There are 30 million Americans on antidepressants.

Since 2004, the FDA has warned that this class of drug can cause violence and suicidal thoughts in both children and adults.  5% of those 30 million users will develop mania, meaning there are, in the words of Fox News' Douglas Kennedy, “1.5 million potential maniacs waiting to explode.”¹

Many of the remainder of those 30 million don't explode; they implode.  The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) has for many years worked with families who lost a loved one to suicide, coincident with antidepressant use.  CCHR recently became aware of television commercials running in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere by law firms seeking plaintiffs who have attempted suicide while on antidepressants or survivors of those who succeeded—lending considerable credence to the FDA's (and other governments') warnings regarding antidepressant-fueled suicidality.  While such suicide cases have been filed in the past, they will likely be more regularly filed in the not-too-distant future.

In addition to suicidality, antidepressant use has been linked to some of the most violent and tragic events of the last several years.  This antidepressant connection has finally become accepted by a large sector of the public as a factor in acts of senseless violence, particularly in “school shooter” cases:

May 21, 1998, Springfield, Oregon: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his own parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22.  Kinkel had been on Prozac.

April 16, 1999, Notus, Idaho: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school narrowly missing students; he was taking a mix of antidepressants.

April 20, 1999, Columbine, Colorado: 18-year-old Eric Harris had been taking Luvox when he and his partner Dylan Klebold killed twelve classmates and a teacher before taking their own lives (Klebold's autopsy/toxicology reports were not released).

May 20, 1999, Conyers, Georgia: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with a mix of antidepressants when he opened fire on and wounded 6 of his classmates.

March 7, 2000, Williamsport, Pennsylvania: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was on Prozac when she blasted away at fellow students, wounding one.

March 22, 2001, El Cajon, California: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman was on the antidepressants Effexor and Celexa when he opened fire at his high school, wounding five.

April 10, 2001, Wahluke, Washington: 16-year-old Cory Baadsgaard took a rifle to his high school, and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage. Cory had been on a high dose of the antidepressant Paxil.

March 21, 2005, Red Lake, Minnesota: 16-year-old Native American Jeff Wiese killed his grandfather, grandfather's spouse, five fellow students, a guard and a teacher at his school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, then killed himself.  He was taking Prozac.

Recently, the media reported on the sudden death of 20-year-old Daniel Smith, son of celebrity Anna-Nicole Smith.  Forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht, who performed the second autopsy on Smith's body, blasted the psychiatrist who prescribed Daniel the "killer cocktail of antidepressants and painkillers."

Toxicology reports confirmed that Daniel's death was caused by the cumulative effect of three drugs found in his system: the antidepressants Zoloft and Lexapro and the painkiller Methadone.  Dr. Wecht stated on CNN's Larry King Live that a doctor would have to be totally negligent to prescribe these three drugs together, and that a person taking even two of them would be in grave danger.  "I'm sure that somebody failed to explain this to Daniel," he said.

The question is now being asked: Why was Daniel prescribed dangerous psychiatric drugs? Will his psychiatrist be held responsible for his death, which could easily have been prevented by taking heed of the serious risks before prescribing these drugs?  Indeed, will psychiatrists in any of these cases (or such future cases) be held responsible?

Practitioners in both civil and criminal law should be aware of these events as they, along with dozens, hundreds or even thousands more (depending on whose statistics you choose to believe), form a growing body of compelling data about these drugs and, in many cases, the people who prescribe them.

Our criminal and civil law systems increasingly find themselves dealing with the fallout of antidepressant use: prosecuting those who commit antidepressant-fueled murder or other acts of senseless violence or litigating product liability, personal injury and wrongful death torts, to name a few.  In nearly every such case, there is a psychiatrist who prescribed these drugs and failed in some capacity to ensure the well-being and safety of the patient or those in his vicinity.

All such investigations of senseless violence, suicide or other injury or death need to consider the factor of antidepressants or other psychiatric drugs as well as the psychiatrist's potential culpability.

Sincerely,

Steve Wagner
Director of Litigation & Prosecution
Citizens Commission on Human Rights International
swagner@cchr.org
800-869-2247