Timothy "Woody" Witczak and Kim Witczak
a suicide allegedly induced by Pfizer's SSRI Zoloft and the widow's tale
On August 6, 2003, after a 5-week course of "treatment" with Pfizer's powerful selective serotonin uptake inhibitor Zoloft, Timothy "Woody" Witczak committed suicide at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On May 20, 2004, Kim Witczak, his widow, filed a lawsuit against New York-based Pfizer, Inc., the maker of Zoloft, in the County of Hennepin District Court, Fourth Judicial District, in Minneapolis.
Five days later, on May 25, 2004, Kim Witczak spoke with Etopia Media Medical News Network about what happened to her husband and about what she was doing as a result of that.
You can hear what she had to say then by clicking here.
To visit the website created by Kim Witczak in memory of her late husband, dedicated to educating others about the dangers of Zoloft and drugs like it, in order to prevent others from having to experience what she has experienced, click
here.
FDA's intervention on grounds of "pre-emption" thrown out of court
The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ostensibly responsible for protecting prescription drug-taking Americans from the ill-effects of these products, tried to intervene in the private wrongful death lawsuit being brought by Kim Witczak against Pfizer in support of Pfizer's position on the grounds that its (the FDA's) determination that Zoloft was "safe" "pre-empted" any such lawsuits.
On July 20, 2005 United States Chief District Court Judge James M. Rosenbaum rejected Pfizer’s effort to dismiss Kim Witczak's wrongful death action against Pfizer, writing that:
"Congress certainly did not intend to bar drug companies from protecting the public when enacting the [Food Drug and Cosmetics Act]; its goal was to protect the public ... Any contrary interpretation of Congress's intent is perverse."
According to a press release issued on July 22, 2005, by
Baum Hedlund, the law firm representing Kim Witczak in this case:
"To support its position, Pfizer touted a legal brief ('amicus' or 'friend of the court' brief) filed by former FDA Chief Counsel, Daniel Troy. The amicus brief argued that, even though Pfizer never sought to strengthen Zoloft’s warning label, any warning, no matter how worded, that suggested a link between Zoloft and suicidality would have been false and misleading, would have 'misbranded' the drug, and the FDA would have rejected any effort by Pfizer to use such a warning. Judge Rosenbaum soundly rejected this argument, stating:
"Defendant [Pfizer] proffers the FDA's amicus brief in
Motus v. Pfizer in support of its position. ... There, the FDA -- which has since modified its own position -- avers that it would have deemed any warning of a causal link between Zoloft and suicidality to be false and misleading. ... These assertions do not preempt state law. (Order, p. 7.)"
You can access this press release from Baum Hedlund in its entirety by clicking on its title,
Federal Judge Rejects Pfizer’s Efforts to Dismiss Zoloft-Suicide Lawsuit.
a conversation with Baum Hedlund attorney Karen Barth Menzies about Kim Witczak's wrongful death lawsuit against Pfizer and the Pfizer/FDA claim of "pre-emption"
Karen Barth Menzies, attorney at Baum Hedlund
Etopia Media Medical News Network spoke today with Karen Barth Menzies, attorney at Baum Hedlund, about Kim Witczak's case against Pfizer and the decision by United States Chief District Court Judge James M. Rosenbaum rejecting the Pfizer/FDA claim of "pre-emption."
You can listen to that conversation with Karen Barth Menzies at Baum Hedlund, in its entirety, by clicking
here.
an earlier and related controversy involving the FDA's former General Counsel Daniel Troy
The effort by the FDA to help Pfizer (
"the world's largest research-based pharmaceuticals firm") escape any liability for the alleged wrongful death of Kim Witczak's husband Timothy "Woody" Witczak by having it thrown out of court before it could go to a jury was spearheaded by former FDA General Counsel Daniel Troy.
Maurice Hinchey, U.S. Representative from the 22nd District of New York
earlier interviews with Karen Barth Menzies about SSRI-related lawsuits
additional material on problems with SSRIs
Karen Barth Menzies also represented
Christopher Pittman in his criminal defense against charges that he murdered his grandparents. In that case, she argued that his actions were the result of the effects of his having taken Zoloft.
For an interview about this case with a local reporter who covered it, click
here.
To access a June 18, 2005, article by Ann Blake Tracy, executive director of the
International Coalition for Drug Awareness (ICDA), discussing both the Witczak case and allegations that Zoloft was involved in the murder-suicide that took the life of actor Phil Hartman, click on its title,
"Zoloft-Induced Suicide".
For a June 19, 2005, article about the Witczak case from the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune, click on its title,
"The battle for Woody: A widow says a suicide warning on antidepressant Zoloft might have saved her husband's life."
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