Let Them Eat Prozac: The Unhealthy Relationship Between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Depression (Hardcover)

~ David Healy (Author)
Key Phrases: consultancy panel, tort wars, rechallenge protocol (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

”Stirring firsthand account of the SSRI wars. . . . Healy is a distinguished research and practicing psychiatrist, university professor, frequent expert witness, former secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, and author of three books in the field. Instead of shrinking from commercial involvement, he has consulted for, run clinical trials for, and at times even testified for most of the major drug firms. But when he pressed for answers to awkward questions about side effects, he personally felt Big Pharma's power to bring about a closing of ranks against troublemakers. That experience among others has left him well prepared to puncture any illusions about the companies' benevolence or scruples.”

- New York Review of Books

"A compelling story about mystery, deception, death, disappointment, vindication, and uncertainty."

- The American Psychological Association

"Healy confirms his status as one longtime thorn in the side of big drug companies, recounting how he was initially enthusiastic about SSRIs but eventually grew concerned about their side effects."

- Psychology Today

"Physicians should be aware of Let Them Eat Prozac."

- JAMA

"Let Them Eat Prozac is a double-pronged exploration, first of the SSRI drugs used to treat depression, and second of the drug industry."

- Publishers Weekly

Product Description

"In a flood of academic publications and talks, David Healy has issued harsh criticisms of both the pharmaceutical industry in general and the nearly $20-billion-dollar-a-year antidepressant industry in particular."
—Boston Globe

"[Healy is] the leading authority on the history of psychopharmacology."
—Times Literary Supplement

"This very important book will demonstrate beyond your worst dreams that the commercial needs of Big Pharma are the natural-born enemy of independent scientific research."
—John Le Carré

"The author is an excellent historian who offers a gripping interpretation of the role of the pharmaco-industrial complex in the introduction of SSRIs. His recommendation for a funded agency that would carefully evaluate the benefits and harms of marketed drugs is a superb idea and much needed."
—Jonathan Cole, Harvard Medical School

Prozac. Paxil. Zoloft. Turn on your television and you are likely to see a commercial for one of the many selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on the market. We hear a lot about them, but do we really understand how these drugs work and what risks are involved for anyone who uses them?

Let Them Eat Prozac explores the history of SSRIs—from their early development to their latest marketing campaigns—and the controversies that surround them. Initially, they seemed like wonder drugs for those with mild to moderate depression—patients take just one daily dose, and unlike the tranquilizers that were popular in the 1960s, they supposedly did not lead to addiction. When Prozac was released in the late 1980s, David Healy was among the psychiatrists who prescribed it. But he soon observed that some of these patients became agitated and even attempted suicide. Studies were soon published, citing numerous cases in which patients became anxious and reported increased suicidal thoughts while taking Prozac. Could the new wonder drug actually be making patients worse?

Healy draws on his own research and expertise to demonstrate the potential hazards associated with these drugs. He intersperses case histories with insider accounts of the research leading to the development and approval of SSRIs as a treatment for depression. Let Them Eat Prozac clearly demonstrates that the problems go much deeper than a disturbing side-effect of a particular drug. Current FDA regulations encourage drug companies to patent a specific compound and market it effectively to a large population on the basis of minimal effectiveness in a handful of trials.

The pharmaceutical industry would like us to believe that SSRIs can safely treat depression, anxiety, and a host of other mental problems. But as Let Them Eat Prozac reveals, this "cure" may be worse than the disease.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press; 1 edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814736696
• ISBN-13: 978-0814736692
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #448,736 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars honesty at last, July 15, 2004

By	fern "aurania-4" (philadelphia, pa United States) - See all my reviews

Having been a pharmacist for 24 yrs I can say with depressing certainty that MDs have absolutely minimal understanding of the drugs they prescribe. They receive only the barest instruction in pharmacology in med school, and the majority of their ongoing drug education seems to come from pharmaceutical reps. This book just further validates observations I have already made about the side effects of Prozac and its cousins. The detail involved in the handling of the subject matter may be too technical for the casual reader but would be fascinating to healthcare professionals and attorneys. It underscores the penalties to be paid by honest researchers and healthcare professionals in this market-driven economy by those who dare to challenge the data put out by companies with huge profits to make and to protect--and who also have the financial resources to ruin anyone who tells the truth about their products. It reinforces what should be a guiding principal in most areas of life: before believing what you are told, ask who profits by your gullibility and need. And do not be too quick to distrust your own instincts and observations.

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sobering, informative, yet gripping, September 5, 2004

By	Judith Lautner (San Luis Obispo, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dr. Healy is a proponent of drug use for patients with depression or other disorders. When a drug calms a person down or energizes her - in a good way - he says "that's a good drug for that person". He has been a leading figure in psychopharmacology for many years, in part because of sponsorship by drug companies. He has a great deal of experience prescribing Prozac, Zoloft, and other antidepressants for a variety of conditions.

Healy is also a dedicated, conscientious doctor. So when he first read reports of persons who behaved unaccountably when on Prozac or another Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI), he naturally wanted to know why. It wasn't long before he had embarked on a research trek that led him to the inescapable conclusion that Prozac increases a patient's risk for suicide and violence. He tells the story of his journey almost like he is writing a suspense novel, and its grip is hard to shake.

Healy noticed that the "suicidal ideation" related to the use of Prozac was different from the non-drug induced suicide. Normal suicidal behavior takes into account the effect of this action on others, while drug-induced suicide and violent actions show a complete disregard for anyone else. Normal suicidal behavior is repeated - that is, an actual suicide typically follows at least one attempt. The cases that Healy followed, by contrast, were of normal people who had usually never attempted suicide before. Their behavior shortly before the attempted or actual suicide was described as strange and unlike them, almost as if they were possessed.

Although the book delves deeply into the pharmaceutical industry's practices, the efforts made by these companies to prevent negative information about their drugs from reaching doctors or the public, I was particularly struck by the effect these special patients had on Healy himself. He doesn't seem to be able to shake the vision of what they became and how their behavior, influenced by drugs, affected their friends and families, how the drugs ruined so many lives in such a horrifying way. I think it was this sense that drove Healy to write this book. No stranger to attacks and veiled threats by his peers, Healy has to know that his work will not be received with unadulterated admiration. But it is a work he had to write and that we all should read.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good information to know about SSRI drugs before treatment.., November 10, 2004

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Since I am acquainted with the issues of antidepressants as someone with dysthymia, I decided it might be interesting to read the "other" side of the story. To that end, I just finished Let Them Eat Prozac - The Unhealthy Relationship Between The Pharmaceutical Industry And Depression by David Healy. Interesting stuff here...

Healy is listed as a former secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology and has written a number of articles and books on the subject. He's also been on the prescribing end of antidepressants, so I don't see (at least on the surface) any particular conflict of interest that might color his statements and conclusions. The book is part a personal story of his experience with the drug Prozac and its parent company Lilly, as well as an expose of how pharmaceutical companies are able to distort facts and studies to present misleading results on drug testing. The main thrust of this book is how Prozac and SSRI drugs in general show a strong increase in the rate of suicidal tendencies in users during the first few weeks of use. But looking at the information from the drug companies, you'd never know it. Based on creative manipulation of statistics, the suicide rates were presented as far less than they really were. And even now that Prozac has gone off patent and is now available in its generic form of fluoxetine, he still claims that little is known about the long-term effects of the drug, and who might be held responsible if issues arise down the road.

Coming into this book, I was ready to write him off as a conspiracy nut with an axe to grind. I was given fluoxetine nearly two years ago to help me deal with chronic low-level depression, and it's been a lifesaver. I've experienced very few side effects (very minor), and it has given me a new lease on life. But after reading the book, I realize that I am pretty lucky, in that the story could have been much worse. It's nearly impossible (from what I can tell) to predict how a specific person will react on an SSRI drug. My position has been that the doctor should be watching them extremely closely over the first two to four weeks. I'd now change that to the first two to four *days*. An adverse reaction to the drug could be deadly, and for more than just the person taking the drug.

Overall, very interesting material. I would hope that reading something like this wouldn't dissuade a person from seeking treatment and trying SSRI drugs, as they can and do work well for many people. But it's valuable to understand that they don't work for everyone, and it's possible that they could make the condition even worse. Just proceed with caution...