Prozac: The Class Action Suits Begin!!

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drugawareness

atracyphd2

Sat, 15 Jan 2005 02:06:55 EST

 

 

[drugawareness] Prozac: The Class Action Suits Begin!!

 

Today the first Prozac class action lawsuit was filed in Montreal, Canada.

The following quote from the press release on this suit explains the

basis for

the suit that was filed:

 

" Yesterday, the Indianapolis based drug maker completely vindicated the

British Medical Journal, which it had charged earlier this week with

misleading its

readers, when it posted a document on its website called Annotations. Eli

Lilly had been invited on numerous occasions to answer whether a

document called

Summary of a preliminary analysis of clusters of adverse events based on

pooling data from multiple studies was authentic and whether it had

been released

to health authorities around the world.

 

" Eli Lilly confirmed the authenticity of the document and implicitly

admitted

that it had never been released to health authorities, including the

FDA, or

anyone else. "

 

Of course few of us on this e-newsletter would be surprised to learn that

this information about Lilly is true. When someone is knowingly

putting a drug

out that causes suicide, homicide and the host of other horrors it

produces, why

would we expect them to be honest and upright? Now I use the term

" knowingly "

because there is no way that anyone who read the previous research on

serotonin could not have known that impairing the metabolism of

serotonin with any

chemical would produce the adverse effects we just listed.

 

The only thing that does worry me about this press release is this

statement:

 

" The lead plaintiff is seeking $10,000 in punitive damages and $5 000 for

herself and each member of the group from Eli Lilly for

misrepresenting the

safety of its drug. "

 

Considering how little is gained for victims in class action suits such as

this where they are only being sued for misrepresenting the safety of

Prozac, it

would almost make me wonder if Eli Lilly is the one who initiated this

suit.

 

Why? Because it is yet to be determined that if someone joins a suit like

this, when they actually have cause to file a more serious damage

suit, such as

death, mania/psychosis, diabetes, cancer, serious debilitating withdrawal,

etc., and they sign off on the suit, will they be able to file against

the company

again for the more serious damages? Most likely not. So, those of you with

more serious damage PLEASE keep this in mind and do not allow this to

happen in

your case. Doing so could save Eli Lilly millions in damage claims.

And since

lawsuits are the only recourse we have against the pharmaceutical industry

when they kill us with a pill instead of a bullet, we need to make

sure that

process works with the utmost efficiency. :-)

 

 

Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D.,

Executive Director, International Coalition For Drug Awareness

Website: www.drugawareness.org

 

Author of " the Bible " on SSRI antidepressants: " Prozac:

Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare "

& audio tape on safe withdrawal: " Help! I Can't Get

Off My Antidepressant! "

 

Order Number: 800-280-0730

 

 

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/14/c3130.html

 

Attention News Editors:

 

Prozac: A class action lawsuit is filed in Montreal

 

MONTREAL, Jan. 14 /CNW Telbec/ - A class action lawsuit was filed

before

the Superior Court in Montreal this morning. Giant drug maker Eli Lilly is

alleged to have withheld vital information on the safety of Prozac, its

flagship drug for years. Yesterday, the Indianapolis based drug maker

completely vindicated the British Medical Journal, which it had charged

earlier this week with misleading its readers, when it posted a

document on

its website called Annotations. Eli Lilly had been invited on numerous

occasions to answer whether a document called Summary of a preliminary

analysis of clusters of adverse events based on pooling data from multiple

studies was authentic and whether it had been released to health

authorities

around the world.

 

Eli Lilly confirmed the authenticity of the document and implicitly

admitted that it had never been released to health authorities,

including the

FDA, or anyone else. The document consisted of data stemming from numerous

studies conducted by Eli Lilly and that showed that Prozac caused

activation in

38% of its users compared with 19% with placebo and 4% for Tricyclic,

a then

well known drug in the treatment of depression.

 

When Eli Lilly representatives attended the FDA hearings on the

safety of

Prozac in 1991, they had known the existence of the study for years but

failed to disclose it to the FDA, in the word of the lead plaintiff's

attorney,

" lest it should warrant a much stringent warning on the label of the

drug with

regard to its safety, thereby seriously hampering Eli Lilly's efforts to

market its new drug as effective and safe. " In the words of Serge Petit of

the

law firm Petit Desjardins based in Montreal, Canada, that represents

the lead

plaintiff " such a likelihood was looming large since Eli Lilly knew

that if

doctors had been made aware that Prozac, back then being introduced as the

new kid on the block, caused activation in 38% of its users compared

with 19% of

patients taking a placebo and 4% of those taking a drug then well known to

doctors, Tricyclic, they would certainly have hesitated before prescribing

Prozac. It was nearly a ten folds increase in activation compared with

the other

drug they could prescribe. "

 

The lead plaintiff contends that the reason why Eli Lilly failed to

disclose the document to Health authorities was that it would have placed

another study, that consisted of a pooling of what is called spontaneous

reports and showed alarming increases in suicide attempts and other

violent

acts in patient using Prozac as compared with four other drugs, in a

totally

new perspective and prevent it from being dismissed by FDA and Eli

Lilly as

inconclusive. To Serge Petit " had the study on activation and the one on

spontaneous reports been put side by side before the FDA, Eli Lilly would

have faced an uphill battle as to the safety of its drug " .

 

The class action contends that Eli Lilly misled health authorities

around

the world and therefore the millions of users of its drug Prozac

around the

world as to the safety of its drug by failing to disclose the said

document.

To Serge Petit, " the passage of time cannot condone Eli Lilly's

behavior and

it must be held accountable for circumventing the safeguards that have

been

put in place to protect the public health. " The lead plaintiff is seeking

$10,000 in punitive damages and $5 000 for herself and each member of the

group from Eli Lilly for misrepresenting the safety of its drug.

 

 

For further information: Serge Petit, 514-842-5880, spetit