Remembering Del Shannon 27 Years After Prozac Took Him From Us

Most of you may have no idea who Del Shannon is because you are too young. But for us older folks we know that next to Elvis, who was also a victim of these prescription drugs, Del was the voice of early Rock and Roll & was loved worldwide! When he was inducted into the Music Hall of Fame in 1999 it was said, “It would have been better if this had happened while he was still alive, He sure deserved it!!” 

Yes, he certainly did deserve it! As did everyone else who have missed important and critical moments of their lives due to the adverse reactions from these deadly antidepressant drugs! With as much as I know about Del Shannon/Charles Westover I can say without hesitation that I know he is very busy where he is continuing to fight this battle with us for truth about these drugs in order to save the lives of others! I had an example of that just two days ago when after ignoring promptings to make this call for a couple of months I finally picked up the phone and called his wife Leanne. Let me introduce LeAnne to you by sharing her testimony to the FDA against Prozac….
LeAnne and I have become very close friends over the years after we met at the 1991 Prozac FDA hearing above. But it had been over two years since we last had a chance to speak back when I made a trip to Hollywood for the premiere of that last movie I was in “American Addict 2, The Big Lie.” Whenever we talk it is as if we just spoke to one another yesterday and the chatter just takes off as it does with old friends. But then Leanne said something about it being good to hear from me after the last few days being so rough to go through even 27 years later.
At that point I caught my breath & had to ask as the realization began to set in for me, “Oh my gosh Leanne, yesterday was the day that Del died, the anniversary of his death, wasn’t it?!” It sent chills down my spine to realize that, especially so, because of experiences I had before with a mother from Seattle who I also met at the 1991 FDA hearings, Coralie Reid.
Coralie lost her son, Chris, 18, just 5 weeks after starting on Prozac. Prozac took Chris’ life the day of his sister’s wedding. He was still dressed in his tux. His mother found him and began CPR in a desperate, yet futile, attempt to revive him. Because Chris had been drinking orange juice, Coralie has never been able to drink orange juice since that day. But the strangest thing began to happen not long after Chris came to his mother several times after his death to let her know there was somethng he wanted her to take care of for him. What began to happen & continued for years to come was that unknowingly on March 11, the day of Chris’s death, I would call Coralie every March 11th. And every year she would ask me if I knew what date that day was and every year I had absolutely no idea I was calling on the anniversary of Chris’ death! After so many years of it happening I just said, “Coralie it has to be Chris getting me to call every year like this on this day.” Why? Because time is oblivious to me! There are no dates in my life that ever stick in my head, like birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc. Just ask my family. It is an absolute miracle if I remember my kids birthdays, my grandkids birthdays or even my own!
So after the experiences with Chris for so many years Friday was like a de-ja-vu thing. I remain convinced that Charles Westover AKA Del Shannon tapped me on the shoulder to remind me I had waited too long to make that call to someone he loves very much & knows how much she needed it, even pulling LeAnne’s number up on my cell as I attempted to make a call to a local store. So in sharing this  with you, I want all of you to know, without doubt, how much those who have lost their lives on these drugs count on us to be their spokesmen & fight their battle for truth about these deadly drugs which they can no longer vocally fight on their own. The world needs to know their blood cries out for justice and for truth about the extreme dangers of these drugs so that their deaths will not be in vain…that their pain and suffering will at least serve to save the lives of others from a similar fate.
I want you to learn just a couple of things from Del’s experience, which are indications of toxicity, by watching his last concert in Fargo, ND. This was just five days before his death and this concert is something LeAnne has just barely been able to bring herself to watch because in her words he was just not the same person after that first pill…something loved ones report regularly. So, this was on day 10 of him starting on Prozac after his doctor convinced him to try this new antidepressant, Prozac, by telling him it was not even a drug, but it was a “mineral” he was missing in his brain!! See how many side effects you catch while watching him… and keep in mind that if these side effects had been emphasized as warning signs of toxicity, which could lead to suicide, they could have saved his life!
Did you see the sensitivity he already had to light after only 10 days on the SSRI? Did you also notice the hot flashes the drugs produce with sweating indicating elevated serotonin levels? He was taking his jacket off before he really even started. Sweating is one of the signs of Serotonin Syndrome & yet is a reaction patients often report. Leanne said that Del was always so professional in his performances that he had never acted the way he was acting in this concert. It is too bad we do not have more than just those three short clips.
Another thing I found shocking in scanning comments in various videos of him was how many people posting comments on all these videos of Del have NO CLUE he was killed by Prozac! Instead they are talking about depression and chemical imbalances and how medication can treat that! Wonder how many of those comments were paid for by Pharma?! We all need to get on those videos & post the truth! Del must be turning over in his grave to see that! So if you ever have a few extra minutes & want to do something to help please find any video of Del on YouTube & set everyone straight on the real reason for his death.
#1 He was NOT given Prozac for depression, but exhaustion, due to his career taking off again & traveling to so many gigs around the world.
#2 He did NOT die from suicide but by premeditated murder by Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical…premeditated because Lilly’s own scientists had already alerted the company heads to their concerns that Prozac was actually causing suicides. In response the person in charge, Dr. Leigh Thompson, simply replied that they could not afford financially to lose Prozac & instructed them by memo (a memo which has been used in court to show what they knew & when they knew it) to blame the suicides on the person’s “underlying depression”!!
#3 Prozac is what killed Del Shannon!
Now as I close this I want to include a special tribute to Del from Brian of AntiDepAware in the UK. Brian was a great fan of Del Shannon & two years ago, on the 25th anniversary of his death, he put this tribute together for him. Please follow Brian’s absolutely incredible work in tracking these cases in the UK!