Kim Witczak Exposes Dangerous Drug Practices: SSRI, Su!c!de, Violence, and Big Pharma’s Deadly Secrets
- Author
- Dr. Teralyn & Therapist Jenn
- Published
- Tue 05 Aug 2025
- Episode Link
- None
How can a seemingly harmless prescription for a sleep aid turn fatal? When Kim Witczak's husband Woody died by suicide after just five weeks on Zoloft—a medication prescribed not for depression, but for trouble sleeping—she was thrust into an unexpected role as a pharmaceutical safety advocate. Her journey from successful advertising executive to FDA committee member reveals the shocking truth about how drug companies manipulate research, hide side effects, and prioritize profits over safety.
Kim's discovery of internal Pfizer documents exposed that pharmaceutical companies have long known about dangerous side effects like akathisia—a state of extreme inner restlessness that can trigger suicidal impulses—yet deliberately kept this information from general practitioners who write most prescriptions. Through her wrongful death lawsuit, she uncovered evidence that drug companies had even created "prosecutor manuals" to defend cases where their medications were linked to violence or suicide.
The conversation pulls back the curtain on how medications get approved. Contrary to what most believe, pharmaceutical companies—not the FDA—control clinical trials from design to data analysis. These trials are often brief, include carefully selected participants, and can be fast-tracked through loopholes that allow companies to cherry-pick favorable results. Once approved, medications are marketed for continual use despite being tested for just weeks, and off-label prescribing becomes a multi-billion-dollar revenue stream with minimal oversight.
Perhaps most disturbing is how the system gaslights patients who experience harm. When medication side effects emerge, they're often dismissed as symptoms of the underlying condition or labeled as "treatment-resistant" cases—a marketing term that blames patients rather than questioning the medications themselves. As Kim points out, we've lost our ability to think critically about what we put in our bodies, accepting without question that medications with known risks are "safe and effective."
Ready to reclaim your agency as a healthcare consumer? Start by questioning what you're prescribed, researching potential side effects, and remembering that your lived experience matters—even when it's dismissed as merely "anecdotal." Your vigilance could save your life or someone you love.
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