By Shane Ellison, Award winning Scientist, Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry
I love Big Pharma. After getting a masters degree in drug design, I was fortunate enough to work within their stinky labs and learn the inner workings of corporate drug making (and dealing). My most important lesson: Not all drugs are bad. Some are really bad. Take the so-called antidepressant Prozac as an example.
In 1990, Prozac appeared on the cover of the pharmaceutically compliant, Newsweek magazine with the headline “Prozac: A Breakthrough Drug for Depression.” It was designed almost twenty years prior. And during that time, some ghastly findings were made which proved the drug to be the antithesis of what popular media touted it as. Such findings were kept hidden. Patients are learning the hard way.
Thirteen days after taking the SSRI Prozac, on April 28, 2003, Jordan’s wife of 56 years, Kathy, found his lifeless body hanging from a beam in a back room of their shop. Not depressed at the time of his appointment, Jordan was given a free sample of Prozac for “chest pains!” Apparently, a pretty drug rep convinced Jordan’s doctor that Prozac could be used for these types of “off-label” purposes. By FDA standards, this is totally illegal. But those standards are never enforced by the consumer watch dog turned Big Pharma lap dog. Regardless of what they are prescribed for, Prozac is a real and present danger to SSRI users.
SSRI’s strive to increase the levels of a “coping” molecule known as serotonin in the brain. It helps us FIND happiness when it’s covered in an avalanche of nastiness. SSRI’s attempt to boost serotonin by “selectively” stopping the “reuptake” of it among brain cells. This is where the whole SSRI acronym came from – “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.” It’s a slick name that seems to hypnotize medical doctors into prescribing submission, but it’s a really stupid idea.
Nothing is selective in the body. While trying to block the reuptake of serotonin, SSRI’s can also prevent its release. The areas of the brain responsible for release and reuptake are so damn similar (after all, they work on the same molecule) that an SSRI isn’t smart enough to understand which one it is supposed to work on. So it does what any dumb drug would do, it blocks both. The end result: no coping molecules in the brain. Deep sadness, fear or anger can set in. Early studies proved this.
The first testing of Prozac was performed on dogs and cats. Every trial showed that Prozac use caused aggression amongst these normally calm and friendly animals, as could be seen by increased hissing and growling. When the animals were taken off of the drug, they returned to their usual friendly behavior. Researchers concluded that Prozac use causes aggressive behavior.
By mid 1978, Prozac testing moved to humans in controlled clinical trials involving more than 4000 patients. In an attempt to hide its aggressive tendencies, the study allowed for voluntary dropout of those who experienced the most severe side effects. Additionally, clinical investigators were allowed to administer concurrent sedatives to patients to further mask Prozac’s side effects that would most likely lead to violence/suicide. This is a common loophole used by drug company-funded drug trials and is known as “checkbook science.” Despite the lack of scientific methodology, this study concluded that Prozac works well to a “statistically significant” degree in a population of depressed patients.
Since its approval, the potential for Prozac calamity has become frighteningly clear amongst both professionals and the public. Reports of Prozac-associated suicide, written by James D. Hagerty and distributed by the Drugs and Devices Information Line at the Harvard School of Public Health, dominated the “Letters to the Editor” section of the American Journal of Psychiatry during the fall of 1990.
Under the FDA’s own analysis, there have been more than 20,000 Prozac-related suicides since 1987.
Clinical studies performed on Prozac show 191 negative side effects per 100 people. This equates to almost two negative side effects for every user of the drug.
The FDA continues to ignore the Prozac body count (they approved Prozac’s use for children in 2003). To make matters worse, the FDA granted its manufacturer, Eli Lilly, extended patent protection. In order to procure thirty additional months of earning power, Eli Lilly changed the name of Prozac to Sarafem, while at the same time labeling common personality and biological shifts as a disease among women; this “disease” being premenstrual irritability. As a result, thousands of unsuspecting women were given Prozac for premenstrual irritability while at the same time increasing their chances of suffering from the aforementioned negative side effects such as aggression, and suicide.
Such lessons got me out of corporate drug making. Thankfully, they taught me how not to be healthy: Take prescription drugs. You can do the same, just say no to Prozac.
About the Author
Ellison’s entire career has been dedicated to the study of molecules; how they give life and how they take from it. He was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Grant for his research in biochemistry and physiology. He is a best selling author, holds a master’s degree in organic chemistry and has first-hand experience in drug design. Use his knowledge and insight to look and feel your best with his Secret Cures monthly report. Get it free at www.thepeopleschemist.com
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Tags: antidepressants, CCHR, Eli Lilly, People's chemist, Pharmaceuticals, prozac, prozac side effects, psychiatric drugs, Shane Ellison, Suicide, violence
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Drugged to Death; Our Kids and Our Troops
Finally. Some truth. Shane Ellison tells it like it is from inside out. Well done and very courageous Dr. Ellison. I applaud your clear, direct comments. Your words are mightier that the pill.
The transnational pharmaceutical companies are masters of secrets. Everything they do is either secretive or patented. Both being equally nasty and in large part, counterproductive for society.
They do not help in the advancement of health since their entire operation is geared towards creating fear (by associating symptoms with anything, from invented or to real pathologies) and then offering their solution to alleviate that fear, generally through a “treatment”.
Shane is right on about the brainiacs in the big pharma marketing think tanks. Their ability to convince people they suddenly need to take the latest snake oil is nothing short of impressive.
Thanks for sharing this, Shane!
…and kids don’t know any of this so how can they REALLY say no to drugs.
While I do believe we owe a debt of gratitude to people like Shane that are not afraid to blow the whistle on corporate or government deception, in the case of Prozac the statistics appear to favor the drug being used.
An estimated 40 million people throughout the world have been treated with Prozac and the positive results have proven to be very very successful. So while 20,000 Prozac related suicides is tragic, how many more has it prevented than caused?
It would be interesting to see statistics on how Prozac stacks up against other similar drugs like Zoloft, Cipramil and Aropax etc.
I appreciated Shane’s succinct exposure of the secrets behind Prozac, psychiatry, and big pharma.
One of my friends has been on antidepressants for years and he looks totally zoned out most of the time. He does function and does hold down a job but it doesn’t look as if he feels a whole lot.
I went through the list of known side effects thinking of what my wife went through for 8 long, horrible years and I realized that she exhibited more than 50 of the listed side effects.
It just wasn’t worth all the pain and suffering my wife went through at the hands of the psychiatrists and doctors and their drugs and she literally tried every single last one that her psychiatrist had at her disposal.
Thank-you again, Shane, for telling it like it truly is.
I am an ex pharmaceutical rep that used to sell and antidepressant. During some personal trauma I took the antidepressant and following a bad event tried to commit suicide. I was latter put on worse drugs , neuroleptics. I would sooner be dead than take those. There was nothing wrong with me anyway the psychaitrists said in the end as it was all due to external events.Yes Shane is a good man for telling his story and it is true. Often the best treatment is talk therapy to get over traumas. But the doctors don’t have time for that. At least in Australia they are now giving a certain number of counselling sessions for free and depression and suicide is such a problem.
It’s not coincidence that big pharma, international finance, environment protection agencies, weapon industries, eugenics -to name but a few- are run by the same people.
I’m scared, very scared.
To start with in the next 5 – 10 years people will be left to starve to death.
New bills being introduced now mean that heart conditions will be ‘treated’ with aspirin.
Therefore, I believe that going against psychiatry must be done as part of a bigger plan, to include arresting and bringing to justice the traitors who put mankind at risk.
Thank You Shane for your efforts to bring out the truth on antidepressants and the forces that continuously evolve their placement into the global marketplace, be it teenagers feeling sad, or servicemen looking for help. We lost our daughter to antidepressant suicide, and the fight for truth and transparency, can be very difficult, with so many forces at work to hide it.
A person named “John Douglas” commented on this site makes a generality about what of the millions of people aided by SSRI’s?
We should ask him to….”prove it”…..where are the favorable statistics? If there are any, then cite the studies that prove the successes….when, who, what – but highly doubtful that can be done.
Given the culpable methodology that Big Pharma uses to create disease to market little pills, it would be a complete fluke if there are “millions of success stories by past or current SSRI users”…
It was about 10years ago when I as a South African woman met up with many American ladies and often the conversation was about the drug Prozac. They seemed to think it was a drug of miracles but only 2 of them were on it. I myself soon fell into a period of great dispair and was offerred this but looking at the person, I declined.I seeked sound advise and learnt from that. Within a period of 6 months after meeting those 2 woman they both ended up commiting suicide. I cannot say that it was the drug but the drug did not help deal with their problems.
Wow. I had no idea about the “checkbook science” and how it was accomplished.
So its all marketing. Interesting. Maybe I can go make truckloads of cash. I have a magic pill. Anyone want to pay me for the rest of their life (or maybe with your life) for it?
I am waiting for my check. Come on now. Be a sport. 4 out of 5 doctors smoke camels, you know……
Seriously though, whistleblowers like this and getting the truth out there on the internet can really help bring these guys down. And they will go down eventually, trust me on this.
[...] This post was Twitted by psychdrugs [...]
Shane, you are a man after my own heart! Love your stuff. Your outspokenness is stupendous. Keep up the good work!
Shane, you have a lot of guts and THANK YOU for not being afraid to tell your story. Obviously, get the drug approved for ANY disease. Then increase profit by: marketing the drug for other diseases AND marketing it for other ages. Psychiatrists get paid by pharma to recommend the drug for other diseases and age groups (through PAID studies, talks, published works). What is gross is psychiatrists that put out studies to say the onset of the disease starts earlier and earlier in age, making it more and more attractive to market to earlier age groups (yes, even baby depression: http://www.abcnews.go.com/print?id=2640591). These are the DISEASE studies not the drug studies. They too are paid by pharma! These “disease” experts put out the ultimate in lies – publishing earlier and earlier ages for onset of disease, advocating the “prevention” of disease (when they do not know what causes it to prevent it in the first place) by “early intervention” (to target people the earliest age group they can). This EXPANDS the marketing of the drug into younger populations, increasing PROFIT, usually illegally, until the FDA graciously adds it legally to the drug label. Investigate the epidemiologists (the psychiatrists that study disease in populations) who set the standard of psychiatric prevalence of these “diseases” and help develop the market for the drugs. What pharma company funded them to put out these “disease” statistics and prevalence? Start with the psychiatric pediatric “experts” that publish studies on infant mental illness. The drug clinical study psychiatrists are already toast as their own studies have done them in, but these psychiatric epidemiologists are getting away with murder.
Shane, Thank you for letting the public know the truth about prozac. I have been a healthcare professional for 27 years and I have not seen one person get better on antidepressant medication. I have seen patients get worse both physically and mentally. I believe that greed has taken over in this society. There are alot of evil intented so called professional, authoritative individuals that lack any sort of integrity pushing these highly toxic drugs on society. I think we all know of someone in our life that has suffered from this abusive treatment. I hope any one who reads this will share it with their family and friends.
Hi Shane,
Thanks for the enlightment. I have been on Klonopin for 14 years for sleep. I think I am addicted. I have spent the last year with severe headaches,numbness in body parts, unable to stand or walk for long periods of time, extreme fatique, rapid heart rate, dry eyes and confusion. It continues to get worse so I go to the doctor and they want me to try Cymblata for nerve pain. I am currently on a leave of absence from work. Doctors have not been able to tell me what is wrong with me. In the back of my mind, I have always wondered if it is the Klonopin. Do you have any suggestions on how I can come off safely. I am cutting back. I was told by doctors if I stop taking at once, I could have a seizure or even die. This is very frightening. I am starting to learn a lot about drugs and the side effects. I will not take a prescription drug unless I have done some research and know indeed it will help me. I think most doctors are NOT aware that they are killing their patience with these drugs. Doctors are taught to prescribe drugs. Patients go to the doctor and expect to leave with something. My family doctor is very caring and this is what she told me. She does not know much about natural medicine. Keep up the good work. Inform as many people as you can maybe they can pass on to their doctor.
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Hi there,
As someone who has taken the anti depressant Aropax for approximately 5 years, I am now in the process of weening myself off of the drug. I can attest that it is not a pleasant experience.
The truth of the matter of whether or not to take psychotropic drugs is a tricky one. In my opinion, the symptoms that the drug is prescribed for must overwhelmingly outweigh the known side effects of using that drug. And, drugs then should only be considered as a last resort. In my experience this is not predominantly the case. we appear to live in a society which demands and expects the quick fix.
I do not think the drugs themselves are a problem, rather the incompetent or misinformed doctors who prescribe them, for what they prescribe them, and why they prescribe them.
Information is the key to an informed decision
I had a VERY bad experience with citalopram and xanax….my anxiety went through roof, I was 10x as tense as I was before the drug, could not sleep, had an exaggerated startle response, was very sweaty and just terrified in general. I have weaned off and I use St. John’s Wort, Holy Basil and sometimes Valerian root, now. In addition, I have changed my diet and have starting practicing yoga and I feel a lot better.
Very scary.
People like Shane are the beginning of the end for Big Pharma’s chemical reign of terror. Before the internet, it was possible for drug companies to operate behind a veil of deception and secrecy. Now it is getting harder and harder for them.
It’s no coincidence that alien substances like Zoloft and Paxil were named after alien planets in remote galaxies. These substances have emerged through pharmaceutical labs and have infiltrated our planet. The human race is being altered in ways we don’t presently comprehend (think chemical rewiring of the neural structure and altering of our DNA).
We need to send these alien substances back to their planets of origin. We can’t simply flush them down the toilet or throw them in landfills because they are ending up in our water supply. Right now some species of fish and frogs are being born with dual sex organs and other genetic malfunctions as a result of being exposed to prescription drugs.
A certain percentage of the 27 million antidepressant users are going “manic’ as a result of alien molecular knockoffs of Nature disabling certain features of their frontal brain lobes. At best, they are a bit cranky. At worst, homicidal and suicidal.
You couldn’t purpose design a better agent than antidepressants to take over the will and the pocketbooks of our global population. The business model is an astounding study in efficiency:
1) Global pharmaceutical companies put strategic manufacturing facilities in place.
2) Massive TV ad campaigns herd people to doctors offices looking for specific drugs.
2) Doctors give little vouchers (prescriptions)to millions of people.
3) Patients proceed to the hundreds of thousands of retail outlets; drug stores, Walmart, grocery store pharmacies, etc., to exchange the voucher and cash for drugs.
4) Patients become dependent on the drugs due to the difficulty of stopping and the neural connection of the drug with their very sense of survival.
5) Patients return each month to doctor to get prescription refill and more drugs.
If you just take a look around at our society you can see where the money of the people is going. The pharmaceutical sector is literally extorting it from our pockets. Massive drug store chains are emerging (25,000 CVS pharmacy stores, 25,000 Walgreens stores). What is funding this massive expansion? It’s not batteries and sunblock to be sure.
Shane, and others like him, will eventually unveil the extent of the conspiracy to drug the people of the world into physical and financial slavery.
[...] This post was Twitted by johnalexwood [...]
My son,Christopher,sent me this clip! I think he’s worried about me! I’ve been taking prozac now for 4 yrs. I was started on it when i became clean and sober, to help with severe depression and constant crying spells! Honestly, i wanted to die without having pills, weed and coke not to mention alcohol to assit me with the business of daily living! I see all the warnings about suicide but it actually helps me! When i don’t take it, i’m very aggressive and more apt to blow someones brains out!! Maybe i’m just one of the many crazy people in this world-go figure!!!
To Shane and everybody else who reads this.
The only ‘drug’ than can relieve or cure ‘mental diseases/disorders’ is LOVE. Drugs are an escape from reality, but the reality remains and you have to constantly drug yourself to keep escaping. That’s how companies make money. A good friend, counselor or psychologist who does not prescribe any drugs but try to get to the root of the depression or any other condition is really a good way to go.
Learn to accept yourself, love yourself and from this premise all situations may appear differently.
Remeron was prescribed for me by a psychiatrist. I took the scripts but never collected the drug. Instead, I rested, went to a quiet place when I was booked off work and until I was boarded from work. The progress was ascribed to the drug as I pretended to take it. JUST SHOWS YOU !! DRUGS ARE NEVER THE ANSWER. YOU ARE !!
Thanks Shane for providing the information about prozac
speaking of the prozac the newest medical poison is Ritalin for kids what are your thoughts about Ritalin? how can we calm hyper boys and convince them to sit in the class room and learn w/out the most popular poison known to man today
as HYPNOTHERAPIST I STRONGLY RECOMMEND PEOPLE TO TAKE a few HYPNOTHERAPHY SESSIONS AND GET TO THE ROOT OF THE DEPRESSION PROBLEM WHILE YOUR BODY IS ON A RELAXED STATE INSTEAD OF COVERING IT UP WITH DANGEROUS DRUGS LIKE PROZAC. AMERICANS ARE OBSSESSED WITH DRUGS. tHERE ARE ALWAYS HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES. a GOOD FRIEND OR A FAMILY MEMBER WHO KNOWS YOU IS THE BEST PILL EVER INVITE THEM TO LUNCH OR DINNER AND TALK WITH THEM YOU BE AMAZED HOW IT WORKS WONDERS. WE HUMANS ALL NEED LOVE AND ATTENTION AND NOT PILLS.
a NATURAL MOOD ENHANCER IS ZAFFRAN YELLOWISH REDDISH FLOWERS THAT ARE USED IN COOKING. A SMALL BIT MIXED WITH SUGAR AND MADE INTO A SYRUP DOES WONDERS.
[...] This post was Twitted by MsSnufulupugus [...]
I personally witnessed the lies that doctors tell patients when prescribing this deadly drug. On a visit to a small town in the Andes of South America I came accross a peasant woman who showed me some pills she was taking. She said her doctor had told her they were antibiotics. I read the label and it said “Fluoxetine HCL”, the generic name for PROZAC !
Interesting and informative. But will you write about this one more?
Well, Ellison’s testimony regarding Hegarty isn’t like what was published & copyrighted 1995; see it at this link:
http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/svwithprozab.html
However, this link below does suggest that such drugs are dangerous and at best no better than placebo:
http://psychrights.org/research/Digest/Chronicity/NeurolepticResearch.htm
The first link at the site above gets you a 9-page PDF published in 2004 by Elsevier: The case against antipsychotic drugs: a 50-year
record of doing more harm than good.
That site also has 20 additional links to studies from 1962 through 1994 showing various dangers, side effects, and consequences for patients using psychiatric drugs, including brain lobe shrinkage.
Valuable thoughts and advices. I read your topic with great interest.
Dear Shane,
Thank you for speaking out regarding the truth about Prozac! I’m a retired school principal and have personally observed several horror-stories about this drug and the children to whom it was given.
It broke my heart to see children arrive at my school who were on this drug. Yes, they were complacent and could sit still in class. However, their spirits had been broken and their creativity was no longer evident.
It is my personal opinion that some educators and parents put their children on these mind-altering drugs because they (the adults) are uncomfortable with the amount of life and enthusiasm these children exhibit. The truth is, our great nation and our society were formed by people who were NOT sheep-like, but who could think for themselves, and were willing to think bigger than most others were comfortable with.
How much is our society losing in potential growth by drugging the very children who have the ability to change our world for a better place?
[...] you know my views on the medical people giving out far too many drugs then here is the ultimate in compelling evidence that unless it´s definitely structural we need to be very careful about taking [...]
True! Finally truth!!! This drug was supposed to be my cure all. At 16 I was put on it and of course continually the doctors up m doses at 17 years old I was taking over 40 different drugs and close to a hundred plus pills aday. I attemped to kill myself via ODing about 6 times, Russian roulet about 10 times, self muliation… Thank god for my husband standing by me and getting me off of everything I am down to 5 pills aday including viatims and alleregy meds!
I find Mr. Ellison’s comments harshly prejudiced against psychiatrists.
He does not address how “Big Pharma and Health “Insurance” companies
go about denying people the proper medication and dosage, thereby
dictating what doctors are able to offer their patients.
Mr. Ellison blames the psychiatrist for “pushing” the medication
that “Big Pharma” and Insurance companies will green light.
These companies now determine the amount of time/dosage/and product that doctors
are permitted to prescribe. Medication alone has never been the complete
cure to mental and emotional illness. The psychiatric profession has said as much.
It involves supportive therapy, serious lifestyle improvements and a variety of
regimens to assist and conquer. However, pharmaceutical marketing heralds a new med and people clammer for it. It fails them and they are encouraged to blame the doctor who was told exactly what choice he could provide. “Big Pharma” and Insurance Companies make millions off of limiting and designing what kind of care doctors may supply and patients may receive. And these companies target, ie go after, the doctors who argue for better care and coverage for the mentally and emotionally disabled. The doctors are bullied, threatened, deluged with denials, vacuous suits, and superfluous paperwork. As a result the numbers in the profession are declining. Mental Health Care practitioners are leaving their life’s work because they are outrageously battered by commercial interests and cannot provide the range of care and time their patients deserve. Moreover, Mr. Ellison does not mention the thousands who have enormously benefited from successful, conscientious, proper medication and therapy combinations supplied by dedicated and courageous therapists.
There is no magic pill.
There is good all round thoughtful dedicated care. That care is vanishing. Now focus a moment on the troubled aging and returning veteran populations of this country. Who will care for them? Big Pharma and Insurance?
Better Healthcare begins with choices.
At the moment patients and doctors are given few.
ytm-msn.com…
…
I started taking an expensive update of Prozac about 3 years ago and am now taking the generic Fluoxetine, 40 mg once a day. I am now 60 years old. I can look back and see that I was truly depressive with the right stimuli (such as not being able to find something) to the point of dysfunctionality. In about 3 weeks I noticed a decided change to where things did not bother me almost at all, much less get upset over them. In 8 weeks, and ever since, I laugh at the untoward circumstances and cheerfully ask for help. My mind is free to search for solutions rather than panic into feeling incapable of doing anything. I exercise every day like there is no tomorrow and take naps.
I grew up in a non-emotional family with a rageaholic father who was distant emotionally. He taught me to be afraid of men and of growing up to be one. I didn’t learn anything about marriage as a relationship. I was raised in a fundamentalist church with lots of stress about unforgiven sin. Then went through the stress and shame of a divorce after 10 years of marriage. I was a terrible husband, to say the least. BUT now, taking the drug has mellowed me out to not sweat the small or large stuff and to value people a lot more. Before the drug I had lots of suicidal thoughts but do not anymore.
I think
I am closer to lovable and normal, but that is a subjective judgment. I can foresee continuing to take the Fluoxatine, as I do not have any side effects. Success.
Amen Bobby. Prozac saved my life. I became crippled by depression at age 17 but had felt depressed for as long as I could remember for no apparent reason. I was put on prozac. That combned with therapy was a miracle for me. I finally felt “normal”. That was 23 years ago. Oh, I have gone off the medication, sometimes for YEARS at a time (don’t try to tell me I was still suffering from withdrawal symptoms or some other made up reason). During those years I tried herbal remedies, accupuncture and a bunch of junk that was mostly a waste of time and money. I felt awful. I sooo wanted to be off any type of medication. Especially any that would indicate that I had something wrong with me psychologically. The stigma! Well guess what. Getting back on prozac gave me my life back. AGAIN. Thanks to medication and therapy I married, got a graduate degree and am a mother of 3 amazing children who are gifted intellectually and athletically, absolute standouts, off the charts. Get this. I TOOK PROZAC WHILE PREGNANT! What?! I definitely don’t advocate psychotropic medications for just anyone. But for people like me who suffer from a true organic chemical imbalance in the brain they can be a God send. Stop being so dramatic. Antidepressants are not the devil. Psychiatrists are for the most part highly trained, caring and competent professionals. Don’t let a few whack jobs ruin it for the rest of us!