Drug-induced deaths
**January 31, 2015 Thea Marie Astrup died approx two weeks after she had started a TCA antidepressant *Sarotex*, a precursor of more selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).**
All within the group of antidepressants which at the end of the 1900s was mistakenly presented by media and widely known as happy pills.
Thea Marie was recommended and prescribed Sarotex for their partial chronic pain. She was neither warned or pursued regarding the major suicide risk, as required * Felleskatalogen , doctors overview of all drugs marketed and sold in Norway. There are warning against the danger is greatest for young patients and the phasing in and phasing of the medicines. The follow-up by relatives and health professionals included on any personality changes. For Sarotex it is also recommended blood test shots initially when recording of Sarotex can vary widely from person to person. It warned also that Sarotex is especially toxic. Thea Marie was given 100 pills of 10 mg each, enough to kill her several times.
The empty pill box was found on the floor beside Thea Marie. She was 26 years old.
A specialist interpretation of the values in the autopsy report showed that she used Sarotex for the first time in her life in the period between 5 and 20 days before what I denote a *negligently drug-induced homicide happened. This designation is a justified by three factors:
- Thea Marie was not suicidal as a result of pain disorder. This fact is confirmed by three doctors in the patient record.
- When the brother open her PC, she had put it to sleep so that the following message came to light towards him when he opened the lid: It was the pills that killed her.
She knew, but she had no longer the mental Control that could prevent it?! - For all other professions than doctors and nurses will negligent professional practice resulting in death be investigated by the police as a possible manslaughter. It did not happen in this case.
The degree of negligence can be illustrated by the description in the catalog of legal medicines where the word suicide in various combinations is repeated eleven times.
The above case is not the exception. After Thea Marie's death, we have become familiar with many other cases of GP's careless handling of lethal medication which in the past thirty years have killed a significant number of patients - most were younng.
Has not the inspection authorities who are responsible for checking that the legal drugs are not dangerous for patients observed the procession of drug dead who have passed beyond their "window" - the statistics? There has been an exponential increase in GPs' prescribing to young people who GPs do not have the opportunity to follow up the way it must be done to prevent deaths. Sarotex and other deadly antidepressants is prescribed to more and more young patients with relatively modest health problems: minor psychiatric disorders, pain in muscles and joints, other chronic or neuropathic pain, sleep problems, ADHD etc. This despite the fact that the catalog of legal medicines only specifies the use of mental illness and, for Sarotex: * neuropathic pain - not other types of pain, such as the pain Thea Marie suffered from.
It is a brutal disparity between this great goal and the rising number of patients which with statistical precision will face Death in the future - if not the Ministry of Health ensures that prescribing is restricted to patients in hospitals and specialists for the diagnosis drugs are tested for. This is the one and only possible way to protect the patients effectively against the drug's dangerous side effect.
An instruction to GPs to take greater care is unlikely to have much effect. The dealing with antidepressants in general, and for a growing number of health ailments has become too widespread.
The publisher who Thea Marie Astrup gave name to, * TheMa Publishing (www.themaforlag.com), invite Norwegian and English-speaking patients and relatives to write a book together with us about their experience with antidepressants - for better or worse. No story will be omitted, then we will follow the same basic principle as for scientific studies.
The publishing house was founded on the anniversary of Thea Marie Astrup death, on 31 January 2016. It is an ideal entity that will be patient mouthpiece in public, if possible, to help recapture our original patient-oriented health care. We know it is ambitious with an EU/EEA and most of the world subsumed the supranational pharmaceutical industry override. It is now time in Norway to reduce the commercial health market expansive production of diagnoses and toxins to the controlled use of the key, serious diagnoses.
The distribution of power where medicine manufacturers 'growth is more important than patients' welfare is a constant factor which should be monitored by health authorities. The "constant factor" due to the laws of the countries companies have their address, and where boards of joint stock companies are required to prioritize shareholders 'financial interests above the interests of all of us who constitute the medicine producers' market.
This is a gradual development, which is easy to overlook. Interest contradiction has received negative implications for patients to a degree that it becomes visible to a growing number of health workers. We hope Minister of Health knows his Place and will be starting a revision of our health care in patient oriented direction - to stop the meaningless killings Thea Marie Astrup documented fate has made visible in a way that can not be overlooked.
12th of February 2015 found the funeral place in Sandar Church, Sandefjord, Norway.
