Why are Scientologists opposed to Prozac?
Scientologists are not "opposed" to Prozac, or any particular drug for that matter. This deceptive allegation stems from pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly’s attempt to misportray the effects of this drug and other harmful drugs as part of "Scientology’s anti-psychiatric drug stance." To say we have an "anti" stance is to miss the point. When a person is hit by a car and breaks his leg, he is not "anti-car" because he gets upset. Similarly, when we find a drug that can cause deaths, that does not make us "anti-drug." Rather, it makes us concerned and we expose it.
Scientologists, through the efforts of Citizens Commission on Human Rights, became aware of numerous instances of reported suicides, murders and other extreme acts of violence linked to Prozac. Naturally, Scientologists felt that the public should be made aware of the potential harmful effects of the drug.
CCHR found that more than 14,000 adverse reaction reports regarding the drug had been filed with the Food and Drug Administration in the wake of Prozac’s release. As a result of taking Prozac, some had become violent to the point of murder, killing friends and even members of their own families in outbursts of Prozac-induced homicidal rage.
As CCHR’s investigation uncovered and exposed further incidents, the number of adverse reaction reports filed with the FDA continued to rise beyond 28,000. These included more than 1,400 suicide attempts.
Though this was the highest number of adverse reaction reports filed on any drug in the history of the FDA’s adverse reaction reporting system, the agency and Eli Lilly, the drug’s manufacturer, refused to act. CCHR investigated and discovered that the FDA advisory committee which had given Prozac a clean bill of health contained at least five members with financial dependency on drug manufacturers. One of the committee members had received in excess of $1.3 million in research grants from Eli Lilly.
The efforts to expose the facts about Prozac were made to protect unwitting people from suffering devastating side effects from this mind-altering drug.
publicrelations@scientology.net