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This review of "Let them eat Prozac" touches on most of the important
issues that are raised in Healy's book, but does not give sufficient
attention to the matter of corruption of medicine by the pharmaceutical
industry. The investigation called for by Dr Collier to evaluate Dr
Healy's allegations requires a full disclosure of the results for safety
and efficacy in the unpublished placebo-controlled clinical trials for
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), and the extent to which
published results were ghostwritten by medical communication agencies
hired by the SSRI companies. Until such data are available to the public,
prescribing physicians and psychiatrists are relying on drug promotion
rather than the true science.
Competing interests:
research consulting for Baum-Hedlund law firm
Your book review “let them eat Prozac” (14.2.04) describes a
“persuasive scam” asserting that in most people with depression, selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) (such as Prozac) “offer little or
no help.”
Professor Collier is so alarmed, he calls for an independent
investigation.
The SSRI’s are widely used internationally and prescribed by a wide
variety of doctors. Clinically, they appear to be useful.
Please can we have a substantive discussion of this within the pages
of your journal, including a contribution from Eli-Lilly.
Full Disclosure of SSRI Data
This review of "Let them eat Prozac" touches on most of the important
issues that are raised in Healy's book, but does not give sufficient
attention to the matter of corruption of medicine by the pharmaceutical
industry. The investigation called for by Dr Collier to evaluate Dr
Healy's allegations requires a full disclosure of the results for safety
and efficacy in the unpublished placebo-controlled clinical trials for
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), and the extent to which
published results were ghostwritten by medical communication agencies
hired by the SSRI companies. Until such data are available to the public,
prescribing physicians and psychiatrists are relying on drug promotion
rather than the true science.
Competing interests:
research consulting for Baum-Hedlund law firm
Competing interests: No competing interests