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FDA In Partnership With Pharmaceutical Companies
Letters To The Editor:
There is one aspect of the rash of suicides on and off of bridges not adequately addressed in the media or elsewhere.
There should be research on how many of these people have been on anti-depressants warning of possible hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. It boggles my mind that the FDA would approve such drugs or that any responsible physician would prescribe them. In such cases, the cure is worse than the disease. Surely depression, the very condition the drugs are prescribed to combat, is preferable to suicide.
The scenario gets worse, although not printed on the warning labels. Suicide is a first cousin to murder, the difference being that suicide demonstrates a disregard for one's own life, whereas murder devalues lives of others. The pair often go hand-in-hand, as recently exemplified by a Putnam Valley man who killed his wife and daughter before turning on himself. An initial news story stated that he was on anti-depressants.
Right after the apprehension of the Virginia Tech killer, a news story reported possibility of anti-depressants, but I never saw it followed up on one way or the other.
The truth is that the pharmacy companies own the FDA and strive to bottle up unfavorable publicity. But, they are not without exposure of their own choosing. One cannot turn on TV without being subjected to their advertisements and pleas to "ask your doctor."
It's time to open an investigation into anti-depressant drugs and into the FDA's partnership with pharmaceutical companies.
Catherine Portman-Laux
Garrison
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