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Continued from page 20 Psychiatry: Talking Back to Prozac, stated: "I have no doubt that Prozac can in late 1987, the German equivalent of the cause or contribute to violence and FDA had such serious reservations about — suicide. I've seen many cases. In a recent Prozac's safety that it refused to approve _ trial, six per cent of the children became the antidepressant. The reason was that psychotic on Prozac. And manic Lilly's studies showed that previously psychosis can lead to violence."™ non-suicidal patients who took the drug And yet, as of January 3, 2003, the had a fivefold higher rate of suicide and FDA approved the use of Prozac to allevi- suicide attempts than those on older ate depression in children between seven antidepressants, and a threefold higher 17 years of age. It also approved it for rate than those taking placebos. Lilly's children with obsessive-compulsive disor- own figures indicated that one in 100 der. previously non-suicidal patients who took Psychiatrists in the US and Australia the drug early in clinical trials developed have already been prescribing the world's a severe form of anxiety and agitation best-known antidepressant (and similar called akathisia, causing them to attempt competitors) to their youngest patients. to commit or actually commit suicide The inclusion of child-specific informa- during the studies.” tion on Prozac's FDA-mandated label Using figures on Prozac from both Lilly | means that more doctors, not just depres- and independent research, Dr David _ sion specialists, may prescribe it. Up to Healy, Director of the North Wales 2.5% of US children and 8% of teenagers Department of Psychological Medicine at _ suffer from depression.* the University of Wales and an expert on What catastrophes are in the making the brain's serotonin system, estimated when we follow these trends? Will we be that "probably 50,000 people have com- _ facing news headlines reporting on chil- mitted suicide on Prozac since its launch, dren who have gone into murderous over and above the number who would _ rages, perhaps taking their lives along have done so if left untreated". with the lives of others? It has already Dr Peter Breggin, the eminent come to light that the majority of US psychiatrist and author of Toxic school shooters were prescribed SSRIs. The growing incidence of depression and anxiety amongst girls means that more SSRI scripts will be written. Teenage girls are further caught ina "catch 22", since depression is also a side effect of hormonal imbalances as well as the Pill. And how many girls and young women diagnosed with PMDD and then put on Prozac/Sarafem or one of the many other SSRIs will one day find themselves facing a breast cancer diagnosis? in late 1987, the German equivalent of the FDA had such serious reservations about Prozac's safety that it refused to approve the antidepressant. The reason was that Lilly's studies showed that previously non-suicidal patients who took the drug had a fivefold higher rate of suicide and suicide attempts than those on older antidepressants, and a threefold higher rate than those taking placebos. Lilly's own figures indicated that one in 100 previously non-suicidal patients who took the drug early in clinical trials developed a severe form of anxiety and agitation called akathisia, causing them to attempt to commit or actually commit suicide during the studies.” Using figures on Prozac from both Lilly and independent research, Dr David Healy, Director of the North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Wales and an expert on the brain's serotonin system, estimated that "probably 50,000 people have com- mitted suicide on Prozac since its launch, over and above the number who would have done so if left untreated".** Dr Peter Breggin, the eminent psychiatrist and author of Toxic Restoring Young Women to Health It is truly terrifying to think that drug companies are enthusiastically targeting young women, teenage girls and now children as young as eight as a lucrative market for their SSRI drugs. If we con- tinue to allow ourselves and our children to be hypnotised by the rhetoric and trick- ery of the medical and pharmaceutical profession, great health disasters and human tragedy await us. The real goal (in terms of the main theme of this article) is to restore girls and young women to health. Menstruation is a powerful expression of a woman's true self. The female reproductive system is delicate and can easily teeter out of bal- ance when deprived of adequate nutrition or put under duress. 74 = NEXUS The Medical Assault on Young Women www.nexusmagazine.com FEBRUARY — MARCH 2003