March 21, 2006
Baum Hedlund 12100 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 950
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Web: www.baumhedlundlaw.com
Documentary "Prescription: Suicide?"
Public Screening at Beverly Hills Film Festival April 8, 2006
Additional Scheduled Screenings:
Washington D.C.: April 2, 2006
Canada: April 6 - June 13, 2006
Baum Hedlund client, Tonya Brooks, is one of six youths featured in a new documentary entitled "Prescription: Suicide?" The documentary takes an intimate look at children and teens who have committed suicide or attempted suicide while taking antidepressants and the impact these tragic events have had on their families. The film received the "Spirit of Independents" award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Tonya Brooks, who lives near Austin, Texas, attempted suicide while taking the antidepressant Paxil. Tonya's mother, Cheryl Brooks stated: "No parent should have to go through what we did." Explaining her horror when she found her daughter sprawled on the bathroom floor after her suicide attempt, Mrs. Brooks stated: "[T]here was blood everywhere.... [The manufacturers of these drugs] should be paying for this. They gave these medicines to these kids - that's murder..."
After acknowledging the causal role of antidepressants in inducing suicidality in pediatric patients, the FDA required all antidepressant manufacturers to place a black box warning in their labels alerting physicians and patients to the risk. The new labels went into effect in January 2005. In a July 2005 alert, the FDA stated: "Taking antidepressants may increase suicidal thoughts and action in about 1 out of 50 people 18 years or younger."
The black box warnings came over a year and a half after the issue was first raised in the UK; over a year after the UK all but banned the drugs for children and adolescents following its review of clinical trial data, which found a link between the drugs and increased suicidality; several months after one of FDA's own medical officers observed an association between the drugs and suicidality in clinical trials (all of which had been conducted between 1983 and 2001); after a several-month independent review of the clinical trials by the FDA-contracted "Columbia group"; after two FDA advisory committee meetings spanning over a 3-day period at which 25 of the experts on the FDA advisory panel voted that the data demonstrated a causal relationship between the antidepressants and increased suicidality. (One voted to abstain and one voted against.)
Scheduled public showings of "Prescription: Suicide?"
-
Sunday - April 2, 2006 - 2:30 pm - Maryland/Washington D.C. area
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/blakehsJames Hubert Blake High School
300 Norwood Rd
Silver Spring, MD 20905
(located 15 miles north of Washington, D.C. in Montgomery County; http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/blakehs/info/directions/index.htm
The event is being organized by Mathy Downing whose 12 year old daughter committed suicide while taking Zoloft. The Downings' story is featured in the film. Mathy can be reached at: mathy02@aol.com. Following the film, there will be a Q&A. This event is free. -
Saturday - April 8, 2006 - 10:00 pm - Beverly Hills, California.
The film is being shown at the International Beverly Hills Film Festival. To purchase tickets, log onto: http://www.beverlyhillsfilmfestival.com and click on the calendar date April 8. Then scroll down to Prescription: Suicide? and click on "Purchase Tickets."The address is:
Clarity Theatre
100 N. Crescent Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210 -
April 6 - June 13, 2006 - Canada. A multi-media tour with Angela Bischoff, from Greenspiration.org, which covers 20 cities and towns across Canada. The tour will look at the reasons for the recent rise in depression, and at the myriad of treatments available, including the pharmaceutical and the holistic, within the context of Big-Pharma and corporate culture. Check Greenspiration's website http://www.greenspiration.org for the exact dates and cities.
The following information provided by Full Vision Productions:
Official Selection of 2006 Beverly Hills Film Festival Premieres April 8th, 2006 "Prescription: Suicide?" the documentary that takes an intimate look at the personal impact of anti-depressant drugs on children and teenagers premieres April 8, 2006 at 10:00 PM at the Clarity Theatre, 100 N., Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Seating is limited and this showing will sell out. Purchase tickets now by going to http://www.beverlyhillsfilmfestival.com/ or call (310) 779-1206.
Six families who experienced having antidepressant drugs prescribed to their children, dramatically describe their feelings and reactions, their relationships with the medical professionals involved, and how they cope with the tasks of daily living and challenges resulting from these medications.
Emmy award winning director Robert Manciero tells us "this film lets families directly impacted take the center stage. They share their stories, speaking from their hearts and it is through their experiences that a critical understanding is gained about the use of these medications."
Vividly shot with real families across the United States, it is yet a project with global implications that strikes at the very meaning of medical traditions in our modern society. The film captures a sense of the arguments in an ongoing controversy that affects millions of Americans and ultimately asks the question; can these so-called revolutionary medications be used safely.
Joy Hancock, author of "Prescription for Madness," had this to say about the film "Robert Manciero effectively delved into each child's individual antidepressant nightmare. Jace Vek's original score provides a dramatic yet soothing background. The home video clips interspersed throughout the film intensifies the raw emotion underlying the film. The children in the film are every parent's child, your niece or nephew, grandson or granddaughter, brother or sister."
ParticipateNow.net, located on the internet at http://www.participatenow.net, is a grassroots marketing company coordinating future community screenings of the film around the country focusing on fundraising events for local communities. Their website provides a wealth of links and additional information on antidepressants and how you can ParticipateNow.
Copies of the DVD are available for purchase at http://www.prescriptionsuicide.com.
Contact Robert Manciero at Full Vision Productions
3115 Foothill Blvd - Suite 109 La Crescenta, CA 91214
Phone# 818-515-3554.
Email: info@prescriptionsuicide.com
