MHRA - Dishonest or Incompetent?

[LukeUK]

Recently in the UK a Lord asked parliament about adverse effects associated with Mirtazapine, including specifically whether sexual dysfunction persists after stopping:

 

Parliamentary Reply: 12,401,593 prescriptions for mirtazapine were issued last year - and reports of particular adverse effects. Letter from Minister (Lord) Nick Markham addressing concerns about “post-SSRI sexual dysfunction.” – David Alton

 

You'll see that the MHRA (Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency), which is the government body that deals with the safety of medical treatments responded with figures of reports of sexual dysfunction after stopping Mirtazapine. Here is a copy of the table from their reply:

 

Year	Reports of sexual dysfunction	Reports of sexual dysfunction that continued after mirtazapine was withdrawn
2014	3	0
2015	1	0
2016	2	0
2017	3	0
2018	1	0
2019	5	1
2020	3	0
2021	5	1
2022	10	1
2023	9	0
2024	4	1

 

 

I know that the MHRA are not telling the government the truth.

 

I know this because I reported persistent sexual dysfunction (among a multitude of disabling other effects that have destroyed my life) in August 2023 and I have a report confirmation ID for this.

 

I have emailed Lord Alton who initially asked for this information to tell him that they have not provided him with accurate information. I will also contact the MHRA to see if they have anything to say about this, along with Mark Horowitz as I believe he is sceptical regarding government figures on psychiatric drug withdrawal.

 

No wonder that this isn't taken seriously. First of all, you can assume that MHRA reports are the tip of the iceberg, as I didn't know it existed until it happened to me AND I did my own research, and my doctors actively discouraged me from reporting it. Secondly, if when things are reported not everything is even counted then this means that the true number of people who have been harmed is likely to be far higher.

 

I will update this thread if I get any responses. I am furious that I took a drug that is only thought to be "safe" because the people whose job it is to ensure safety either do not take it seriously enough to count patient harms accurately, or worse, deliberately hide the truth. I did not deserve to have my life destroyed and to suffer.

[LukeUK]

I thought the authorities being caught in the act of hiding antidepressant harms might have been of some interest to the community.

 

I will be meeting with a member of my country's parliament to discuss my case on Friday.