http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/AC/prozac/2443T1.PDF

DR. CASEY: Thank you. Cathy Eckstein?

MS. ECKSTEIN: My name is Cathy Eckstein. I reside

at 197 Jousters Lane in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

I was prescribed 60 mg of Prozac by my physician

during a period of grief that followed my son’s suicide. The

suicide occurred during the first few weeks of his withdrawal

from the prescribed drug Ritalin. I have been trying to come

off Prozac since February, 1991, and have only managed to

reduce the dosage from 60 to 40 mg.

Since I’ve been on Prozac I’ve experienced the

following adverse reactions: a drug-induced insanity that has

caused several self-destructive outbursts, there was an

extended period of anger, rage, and hostility, and it turned

into terrible feelings that suicide was the only answer. I

remember screaming at my family that I now know how

Brad must have felt before he hung himself. I needed help but I

didn’t know where to go,

I knew that I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know how to

deal with it.

I was taken to the doctor that had prescribed the

Prozac and was told that there was no reason for me to try to

stop taking it and that I should increase the dosage to the

original 60 mg. In addition to these outbursts, there have

been headaches that feel as though burning pain went from the

base of my neck to the top of my head. There have been many

episodes where I could not pronounce words clearly or

correctly and a tremendous loss of physical strength, leaving

me unable sometimes to function in my normal activities for days

and weeks at a time.

In my own research of Prozac I have learned that

withdrawal only occurs after an addiction to the drug has

occurred. Prozac is an addictive drug that has caused me

harm. I have yet to get off this horrible drug and to date

have found no adequate medical facilities to successfully

remove it from my life. I was never informed of its

effects.

I want to see Prozac taken off the market. I am

concerned as to what other effects or reactions I am

now to expect in the future as a result of taking this drug. The

drug has falsely been promoted to me as safe and a miracle

drug.

My son died as a result of Ritalin. Others are now

dead or dying because of Prozac. How many deaths need to

occur before the FDA is convinced that this drug is not safe

and is not a miracle and the American people are tired of

being guinea pigs because of the pharmaceutical companies’

need for profit? No person deserves to experience what I have

and am experiencing on Prozac. I am requesting that you take

Prozac off the market. Thank you for letting me speak.

DR. CASEY: Thank you.