By Kim Witczak
I never expected to become a drug safety advocate or Consumer Representative for the FDA.
My journey began after the sudden death of my husband Woody in 2003 from a Zoloft-induced suicide, an experience that shattered my assumptions about the healthcare system and changed the course of my life forever. At the time, I blindly trusted that the FDA, doctors, and the system designed to protect patients would provide families with balanced information about both the benefits and risks of prescription drugs. Like so many others, I had no idea how much information about drug risks could be minimized, overlooked, or even withheld from the public.
What started as a search for answers became more than two decades of advocacy around informed consent, drug safety, transparency, and accountability. I went from grieving widow to testifying before Congress, speaking at FDA hearings, helping organize international conferences, participating in efforts that helped lead to the FDA adding black box suicide warnings to antidepressants in 2004 and 2006, and serving for nine years as the Consumer Representative on the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee.
Over the years, I’ve heard too many stories from people who suffered serious, long-lasting harms and injuries from antidepressants that were minimized or ignored.
Today, I continue advocating for stronger informed consent, independent research, and accountability, and this is why I am launching this petition.
It’s always been those harmed by the drugs who have driven real change by speaking out. Policymakers need to understand just how many people have been affected by these drugs. It is time to demand proper medical research, honest warnings, and real solutions for the harm that has affected so many.