Exclusive: New SSRI Study Compromised by "Big Pharma"?
Mike Swenson with contributions from Josh Reeves
July 7, 2007
Note: All references in this article are highlighted in BOLD and are live links straight to the sources.
Last Thursday, ABC News, as well a most mainstream outlets, outlined a report released by the New England Journal of Medicine. According to the article by ABC News, researchers have found that "pregnant women who might benefit from antidepressants can take heart in a new study that suggests popular depression medications are safer for their babies than once believed." The research, however, falls short of declaring the drugs completely safe, as they may still be associated with a minutely higher risk of certain rare birth defects."
Given these recent findings, however, research into these claims, as well as the researchers themselves who backed the study, has revealed some disturbing facts.
The research focused on SSRI's (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). These drugs include Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil, and Celexa.
According to an article on "FreeAdvice", a website that offers free legal advice, " Studies have shown that Zoloft poses a risk of increased suicidal thoughts and activity in adults as well as children, prompting the FDA to post a Public Health Advisory warning on July 1, 2005, revealing that several publications had reported “the possibility of increased risk of suicidal behavior in adults treated with antidepressants. Many patients have reported withdrawal symptoms when they discontinued taking Zoloft and mothers who took Zoloft during their pregnancies have reported withdrawal symptoms in newborn babies. In July 2004, the Pediatric Advisory Subcommittee of the FDA advised the FDA to require new warnings on Zoloft and other similar drugs for pregnant mothers and their healthcare providers."
According to the Law Firm "Schmidt & Clark", "The popular antidepressant drug Prozac used by millions of Americans may been linked to birth defects, miscarriages and suicides among patients.We are currently investigating the this possible link relating to birth defects including miscarriages, congenital heart defects, and other birth complications. "
Not only are the facts of this study are contradictory to numerous other studies, but the researchers who conducted it, at the very least, deserve a second look.
The study was headed up by Dr. Jennita Reefhuis, an epidemiologist at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. According to Dr. Reefhuis' own website, she was an active participant on many fronts in the "bio-terrorism scare" shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
What is even more striking are some of the facts surrounding Dr. Zachary Stowe, a major supporter of the supposed findings of this study.
According to an article from "NARSAD: the Mental Health Research Association", "Zachary N. Stowe, M.D., has served on the speakers bureaus for GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth, and Pfizer; has received grants from GlaxoSmithKline and Wyeth; and has served on advisory boards for Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline." All of these companies are widely known as "Big Pharma".
It should be noted that Donald Rumsfeld has served on the boards of Gilead Sciences, Pfizer Inc., and Amylin Pharmaceutical. In fact, Rumsfeld was the chairman of Gilead, the company that manufactured "TamiFlu", the vaccine used to combat the Avian Flu scare back in 2005. Note also that Rumsfeld generated huge profits from the manufacturing of this drug.
Given the contradictory research and the endorsement from the advisor and speaker for Big Pharma groups, the release of this study holds little credibility.
Also, given the fact that some ingredients found in "angel dust" are used to make these SSRI drugs, these findings should be accepted with extreme caution.
SSRI's are notorious for increasing other disturbing behaviors and side-effects. Suicidal and even homicidal tendencies have been directly linked to these medications on numerous occasions.
These supposed "research studies" have brought forth other forms of possible disinformation. For instance, in an article posted on Mercola.com, "despite all the evidence about harmful mercury levels in fish, a new study may tempt expecting mothers with promises their unborn children will have higher IQs one day. Researchers tracked the diets of some 12,000 future moms in the UK, starting at week 32 of their pregnancies until eight years after their children were born. Based on completing a series of questionnaires, scientists concluded women who ate more than 340 grams of fish or seafood (roughly three-fourths of a pound) every week had smarter children with improved social and communications skills. No surprise, the opposite was true about women who ate no fish at all, as their children were nearly half as likely to possess lower verbal IQ scores. "
Perhaps more independent research should be conducted into the effects of these drugs before being prescribed to pregnant women due to their volatile history.
Further research used for this article:
Bilderbergers, Rumsfeld Profit from Avian Flu Scam - Global News Matrix | Oct. 24th, 2005
http://truthorlies.org/govtarticle071.html
