Yesterday invincible summers had a post that was discussing Seroquel – specifically that the FDA is requesting more information from AstraZeneca, the producer of the drug, before official approval is given to use the drug in the treatment of depression (it is currently used for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia).
Here is the thing – doctors have been prescribing the drug for depression for years even though the side effects can be very extreme. Constant feelings of being “drugged”, extreme sleepiness, weight gain, and hand tremors have been reported an a number of people who have taken the drug.
It would make one wonder if the depression would be better than the side effects, doesn’t it?
How about diabetes? Would that make you think twice about taking the drug? Well, AstraZeneca was aware of Seroquel risks since 2000…
AstraZeneca responded June 26 with an analysis that showed 2.4 percent of people who began treatment with normal levels of sugar in the blood became technically diabetic after 52 weeks. Normal levels are less than 100 milligrams per 10 deciliters. Someone is labeled diabetic with a reading of 126 milligrams, said Laura Massey Plunkett, a human risk assessment specialist, who read in court from the company report.
That result, compared to 1.4 percent of patients given a placebo who showed the same increase in blood-sugar levels, Plunkett testified, makes it almost 70 percent more likely that people taking Seroquel would develop diabetes than people who weren’t taking the drug.
“It’s clear this compound Seroquel can cause diabetes,” she said. “I don’t think there is any real controversy about that.”
Why is AstraZeneca pushing for Seroquel as a depression treatment with this knowledge out there, maybe it has something to do with the $4 Billion in revenue the drug had last year…
All this got me thinking about the drug industry – how many other drugs are on the market that have other unrealized/undocumented side effects? Better yet, how many other companies MAY have potentially dangerous drugs on the market and are withholding information simply because they are focused on their bottom line?
The automakers did data in the past, Tobacco makers constantly claimed their products were healthy, so why would Big Pharma be any different?
For the record – I had one doctor that tried to push me onto this years ago, but I did a bit of research and would not do so. The side effects listed just did not seem to be something I wanted to deal with… I am very thankful I didn’t have that in my body with that new information out there. I wish anyone who is on it/who has take it the best.
Others talking about it….
Pharmalot – Discussion on Seroquel Risks
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