Posted on 01/29/2006 2:03:19 PM PST by gobucks
Can antidepressants lead people to become violent?
The question has been raised frequently in recent years, often by lawyers representing murder defendants who had been taking drugs, such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.
It surfaced in Charlotte with the stabbing deaths Jan. 20 of 5-year-old twin girls. Their father, David Crespi, who was taking antidepressants and sleeping pills, was charged with murder.
Without details of Crespi's treatment, experts say speculation is dangerous. Even when specifics are known, answers aren't always clear. "Sometimes it is hard to accept (that) we don't know why for sure," said Dr. Ranga Krishnan, chairman of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center.
It's always wise to monitor a depressed person for suicidal behavior, Krishnan said. "But homicide is more rare. The evidence is less clear than it is for suicide." The connection some draw between antidepressants and violence is controversial.
Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, author of "Prozac Backlash," argues antidepressants can cause both suicidal and homicidal behavior. "These really are terrible tragedies, but antidepressants can do this to people." The debate came to a head in 2004 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered that Zoloft and similar antidepressants should carry warnings that they "increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior" in children with depression and other psychiatric disorders.
The FDA already requires a less stringent warning for adults, noting that antidepressants can cause anxiety, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness and impulsiveness. Canada and European countries have more explicit warnings about antidepressants causing violence toward other people, Glenmullen said.
The FDA is reviewing whether to require a stronger warning about suicidal behavior in adults taking antidepressants.
Dr. Ervin Thompson, medical director of Carolinas Medical Center-Randolph Behavioral Health Services, said that if a person is severely depressed, "You could be worried about murder-suicide ... but the main concern is with suicide."
Energy grows, some say
Depression is a common factor among parents who kill their children.A 2005 Canadian study of 77 child deaths by 60 fathers found that one-third were so depressed they were psychotic, meaning they had lost touch with reality, Thompson said. The study also showed that 60 percent of the homicides were followed by suicide. Of fathers who killed more than one child, 86 percent killed themselves.
People who are deeply depressed, experts said, usually do not have the energy to commit suicide. But many believe the risk of suicide goes up as depressed people begin taking antidepressants. The reason is that energy may increase before feelings of hopelessness lift. "Just prescribing a drug alone is not enough," Krishnan said. "Follow-up is key. When you're treating someone, the highest risk time is when they're actually beginning to feel better."
Depression can be treated well with medicines and therapy, either separately or together, doctors said. Some patients benefit from drugs alone, but others, especially those with "significant life problems contributing to the depression," Thompson said, should get therapy as well.
While rare, violence can happen, Thompson said, if patients become psychotic. That can happen if medicines are prescribed inappropriately. For example, he said, in someone with bipolar disorder who is misdiagnosed with depression, antidepressants can cause mania that can lead to violent behavior.
Also, untreated depression could worsen to the point of psychosis, and that could lead to violence. "You can become so depressed that you lose touch with reality," Thompson said. That could bring hallucinations in which people "hear things and see things that are not there."
Thompson added that it is standard practice for sleep medicine to be prescribed along with psychiatric medicines, partly because a side effect of antidepressants is insomnia. "Anybody who's sleep deprived, their judgment goes down," said Glenmullen. Another possible trigger of violence is akathisia, a feeling of restlessness that is a possible side effect of antidepressants. "Akathisia makes people profoundly agitated, uncomfortable in their own skin, jittery, impulsive," said Glenmullen. "It erodes judgment. It can lower their threshold to become violent toward themselves or others." Lawyers in the Florida trial of Leslie Demeniuk, accused of killing her 4-year-old twin sons in 2001, claimed antidepressants caused her to crave alcohol to relieve feelings of restlessness and anxiety. The jury rejected her insanity defense and on Jan. 17 found her guilty.
20-year controversy
The possible link between antidepressants and violence has been argued since the late 1980s, when the FDA approved Prozac, the first in a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. In a high-profile case, the family of a Louisville man sued Eli Lilly & Co., the maker of Prozac, claiming his four-week use of the drug caused the 1989 rampage in which he fatally shot eight people and wounded 12. Lilly won, but the judge later changed the verdict to "dismissed as settled" after it was revealed Lilly had struck an agreement with the family during the trial. A link between antidepressants and violence was also argued last year in the case of Christopher Pittman, accused of killing his grandparents in Chester County, S.C., in 2001, when he was 12. Attorneys claimed Zoloft caused his violence. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
One jury in a civil trial has concluded that an antidepressant, Paxil, caused a man to commit murder. In June 2001, a jury in Cheyenne, Wyo., ordered SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline) to pay $6.5 million to the relatives of Donald Schell. He had been taking Paxil for 48 hours when he shot and killed his wife, his daughter, his granddaughter and himself. The company appealed, but then settled the case, for undisclosed terms.
People need treatment
Many doctors worry that focusing on violence could make people wary of antidepressants and prevent them from getting treatment. More people are helped by the drugs, doctors say, than harmed.Betty Cobb is one of them. She became severely depressed after the death of her husband last May. "I just became a hermit in my house," said Cobb of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Charlotte. "I didn't want to go out. Everything I ate tasted terrible. I couldn't make any decisions at all. I just felt hopeless....My family was saying `Pick yourself up by your bootstraps and get going,' and I couldn't." In October, she said, she was hospitalized for "suicidal tendencies" and began treatment with Remeron.
"I started to feel much better, but it wasn't overnight," she said. "I feel like I'm perfectly normal now, but I'm taking my medicine....Mental illness can happen to anybody, from the poor to the very rich. I feel if I talk about it, maybe it will help somebody else." -- Staff researcher Maria Wygand contributed to this article.
-- Karen Garloch: (704) 358-5078
But this article, attached to the numerous other reports I have enountered regarding teens who shoot up schools (and the meds they were taking), leads me to the answer of 'yes' to the question posed in the article's title. If there is a Freeper consensus out there that the tsumanim of antidepressent perscriptions has been good for the USA, I'd like to have some information that details just how that would be the case...; in the meantime, I found this link to be useful.
http://www.drugawareness.org/Archives/Miscellaneous/tracyfda.html
I wonder if those who act out violence are not already suppressing very angry feelings that are masked as depression.
It's hard to say if the drug caused the violence without knowing for sure what the person would have done unmedicated. It's possible that they still would have done what they did without the medication.
And how to compute the numbers? Many people probably would have suicided without the meds, but the meds helped them so they didn't. Some may have not killed themselves without the meds but did with it. A far fewer amount of depressed people take others with them, both medicated and unmedicated.
How can you tally up accurate numbers without knowing what would have happened should the other road have been taken?
Is it good for the US? I don't know. But for those of us who have suffered from chemical depression (mine appears to be linked down the maternal side, every female in the family has been hit by it at approximately the same age, in approximately the same way, regardless of life circumstances) the advances in medication have been a godsend.
I hate the broad brush that people paint these with as they usually end up saying "these drugs are eeeeeviiiiill" and throw the baby out with the bathwater (to mix my metaphors).
Yes, they have side effects. Yes, they've harmed some people. Yes, they are often prescribed indiscriminately (something I am completely against).
But ALSO yes they have helped innumerable people who would otherwise have misspent their lives curled up under the bed or maybe even killed themselves.
And they should never be prescribed without proper monitoring or follow up. That's the biggest problem that I see right now - docs are handing them out like M&Ms and never checking back with the patients.
LQ
Maybe when there are over 100 cases of this somebody in the medical community will defy the drug companies and the quacks who prescribe these drugs like tylenol, we will get the some actual criticism within the medical community. It gets harder and harder to spin the Hippocratic oath of 'do no harm first' when you are considering giving a medically healthy person a drug for which you have no idea how it works and what result it will cause.
And with that being said, why isn't somebody prescribing one of these drugs to Hillary for her apparent fear of the speaking to actual people or reporters during this or any other campaign? She obviously has some emotional disorder which prevents her from speaking without using a microphone or a teleprompter.
Interesting thought, it crossed my mind as well, with a twist of sorts - depression unchecked often leads to suicide, a manifestation of the 'angry feelings' you mentioned. Take away the depression and the angry feelings find an outlet undirected by self-loathing, so instead of self-destructive behaviour they manifest themselves in violence directed at others.
The problem is not in the anti-depressants themselves, but in the misuse of them. Specifically (if I remember this right), the body gets used to their being high levels of seratonin, and the lack of need to produce new seratonin. When someone discontinues the use of anti-depressants, they can become more depressed than ever. Once someone starts taking anti-depressants, it is extremely critical that they gradually reduce their dependency on them.
Also, children should be medicated with anti-depressants very carefully, if at all. Also, anyone who has expressed violent or self-destructive tendencies need to be monitored very closely. But the problem isn;t that the anti-depressants makes these people sick; it's that they make people who may now possess very dangerous thoughts healthy enough to act on them!
A depressed person can easily develop very negative opinions of the world around them, or of people they believe are responsible for their feelings, because they are incapable of enjoying what other people seem to enjot. A "normal" child can have some violent or anti-social behavior and act on those behaviors while they are still small. Maybe he's cruel to other kids in the playground, or enjoys killing lizards or something like that. In any event, if he does act on those feelings, he experiences disapproval, and learns other ways to cope which cause better feelings.
A child suffering from long-term depression never finds coping skills which make him feel better, because his bad feelings are biological in origin, not because something "bad" has happened to him. He never acts on his impulses, not because he learns how to manage them, but simply because he's lacked what to him feels like the "courage," "gumption," or "certitude" to act. Now, you suddenly give him drugs which give him energy, but not experience, love, or inhibition. So he goes out and does all the horrible things he's had in his mind.
>> Suicidal and homicidal ideation were and are still side effects of virtually all anti-depressants - especially Prozac. Its a huge wildcard to add to the life of a person who is supposedly already displaying unstable behavior which made some genius decide to drug them in the first place. <<
Suicidal and homicidal ideation were and are still side effects of depression. Prozac just makes people feel "up to" carrying out their ideation.
for later
The problem is not while you are on them; they take a few days of regular dosage to kick in, but you feel ok. The problems (for me and others I talk to who are on the same pills) comes when you go off of them. Frankly, without my sleeping pills, I don't sleep. But without the antidepressants, I also don't feel like doing anything, and that nothing is worth doing. Add that to life's stressors, and voila! There you are on a bridge, looking over the side and wondering if you can work up the nerve to take that last step.
Now I know intellectually that there is no reason to feel this way, but that doesn't stop the mood. And the common advice about snapping out of it, "be a man and handle your problems", it goes beyond that. I can handle my problems, certainly, but a common feature about people who are chronically depressed is that they can't differentiate between the magnitude of their problems; a broken window, an overdue bill, a nasty remark from your boss at work, and the death of someone close to you all provide the same level of stress. Bizarre, isn't it? But that's the way it is.
I've never felt homocidal, and I don't know anyone who has. Off the meds I'd be too depressed to do anything about it; on them I'd be too 'even-keeled' to kill.
Most of the negative about anti-depressants comes from the Scientology people.
I realize that there is an inherent reflex to believe that these things are good for people considering the billions of dollars spent on advertising, books and 'studies' which tout the amazing results. The one thing which is just never mentioned is that none of the researchers know what these drugs are actually doing to your brain other than altering your chemical function. You wouldn't pick mutual funds with the lack of precision that these drugs provide yet people are willing to risk altering their brains and their personalities in ways that they will not be able to control and not even ask questions in advance? Its practicaly suicide in itself.
My sister-in-law's on 'em, and she's nuts
I wonder if those who act out violence are not already suppressing very angry feelings that are masked as depression.
Yes, anger is a significant part of depression. Also, when someone is seriously depressed they may be too depressed to do much of anything. When they start the antidepressants, there is a time where the AD's make them feel just-better-enough to act on that anger and depression. They need to be very carefully monitored after starting the meds until their moods level out.
>> Even Eli Lilly doesn't try that argument. <<
Uh, yeah... for obvious reasons. But, as the article hints at, there is strong medical support for the argument.
>> The one thing which is just never mentioned is that none of the researchers know what these drugs are actually doing to your brain other than altering your chemical function. <<
Uhh... no. They understand Zoloft better than they understand aspirin.
>> You wouldn't pick mutual funds with the lack of precision that these drugs provide yet people are willing to risk altering their brains and their personalities in ways that they will not be able to control and not even ask questions in advance? <<
Well, anyone who does prescribe the drugs without covering these sort of questions in advance deserves to be locked up; we agree on that. Hell, you can get this stuff on line. But would you deny medicine that helps millions of people lead normal lives based on the criminal negligence of a few doctors?
And yes, the risks are high, it's serious stuff to need these drugs. But the medicines are also very effective.
And you're lumping all anti-depressants together with a lot of what you say... Prozac, for instance, has fallen into disfavor because other drugs likee Effexor and Zoloft are as effective with much less effect on personality.
If they understand zoloft and other psychotropic drugs so well, I wonder why this happens:
"LIST OF SOME OF THE CASES OF HOMICIDES AND ATTEMPTED HOMICIDES THAT HAVE OCCURRED ON SSRI, SNRI & OTHER ANTIDEPRESSANTS, ADHD STIMULANTS.
This is update 6 as at 8th May 2006. Please delete/replace earlier versions.
SSRI & SNRI ANTIDEPRESSANTS IN LIST:
PROZAC / FLUOXETINE
ZOLOFT / LUSTRAL / SERTRALINE
EFFEXOR / EFEXOR / VENLAFAXINE
PAXIL / SEROXAT / AROPAX / PAROXETINE
LUVOX / FAVERIN / FLUVOXAMINE
CELEXA / CIPRAMIL / CITALOPRAM
SSRI/SNRI ANTIDEPRESSANTS INVOLVED:
EFFEXOR /VENLAFAXINE
SERZONE/NEFAZODONE
OTHER ANTIDEPRESSANTS:
WELLBUTRIN/ZYBAN/BUPROPRION, SEROQUEL, AMITRIPTYLINE
ADHD STIMULANTS:
RITALIN ADDERALL & DEXEDRINE
Christopher Pittman, aged 12, (Paxil then Zoloft). Known amongst family as 'pop-pops shadow', he had always been very close to his grandfather. Shortly after being prescribed Zoloft he shot both his grandparents dead and burned the house down. Imprisoned, he waited 3 years for trial, and was then tried as an adult - a practice acceptable in the USA. [Defence pleaded involuntary intoxication. Preparing for the expected homicidality-Zoloft link, Pfizer lawyers involved themselves early into the case with prosecution. Jury opted for murder verdict. Ongoing as an appeal against the sentence has been lodged].
See the defence manual Pfizer used and the added comments on some of their tactics evident at:
http://ssri-uksupport.com/files/pfizerzoloftdefencemanual.pdf
Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic’s file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.
David Hari, aged 43, (Zoloft) Illinois, shot and wounded his wife and shot and killed Jeffrey Thomas.
Convicted in 2002 and sentenced to 73 years. (In January 2006 the Supreme Court overturned the convictions on the grounds that Judge Bernardi erred by not giving the jury instruction on involuntary intoxication. New trial commenced in March 2006).
Andrew Myers, 28 (Zoloft) Within two weeks of starting on Zoloft he hit a long-time friend in the head with a spiked, pronged brass knuckle-type weapon known as a "ninja key ring" during an argument. Attempted murder charges. (Acquitted - Zoloft induced).
David John Hawkins aged 76, Australia (Zoloft) strangled his much loved wife with no warning. (Judge found: "I am satisfied that but for the Zoloft he had taken, he would not have strangled his wife").
Leslie Demeniuk, Florida, (Zoloft then Paxil) killed her four-year-old twin sons in 2001. (Trial was put on hold while prosecutors appeal a judge’s ruling that two defence experts could testify that Demeniuk was “involuntarily intoxicated” and “psychotic” as a result of taking Zoloft and then Paxil, but in Feb 2006, she was found guilt of 1st degree murder).
Christopher Bernaiche, 26, (Prozac) of South Rockwood in 2002. Two days after Prozac dosage doubled, fired wildly around killing 2 men, and wounded 3 others after pool game argument. (Defense pleaded mentally ill and prozac induced rage, jury verdict 1st degree murder. Judge has recently ordered a retrial as prosecution withheld info sent to them relating to evidence linking prozac and violence. Retrial Pending)
Donald Schell, (Paxil). 48 hours after starting Paxil, he killed his wife, daughter, granddaughter and himself. (Jury found Paxil at cause and ordered GlaxoSmithKline to pay $6.4 million to surviving family members).
Merrilee Bentley Australia, (Paxil then Effexor) attempted murder (with suicide) of her young daughters. (Judge ruled that Effexor had "gravely impaired" Merrilee Bentley's capacity for rational thought and action. He imposed a two-year suspended jail sentence and told her she was free to go home.).
Cody Posey, aged 14 (Zoloft) killed his abusive father, step mother and stepsister 2004. [Ongoing: Found guilty 2005 and as at February 2006, now aged 16, he awaits sentencing - possibly as an adult.]
Victor Brancaccio (Zoloft) aged 16, Florida, Learning disability. 2 months into Zoloft & with increasing hostility and anger, killed a woman who said something which upset him while he was taking a walk to try to calm down. (Judge refused to instruct the jury re involuntarily intoxication, Victor was convicted of 1st degree murder, life sentence).
Andrew Golden, aged 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.
Brian Storey aged 17 (Zoloft). Described as the All-American boy, Brian killed a woman 5 days after starting the prescribed medication. Arresting authorities found only Zoloft in his system. At his trial, the examining psychiatrist that Brian had described events as like being in a dream, and had suffered a manic reaction to the drug. Found guilty, he was sentenced to life without parole.
Daryl Dempsay, 35, (Zoloft) stabbed his wife and two children at their home in Burlington, Kan., then shot and killed himself.
Mark Barton, Atlanta day trader, (Prozac) killed his family and others in a shooting spree before taking his own life.
Neal Furrow, (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.
Cory Baadesgaard (Paxil then 300 mgs Effexor) in Matawa, WA school standoff. This was not long after being taken off Paxil cold turkey and changed over to Effexor.
See GSK’s confidential internal memo with its cartoon re Paxil withdrawal agitation at:
http://ssri-uksupport.com/files/GSKwheresmypaxil.pdf
Eric Harris aged 17 (Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Zoloft & Paxil) in Colombine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado, killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and injured 23 others, before killing themselves.
Shawn Cooper, (SSRI) Notus Idaho, stand off at school.
Barbara Mortenson aged 66 (Prozac) attacked her 81-year-old mother, biting her more than 20 times and leaving chunks of flesh strewn on the floor after being on prozac for two weeks.
Dr. Debra Green (Prozac) Kansas City, MO, set her home on fire, killing her children
Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) - school shooting in El Cajon, California
Jarred Viktor aged 15 (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.
Chris Shanahan aged 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.
Matthew Beck (Luvox) shooting at the lottery in Connecticut that left five dead in a murder/suicide.
Edward Leary aged 49 (Prozac, Effexor, and 2 other psych drugs) computer consultant. Bombings in NY subway, 50 injured. (Defense pleaded drug intoxication, verdict of guilty, 94 years prison sentence).
Elizabeth Bush aged 13 (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania.
See GSK’s other confidential internal Paxil memos at: http://ssri-uksupport.com/pdfs.html
Nick Mansies aged 16 (Paxil) in New Jersey who was convicted of killing a 6 year old boy selling cookies door to door.
Sue Gray, Orange County, CA (Paxil) who co-workers described as a very caring nurse, killed several elderly people.
Officer Stephen Christian (Prozac) one of the finest officers on the Dallas Police force, who ran into a police substation shooting at fellow officers and was killed.
Williams Evans (Zoloft) shot one co-worker at the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services before shooting himself in Columbus, OH.
Christina Fetters aged 14 (Prozac) in Iowa who killed her favourite aunt.
Christopher Brockman aged 16 (Zoloft, Risperdal, Adderall) killed a woman by frenzied stabbing. Several months previously he had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and his mother told how his condition had deteriorated in that he was having severe emotional outbursts and other symptoms of akathisia. Experts testified that he had been improperly diagnosed with ADHD and inappropriately prescribed Adderall and Zoloft and that the combination could cause a psychotic state. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Various psych drugs were prescribed in the prison with little regard to the effects of, or withdrawal from, the same and Christopher hung himself in prison 2 years later.
David Rothman (Prozac) killed two co-workers and himself at the Dept. of Agriculture in Inglewood, California, US.
Little Timmy. 10 year old (Prozac) in southern Florida.
See FDA 1996 Prozac Adverse Reaction Reports at: http://ssri-uksupport.com/files/fdaadreact.pdf
Christopher Vasquez (Zoloft) killed Michael McMorrow in Central Park.
Megan Hogg (Prozac) duct taped the mouths and noses of her three little girls and took a handful of pills.
Steven Leith (Prozac), teacher of Chelsea, Michigan, shot dead the school superintendent and wounded two others including a fellow teacher.
Vera Espinoza (Prozac) in Randolph, VT shot her small son and daughter before shooting herself.
Mr Cunningham (Prozac) in Layton, UT axed his wife and daughter to death.
Margaret Kastanis (Prozac) used a knife and hammer to kill her three children before stabbing herself to death.
Andrea Yates (Effexor and Remeron) of Houston, TX, drowned her five children in the bathtub. The drugs had been prescribed at one and a half times the maximum dose.
Elderly man (Paxil) in Dallas, TX strangled his wife before shooting himself twice in the chest.
Sergi Babarin (Luvox withdrawal) The Salt Lake Family History Library shooting leaving three dead.
Withdrawal should be undertaken with great care. See generic advice on how to taper off SSRIs at: http://www.ssri-uksupport.com/files/haltingSSRIs.pdf
Lynwood Drake III, (Prozac and Valium) of California, shot and killed six people before shooting himself.
Larry Ashbrook (Prozac) killed seven people and himself in a Forth Worth, Texas, church.
Larramie Huntzinger (Zoloft) ran his car into three young girls killing two in Salt Lake City, UT.
Mary Hinkelman (Prozac), a nurse in Baroda, MI shot her two small daughters and her sister before shooting herself.
Lisa Fox (Prozac) shot her small son and her dog before shooting herself in Brighton, MI.
Debi Louselle (Zoloft) Salt Lake City, Utah, US, shot her daughter and then herself.
Gloria B. (Prozac) in Pleasant Grove, UT killed her 17 year old son with a sledge hammer while he slept before she attempted suicide by drinking drain cleaner.
Larry Butzz, (Prozac) a superintendent of schools in Ames, IA shot his wife, son and daughter before shooting himself.
Robert W "Wes" Boner, (Effexor), strangled his girlfriend. Boner told police he was agitated at the time of the slaying on April 2, 2004, but did not know why.
Withdrawal agitation/akathisia can be life threatening to self or others. See Dr Lucire’s article at:
http://ssri-uksupport.com/files/lucireakathisiacrimemalpractice.pdf
Joseph T Wesbecker, Kentucky (Prozac) went into work with an AK-47 and a couple of pistols, killed 7 co-workers injured 12.
Rod Mathews, aged 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.
James Wilson, aged 19, (Psychiatric Drugs - various) Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.
Gail Ann Ransom. (Prozac) Became increasingly violent after beginning Prozac treatment culminating in the strangulation of her mother.
Jeremy Srohmeyer, aged 18, (Dexedrine) raped and murdered a 7 year old African girl shortly after commencing Dexedrine ‘treatment’.
Kip Kinkel (Prozac) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.
Hank Adams: (Prozac) Former San Diego Deputy Sheriff shot his wife and himself to death in front of his seventeen-year-old daughter.
Reginald Payne (Prozac) UK teacher aged 63 who, eleven days into Prozac, suffocated his wife and then committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.
Vernal Ash, aged 60 (Paxil) of Indiana, shot and killed 22 year old Craig Jenks, and fired at Mr Jenks’ friend, from his sunroom after calling out and asking them if they were “ready to die”. He then committed suicide by turning the gun on himself. Neighbours expressed surprise at the homicide and many said that he was a friendly man and not prone to violence. Police confirmed at the time that “he may have been on heavy medication at the time of the shooting.”
Duncan Murchison, (Prozac) threatened to murder his girlfriend while on a rampage.
Jeff Franklin (Prozac/Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work. He used a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic’s file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.
Luke Woodham aged 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.
TJ Solomon, aged 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.
Michael Carneal, aged 14, (Ritalin) opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded, and one of whom was paralyzed.
Boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 who in seizure activity from Zoloft had a stand off at the school.
Robert Joseph (Paxil, Celexa and Neurontin) from West Virginia shot and killed a man. The court excluded testimony of 'diminished responsibility' for the defence from a forensic psychologist, a psychiatrist and one other doctor. (Eventually the case was overturned and remanded for a new trial).
Mrs. Phil Hartman (Zoloft) killed her husband and then herself. (Wrongful death court case was filed but settled by the Zoloft manufacturer).
Marilyn Lemak (Zoloft) from Chicago and a former surgical nurse, smothered and killed her three children believing it to be an altruistic act.
Young man in Amarillo, TX, (Prozac, Ritalin and another antidepressant) burned down a church and pastor’s home.
Kristine Marie Cushing, age 39 (Prozac) shot and killed her two children, then shot herself in failed suicide attempt.
Kenneth Seguin (Prozac) drugged his two children, cut their wrists and dumped their bodies in a nearby pond before driving home and killing his wife with an axe while she slept.
Michael Luebrecht (Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zyprexa, Ativan) drowned his 13 month old baby. (As at time of listing the case is ongoing with sentencing due on 6th March 2006).
Nathan Cheatham, aged 23, (Medication, as yet not known which) shot and killed his mother, Sheila, and then drove to a close friend's house in Great Fall and shot three others, before turning the gun on himself. Known to be gentle and caring towards people and animals.
Former police officer Art Henderson (Ativan) shortly after being taken off the drug cold turkey went on a shooting spree. On 20th April 2006, 3 months after imprisonment, Art hung himself in jail.
David Lauren Crespi, 45 (Prozac), a “peaceful and family loving man” stabbed and killed his 5 year old twin daughters. (Ongoing, on suicide watch in jail).
Peter Roberts, respected British Diplomat, (Paxil), attacked cabin crew on flight threatening to kill them. For the safety of all and to avoid a major aircraft tragedy he had to be restrained by binding his hands and feet. Could not remember the incident. (25th Jan 06 - jury found him not guilty of drunkenness and agreed that his behaviour was due to the anti-depressants he was taking and post-traumatic stress).
Ray Furlough, aged 21, (Effexor), in Ellicott City, poisoned his friend with cyanide. Convicted and now serving a life sentence.
Douglas Fathke, (antidepressants and other medication), Hawaii, shot his 8 year old daughter, Kelsie, and threatened to kill his friend’s 16 year old son who managed to get away. Has no memory of the incident. Found guilty of reduced charge of manslaughter.
William Davies, 59, (Psychiatric Medication) Wales, UK. Within days of stopping his medication cold turkey due to side effects, he shot a six-month pregnant woman and then committed suicide by turning the gun on himself.
Eric Jerror, aged 20, (Effexor prescribed at twice the recommended dose, plus Dr stating that it was fine for him to also smoke cannabis as it kept him calm) described as passive and non-aggressive, attacked his father with an axe. Could not remember the incident as he had ‘blanked out’. September 05 indicted for attempted murder, December 05 was sentenced to a “mental health facility for treatment” with stay to be determined by State Commissioner of Mental Health.
David Zacher, (Paxil) part of a ‘normal functioning family’, stabbed his wife and 4 year old daughter to death. A second child survived the attack. (Ongoing).
Sheila Dawson, 54, (Antidepressants, Sleeping Tablets and other) UK, killed her husband by pouring petrol over him and setting him alight, then minutes later committed suicide by driving to a motorway bridge and jumping in the path of an oncoming lorry.
Dawn Serrena Young, aged 34, (Effexor) in Eugene, killed her 17 month old daughter to “protect her from spirits” who she believed were sexually abusing her. (Ongoing).
Richard Staszewski, aged 21, (Antidepressants) attempted to take his own life but could not so went to fetch a larger kitchen knife. His mother disarmed him but in the ensuing struggle he regained control of the knife and murdered his mother by stabbing her. (Ongoing).
David Carmichael, (Paxil) from Canada, drugged and strangled his 11 year old son in a motel room. Found not criminally responsible because of “depression”.
Lance Ossman, aged 37, (Effexor) Schuylkill County, fired a barrage of bullets into a truck killing the driver. Stated that he didn’t know what he was doing, and that he guessed he “must have gotten out and smoked him”. Charged with homicide. (Ongoing).
Cheryl Green, 40, (Psych medication) London UK, killed her 3 week old son by placing him on the gas cooker and turning the hobs up to high. The baby died of 90% burns. In the days prior to the killing Cheryl Brown had stopped taking her medication cold turkey. She was made the subject of a "guardianship order" at the Old Bailey, presumably similar to sectioning for treatment under the mental health act.
Sarah Johnson, aged 16, (Zoloft and Ambien) shot both her parents and killed them. She was sentenced to life imprisonment on both counts of first degree murder without parole and 15 years for using a rifle as the murder weapon.
Louis Darrell Kinyon (Paxil, Trazodone, Celebrex & others) took a gun to work and shot his boss and then turned the gun on himself. He survived and is now in jail. (Ongoing)
Ryan Ehlis, college student, (Adderall) North Dakota, killed his infant daughter in a psychotic episode shortly after commencing adderall ‘treatment’.
Jeff Weise, 16, (Prozac) Minnesota School shootings March 2005, killed his Grandfather and Grandmother, and then went on a rampage at the school. He killed a teacher, a security officer and 5 students, wounding 7 others (2 critically), before exchanging gunfire with police and shooting himself.
Michael McDermott (Prozac) - Software Quality Assurance tester who walked into work and shot seven co-workers, then waited patiently in the lobby to be arrested. He was described by others at his work as a pretty friendly guy.
Vince Gilmer, 42, (Antidepressant withdrawal) of Fletcher, N.C. strangled his father and mutilated the corpse. Withdrawal from an antidepressant medication left him unable to resist the impulse to kill.
Arthur James Charland, 42, (Effexor), shot to death Linda Faye Owens, with whom he had an 11-year affair. He complained about the side effects of anxiety, nervousness and dizziness.
A 10-year-old boy (Prozac) shot his father, Dr. Rick Lohstroh. The week before the shooting the boy started taking a once-a-week, time-release dosage of 90 milligrams. He took his second 90-milligram pill just hours before the shooting. [Ongoing: child has been charged with murder]
Lakeisha Adams, 18, (Antidepressants) killed her 3-month-old son by putting him in a clothes dryer and turning it on for several minutes. A bottle of antidepressant medication was found in the home. "she remained calm throughout the whole situation and never really showed much emotion."
Eric Attwood, 82, (Antidepressant Wellbutrin). Twelve days after taking the first pill, Eric attacked his wife of 60 years marriage by plunging a kitchen knife into her neck (not fatal), and was planning to kill himself. [Ongoing court case: His family, now aware of recent governmental warnings about potential risks associated with antidepressants, suspect there is a connection between the drug and Eric’s violent outburst.]
Gavin Hogg. 34, (Prozac) Dewsbury, UK murdered a businessman and injured two of his relatives in a knife attack. He said that Prozac made him feel “cold and calculating” and also told the jury that he “never meant to stab any of them”. Life sentence, minimum of 20 years to be served.
Christopher Ross aged 29 (Antidepressants), Mount Olive, US, shot his wife in the wrist. He said that the antidepressants “had the effect of making him feel suicidal”. (Ongoing, Prosecution agreed to drop charge of attempted murder, and Ross is now being charged with aggravated assault with sentencing expected on 21st April 06)
Stephen Forenz, 42, (Psychiatric medication) two weeks into withdrawal stabbed his mother at their home. His father stated that when he “goes off the drug, he can’t control himself” and that this was the “only time he got violent”.
See various articles on drug-induced violence and the clinical management of akathisia at: http://www.network54.com/Forum/182310/message/1022363525
Graduate student Mulumba Kazigo, 26, (Effexor) of NY killed his father, Dr Joseph Kazigo. He broke into his Long Island apartment and beat him repeatedly with a bat before cutting his throat. Malumba’s mother and siblings testified that Dr Kazigo was a sadistic, violent and abusive husband and father.
(Ongoing. His attorney announced he has agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter, 1st degree)
Dustin Lynch, 15, (Paxil) Ohio, ran away from home and was taken in by Jolynn Mishne aged 17 and her family. A week later the girl was found at the home beaten in the head and stabbed with a kitchen knife which was left protruding from her abdomen.
Robert Hill, Australia (Zoloft **and cold/flu meds), shortly after his dose of Zoloft was doubled and agitated by loud music from an industrial unit next door, went on a rampage smashing through a partition wall armed with a gun and ammunition, killing 2 people and wounding 2 others.
**WARNING: Dextromethorphan or "DM” found in many cough & cold medicines can cause Serotonin Syndrome http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2717.htm as can SSRIs.
USED TOGETHER, RISKS OF SEROTONIN SYNDROME ARE SIGNIFICANTLY RAISED
Mark Laguna, aged 42, (Celexa, Seroquel and other psych medications) fatally shot his wife who was one of the “two most important things in his life” and then walked to the local library and called the police to report what he had done. He was described as being in the state of “an emotional basket case” during questioning and was could not appreciate the effect of the Miranda waiver. (Ongoing, an involuntary intoxication defence will be presented. UPDATE: found guilty of 2nd Degree Homicide).
Gilbert Cano, 32 (Prozac), USA, murdered his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child by stabbing her in the abdomen 3 times and strangling her. Family members believed he was on drugs due to his blank stare but authorities found the only drug in his system was prozac. His attorney stated that he had no previous convictions of violence and no reason to kill his girlfriend.
Louise Wheldon, 34, (Prozac), Scotland UK stabbed a man in an argument. The High Court heard that the stabbing was out of character and a psychiatrist testified that Wheldon was not mentally ill but that one of the side effects of Prozac was violent behaviour.
James Joseph Cain, 40, (Prozac) El Cajon, US, obsessively harrassed his girlfriend, finally murdering her by shooting her in the neck. When prosecution refuted his being a good father to his two young sons he became extremely "agitated" in the Courtroom and had to be removed. Life sentence.
Philip Wayne, 20, (Antidepressants) Devon, UK, killed his mother in a frenzied attack, stabbing her 10 times. 7 months earlier he was diagnosed as schizophrenic and prescribed “strong anti-depressants” since which his relationship with his family had “deteriorated”. Admitted manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. (Ongoing, awaiting independent report, treatment & circumstances review).
Man (R.W.C) from Australia, (Effexor, Valium, Amitriptyline and Painkillers), fired at, but missed, a friend after an argument at a dinner party. He shot and killed a police officer when his home was subsequently surrounded. During examination after his arrest a psychiatrist noted that he was "agitated, confused and suffering from disorganised thought" and had no memory of the incident.
Could painkillers interact with psychotropic drugs as other medicines can? See article at: http://ssri-uksupport.com/files/DrLucire_cytochromes_paradigmatic.pdf
13-year-old boy (Prozac), South Seattle, US, killed his grandmother Louise Frazier who was raising him, by hitting her with a baseball bat and then stabbing her to death. The boy couldn't remember doing it - but remembers returning from a walk and finding his grandmother covered in blood. (Ongoing)
James Classen, (Serzone and Wellbutrin), a dental surgeon in Canada, stabbed his wife with sewing scissors in their bedroom. His employees said that in the days before the homicide his moods had become “unpredictable and a rollercoaster”, “out of character” and a “downward spiral”. When questioned, Classen “reported the experience as if in a dream or fog and that he was watching it happen”. (Ongoing, physician testified that the “antidepressants could have propelled him into a manic state”)
Patrice Garner, 35 (Prescribed Antidepressant) of Dalton, USA, faces 1st degree murder charges after she was found unconscious and her 6 year old girl dead, due to what the toxicology report stated as “overdose of an antidepressant”. (Ongoing. Arraignment date set for 24th April 2006)
Daniella Dawes (Antidepressant) Sydney Australia, unable to get adequate help with her 10 year old autistic son Jason and with various other family problems was prescribed medication for depression in July 2003. In August 2003 she suffocated her son and attempted suicide by cutting her wrists. She said: “I don’t know why it happened, whatever happened I had no control. My soul had left my body. I was just watching through my eyes. It wasn’t me. I knew it was me not having control over myself, it was like being on autopilot. I wish I had my boy back. I love him so much. It’s not right I should be here. I should be with him. My children mean the world to me. I didn’t do it because I didn’t want Jason, I didn’t hate the trauma he caused. It wasn’t about Jason. I never wanted that morning to end my life. It’s never that I hated Jason or his disability. I loved him the way he was. It just happened. I never had the experience of loss of control, I never experienced that before, I just snapped.” Sentenced to 5 year good behaviour bond.
Alison Davies, 40 (Antidepressant), UK, a caring single parent finding it increasingly difficult to cope her 12 year old autistic child sought, but was unable to get, practical help and eventually was prescribed antidepressants. Alison jumped off the Humber Bridge with her son Ryan. Both drowned.
Albert Boyd, 57 (Zoloft) Indiana, He was first prescribed zoloft in 1992 and remained on this for 13 years. In 2005 in cold turkey withdrawal he murdering his wife by striking her several times with a skillet and unsuccessfully attempted suicide by drinking bleach, taking an overdose and cutting his wrist. He said that his pills had recently run out and he had no insurance. In 1995, on Zoloft, he attacked a woman with a knife and served a prison sentence ending in 2002. (Ongoing, trial due June 2006)
Maryanne Cooper (Prozac) Australia, diagnosed with post natal depression when her baby was 5 days old. Within 3 months she had started to experience signs of deterioration and she eventually killed the baby girl at 6 months by suffocation when she couldn’t stop her crying loudly during a feed.
Saheeda Kapde (Mental Health ‘Treatment’) set her home on fire killing her 6 year old son Nihaal while under the ‘care’ of mental health services in Durham, UK.
Kevin Underwood, 26, (Zoloft then Lexapro) started getting ‘weird fantasies’ after withdrawal from Lexapro. He restarted Lexapro 6 weeks prior to murdering a 10 year old girl. (Ongoing, 1st degree murder charges)
Mother, 31, (“Psychiatric Treatment”), Spain, drowned her 14 month old baby in the bathtub and then attempted to hang herself with an electric cable. Neighbours were alerted to a problem by her ‘manic screams’. (Ongoing)
Jeff Lehner, 42, (“Mental Health Treatment”) former marine sergeant who had originally received treatment for PTSD in a psychiatric hospital and was receiving ‘treatment’ at a clinic at the time of the incident, shot his father and then himself.
Lucy MacMartin (Antidepressants and Sleeping Pills), UK, was pregnant and “seriously depressed” when she killed her 6 year old son with sleeping pills and committed suicide by cutting her throat with a circular saw.
Ann Marie Gosling, 49, (“Psychiatric Treatment”) an Isle of Man bank worker, stabbed her partner several times with a kitchen knife and then unsuccessfully attempted suicide. She had been receiving treatment for bouts of “depression and anxiety”. (Ongoing, court awaiting psychiatric report).
Leslie Pepall, 28, (“Treatment” for Suicidal Feelings) murdered his 4 year old boy and attempted to murder his baby daughter, both of whom he “idolised”, by battering with a lamp stand and stabbing and then plunged the knife into his own neck, but survived. He was being “treated” for suicidal feelings after his wife left him and committed the murder and attempted suicide within hours of being released from the hospital. He hung himself in prison aged 29.
Psychiatrist, UK, accused of manslaughter of patient (on psych medication) who committed suicide by overdose of said medication. (Ongoing. Defendant denied charges. Released on bail)
See Abstract discussing the HIPPOCRATIC OATH with special emphasis on its injunction to
DO NO HARM at: http://jcp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/4/371
ANTIPSYCHOTICS / NEUROLEPTICS SECTION
Gerard Moray, 47, (Seroquel), USA jail guard, shot his wife before killing himself. His wife survived the attack. He started taking Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug commonly used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, four days before the shootings.
Mark Bullock (Onlazapine) UK, stabbed a nurse in a mental health facility at St James hospital. The nurse survived due to help from a fellow nurse.
Benjamin Holiday, (Antipsychotic by Depot Injections), a former UK law student who had used Ecstasy at university and presented symptoms of auditory hallucinations and suicidal ideation. He was diagnosed as having a ‘serotonin imbalance’ due to the use of Ecstasy, and then further diagnosed in 2001 as schizophrenic and prescribed depot injections of an antipsychotic drug. A period of mental health deterioration followed which included incidents that he could not recall. In 2004 he threatened a visiting nurse and 3 months later in withdrawal after missing a depot injection the day before, he stabbed a passing pregnant mother to death.
Anthony Barnwell, 25, (Antipsychotic) diagnosed as non-violent schizophrenic and prescribed medication in 2004 when he was offered a place to live by a Mr Broomhead. In 2005 while babysitting and in a frenzied attack he stabbed and killed Mr Broomhead’s 6 year old son.
Raymond Wills, 29, (Onlazapine and Paxil) UK. Involved with psychiatric services and various medications at a young age, his condition and behaviour deteriorated and he eventually became agitated and aggressive with impulsive behaviour leading to his being prescribed onlazapine. In Jan 2000 his prescription was increased leading to further deterioration. On March 7th 2000, with suicidal ideas of hanging himself emerging, he was prescribed paxil alongside the onlazapine and on 20th March 2000 he killed his sister and his 5 year old nephew in a frenzied knife attack.
Eric Foster, 36, (“Psychiatric Medication”) killed his father by beating him to death with a hammer 2 weeks after his medication was increased but has no recall of the incident. He had previously assaulted his father and stepmother in withdrawal from ‘medication’ prescribed for a diagnosis of ‘bipolar’ and ‘schizophrenia’ and had attempted suicide.
Phillip Hall (Schizophrenia and Manic Depression “Treatment”), Company Marketing Manager, Wales UK, fatally stabbed his 12 year old daughter, Emma, after he returned from a visit to India which had been set up as a hoax by a rival company through emails. Mr Hall believed at the time of the killing that the death of his daughter would save others and that she would be reincarnated. He was “being treated for schizophrenia and Manic Depression”.
________________________________________
Various professional, legal and media sources were used to compile this list.
SSRI UK Support Group – in absolutely no way affiliated with any pharmaceutical company.
Please check for updates to this PDF Homicide List occasionally at:
http://ssri-uksupport.com/pdfs.html "
They don't look particularly effective to me, but that lack of 'understanding' of zoloft and other drugs might be due to falsifying original clinical data by the companies - as explained here:
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/58096-DH%20to%20WARK.htm
(Extract of correspondence from Professor David Healy to the UK drug regulatory body, the MHRA.)
"...Reports on these trials list patients who have committed suicide, and list those patients as being of a certain age and as having committed suicide at a certain point during the trial, when the patient in question has a very different age and the event in question happened at a completely different point during the trial".
"Miscoding of suicidal act as emotional lability."
" Lilly have resorted to treatment non-response and a range of other headings to code what happened."
"...records on Prozac, Seroxat/Paxil and Lustral/Zoloft, you will find cases of homicidality coded as nausea for instance."
"Discontinuation of patients from studies for primary adverse effects such as nausea when in fact there has been a suicidal act;"
"But it is also worth adding specifically that this has been a feature of all trials of Zoloft/Lustral, Seroxat/Paxil and Prozac throughout, as far as I can make out... "
Difficult for anyone to "understand" zoloft (or any other drug where corruption has taken a part) when they aren't given the facts, evidence, ACCURATE clinical data results to begin with, I would think.
Are you a Scientologist?
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