While Wyeth Wrings Profits From Womens BodiesHere’s some news that will make us all depressed – Wyeth has won FDA approval for its new antidepressant Pristiq. Yes, the same FDA who has just told us “bioidentical hormones” don’t exist, the same FDA who has told compounding pharmacists to stop using Estriol, the mildest of estrogens when it helped hundreds of thousands of women with menopausal symptoms. Yes, the FDA whose mandate is to protect the public has spoken again. This time, it didn’t take one of its hundreds of FDA approved dangerous flops off the market, this time it has added yet another antidepressant to an already endless list of drugs that don’t’ work to the market.
Unfortunately this is proof yet again that the FDA is more anxious to protect Wyeth’s profits than the wellbeing of the American public.
This is a particularly ominous development for women – Wyeth is also asking the FDA to approve Pristiq as a drug to reduce hot flashes in menopause.
Pristiq is the successor to Effexor XR, whose patent expires in two years. Sales of Effexor last year were $3.8 billion. By the way, Effexor is not exactly a great drug either. Just check my blog on the topic and read about its side-effects and disastrous record when it comes to attempting to get off it.
The new drug provides a lucrative new revenue stream for Wyeth. How lucrative? Well, on the day it won FDA approval (February 29) Wyeth stock soared 2.5% while the rest of Wall St tumbled 315 points.
Did I mention any benefits to patients? I would, if I could think of any. One thing I’d like to ask the FDA and Wyeth is how many people (women) have taken this drug for how long before it got through the approval process? And by the way, did anyone have any adverse reactions we might consider serious enough to skip the drug altogether?
The prospect of Pristiq being approved for menopause is truly disturbing and proves the FDA has relinquished any pretense of protecting women. Treating menopause with anti-depressants is ineffective and dangerous. If women are depressed during menopause it is because their hormones are depleted and most conventional doctors discard their symptoms and tell them they are just getting old and should just get over it and go away.
The sensible and caring way to deal with the problems of menopause is to help women understand what happened to their bodies, how their diets affect the way they feel, how exercise improves the symptoms, how stress management helps them get the sleep they need, how supplementing their hormones with bioidentical hormones can help them get their lives back on track and enlighten the world with the wisdom they acquired along the way.
The solution is not going to be found in giving them another drug to become dependent upon.
Instead, the FDA is making it harder for women to find safe, sensible alternatives.
You’d think they’d done enough favors for Wyeth.
Source: Bioidentical Hormones
