Hey I just wanted to share with you a little rant I sent to Astra Zenicas coprate responsibility branch. This was brought on by my discovery that upon getting of their wonder med Seroquel as a "manitenance" med (for which it is not approved), that I all of a sudden felt better than I have in a long while. My depression and such vanished and I have not gone manic or anything. ALSO it was brought on by much reading about how much money is being given by the pharma comps to Pdocs who prescribe this class of medication... just the corruption in general.

So here it is:

Please read, this is not meant to be rude, just a heads up about what your customers are becoming aware of when it comes to your marketing practices.:

I just wanted to share what I think about how your miracle drug Seroquel is being used as a Maintenace treatment in Bipolar Disorder.... and how it is OBVIOUSLY being marketed by your company for MANY off label uses.

IT PISSES ME OFF! It is greedy and unethical.

I know, many more people are becoming aware, that your company like any other drug comp gives psychiatrist money, vacations and other such incentives to rx this stuff to patients.
Your company is on it's way to a congressional hearing, many lawsuites and some serious bad publicity if you don't stop this.

I was put on Seroquel to deal with mania. That was fine and it worked well for this purpose. But then after being stable for months and no longer needing this medication I was urged by my doctor to DOUBLE the dose and take it as a maintenance medication -ie. a moodstabalizer. EVEN THOUGH the American Psychiatric Assosiation stongly urges doctors not to do this and that there is no proven benefit from keeping non-psychotic Bipolar patients on ANY Atypical antipsychotic as a *maintenance* medication.

I know of MANY people with many different doctors who have had the same experience. And I know of MANY people who are rx'd this drug as a sleeping pill. This is not appropraite.

Now what I wonder is how much money my doctor gets from Astra Zenica for doing a good job at keeping people on this drug despite their no longer needing this sort of treatment. hmmmmm, I think I will write my congressman and senator and start getting others involved in doing this so that here in California we can pass a law like the one that Vermont asn a few other states have. A law that requires disclosure AND FINES on those who offer or accept money for unethical, medicaly unsound, pharmacy rep inspired prescribing patterns.

Listen up! America is getting wise to what you are doing and it is NOT going to fly. Especialy amongst the people who have suffered injury or imparement due to being put on or kept on a medication that they never should have been.

Psychiatric patients may be crazy but they are not stupid. Your medication, Seroquel has it's place in the treatment of scyzophrenia and mania, and even for short term use in aggitiated depression. BUT it is being widely and obviously prescribed for things it is not approved to treat. Now why would this be> Because you are marketing it this way.

PAY ATTENTION! look at what is going on with Zyprexa. You're big money maker is about to become a big scandal if you do not stop your off label marketing and you too will be loosing BILLIONS of dollars to lawsuites.

STOP HURTING PATIENTS FOR PROFFIT!

I lost seven months of my life to being on your drug.
Yes when it was used for the purpose it has been approved for it was a useful medication. But once it went beyond that point to being used for off label purposes it decreased the quality of my life. This is not fair.

Now I will confront my doctor about this, because in the end you sneaky bastards can always say it's the doctors fault and choice. But I am going to record our session and if he even slips up once to let me know one of your reps, or one of your "Continueing ED -credit courses" told him that it was okay to use this med for the maintenace phase of BP, I am sending is ASAP to whomever has a little power and interest in this matter.

like I said, I am pissed. I don't take lightly to seven months of my life being stolen from me due to a doctor using info he definately didn't get from the APA or any other credible source, and most likely, if one is to believe the statistics released in Vermont and other states, got from your pharma reps... to try and keep me indefinately on your drug as a Bipolar manitenece medication.

These are heavy dutey drugs and should be used to treat heavy dutey symptoms and episodes. Not doled out like candy to any insomniac and hyperactive kid.

PS - I think it's sick that this class of meds are being used on kids when the long term effects have only begun to show themselves. And oh man if you guys get caught is a lawsuit where children have been harmed by your off label marketing of the drug you better buckle you seatbelts cause america is definately not going to let that one fly under the radar.

-sincerly
kathleen murphy

I doubt it will make much of a difference but I had to try.

katie; one voice does make a difference. Yours.

link to the "sicko" movie, I saw it on this page
scroll down a bit its number 16 on the list
I only had time to watch the first 5 minutes, but it looks like the whole movie is there.
http://www.megite.com/video

The movie is gone now.

Did some research as far as taxation in the countries Moore used as examples , lots of people screaming that they are paying more because of socialized medicine.
Here are the facts.
Canada 15-29%(Federal)
France 10%-48.09%
U.K. 0-40%
U.S.A. 0-35%
So with these comparisons I am not sure why we can't go to Universal healthcare. The U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, $7,129 per capita. Yet our system performs poorly in comparison and still leaves 46 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered.

This is because private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume one-third (31 percent) of every health care dollar. Streamlining payment though a single nonprofit payer would save more than $350 billion per year, enough to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans.

Its a no brainer. How rich do these insurance exec’s need to be? Does the money fill the holes they have where there morals and ethics

Michael Moore's letter to CNN prompted me to do the same:

Dear CNN:
Dr Guptas' report of Sicko was useless and I listened with an open mind. He said nothing useful except that Michael Moore rounded up a number to 7,000. Way to go doctor! You found a mistake! I am offended that he suggested Michael Moore was unfairly leading the American public to believe things that are untrue and feeding us falsehoods. I am not a person naive and stupid enough to believe whatever is fed to me. I research what is made available to me. Michael Moore represents so many Americans and he can speak for me anytime. A doctor (who practices in America) to argue government run health care? How stupid do you think Americans are? Highly overpaid doctors should not represent most of America, as you are far from the majority. I am 40, a divorced mother of one, and I have no health care. However, I don't want it. I will choose, instead, to wait for free government health care and hope that it will soon be the standard here in America.

We Americans have paid for far too many fat salaries, coverage we cannot use, and overpriced prescriptions which all contribute to the wealthy getting wealthier, while the working class American must lose a loved one so that insurance execs can purchase another yacht, get another costly divorce, or reserve the hottest new sports car to feed their shallow souls. I work in the non-profit industry and I know professionals in the health care industry who are not afraid to speak up. I will be starting a letter-writing campaign to request that CNN offer the truth about our health care system in this country. Please include the government officials who enjoy the perks thrown to them by those all-too-important lobbys in Washington.

Why DON'T you try to pick Moore's movie apart, piece by bloody piece? Don't skim over it briefly with no information like your doctor did. Really try to prove him wrong! Why won't you? And for heaven's sake, get a conscience and apologize to a man who, like Al Gore, is just trying to raise awareness for a very important issue.

Why can't we ever seem to expose the fat, greedy, wealthy people scooping up all the pennies in this country? Does money really matter that much to that many selfish people that you'd rather all Americans remain clueless and quiet? Don't complicate things, simplify. What is the worst that could happen? You'd lose an advertiser or two? Maybe you'd even get a call from Bush! Don't worry, he's the dumbest American and I am quite sure HE is willing to accept any hot air you blow in his direction.

Sharon Jenson

"How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." -Adolf Hitler