Slattery-Moschkau told the British Medical Journal that when sales reps went into doctors' offices, they were "armed and dangerous" with prescribing information on each doctor. "They know what percentage of Prozac or Paxil a doctor prescribes," she said. "The doctor often doesn't know this and it gives [reps] an incredible advantage over the doctor."

When doctors do find out that every single drug they prescribe has been tracked and sold "for millions of dollars" to drug companies, they can "go ballistic," said one drug company insider who asked to remain anonymous. Telling a doctor about the existence of these prescription tracking lists, he said, was "not a good career move."

"This story is actually my story," said Slattery-Moschkau, adding that the tactics employed by the industry in its "dangerous pursuit" of profits sometimes came "at the expense of patients' lives."

Side Effects premiered at the Cinequest Film festival in San Jose, California, in March and Slattery-Moschkau expects the film to be in cinemas by early summer.

She decided to produce the film herself after a Hollywood agent wanted to "water down" the script to be more appealing to the studios. So she raised $190 000 and shot the film over 18 days last summer.