The pharmaceutical industry talking points that America’s very own Pravda, NPR — which can be counted on to impressively get almost everything medically related wrong all the time — is currently parroting, laundered through medical associations so as to create the veneer of legitimacy, concern the notorious class of antidepressant drugs, SSRIS, the dangers and inefficacies of which we have previously expounded upon here.
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Via NPR (emphasis added):
“Nearly one in five pregnant women and new moms in this country suffers from anxiety and depression. And 6-8% of pregnant women are prescribed a group of antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).
But a recent expert panel organized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cast doubt on the safety of SSRIs — even though these drugs are largely considered safe by healthcare providers.
Those comments have sparked a swath of criticism from a number of prominent medical societies.
“Untreated or undertreated depression during pregnancy carries health risks, such as suicide, preterm birth, preeclampsia, and low birth weight,” the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine wrote in a statement late last month.”
The rebuke came in response to an expert panel convened by the FDA to discuss the cornucopia of evidence that SSRIs don’t actually treat depression and, in fact, pose serious risks to pregnant women and their unborn babies.
From the aforementioned statement, via Society For Maternal-Fetal Medicine (emphasis added):
“Depression is a recognized medical condition requiring intervention and treatment. Pregnancy can worsen existing health problems, including psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. Untreated or undertreated depression during pregnancy carries health risks, such as suicide, preterm birth, preeclampsia, and low birth weight. Unfortunately, misinformation about depression and its treatment creates confusion and doubt among patients and the public leading to unnecessary barriers to care.
As with all medications during pregnancy, the potential risks of antidepressants should be weighed against the benefits to maternal and fetal health. The available data consistently show that SSRI use during pregnancy is not associated with congenital anomalies, fetal growth problems, or long-term developmental problems. Evidence also shows that depression during pregnancy is the strongest predictor of postpartum depression, and discontinuing antidepressants is associated with a relapse of major depression.
SSRIs are an important treatment option for depression during pregnancy. ”
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On a hunch, I looked into this medical association — the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine — that NPR is passing off as an unbiased authority on the topic of maternal healthcare.
Lo and behold, its long list of corporate sponsors includes a slew of pharmaceutical and biotech companies, such as Premier Medical Systems, GE Healthcare, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, and Momenta Pharmaceuticals.
Subsequently, I discovered that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson acquired the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s sponsor, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, for a cool $6.5 billion in cash in 2020.
That multinational corporation, J&J, has not one but two new antidepressant drugs in late-stage clinical trials that it forecasts will generate billions of dollars in profit annually — if and when the FDA approves them, which gives the firm all the incentive in the world to shut down any public debate over their safety or efficacy.
Via BioPharma Dive, May 2024 (emphasis added):
“J&J was one of the few large pharmaceutical companies to remain active in neuropsychiatry during a pullback in industry investment last decade. Even now, as companies like Bristol Myers Squibb and AbbVie aim to reenter via multibillion-dollar deals, J&J has placed greater emphasis on its brain drugs pipeline.
Seltorexant is one of the company’s chief prospects, with executives predicting last year that it could eventually earn between $1 billion and $5 billion in annual sales…
In addition to seltorexant, J&J has also placed significant expectations on another new depression drug known as aticaprant. Results from a Phase 3 study of that medicine could come this year.”
In summary:
· De facto state media NPR distributes a “news” article to debunk safety concerns raised by an expert FDA panel over antidepressant drug safety in pregnant woman. (Note that, in any other administration, NPR would take the FDA’s word as gospel; it’s only this one, which appears not fully captured by the industry it’s supposed to regulate, that earns any skepticism.)
· To substantiate its rebuke of the FDA, NPR cites a medical association which it deceptively frames as an unbiased, disinterested authority
· That medical association, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, as learned upon basic inspection of its finances, is bankrolled by a pharmaceutical firm that is currently developing two potentially blockbuster antidepressant drugs worth billions of dollars in revenue — ones which, once they are approved, will undoubtedly be marketed to pregnant women
The Science™!
Respect it, peasant.
