Helen. You are absolutely right! There doesn't seem to be a "someone" to go to to get any answers about Nardil. Pfizer won't talk. No one knows anything. FDA is part of the problem.

Dr. Goldberg and the Psychiatric community are the people with the connections and clout to be asking these questions. The FDA is the organization charged with protecting us from what Pfizer did. There ARE NO TESTS about how "New" Nardil works... For crying out loud, just make the old stuff back here in the U.S. WHAT THE HELL COULD BE WRONG WITH A DRUG COMPANY THAT CHANGES A DRUG SO THAT IT DOESN"T WORK? INSANE. AND, SOMEONE IS IN CHARGE OF THAT PRODUCT.

THERE IS A MANAGER OR OFFICER WHO DOES HAVE CONTROL OVER NARDIL!!! I WOULD LIKE THAT PHONE NUMBER AND ADDRESS 100 TIMES MORE THAN DR. IVAN GOLDBERG.

YOU TALK ABOUT LETTING LOOSE AN EARFULL???!???

No wonder we have been told by some very intelligent people here how hard it is to get into Pfizer -- like a military base.

Spotcheck -- would you please call Goldberg.

Helen - any names or numbers at Pfizer you can pass on for us to start hounding again?

I Know. I Know. Thanks for letting me ramble...

Most Sincerely, Dan
   (Fri Jul 3 21:49 2009)

Pfizer and my own foolishness when I was young have finally killed me, something I never could have admitted nor stated before this.

I do have one last thought: seek help from the highest non-secular entity that I believe exists, and that is God. Everyone still here and alive would be wise to take this advice -- advice that I believe could save you yet, and that should be taught as you are growing up -- in my opinion.

Farewell my fellow travelers in this quest. May God bless you all, for every single one of you deserves this!   (Fri Jul 3 21:32 2009)

The trial was never done-I have a CD to prove
IT. The big pharma buy even the governement   (Fri Jul 3 12:23 2009)

I continually wonder who are the people to
contact to complain about Nardil. Someone who would care enough and have the power to actually do something?

I once tried to get a copy of the trials of
this new Nardil via Freedom of Information Act. (I think Pfizer rigged these results).
It is terribly expensive to get this info.
AND they may tell you they can't find it
after all !!!

Nothing seems to work.

HelenK.   (Fri Jul 3 10:53 2009)

You have a tremendous amount of hope riding along with you. I hope you have current and correct information. We need the "Old Stuff"
This would be a Godsend! Hope it's so! Dan?   (Thu Jul 2 23:56 2009)

A 200 pages report as been send to health administration Ca. I think most likely will be approved
BR
Luigi   (Thu Jul 2 23:51 2009)

Party Time?! New Nardil -- Tell us about it...

Dan   (Thu Jul 2 23:45 2009)

Ivan Goldberg
Suite 407
177 East 87th Street
New York, NY 10128-3100
+1 212-876-7800
Psydoc@PsyCom.Net

Have you talked to Dr. Goldberg yet?
Is this the right number? Seen his Website?
   (Thu Jul 2 23:42 2009)

I BEEN TOLD ABOUT 6 WEEKS
Rigards
Luigi   (Thu Jul 2 23:42 2009)

ALL THE SMALL PHARMACEUTICALS Companies which
bought the GENERIC FORMULA FROM PFIZER have
theirs sales in the zero. After so many comp-
laints I think that why finally they deicided
to change the formula once again
BR
Luigi   (Thu Jul 2 23:34 2009)

Luigi, you have info that someone is going to remake or partial remake of Nardil? Where does this come from? How soon? U.S. or a Canadian Company? Thanks!

Lab-Rat, do you take Nardil? O.K. Did you?
How much? Feel better on it or off it? Very important question -- many people here are trying to guage what to do by how this stuff is affecting others. Please give us a few answers.. you can seriously help some people! Thanks
   (Thu Jul 2 23:30 2009)

I was going to ask why you feel doomed but I realized I feel the same way. I feel doomed to live a life of misery as of the action taken by Pfizer and what they did to Nardil.
Nardil is gone until someone is able to make Pfizer reformulate the old stuff but how will this take place?
I find their actions to be the most despicable in the name of medical science but what can we do about it? Pfizer wants to save money by extending the shelf life of Nardil yet they are well aware of the suffering they cause and it sems they dont care. How do we deal with people who have no reguard for the well being of their subjects? There is an answer!!
lab-rat

   (Thu Jul 2 19:44 2009)

From my private info...the new formula will have have the original coating>this maybe wi-
ll solve the problem...to bad this will take
more than 6 weeks> beside, also to be approv-
ed by the local health administartion...which
most likely will be! yes after 6 years>>>
thank you health canada
b.r.
luigi   (Thu Jul 2 16:47 2009)

I meant that the Titanic was doomed; and so are we !!
   (Mon Jun 29 10:15 2009)

THE TATANIC WITH A DIFFERENCE:

Titanic tragedy through:The largest moving ob
ject in the sea.
But people in this forum dont move like a bo-
at.........
Hell pfizer dont see that, we are not like a boat, we have a mother and a fathe
r....we are not made of iron, we are humans:
WE ARE THE DAMNED PEOPLE BY PFIZER   (Sun Jun 28 22:15 2009)

I empathize with your situation. I have lost everything in my life as well.
We're all in this boat together -- I call
it the Pfizer Titanic!

Question: Are you still taking Nardil?

Best of Luck
HelenK   (Sat Jun 27 10:33 2009)

You asked which meds I have tried over the years. My answer would be that I have tried all of the newere meds on the market. I have not noticed any improvement in my mood with the use of these meds. In fact, I have been told by two doctors that I was beyond help! They didnt know what to do so they decided that ECT was the only way to go.
I refused and kept trying any new med on the market in hopes that one would work. They have not!
The old nardil was a special drug. It gave self esteem to those who were without. Nardil provided self confidence to those who had none.
I have received e-mails from people who were prescribed the old Nardil simply because they were lacking in social skills.
The old Nardil was prescribed for many reasons but it worked in every case.
There is no substitute for the old Nardil and, sad to say, unless some drug company begins producing the old Nardil we are all destined to live the miserable lives we now live. I am not a pesimist, I am simply observing the facts! The Old Nardil was a wonder drug that helped many people in many ways. It was the only drug of its kind and until it returns we will all be grasping for straws.
I took Nardil for eighteen years and all of those years were good. Pfizer changed the med and I lost the life that I knew. Right now I feel that I only have two options. These would be to spend the rest of my life, in misery, in a mental institution or to end my life before I feel that I must be hospitalized.
Pfizer will not back down and they hold the pattent to the Old Nardil. The likelyhood of a generic Nardil is slim.
I know that most of you are not in the same frame of mind as myself and I have no intention of trying to influence anyone with my thoughts or beliefs. I wish you all the best of luck and I sincerely hope that you will all find some form of relief in the near future.
lab-rat   (Fri Jun 26 19:02 2009)

I did stop Nardil (Phenelzine Sulphate)does
make me sicker   (Fri Jun 26 11:52 2009)

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22237

From Ivan Goldberg's Website...   (Fri Jun 26 6:25 2009)

Trade and Generic Names of Psychiatric Medications.
Compiled by, Ivan Goldberg, MD


With thanks to the many members of the psycho-pharm list who have contributed the information that has made this listing possible.

(This man really needs to understand what Pfizer did to Nardil, and how badly they have hurt us)
   (Fri Jun 26 6:14 2009)

Mary, Thank You! Please let me know how it goes with your brother. I have had the same results as you have when getting off it. Helen, Thank you! Appreciate knowing how it affects you. Joe, as always I can count on you for letting us all know how you are being affected -- Thank You!

SPOTCHECK: Good Luck! Please stay calm. Lots of people's hopes are riding along with you... Use Your Intellect With This Man. After hearing how you do, I too shall give him a polite explanation of what has happened to the last 7 years of my life.

Luigi, Stay Calm! Some good people are about to try again to get the word out about Nardil -- To The Psych Community.
An article on his site and his phone call to Pfizer would be a potent starting point.

Luigi, are you on Nardil? Do you feel better or worse? Can you get off it?

HAS ANYONE, (ANY ONE), STOPPED NARDIL AND FELT BETTER FOR HAVING DONE SO? Speak up!

Best to all. Thank you so much for staying on this site and clinging to hope! Dan
   (Fri Jun 26 2:55 2009)

I am fed up of this name   (Thu Jun 25 17:19 2009)

Thank you for that info.
Joe   (Thu Jun 25 10:12 2009)

Dan I got off it 3 times and tried many different meds.Like mary I regressed and
ended up back on this nasty pfizer crap.
I hate it but it helps me.I get no results
like the old nardil though I take twice the dose.Parnate was the closes thing to nardil
that I tried. If you can get it try it.
good luck Joe   (Thu Jun 25 10:09 2009)

Don't feel obligated to call Ivan. You can't argue with the guy and get angry. I just want him to hear from someone else who suffers this way, and will confirm there are thousands of others too.

I am glad that at least he does treat me even tho he does not believe Nardil no longer works. He says Pfizer never notified him about the change in formula.
Well heck, they didn't tell ANY OF US!
(sneaky!)

Regardless of his beliefs, he alone cannot change Nardil back to the original. BUT, lodging a complaint to Pfizer would do us good. How many doctors have done this?

TO JOE:
I take 7 1/2 mg of Dexedrine per day.
It causes me NO side effects at all.
Also, I've noticed very few and very mild hypertensive reactions with this crap nardil.


   (Thu Jun 25 10:03 2009)

Dan! I'll give Goldberg's Office a call, but I'm better at this face-to-face because then I cannot be cut off. Dunno if I can even get Goldberg, but I'll give it a shoot or ten and see what happens.   (Thu Jun 25 9:42 2009)

Hi Dan, Whenever I stopped Nardil in the past I would regress and become very depressed. But right now my brother is weaning himself off it. I will let you know how he does......hopefully he will find an alternative or feel better without it.   (Thu Jun 25 8:33 2009)

Ivan Goldberg (I think)
Suite 407
177 East 87th Street
New York, NY 10128-3100
+1 212-876-7800
Psydoc@PsyCom.Net

He has a Website.

Is this the guy?   (Thu Jun 25 2:20 2009)

Has anyone FELT BETTER when they stopped the Nardil??? Please comment. I am sick, and I think it's the Nardil, I want to stop it.

What I am asking for is experience! Did anyone here taper-off and FEEL BETTER; either on nothing or on something else. I know, goofy question here, but I want to know and can't remember every med you folks are taking. I had to get back on the stuff previously after stopping it -- but I want to know if anyone has knowledge about anyone FEELING BETTER "OFF" Nardil???

Should I stay on it? Take much more? Get off? Helen, Mary, Joe, Spot, Luigi... everybody else... What Happened To You Off Nardil? Please. I think I'm gonna' stop it again.

All input really, really appreciated! Dan
   (Thu Jun 25 0:34 2009)

Unfortunately the doctors get their info from drug reps who push the company line , which is SSRI's. The very old drs, mine has retired a few years ago, understand Nardil far better than this new breed. Sounds to me Helen that your dr's arrogance stands in the way of listening to his patients. In fact I am madder at the Dr's who have not stood up to this generic situation against the drug companies. Several times my GP would write the RX for Nardil for me cuz they knew I have taken it for a long time (25 years).
In fact one family Dr used to consult on mental issues with me because I knew a lot about it due to my own treatment and my sisters schizophrenia and I was her guardian when my parents died.I wish everyone could have a Psych Dr like the one who saved my life with original Nardil. He listened , he spoke the truth, and he admitted that when it came to diagnosis they would just try drugs til one worked. They didn't really know why one worked better than another.
My hope is the new overwhelming evidence that generics are hurting many,many people will cause an outcry and bring changes. Considering the stupidity of the FDA and the government I am not holding my breath.   (Wed Jun 24 19:33 2009)

I am sick and tired to mantion this name   (Wed Jun 24 19:03 2009)

All right, I'll call the guy up, if you provide the phone number, but I've got this nasty feeling his mind is already made up, much like a Holocaust denier's is. For that reason and the fact that he controls the calls on his end, I'm not at all certain that I can break through to him.

But I would indeed argue him to death if he'd simply get this part right for a change.
I'll still call him delusional, because he doesn't care to know the truth, and that is sign of an incredibly closed mind, and certainly not one a real scientist, believe me.

The fact that the more evidence he sees leads him to believe this is some bandwagon phenomenon is just plain nutty. I'd come to exactly the opposite conclusion if I read this information. But that's because I know that not this many people would possibly lie about something so critical -- because we are talking about our very lives here and nothing less than that either.

If this was not really an issue nobody would be saying a thing about it here, but we are, are we not? Hence, the beggar remains incorrect. I just got a new Psychiatrist and he knows MAOIs like crazy and it's a cheap state agency. He's only the second Psychiatrist I've gotten who gets it there. Why I've had some that did not know what an MAOI was, and so I was the one telling them how they worked. You cannot -- well sure you can -- believe how frustrating that is, however. The problem is that these drugs are the oldest and so Psychiatrists are busy learning about SSRIs and SNRIs, etc, instead of the older medication which some people actually need.

Ask him why everyone who must take Nardil does not respond well to these newer generations of medications, will you? Doesn't that seem strange? Because it seems strange to me. I'd all but kill to be able to use such medications instead of what I've got to take.

Give me that jasper's number and I'll attempt to set him straight, but if he's got any empirical evidence that indicates that he's correct like that (so-called mail-out to other Psychiatrists (something I tend to doubt he actually ever did) then there will be no changing his mind.

He's a dufus, Helen. This is akin to blaming someone whose at war for getting shot when that individual nuts expose himself in order to do what he's ordered to do. I simply cannot believe how poorly this reflects upon my opinion of this Psychiatrist and all others like him.

I understand why you cannot really leave him though Helen. He prescribes drugs that do help you out a bit, and you know that very few other Psychiatrists will do this and so you are quite literally stuck - a horrible position.

Oh, I would be so bitter about this guy though, that I'm not so sure that I could remain with him. I know that he and I would not ever get along, that much is certain. And I'd be all over him for not understanding the very phenomenon that they see right in front of them. This is just not that hard, everyone, except that one cannot ever explain it to normal people and so I never try to do it any longer, because it's a waste of my time.

For Dan: it comes as no surprise that you too have a nitwit for a Psychiatrist. They simply cannot believe that a change in excipients and the way in which this medication was once made, could have that much difference on the generic, but of course they are really wrong in our cases.

One problem I have is that I could become violent when I had to discuss this with a dipstick like this. I'd want to kick him square in the nuts, and see how he likes that feeling. We cannot simulate this illness in them -- although there was once a medication that did indeed induce depression in some patients long ago and whose name I've forgotten that lead to this Psycho pharmaceutical revolution. But of course if I did become violent that would only serve to have me locked up -- something that I will not allow anyone to ever do to me.

But things would most definitely get really heated between us, because of his being so bloody obtuse. It's a form of denial is all, and these jaspers simply cannot figure that part out about themselves.

What a miserable lot of Psychiatrists are out there these days. It was a whole lot different in the 1970s believe me, since that's when I finally force a Psychiatrist to mix to substances together which changed my life for about 6 great years. I worked all of the time then, because I missed it so terribly. I still do in fact, and I always will, but things will never be the same in my life that much is certain.

I'm a good mouthpiece for having to take some long chances in this field, but when I read some European literature, I discovered that they had been doing what I did for a very long time.

I think American is very likely backward in this areas in fact, since Europe has been dealing with mental illness for a lot longer than we have.

Goldberg's number is, what?   (Wed Jun 24 12:49 2009)

Is his first name Jerry ?

Do you have any problem with the 2 or 5 mg
of dexedrine ?
Could it be any worst than eating half of a
large cheese pizza and a blue cheese salid
which I ate last night . not a ting of a problem and I take 10 pills a day.
Joe   (Wed Jun 24 10:48 2009)

Same type discussion with my Dr. as is being described here. They need to be made sick with a chemical that simulates this drug and this condition... then told they have to stay like that for a month!

Imagine the tearful apologies all over the place by sorry Docs to their long suffering patients. Then give another dose at random in 4 to 6 months just to make sure the memory doesn't wear thin. THEY DON'T LISTEN!

Spot(David)-- CALL THE GUY. TELL HIM. TAKE SOME ACTION. YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO HELP MANY PEOPLE IF THE GUY WILL HALF-WAY LISTEN TO YOU!   (Tue Jun 23 15:20 2009)

Problems posting anyone?
   (Tue Jun 23 15:10 2009)

Dr. Goldberg accepts the fact that Nardil has a changed formula; but he thinks it should work as well as the old version.

ALSO, he sent out an e-mail to (suppposedly) hundreds of psych colleagues asking if any of their patients have trouble with new Nardil...
no one has answered him.

NY Marine was going to schedule an appt. with him and tell him "what for", but he never was able to.

I DID show the Dr. many of these posts, and asked him to look at this website. He felt
that because there are so many complaints, that most of us are jumping on the bandwagon.
Talk about insulting!

I am pursuing getting another doctor, but it is so hard when few understand Nardil, or will even try combining forbidden drugs like Dexedrine.

Spotcheck, I welcome you to discuss this topic w/Goldberg if you would.
I will post his phone number, OR you can visit his website.
Thanks to all.
HelenK
   (Tue Jun 23 12:46 2009)

In my estimation, Goldberg is delusional. Just because his other Nardil users do not suffer to the extent that you do, he's decided that it's much easier to blame you, than it is for him to admit that he is absolutely incorrect about your case.

I'd recommend changing Psychiatrists, but the problem still remains that some people quite simply do not metabolize this generic Nardil nearly as well as they did the "old" Warner Lambert formulation -- actually Parke Davis.

When I read your case, it's enough to cause me to want to get in touch with that rascal myself and set him straight. I'll be dead honest here: the man was wrong initially, he remains wrong now, and he will be wrong for the rest of his life, because he's entirely too stubborn to change his incorrect diagnosis, in your case.

A gifted Psychiatrist he is not! Blaming the victim is a very old game, but it's especially cruel in your case.

I'd like to speak to Goldberg and explain why he's wrong to his face. Bet he never will look at this website either, but if you could convince him to do so, he might have to change his mind, if he finds that others are in the same boat. How could he then justify his diagnosis?

He couldn't, of course!   (Tue Jun 23 9:29 2009)

Hi Mary , I had them put a note on my perscription "leave in original Bottles"
Most of the time they do - but once in a while they get dumped into a big bottle.
I get no lot numbers either. I noticed
they break down faster in the big bottle.
The old ones where fine anyway you got them.
But since they reformed them new and better
they decay alot faster- you can smell it when you open the bottle.It was a flat out lie when they said they increased shelf life
with this new generic crap.oh remember, pfizer cares - I get sick whenever I hear that line.

By the way I suspected I got a bad lot a few months ago. I get it from Caremark because of my insurance mail-in program. Well I reported it to Pfizer and they requested a LOT number. Well, Caremark does NOT have Lot numbers. They apparently have a huge warehouse and dump all the drugs in one big group. I argued with them but what do they care. I said , at a time when counterfeit drugs are rampant and like Heparin actually killing people don't you think they should have lot numbers to identify where the bad batch drugs are coming from??? I reported this situation to the FDA but never heard a word back. Yet Pfizer sends me a letter asking again for the lot number.....so they can "investigate". (Like they give a crap) Talk about frustrating....I gaveup and just got a new RX....   (Mon Jun 22 19:31 2009)

Helen, I don't know why your DR refuses to believe what Pfizer finally acknowledged...That they changed the formula of the drug. As that article points out they are turning various medications into generic or cheaper quality...sometimes it is undiscernable to the patient. Does he not know that every patient is different ? Give him the self article and do his research for him!
DRs....some of them are stupider than....
AS for the sweating, well the orignal Nardil used to make me sweat like crazy!!! I do now but I attribute it to Atenolol which I take for my heart blockage.When I split the atenolol the sweating is much better. But I can remember years ago on Nardil ironing my clothes for the day for work and sweating like crazy. And making sales calls and having sweat dripping down my face. The funny thing with this new Nardil is I don't crave sweets like I used to. I could eat an entire bag of hersheys kisses on the original Nardil. I was insatiable for sweets. That's one way I can tell this new drug is ineffective.I don't hold out much hope for the FDA to fix this generic situation. Cheap is the new watchword for all these companies.    (Mon Jun 22 19:26 2009)

About $1000 give or take for analysis of a compound (medication).   (Mon Jun 22 13:05 2009)

I now take 6 Nardil tablets per day (double what I used to take). It works about 60% or so. I'm suffering like everyone else.
Every batch I get seems to work the same, except when I get one that's totally inert. This has happened a few times ever since they changed the formula.
I know instantly when I got a bad batch. I can feel it.

My doc added 275 mg of Lamictal, and I've had wonderful results. But it took a while to kick in and do its job.

I sleep very well, but I'm still bothered by anxiety.
Doc also gave me a small amt. of Dexedrine for a boost of energy.

Unfortunately, he does not believe that Nardil has changed. He thinks I am imagining it because all of his other Nardil patients have no complaints.
ALL TEN of THEM! He said he needs more
statistical information.
I think his other patients are newbies to Nardil, and don't see any difference.

One question that I've asked over and over again: Does anyone get horrible heat and sweats from Nardil?
I am a prisoner in my air-conditioned house
all summer. I don't get it.
HelenK   (Mon Jun 22 9:09 2009)

I've been here since this site was founded some 5 years ago. Hence, I've seen every idea that had any promise at all bite the dust in reality, not just theoretically.

While I understand what you are trying to do and I commend you for it, I already knew the information that Forgetful Mary wrote since when NPAC was in existence four of us came to much the same conclusions, and were equally irritated.

I'm just going to hang around and see if anything truly promising develops once again.
You are fighting a juggernaut in Pfizer and the FDA much less the Congress of the United States of America.

You have to know if this works out, and I'll still be here if you do. Only pressure from the American people themselves is going to correct this, and I fear that this you will not ever get. But by all means have at it, and if you need any assistance just let me know.   (Mon Jun 22 8:48 2009)

Thanks Mary. You have a fine mind -- thanks for all your input and the things that you have brought to our attention. They are very pertinent and I think you have great "vision," Thank You Again!

Luigi. Yes, they do charge to analyze a pill -- I think? Maybe Not! But they do charge a subscription fee. Now I ask you, where can you find a comparison - at any price - of the ingredients in a supplement or medication??? Yes Luigi they charge a fee. And when I get my suscription, I will share results with our small group of loyal injured Nardilists. (Most seem to be for vitamins and supplements, however)
BUT, Consumer Lab does ask for reports of non-working generic drugs, NO ONE else that I can find does that. So I ask you, Luigi, isn't there some value in a company that does these things and asks a fee for its information?

Knowledge is power!

Dan
   (Sun Jun 21 22:45 2009)

They also charge big bucks as though it was not the generic when they claim it is a generic. I don't know if the FDA will do anything about this as they are too concerned with Cheerios claims to lower cholesterol!(stupid) They still haven't done anything about the food that arrives tainted, just yesterday Nestles tOLL HOUSE COOKIE DOUGH CAUSING e-cOLI. i WONDER HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO GET pFIZER TO SELL THE ORIGNAL FORMULA FOR NARDIL FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO MANUFACTUR IT. iT ISN'T JUST GENERICS, (sorry for the caps-oops) Heparin killed people last year and I think it caused a life threatening situation for my brother. I also had noticed my sister changed , got worse when they made her Zolft a generic. I've always marveled at how they ignore Nardil, which in original formula is a terrific drug ,better than all the other crap they keep introducing. Nardil works...the others are a pale comparison..   (Sat Jun 20 15:29 2009)

Hi Dan
sorry but this ConsumerLab is not more then
scum, as all are..........WHY??? Subsscrtion need>>> MONEY MONEY MONEY
We will never see the old NARDIL.......This
not an Opinion but a FACT
TELL ME HOW CONSUMERLAB CAN TELL PFIZER TO REMAKE THE OLD NARDIL???
Please Dan tell me... Maybe i am to stupid to
understand how consumerlab can do that...
Dont sale me a story ok!!!   (Sat Jun 20 13:30 2009)

But a yearlong investigation by SELF—including more than 50 interviews and records leaked from one of the world's largest generic-drug companies, Ranbaxy Laboratories—raises questions about whether some new generics are as safe or effective as the brand names. Although Dr. Kesselheim's review looked at all of the available data, many of those studies were completed before the recent flood of generics hit the market and many generic-drug factories moved overseas. In FDA applications for new generic drugs, nearly 90 percent of the factories providing active ingredients are located overseas, where the agency's inspection rate dropped 57 percent between 2001 and 2008.

"The average citizen would want to know that someone is checking that manufacturers are making the drugs they got approval to make," says William K. Hubbard of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, associate commissioner for policy and planning for the FDA from 1991 to 2005 (and no relation to Beth). "That's not happening, and the risk to consumers is potentially huge. I take generic drugs when they're prescribed for me, but my confidence in them is lower than it was a year ago—and going down."

Generics, which came into widespread use after Congress streamlined testing requirements in 1984, are supposed to be tightly regulated. In the late 1980s, after companies were caught paying off inspectors in order to get generic drugs approved, the FDA overhauled its rules. The agency vowed to inspect each factory before giving the green light to any application. And it newly required any generic-drug maker seeking approval to make one test lot of the proposed drug and then to produce three larger lots to show its manufacturing capabilities. "I have told the industry they are in charge of the health of the American public," says Gary Buehler, director of the FDA's Office of Generic Drugs, adding, "We have come a long way in how we do inspections."

But SELF found that the FDA's reforms have largely fallen by the wayside. Few applications trigger inspections, according to sources knowledgeable about the process, and instead of the three required lots, companies are making one or none. Manufacturing problems have come to light, with six generic companies recalling 20 products in 2008. KV Pharmaceutical Company, a maker of heart and pain medicine, recalled everything it made. "The FDA is satisfied that generics are OK," says Nada Stotland, M.D., a psychiatrist in Chicago and the president of the American Psychiatric Association. "My question is, Are we satisfied?"
   (Fri Jun 19 23:17 2009)

More, much more! These folks test ALL kinds of supplements and medicines to see what's in them and why they may not be working as they should -- THIS IS THE PLACE THAT I WOULD TRUST WITH OUR ORIGINAL FEW NARDIL PILLS THAT SOME OF YOU STILL HAVE!

Look at the site carefully, tell me what you think? Look for the part that talks about analyzing a medication: generic vs. name brand -- Boy Have We Got A Story For Them!!!

Tell me what you think!?! I want some feedback about getting this CRAP NARDIL looked at by a real lab. No, none of us has to spend thousands of dollars to try and get answers - these folks have the equipment and know how to "POSSIBLY" tell us what Pfizer did to Nardil...
   (Fri Jun 19 22:55 2009)

Report a Problem to CL: If you believe that a generic drug has not acted like the original drug, we would like to know about it. Please complete the form at http://www.consumerlab.com/GenericReport.asp
Update:
New information from the FDA and United States Pharmacopeia (USP) corroborate CL's startling findings and contradict product information for one of the generics. See the Update at the top of the full report.
   (Fri Jun 19 22:50 2009)

Helen, do some batches work for you? How much do you have to take? What does your Dr. say about this generic problem and all of us out here who are "sick" in the same way from the med that used to really help us? Do you take anything for sleep or anxiety? Thanks again, Dan
   (Fri Jun 19 22:33 2009)