Bradshaw cancels appearance after SSRI-Citizen Press Release Announced Protest

Fri, 13 Aug 2004

FDA’s failure to enforce the law that requires drug companies to tell the truth in their drug advertisements and promotions about the safety and effectiveness of their drugs, has prompted citizen groups to take the initiative and bring the truth about the hidden dangers of antidepressants to the public.

Rob Robinson’s website, www.SSRIcitizen.org, is aiming a flashlight on celebrities who promote antidepressant drugs for cash. Robinson’s Aug. 11 Press Release (below) announced a national awareness campaign to alert the public that for some people, SSRI antidepressants are “Unsafe At Any Dose.” The press release is whipping up a storm by announcing that SSRI Citizen would be demonstrating against Terry Bradshaw, four times Super Bowl champion.

Bradshaw has been making paid appearances throughout the country under the aegis of GlaxoSmithKline to promote Paxil through a series of speeches. He was scheduled to speak at the Chattanooga Tennessee at the Trade Center on November 18th, 2004.

Today’s headline in the Chattanoogan.com, announces: “Terry Bradshaw Cancels Appearance Here After Robinson Website Protest” http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_54049.asp

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
Tel: 212-595-8974

All Press Releases for August 11, 2004

SSRI Citizen announces antidepressant “Unsafe At Any Dose” national awareness campaign. Dangers of Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac and Effexor are targeted by group.

(PRWEB) August 11, 2004 — In a bold move reminiscent of Ralph Nader’s 1960’s “Unsafe At Any Speed” campaign a consumer activist group which calls itself “SSRI Citizen” has launched a national awareness campaign designed to educate the general public about the serious health risks associated with the use of popular antidepressants such as Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor and Prozac.

The group’s web site (see http://www.ssriCitizen.org) sells bumper stickers emblazoned with drug names followed by the warning ‘Unsafe At Any Dose’. “Our hope is the proliferation of the stickers will help raise public awareness of the dangers these drugs present and encourage people to visit our web site where they will discover drug safety information and other resources which heretofore have not been readily available to the consumer,” said Rob Robinson, the organization’s founder and spokesperson.

“Given the lengths we know pharmaceutical companies will go to guard the commercial profile of multi-billion dollar profit generators like Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor or Prozac it is surprising we haven’t been contacted by one of these companies.”

The group is also challenging SSRI drug company promotions which position celebrities such as actress Delta Burke (Effexor) and former NFL star Terry Bradshaw (Paxil) as drug spokespersons. “These individuals, who are paid handsomely for the use of their name and influence, are not spelling out for the public the extraordinarily serious risks associated with their drug of choice,” Robinson said. “Its ‘Trojan horse’ marketing . get the pills into medicine cabinets of America using glitzy ads and slick Hollywood stars. But don’t tell the public what really might be lying-in-wait for them inside those innocent-looking pills.”

“The bottom line is these drug companies are driven by shareholders to increase sales of these drugs and thus increase profits,” Robinson said. “In the case of GlaxoSmithKline its ‘If we can make three billion dollars a year off Paxil . why not four, five or more?’ Its that kind of rationale that led to GSK’s pivotal role in the creation of another ‘Trojan horse’ marketing stratagem called ‘TMAP’ or the Texas Medication Algorithm Project. Through TMAP, GSK and other drug companies methodically compromised the decision making of elected and appointed public officials to gain access to captive populations of mentally ill individuals in prisons and state mental health hospitals.” For more information see https://ahrp.org/infomail/04/07/07.php

In another marketing ploy GlaxoSmithKline is using Terry Bradshaw to lead the Paxil marketing charge in a program called ‘The All-Stars at Work’ which targets ‘mental health in the workplace.’ “The ‘program’ is supported by an unrestricted ‘educational grant’ from GlaxoSmithKline,” Mr. Robinson said. “We considered sending Mr. Bradshaw a complimentary case of bumper stickers that say “Terry Bradshaw Says Eat More Paxil” to hand out to workers. Maybe it would make him think twice about his continued promotion of the drug. At least, we’d like to think so.”

Mr. Bradshaw is also traveling throughout the country under the aegis of GSK to promote the use of Paxil through a series of speeches, albeit without his former Paxil sidekick Ricky Williams. (Mr. Williams, another football star, parted company from GSK last year and was recently quoted in the press as saying ‘Marijuana is 10 times better for me than Paxil.’) The web site GSK formerly maintained for the duo at www.rickyandterry.com has vanished and been replaced by another dubbed www.terryinyourtown.com All mention of Mr. Williams has been expunged from GSK’s web site at www.gsk.com

“Although Mr. Bradshaw claims his GSK-backed ‘depression tour’ is ‘the coolest thing he’s ever done in his life’ his tour schedule is not posted at his web site. If you contact GSK or the public relations firm responsible for coordinating Mr. Bradshaw’s appearances all you get is an answering machine asking you to leave your contact information. But no one ever calls back,” Robinson said. “If Mr. Bradshaw’s promotion of Paxil is, as he puts it – ‘so cool’ – wouldn’t GSK want everyone in the world to know where Mr. Bradshaw is going to be, and when, so the public can have an opportunity to hear him talk about Paxil?”

SSRI Citizen is demonstrating against Mr. Bradshaw who is slated to speak in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the Trade Center on November 18th, 2004 from 6:00 p.m. E.S.T – 8:30 p.m. E.S.T. His topic will be “Why Not Be Your Best: The Winning Strategy of Conquering Depression.” For more information contact Marianne Edwards at (423) 763-4626. Individual tickets are $65. A table for eight is $500. Paxil victims as well as families who lost a loved one to a Paxil-induced suicide are encouraged to attend and participate in the protest. Concerns over the planned protest have already caused the sponsor to cancel a book signing session that was to follow Mr. Bradshaw’s speech.

The group’s public awareness campaign follows the announcement of a suit filed in June, 2004 by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer which alleges Paxil’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, engaged in repeated and persistent fraud by concealing and failing to disclose to physicians critical information about Paxil’s safety and efficacy relative to its use in the pediatric population. “Doctors should have access to all scientifically sound information so that they can prescribe appropriate medication for their patients,” Spitzer said. “By concealing critically important scientific studies on Paxil, GSK impaired doctors’ ability to make the appropriate prescribing decision for their patients and may have jeopardized their health and safety.”

Other states may soon follow Spitzer’s lead.

But Spitzer is late bringing Glaxo (et al) to the bar of justice. Previously, over 5,000 individuals in the United States and more than 2,500 in Britain have sued GlaxoSmithKline after they became addicted to Paxil – and then suffered what in many cases were severe and sometimes life-threatening drug withdrawals. “But for every individual represented by counsel there are probably a minimum of a hundred or more people who are not – but who should be. Many victims addicted to Paxil never grasp what has happened to them until they tried to stop taking the drug – and then could not do so without suffering severe withdrawal symptoms. And if they contacted GlaxoSmithKline for help they were advised the drug was not the problem,” Mr. Robinson said. “Yet in Britain GSK has dropped the claim on its patient leaflet saying Paxil is not addictive. Logically, one can only conclude the company knows and concedes that Paxil can be addictive. Why else would they drop the claim?”

In July, 2004 in another civil action involving SSRIs a suit was filed in California by attorneys Karen Barth-Menzies and Ronald Goldman on behalf of Roberta Madison, a nurse and doctor of Public Health, acting as a Private Attorney General. That suit alleges Zoloft’s maker, Pfizer, misled physicians and the public regarding Zoloft’s safety and efficacy, particularly with regard to suicidality and withdrawal symptoms caused by the drug. Ms. Barth-Menzies said “We have been trying for years to raise public awareness about these issues. We believe that the truth has been suppressed for too long and as a result there has been an enormous waste of money, thousands of people have been harmed by these drugs and many lives have been shattered. We hope this lawsuit will be a significant step toward exposing the fraud.”

For more information visit http://www.ssriCitizen.org

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http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_54049.asp
Terry Bradshaw Cancels Appearance Here After Robinson Website Protest posted
August 12, 2004

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw has canceled a fundraising speech here, citing a locally based website that has been critical of him.

The site, SSRI Citizen, is operated by Rob Robinson, son of City Councilwoman Sally Robinson.

Marianne Edwards, development director for the Fortwood Center, said the agency received a letter on Friday from Mr. Bradshaw’s agent, informing them of the cancellation.

She said the Fortwood Center has spent thousands of dollars promoting the event, including billboards around the city.

The Bradshaw speech on how he successfully battled depression had been set for Nov. 18.

Ms. Edwards said Judy Collins, singer and author, has been lined up as his replacement. The new date is Nov. 16.

The Robinson site (www.ssricitizen.org) focuses on SSRIs, or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, a class of drugs which includes popular medications such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Luvox and Celexa. The Robinson site says the drugs can cause serious side effects, including hostility and aggression.

The Robinson site refers to Terry Bradshaw as “Mr. Paxil” and says, “Former football legend Terry Bradshaw now hawks Paxil for GlaxoSmithKline.”

Mr. Bradshaw, who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships, was scheduled to speak on the topic of “Why Not Be Your Best?

The Winning Strategy Of Conquering Depression.”

The Fortwood Center, a private, nonprofit mental health organization, was founded in 1947 as one of the first outpatient mental health centers in Tennessee. The center is the largest provider of outpatient mental health care in the Chattanooga area.

Tickets for the event had been selling for $65 each or $500 for a table of 8.

Mr. Robinson on the website calls himself “a Paxil survivor,” and he says he filed suit in 2002 against the manufacturer of Paxil. The site offers “Unsafe At Any Dose” bumper stickers for sale.

Mr. Robinson could not be reached for comment.

The Fortwood Center said in a press release:

Fortwood Center has been notified that Terry Bradshaw has cancelled his appearance as speaker for its November fundraise. Mr. Bradshaw’s appearance was to talk about his experience with depression and his success with treatment.

“Unfortunately, local protests were threatened because he serves as a spokesman for the medication, Paxil, an anti-depressant medication.

“The drug has helped Mr. Bradshaw and many others beat the symptoms of depression; however, some people can experience some withdrawal symptoms if they quit taking the medication abruptly and are not properly transitioned off the drug. As with all drugs, the FDA requires comprehensive listing of all side effects, one of which is the warning to be very cautious in using the medication in children.

“While Fortwood regrets Mr. Bradshaw’s decision to cancel, we are moving forward with our November event which will feature singer, songwriter and author Judy Collins as our keynote speaker, who will be speaking on suicide, struggle and strength; her recovery from personal tragedy. Event date is Tuesday, Nov. 16, at the Convention Center.

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