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From the High Desert

A Cultural History of Art Bell

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Thumbnail for September 4, 1999: Hilly Rose - Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Dr. Ann Blake Tracy

September 4, 1999: Hilly Rose - Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Dr. Ann Blake Tracy

Sep 4, 1999
2h 10m
Hilly RoseDr. Ann Blake Tracy
0:00 / 0:00
Guest host Hilly Rose welcomes Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, executive director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness, for an extensive examination of serotonergic medications including Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Luvox. Dr. Tracy draws connections between these drugs and a growing list of violent incidents, from the Columbine shooting to the killing of Phil Hartman by his wife Brynn, whose family is now suing Pfizer. She reveals that the driver in the Princess Diana crash was on these medications and that Monica Lewinsky's recent single-car accident may also be linked.

Dr. Tracy explains that these drugs function similarly to LSD and PCP in their effect on serotonin levels, causing patients to enter REM sleep states while appearing fully awake. She presents brainwave evidence showing patients in total anesthetic sleep with eyes open, acting out nightmares without awareness. The discussion covers Ritalin's classification as a methamphetamine, its effect of reducing brain blood flow by 20 to 30 percent, and the military's policy of permanently rejecting anyone who has ever taken it.

Callers share contrasting personal experiences with these medications while Dr. Tracy advocates for natural alternatives including omega-3 oils, hypoglycemic diets, and early sleep schedules. She warns that long-term use gradually overwhelms the liver enzyme system responsible for metabolizing these drugs, leading to dangerous toxic buildup.

Key Moments

  1. Brookhaven: Ritalin cuts brain blood flow like cocaine: Tracy and Hilly Rose cite a Brookhaven National Laboratory study finding Ritalin reduces blood flow to all parts of the brain by 20 to 30 percent, and note Ritalin and cocaine fall in the same drug classification, with cocaine producing the same blood-flow effect.

  2. Military rejects anyone who took Ritalin: Tracy notes the U.S. military will not accept recruits with any history of Ritalin use, even from childhood, and asks why a drug deemed disqualifying for soldiers is routinely prescribed to ten-year-olds.

  3. Prozac as the legal cousin of LSD and PCP: Tracy argues SSRIs are serotonergic medications in the same family as LSD, PCP and ecstasy - noting LSD was patented by Eli Lilly in 1956 with the same promise of curing mental illness - and that PCP users describe their experience in nearly identical language to SSRI patients.

  4. Dreaming while awake explains the violence: Tracy describes patients dreaming while driving and Brynn Hartman going to a friend after shooting Phil to confirm whether it was real, arguing SSRIs collapse the boundary between REM sleep and wakefulness so people act out their worst nightmares.

  5. Fluoride silences a Prozac baby's daughter: Tracy recounts a woman who took Prozac through three pregnancies; one daughter, treated with fluoride pills by her dentist around age three, abruptly lost intelligible speech and only recovered it after the fluoride was stopped, which Tracy attributes to a synergistic effect with residual SSRIs.