My book will be published on 19 August by Skyhorse in New York (288 pages). It can be pre-ordered here. Book description This is a story of scientific misconduct, committed by Merck, the fourth biggest drug company in the world. Merck has committed scientific misconduct before, and the author describes the fraud related to Merck’s […]

By Martin Hemberger Diplom Wirtschaftsinformatiker (FH) Würzburg, Germany A dangerous misconception, deeply embedded in psychiatry, is that the return of symptoms after discontinuing psychiatric medication is a relapse of the original condition. For many patiens, including me, this belief has led to misdiagnosis, suffering, and unnecessary, prolonged exposure to harmful drugs. What psychiatry labels as

In 2003, Tim, known to most as Woody, died of a sertraline-induced suicide at age 37. He was not depressed, nor did he have any history of mental illness. He died after taking the drug for five weeks with the dosage being doubled shortly before his death. He was given the antidepressant by his general physician

Cecily Bostock was a musician, an artist, an over-achiever in almost everything she did. She was having a lot of trouble sleeping, had racing thoughts, was over-analysing, and was overly sensitive. This prompted a prescription of paroxetine. Her mother Sara said that within three weeks of taking Seroxat, Cecily became a totally different person. “The last

Candace was a happy 12-year-old girl who had never been depressed or had suicidal ideation. She was prescribed sertraline because she suffered from school anxiety. Her mother Mathy found her beautiful little girl hanging, her knees drawn up. Her father knew the minute he saw her that it was too late but tried to administer CPR,

Stewart Dolin had the perfect life. He was married to his high school sweetheart for 36 years. He was the father of two grown children with whom he had a very close and meaningful relationship. He was a senior partner of a large international law firm, managing hundreds of corporate lawyers. He enjoyed his work and

Shane was 22 years old when he broke up with his girlfriend. He found it difficult without her and was prescribed citalopram. He became agitated and rang the doctor four days later, as his tongue felt very swollen (a recognized side effect of citalopram). He left a message but got no response, and five days later

Jake’s mother, Stephanie, describes her son as a beautiful, bright 14-year old boy. In late 2011, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in an extremely mild form (the diagnosis of Asperger’s was eliminated in 2013 in DSM-5 and replaced by a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder). Jake started counselling with a psychologist in 2011 due

Maria Bradshaw’s son Toran who was her only child was prescribed fluoxetine in January 2007 despite having been assessed as being a healthy adolescent who had an expected reaction to a stressful life event, which was a breakup with his girlfriend. A month later, Toran experienced a severe cluster of adverse reactions including suicidal behaviour,

Danilo Terrida was only 20 when he hanged himself in a crane at a shipyard in 2011, two hours after having assured his family on the phone that he was fine and had small-talked with them. A month earlier, he had celebrated his birthday and everything apparently went well. Two weeks later, he made contact