Computer Mended, Breakdown Averted
My beloved computer was sick this weekend and last, and therefore out my hands until later today. I was so nervous. What if my photographs disappeared? Je suis artiste! Images such as this Philly streetscape might never be seen again!
Anyway. I just feel vulnerable without it. I also feel vulnerable because I just spoke to a reporter about Seroquel and AstraZeneca. That always makes me crampy. I referred them to Philip, of course, as he knows all. But I had to tell my story–about how I take Seroquel, and it’s a lifesaver for me, but I’m unusual (suffering, as I do, from psychotic depressive episodes) in terms of bipolar disorder, and there’s no substantive science, as far as I know, to prove that Seroquel is an appropriate stand-alone treatment for bipolar disorder, or major depression, or for anything AT ALL in children.
AstraZeneca, as lawsuits and exposes show, is unethical in its approach to marketing and development, but before I knew that, yes, I did a few talks to AZ employees about how much I liked it. Unpaid, I’ll add. I severed my ties to AZ as soon as I learned of their unethical behavior, and I never promoted the medication to anyone who didn’t work for AZ. But it still makes me feel queasy to talk about it. I think I was a little naive.
liz | 3:28 PM | Uncategorized
Seroquel is the only atypical that is FDA approved for treating both mania and depression, as far as I know. I don’t know if it is approved for maintenance, but usually what’s good for acute episodes works for maintenance.
In no defence of AstraZenaca, but it seems today that every pharmaceutical giant is guilty of some sort of unapproved marketing. Look what Eli Lilly did with Zyprexa (which happens to be literally a lifesaver for me). Where’s the FDA when we need them?
I will have to aggree, the ethical problems are industry wide and they are all guilty is one fashion or another.
Liz,
So you’re guilty of finding a medication that actually works for you. And of trusting your doctors, their judgment and in the minimal honesty of the people who made a drug that bailed you out of a big, fat hole in the universe.
Doesn’t sound too bad to me. I’m only happy you’ve found help and don’t expect you to have so much energy you can investigatively report on everything that comes into your life.
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