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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by SLS on May 20, 2004, at 7:31:42
Dear Noa,
I guess you've heard by now that Serzone is being withdrawn from the market worldwide. It was withdrawn voluntarily by the manufacturer. However, it is still available as a generic. We'll have to see if the generics do the same. The manufacturer does not concede that Serzone is unacceptably dangerous, but rather, cited poor sales as their reason for discontinuing it.
I am so sorry that this has happened.
Have you thought about alternatives?
- Scott
Posted by NikkiT2 on May 20, 2004, at 7:46:48
In reply to Noa - Serzone, posted by SLS on May 20, 2004, at 7:31:42
Is this the drug Pfizer have been talking about withdrawing??
I think its appalling.. my brother in law works for Pfizer and I wish I could rant at him about it!
Lets hope the generics work just as well
Nikki xx
Posted by allisonm on May 20, 2004, at 19:00:28
In reply to Noa - Serzone, posted by SLS on May 20, 2004, at 7:31:42
I tried generic Serzone and found no difference between it and the brand-name. I believe the generic comes in capsule form...they are yelow and white. It sure costs a lot less. I ordered mine from a mail-order pharmacy in Canada.
Alli
Posted by shar on May 20, 2004, at 21:52:58
In reply to Noa - Serzone, posted by SLS on May 20, 2004, at 7:31:42
Noa,
I don't know where the thread started, but Serzone was the worst (by far) A-D I've ever been on. I take it you had some problems with it; I felt like I was in a rubber room...up...down...up...down...and, at random intervals.Etc.
I do hope you find something good.
xoxo
Shar
Posted by SLS on May 20, 2004, at 22:48:17
In reply to Re: Noa - Serzone » SLS, posted by NikkiT2 on May 20, 2004, at 7:46:48
> Is this the drug Pfizer have been talking about withdrawing??
>
> I think its appalling.. my brother in law works for Pfizer and I wish I could rant at him about it!
I don't know how to feel about this whole thing. 20 people worldwide have died due to liver failure while taking Serzone since it was approved in December of 1994. The risk that any one person will experience this reaction is considered remote. If Serzone were a drug used to cure cancer, 20 deaths in 10 years worldwide would be considered acceptable.
- Scott
Posted by Racer on May 21, 2004, at 18:37:17
In reply to Re: Noa - Serzone, posted by SLS on May 20, 2004, at 22:48:17
You're right, and I know that this drug has helped a lot of people a great deal, but I'm still quite conflicted about how I feel about it over all. This is colored by my own experience on it -- including hospitalization for a liver-related illness within weeks of taking it, the worry since then that it did permanent damage to my liver, and wondering if it might be related to my recent liver tumor adventure.
I guess my biggest problem with the entire matter has to do with the way the company which produced the drug has responded to the reports of deaths and liver problems. I think that I would not be so offended by the whole thing if they had said something like, "Gee, we did our best in testing this drug, it looks as if we may have missed a possible problem so we're going to recommend caution in taking this drug until we can do some additional testing to see if the drug really is causing this. If it is, we're really sorry because we wanted to help people and this isn't helpful." You know what I mean?
Keep in mind that I'm a recovering accountant. I still see things from the big B Business view, which view is why I left accounting. I just can't believe that profits at any cost is moral, and I saw way too much of that in my years of Business. I know that the company will never say, "Sorry." They will always say that they don't think the drug caused any real problems, it was safe, they're not legally liable for anything. I do know that, but it really, really disgusts me. I do not believe that the refusal to accept any potential responsibility is moral. I do not believe it is ethical. I buy Chevron gasoline, despite the cost, because when the Chevron refinery a few dozen miles from here had an emergency accident a few years ago, their spokesman came out and said, "We are so very sorry that three of our employees were seriously injured, and we are profoundly grateful that no one was killed." I later mentioned this to a friend, whose wife worked at Chevron, and he said that the company policy is to start out, from the very first statement, with an apology and accepting responsibility for what happened. That is a company I can support.
So, there's one view on it, for exactly what it's worth.
Posted by Noa on May 24, 2004, at 18:20:42
In reply to Noa - Serzone, posted by SLS on May 20, 2004, at 7:31:42
Hey, Scott--thanks for thinking of me.
Yes, I heard it on the news--was it last week? I was really pissed off when I heard it, of course. First words that came to mind were something along the lines of "those wimpy b*****ds!".
Of course, this happened like the day or two or three after my appointment with my pdoc, so we did not discuss it. Not that it was a total surprise, of course, as there had been rumors to this effect for a while. But I wasn't expecting it right now.
I will have to try the generic nefazadone and see what happens. Otherwise there really IS no substitute for Serzone--it is quite different from just about everything, except its closest relative, Trazadone, which is rather a sloppy and less effective medicine.
I wonder if liver reactions have to be closely monitored again when starting on the generic nefazadone.
In the meantime, once I realized I'm not up for refill for a few weeks, I forgot about it. But I'll have to contact my pdoc to ask him all this.
This is the end of the thread.
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