined! Congress, meanwhile, sits back and watches the FDA stick it to the consumer! I'm not here to write about Congress on the take. That's not my fight. Besides I think it's been done maybe once or twice. My fight is against drugs. Specifically SSRI Anti-depressants. They have gained FDA approval; and based on the above example, it's easy to see how. But now that so much damage has been done, why are they still out there? Why are they not recalled? Why are they still used in children, in babies, in pregnant women or in anyone? They put black box warnings on them, which is definitely a step in the right direction, but the time has come to ban these killer drugs! For the FDA to stop succumbing to the pharmaceutical companies for the sake of the almighty dollar with the blood of innocent victims who trusted them on their hands.
The fact that we know they are killing us, the fact that the FDA knows they are not safe and the fact that the drug companies themselves admit how dangerous they are totally demoralizes the FDA. How we view them and what we consider their duties to be. It blows our expectations of the Public Health Service out of the water. It spits in the face of the doctors and scientists who work for the FDA and don't want to approve these drugs but are under so much pressure and have so many incentives from Big Pharma, that they push them through anyway. I'm sure they can't even believe this is going on! They must be just waiting for someone to do something. For Congress or the Public Health Service or Millions of angry Americans to put a stop to it!
We are not members of Congress, not the secretary of the Public Health Service, not even Millions of Americans. What we are though is fed up! We are ready to fight. We are joining many others who have been fighting. We are going to add to their strength in getting something done, in getting changes made. Right now you can add us to all of the other information on the Internet about SSRI Anti-Depressants and the FDA. But we will not stay mere statistics. We will not fade away. We will fight until there are changes. We will fight until there is accountability. We know nothing will ever be "right." Nothing can ever be "right" again. But that will not stop us from trying to help others not be wronged. WE ARE SARINA'S VOICE AND WE WILL BE HEARD!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

SSRI Thoughts and Observations

Never have we claimed to be experts on the subject but when researching SSRI Anti-depressants, several points become increasingly obvious:

Everyone gets depressed at some time. That doesn't mean everyone has depression.

There is no proof that SSRI antidepressants are beneficial. At least not in the manner they are purported to (increasing serotonin concentration thereby relieving depression).

All children can be hyper and easily distracted for any number of reasons. That doesn't mean all children have ADD or ADHD.

SSRI anti-depressants are not approved for use in children. They are widely prescribed to children despite not having been tested on children. The FDA has approved SSRI anti-depressants for use in adults for treating depression but they can then be prescribed to anyone for any reason. Some doctors prescribe them for chest pains, eating disorders, PMS, hot flashes, Alzheimer's or any number of unapproved and experimental uses.

Studies and use show that the benefits of SSRI anti-depressants are less than that obtained with a sugar pill. Studies also show a change in diet or a walk in the woods is much more effective than SSRI anti-depressants.

Drug companies have suppressed their own findings that SSRI anti-depressants raise suicidal thoughts by 100% (in other words doubling the number of people who have suicidal thoughts compared to those taking a placebo). They also found homicide and aggressive behavior to be side effects of their own medications. Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder taking the medication experienced hostility episodes 17-times more often than depressed patients. 1.1% of healthy, psychiatrically normal people who took an SSRI anti-depressant experienced one or more hostile episodes, while none taking the placebo did

Why do we take a medicine that is so dangerous to stop taking? This is a Pharmaceutical companies dream. A drug you're on for life. If it is so dangerous to stop these medicines (and it is) we shouldn't take them in the first place. What if you forget to take them? What if you can't afford them one time? What if insurance denies you? What if you get tired of the side effects and decide to go off of them cold turkey?

The fact that the FDA is approving these medications and actually "fast tracking" them into use goes against the general conception of what the FDA is here to do. Protect the public by being an expert Federal agency responsible for evaluating and regulating drugs. Not an agency open to the highest bidder.

The fact that doctors are allowed to prescribe SSRI Anti-Depressants for uses and to people other than those they are approved for is bewildering to me!

The fact that Doctors prescribe these medications goes against the general conception of what doctors are supposed to do. All doctors know the side effects. They might not understand the severity or turn a blind eye to the studies but they KNOW the homicidal and suicidal propensities exist. Doctors pledge to "do no harm" or something similar. Why would they overlook the hippocratic or similar oath they took? MONEY, peer pressure, it's easier, more money. Not all doctors, but many. They are only human but we expect so much more from them. They knew the responsibilities and expectations going in. If they can't "do no harm" they need to get out or be forced out of practice.