In 2000, the Jed Foundation was established by Donna and Phillip Satow after their son Jed tragically committed suicide. Unfortunately, from this awful heartbreak, the group, according to Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP), now “serves as a marketing launching pad for psychotropic drug manufacturers—all of whom serve on Jed’s Business Council—for ‘Suicide prevention’ campaigns in America’s colleges and universities.”^[1]

• Philip Satow has “more than 30 years of sales and marketing experience in pharmaceuticals” at Forest Labs and Pfizer. “He is both the former President of Forest Pharmaceuticals, inc. and Executive Vice President of Forest Laboratories, Inc., its parent.”^[2]

• He was also formerly a member of the board of Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc and is currently a member of the board of directors of Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc as well as Crucell Inc, a Dutch public bio-tech company. After retirement from Forest Laboratories, Mr. Satow founded JDS Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a privately held company that was purchased in 2007 by Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.^[3]

• The Foundation’s scientific program advisory board includes Martin B. Keller (under Senate investigation for failing to disclose pharmaceutical company funding), and David Shaffer (TeenScreen, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention).^[4]

• Its Business Council includes: Solvay, Abbot Labs, Eli Lilly, Pharma Marketing, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Pharmaceutical Partnerships, Par Pharmaceutical, Janssen, Wyeth, Organon Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb.^[5]

• It receives funding from AstraZeneca, Forest Labs, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth, Abbott Laboratories, Noven Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Shire, Pfizer and Solvay.^[6]

• In 2008, Jed Foundation and TeenScreen joined to form a coalition of groups to urge Congress to support a national program of “mental health checkups for young Americans.” The coalition, called CHECKUPNOW, includes other pharmaceutical company funded groups: Active Minds, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), Mental Health America, NAMI, and The Suicide Prevention Action Network USA (SPAN USA)—all groups with strong affiliations with drug companies.^[7]

• AHRP also points out, The Jed website fails to refer to any of the documented evidence showing medication-induced suicide risks. “In fact, it misleads parents and individuals seeking accurate information by linking to an out dated booklet published by the National Institute of Mental Health in 2000, before the black box warnings on antidepressant labels were mandated.”^[8]

In 2002, the foundation, working with the National Mental Health Association (Mental Health America) convened a group of experts to recommend strategies for mental health. Now, the foundation is working with five universities to develop a pilot study of the most “promising ideas.”^[9] The same year, the two groups sent 3,000 college presidents a letter and 13-page study called “Safeguarding Your Students Against Suicide” underwritten by Wyeth and Forest Labs.^[10]

[1] http://www.ahrp.org/cms/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=394; http://www.jedfoundation.org/about/staff.

[2] http://www.ahrp.org/cms/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=171.

[3] http://www.jedfoundation.org/about/staff.

[4] http://www.jedfoundation.org/about/boards; http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/07/grassley-targets-browns-keller-over-grants/; http://www.chaada.org/TeenScreen.html.

[5] http://theeffexoractivist.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=377.

[6] http://www.jedfoundation.org/get-involved/gala-2008.

[7] http://www.jedfoundation.org/make-a-difference/support-mental-health-checkups.

[8] http://www.ahrp.org/cms/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=171.

[9] http://www.usatoday.com/life/2004-03-02-college-suicide-betterlife_x.htm.

[10] Paul Glader, “From the Maker of Effexor: Campus Talks on Depression,” Wall Street Journal, 10 Oct. 2002.