Here is a frank examination of the pharmaceutical industry and of one of the most popular drugs of the last twenty years by a psychiatrist who has been a consultant to many of the top companies.
Sales of Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft now account for billions of dollars worldwide. Despite outward expressions of confidence in these new miracle drugs, drug companies and researchers still do not know exactly how they work, or what their potential side effects are.
After years of consulting to the major companies, independent study, and prescribing Prozac and its sister antidepressants, David Healy shows that some of the patients taking Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft can become suicidal and commit suicide at a much higher rate than if they had been left untreated. The manufacturers have refused to acknowledge this risk, key national regulators have not taken appropriate steps to protect the safety of their citizens, and critics of these drugs have been harassed and threatened.
In this book David Healy describes his transition from drug industry consultant to independent-minded critic. We meet leading figures in drug research, industry promotion, and government regulators. We are taken into back rooms of lawsuits where industry experts go head-to-head with lawyers and victims families looking for compensation for apparently Prozac-induced suicide.
Near the conclusion of the book we witness Healy being offered a prestigious job at the University of Toronto, then having the offer rescinded. Only because on university faculty union support for his case did the university back down, with the result that Healy is now Visiting Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
"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."
- novelist John Le Carre
"There is a more sinister tone to this book -- one that moves us into the realm of a spy novel -- which questions the integrity of those in power ... Healy has personally laid down the gauntlet without the shield of fiction. Reviewer rating: Very good."
- Dorian Deshauer, MD Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
"This is a curate's egg of a book. It addresses the wrongs asociated with the overuse of flouxetine (Prozac) in the treatment of patients with depression....The book contains serious allegations and ones that deserve to be addressed."
- Joe Collier BMJ, vol. 328 (British Medical Journal)
"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."
- Dr. Jonathan Cole, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
"The well-documented study presents a thorough history of the development of anti-depressant drugs... Reading at times like a John Grisham novel, Healy takes us through the litigation in a number of cases and the corporate machinations designed to shield pharmaceutical conglomerates from responsibility. The book represents a significant wake-up call."
- Matthew Behrens Quill & Quire
"Let Them Eat Prozac is nothing less than a full frontal assault on Big Pharma and its fellow travellers. It is a powerful cry of "j'accuse" that calls out for a response from those who are vilified."
- Keith Nickson Toronto Star
"Let Them Eat Prozac tells a compelling story, with strong resemblances to a detective novel. The drama of Healy's personal odyssey, from pro-industry scientist to embattled critic, illuminates the dark side of the bargain between modern science and Big Pharma. The book is edifying and frightening. But never depressing."
- Arthur Schafer Globe and Mail
