Letter to GSK Netherlands

[Sheila]

Never before has the mainstream media been so weak as they're now. Not before long they will most likely start demanding bail-outs.

[Claudius]

OK some update about this, of course Idid not hear anything from GSK so I decided to give them a call and they had not recieved my message.
So I asked were I could send it again so it would be read. They told me, do not laugh..., to contact my farmacist because they were not allowed to give any information about prescription medicines and I should look for information in the leaflet..... LOL!!!
So I told her I had already talked to both my doctor and farmacist but they were unaware of the problems and not able to help me. Also I told that I inbetween had gathered information from international known medical specialists that the leaflet of Seroxat was not accurate and did not give any useful information about discontinuation and therefore my doctor and farmacist were not able to advise me. Also I mentioned a TV program I have been in touch with.
And then suddenly she gave me an email address and I resent my letter, Within hours, there was a reaction were they asked for my home address (to send a customer complaint form). I refused to give them this but still insist to get answers.
I will post the Google-translated versions of the correspondence here:


Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX,

We acknowledge receipt of your mail.
You report an adverse and undesirable effect of a drug.
To continue to treat a form we would like to send this message so we can administer.

We would like your address received.

Turning to further process your request, we send this email to the relevant department.


Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

NL Info
Medical Customer Support Center
GlaxoSmithKline | House to Heideweg 62 | 3705 LZ | Zeist | The Netherlands


And my reaction on this mail:

L.S.

Given the behavior of GlaxoSmithKline on Seroxat / Paxil in the past as evidenced by several scientific articles, reports of lawsuits, TV reports and user reports and statements of GSK-Seroxat-responsible officer and mr. Alastair Benbow, I find it under my own safety is not desirable that the above-makers on my private home address on file.

I will therefore not pass, but I am willing to further questions, either through a form, to answer.
My goal is a clear response from GSK on my experience and questions and an explanation how it is possible that this could have occurred and why the leaflet still barely (and for some years none at all) gives useful information on safe discontinuation of the agent, and from thorough research by Professor David Healy (Professor of Psychiatry) and others, and the overwhelming amount of information from the major online support groups, shows that the drug should be tapered off very slowly, with dose reductions of up to 5-10 % per 3-6 weeks, the means can never be reduced by alternating to swallow although still recommended by doctors (often with disastrous consequences) and under the 1 (one) milligrams can not safely be stopped without the risk of life-threatening adverse reaction as seen by me also occurred after withdrawal from 10 mg (ie according to the Directive in the leaflet) and me for several years virtually disabled has made as a result of the intolerable and never experienced physical / psychological / neurological phenomena by very many ex-users as "hell on earth" are defined and for at least a significant minority certainly not "after 3 weeks are" as the leaflet still mentions.

You may use this reaction together with my earlier email to the appropriate department to send. I firmly tell when I'm already in contact with various interest groups as well as with many other victims, or survivors thereof, of Seroxat / Paxil worldwide and I see your reaction (or lack thereof) on my / our experience and thus will therefore ask parts.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXX

[Sheila]

Claudius, you know I agree with your views and you know I support you in telling your truth and pursuing your passions, whatever they are.

But, I have dealt a lot with Big Insurance companies and other corporations, and I don't think you are going to get anywhere by writing letters or making phone calls to low-level departments.

If it simply makes you feel better to do this, then I support you 100%.

But, if you really want to have an impact, then we have to brainstorm other avenues of approach.

In the past, I have sometimes had success when I sent a letter (maybe registered mail) to the president of a corporation.

And I just talked to Barbara and she wondered whether it might be a good idea for you to talk to Fiddaman about different ways of actually having an impact on GSK.

So, maybe the first step is to get really clear in yourself what your goals and priorities are. Then, we can help you brainstorm how to proceed.

[Claudius]

Sheila, thanks for your reaction and in fact I do not expect much, if anything from GSK. I just wanted to contact them to give them an opportunity to react, although the response will be predictable in terms of denial.
I am beyond the point of expecitn real help of advise and moreover I feel that WD is coming to an end for me, though I am in a nasty wave right now.
But I wanted to contact GSK at least one time for my personal documentation. Moreover I got the advise from several people to contact the manufacturer of the drug and I did this now... and also I realize that I am completely on the side of the anti drugs/psychiatry community (and will probably stay forver on that side) but just for my personal documentation and wellbeing I felt I should GSK give the opportunity to react and offer their excuses and help, knowing that the chance they will is less than 1%.
And as Luc saiys, it is just one brick of the monstruous structure that is brought down by these letters.
I surely expect nothing from them but just felt I had to do this and did not do anything illegal (other than some strange things I did in early WD).
I am even not sure I want to escalate this action by, for example, write to the president of GSK, but if I do I will definately contact you for advice!

[stan]

hi Claudius,

i tried to understand your letter to GSK, i think, as you said, you wait nothing from them; what i see can be done is promoting HEALY work, Breggin and others worldwide, with this site we try it, as the other sites do, each his way...

[Luc]

You're *all* right in this thread; Claudius, Sheila, Stan. And I don't say it just out of politeness. I really mean it. Here's the deal;

1. Some ways of action may, indeed, be less effective than others, and they may also bring quite a disappointment, especially if we're getting stone-walled. Yet, at the same time, we shouldn't underestimate the psychological and educational factor of such actions. Writing to corporations, docs, etc., may let them know that there *is* a reaction to their actions, and that somebody *is* watching them. Plus, every person that may potentially read those letters will get influenced by it - they, too, have their own families, friends, etc. At work, they're the "yes men", but in their private lives most of them will make their own choices, informing others of what is *really* going on. As unbelievable as it is, when I had classes with the "bank people", I was shocked to learn to what extent they do not understand what is going on and what the real causes for this whole financial crisis are. They, too, are the part of the machine, being so compartmentalized that the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing, or it may even not know this other one is there at all, lol (at least the low-level and mid-level employees - those on top are a different story). Once you break up this compartmentalization, there comes the epiphany.

2. That said, I would agree that at that stage, the most effective strategy, the master plan for us and the entire movement would be to keep growing, getting into contact with more people in the field (Healy, Breggin, Whitaker, others) and building an alternative to the old, corrupted, (and I won't mince words here), eugenical, system. With the present unbelievable (and still growing) power of the Net, we may soon be reaching the point when our ideas (or counter-ideas) will take over the old ones. The same way like the "dinosaur media" are being pushed to the shoulder by the "new media".

3. .... and the more we will be healing, the more able we will be to do it all...

[Sheila]

Claudius -- OK, what you said all makes sense. Thanks for clarifying. You are getting some satisfaction from your *own* actions. When you look back, you will be able to feel that you have been thorough.

[Junior]

What about putting together a book made up of the stories of several individuals about their experiences - both in getting off the drug/s and their treatment by Big Pharma?

[Claudius]

What about putting together a book made up of the stories of several individuals about their experiences - both in getting off the drug/s and their treatment by Big Pharma?

I still have it in the back of my head, though I concentrate more on building work-experience and finding a job right now :)
But my letter is indeed meant to build a record of the reaction and denial of Big Farma. So they can not tell later on that they would have been willing to help me but I never contacted them...

[Claudius]

I have an official reaction of GSK, of course it is full of official b***sh** ,but I noticed too that they did not deny withdrawal anymore but merely emphasized the statements in the more recents leaflets that potential serious discontinuations could occur and for some people can take longer than 3 weeks... Also they started that my complaint fulfilled the requirements to report to the medicine regulator within 2 weeks. I am asked to delvier some exact info, among others a declaration from the farmacist which brand I had taken (I fact I did not swallow the GSK version but the Merck variant).
I am still not sure how far I will go and how much energy I will put in this, I am in any case not intented to spend even one penny for an expensive lawyer who does not know more than we, so I am my own lawyer in this... And I made an appointment to my GP to deliver the requested info. Maybe it will help me that about 2 weeks ago in all newspapers was read that GSK deliberately withheld crucial safety information about a few meds, among them Paxil.
I still want financial compensation of the about 20.000 euros I have lost due to the inability to work, and though I know chances are low, I too realize that things are changing now, more and more people are aware of the criminal activities of farma and GSK in particular and want to do all I can to get my rights. And if I don't, at least feel that I did what I could do.