I like to live my life with facts, not speculation and drama. My ...

this whole news release is not news to me...i have been aware of the side effects since march 2007. singulair had devastating side effects on my 7 year old son....way before any media influence. i notified merck and the fda in hopes they would make parents and patients aware of the potential side effect risks. i was one of thousands before me, who had already reported to merck and the fda. do all people suffer the potential risks?....NO should patients be made aware of the risk, so they can watch for them....YES. your comments are very narrow-minded and one-sided. you would benefit from some objectivity in your life. although, singulair had a devastating effect on my son...he has recovered. i realize singulair helps many, many people and i am thankful there is a drug to help their suffering. i only wish for label / warning changes that will fully disclose known side effects. merck and the fda have know about these side effects for a long time, they are now being forced to disclose them to the public for fear of future lawsuits. many children are suffering devastating side effects on this drug and their parents are totally unaware. if your child suddenly started to suffer these side effects, you would be singing a different tune. your lack of compassion and grace is repulsive.

Repulsed, yes.
I had just written this long reply, and when I went to post I had to login and lost it.
I'm so frustrated now by some peoples lack of compassion and one mindedness.
So you're saying that we all here, are making up stories? Yes, that's what I love to do in my spare time, make up stories about my 5 year old wanting to kill himself. WTF!
You really need to wake up and smell the coffee because people do have side effects to every drug, everyone is different though. We sure as hell have the right to know the side effects in case of an emergency such as we went through as well as thousands of other parents.
You're barking up the wrong tree here Chris. When you close your eyes tonight, try and imagine the anguish you'd feel if your beloved child didn't want to be on this earth anymore, and you'd found out it was because of a drug you thought was helping.....

If you were in a dark alley with the angry parents of all the children who have suffered from this drug I guarantee you would take back everything you just said. Do you think we're not real? I mean seriously.

These people are real and I hope for your sake your child does not start to experience the side effects that so many have. The drug might work fine for you but it does not nullfy the REAL experiences people are having from this drug. We know our children. Hopefully you do too. Stay tuned to your child....very closely!!!

I just read through your entire post again.

I think you're sick!!!

I totally agree with you Chris. These people are hypochondriacs. I wonder if they ever sued Bayer for making aspirin. Maybe some day they will get sick and need a drug company's medication that will cure them. They will change their tune then. I think Matthew may be the one who is sick.

yep you guessed it...all 1000+ of us are hypochondriacs. our children are hypochondriacs too! they faked all their side effects so they could be miserable in life, cause that is what most children do. if you work for merck, better freshen up that resume, you are going to need it.

I can't imagine the FDA getting involved because of only *one* suicide (though the loss of even one life is terrible). The FDA usually turns a blind eye to what pharmaceutical companies do unless there have been enough complaints or enough evidence to convince them that they must step in.

I came to this board in late February--a full two to three weeks prior to the big news story earlier this week--simply looking for a reason for my son's insomnia. There were already over 1000 posts here on the Singulair board, nearly all of which listed the same side effects: fits of rage, depression, insomnia, and suicidal thoughts. I had never dreamed that my son's fits of rage and depression were linked to Singulair--I had assumed it was all part of being 17 and having normal teenage stresses and hormonal surges. He stopped taking the Singulair right then (back in late February), and the difference in him is astounding. He is much more outgoing and talkative; he joins in with family outings and goes places with his friends (before, he wanted to stay home alone in his room). There have been no fits of rage, no more declarations that he hates himself, no more calling himself a loser (I couldn't believe he would call himself a loser--he carries a 3.9 GPA in an academically-challenging private school and was recently accepted to Case Western University), and he is sleeping better. He is just simply BETTER.

If you or your child can take this medication with no side effects, that's wonderful. Please continue to do so. But please remember: millions of people take Singulair. If only 10% develop the serious side effects, that's **hundreds of thousands** of people.

To artie81:
Do you really think small children can have hypochondria? LOL
Give me a break. You can leave this board anytime now. :-)

By the way...I'm NOT opposed to medications that have benefits but when I see my 5 yr. old son tell me over and over that he "doesn't want to be in this life anymore" I KNOW it's the Singulair talking. I hope you don't ever have to experience what the people on this board have gone through....if you have children.
Goodbye :-)

I believe you believe in what you are saying and I believe in what I have expereinced with my daughter. In fact, I will argue that Singulair did an excellent job controlling her asthma. It helped her tremendously and she has been taking it since 2003. However, I truly have wondered where my daughter went. It seems that when she turned 13, she "lost her mind", so to speak. I attributed it to being a "teenager". But when she began to become depressed, I took her to counseling and a psychiatrist in 2006. On March 10th, she tried to kill herself. Many of the complaints registered here are one in the same for her. I mentioned this finding with her, but have not gone into any details. I took her off Singulair and we have an appointment withe a pulmonologist to find an alternative. But since takeing her off, her tremors are diminishing, she is more bubbly, she is not NEARLY so aggitated and much more like the sweet pre-teen girl I knew. I love seeing the girl I once knew re-emerge. I see this as a double edge sword in that a medication that was so helpful may be at the heart of what was so harmful. I am sorry for your lack of understanding and compassion. Say what you will to me and others, but PLEASE SPEAK NOTHING OF OR TO PARENTS WHO HAVE LOST A CHILD. That is uncomprehensible to me. Please be careful...

chris--Until this happened to my granddaughter i might have felt the same way as you. However, I assure you our story and others are real. I so wish they weren't. I wish that my granddaughter had never had to go through what she's been through. I think if you could meet the majority of these parents and families and go over their medical records and see that these symptoms started with Singulair the facts and reality you seek would be obvious. Please don't judge us, look at the pharmaceutical companies and their marketing over the past ten years, how they push pills to everyone. Doctors are given a position of trust and power, especially with pediatricians and they are not doing their job in finding out the ingredients in these pills and how the chemicals affect children's brains.

What about the 5 and 6 year old kids that are talking about not wanting to live and telling their parents that life would bebetter without them in it?

are there statistics about normal 5 and 6 years olds having converstaions like this?

i am happy that your daughter is doing better w/ Singulair and pray that she stays well. i believe alot of this as when i read up on on most of this, it sounds like my son. His behavior was NEVER like this until after he continued to take Singulair. There are problems w/ this drug and I am sure that some people may not ba effected by it....but alot of us are.

You may think that one child has died but ,there are more. He had a name and a life just like the others.Our son had no mental health problems ,was well adjusted and from a completely stable loving family.Friends and teachers were not interviewed on television but they would have gladly stepped up to say how he was a great kid.Our neighbor and friend was his pediatrician and she did a phone interview,you can only imagine how hard that was for her,and she did not even prescribe the Singulair to Cody.Our sons two best friends parents were professionals in medicine and law and they saw no suicidal tendencies in our son and they were with him days before he died.You may be lucky and I am happy your daughter is fine on this medicine . The warnings are for parents to make informed decisions then proceed with caution or make a choice for another medicine,we never had the information and it should have been on the RX sheet by the time we filled the script in July.You would not be so narrow minded if you stood by your child of 15 while they were telling you that they had to do an autopsy and if you want to donate his organs.Please remember you are dealing with real lives and real people that did not ask for this to happen to them.Hug your child and be thankful you never know when life might sneek up on you even when your sure your doing everything you can to protect them. Blame is useless our child is dead,but there are many that are not including your child Thank God maybe a few less statistics for you to analyze!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kate and Dave Miller

I am wondering if you have a clue as to what most of the people posting here have been through and I am also wondering if you care? I am glad your child is better on the singulair and truly hope she is not affected by the "side effects" others have suffered. Would you have a problem responding and or posting without the sarcasm?

I personally have watched a drastic change in my son with great sadness on all our parts. Many psych appt.s time energy money spent to make sure his needs were met, just like you with your child. I am suggesting maybe you havenot the capacity for compassion, so the physical inability to breath maybe what it takes to make you respond. I am thinking that you might learn a great deal from these posts so that you can watch your "daughter" and be ready to pump the life back into her if she trys to take her own, because I fear you will be too busy thinking of you and your childhood to notice her distress.

No it would fall on your head for not calling 911 when she needed it!!!!!
Seriously I am politely asking you to be sensitive here. This is not the place to ridicule or question people who are just trying to increase awareness. If you wish to vent your frustrations find another blog! I am terribly offended by your remarks. It is very appauling. It is one thing to post the positive outcome you have had from the med. However you have taken it to another level. I couldn't even have the heart to post some of the things you have posted. SO please find another avenue to be offensive on.