Top Five Psychiatric Drugs Linked to Violence

To assert psychiatry is careless in prescribing drugs for its various diagnosed disorders is a monstrous trivialization of the problem.

Many of their drugs have been directly linked to suicide and violent behavior, sometimes resulting in murder on a grand scale. In a 2011 study based on data from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System, 31 drugs were linked with violent behavior.

Here are some of the worst offenders:

• Varenicline (Chantix) – Some of the side effects listed for this smoking cessation drug, which is 18 times more likely to result in violence, includes:

• Seeing things that are not there
• Suicidal Thoughts
• Anger
• Behavior Changes
• Irritability
• Mood swings

An Oregon woman found her husband and son dead, both killed by her husband (who had been prescribed Chantix by his dentist.) There have been many other instances of homicide traced back to this drug. Why Chantix has not been withdrawn from the marketplace is hard to fathom.

• Prozac – This antidepressant is 10.9 more likely to be associated with violence than other medications. This drug has over 80 side effects, ranging from merely uncomfortable, to deadly. Here a few of the worst:

• Use of extreme physical or emotional force
• Suicidal thoughts
• Paranoia
• Violent behavior
• Mania
• Panic Attacks
• Abnormal thoughts

By the year 2000, Eli Lilly had paid $50 million dollars to settle 30 prozac lawsuits involving suicide and murder by those at the mercy of this drug.

• Paxil – This antidepressant is linked to birth defects and severe withdrawal symptoms. It has a 10.3 likelihood of violence associated with it. Some other Paxil side effects include:

• Auditory Hallucinations
• Suicide attempts
• Aggravated Nervousness
• Acting aggressive or violent
• Acting on dangerous impulses

Donald Schell had been on Paxil for only 48 hours when he shot and killed his wife, daughter, his granddaughter and himself. The case came to trial, and a jury found GlaxoSmithKline liable for the deaths, and ordered the drug company to pay 6.4 million dollars to the relatives of Schell.

• Amphetamines – This includes Adderall, used to treat ADHD in children. It has been linked to suicide and violent behavior. Just a few Adderall side effects include:

• Aggression
• Anger
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Tourette’s syndrome
• Suicidal thoughts

Kyle Craig’s parents are living with the horrendous loss of their son, a victim of this drug’s suicidal side effects. At the age of 21, while a college student at Vanderbilt University, he stepped in front of a passenger train and ended his life.

• Fluvoxamine (Luvox) – This drug is used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder, and has been linked to violent behavior. Here is a partial list of its side effects:

• Impulsive behavior
• Irritability
• Agitation
• Hostility
• Aggression
• Hyperactive
• Suicidal thoughts

Eric Harris, perpetrator of the 1999 Columbine school shooting tragedy in which 12 students were murdered and another 21 were injured was on Luvox.

Why are these drugs still on the market?

It seems a mystery, since the vast number of people would be happy to see these violent inducing drugs disappear forever.

But psychiatry maintains a fondness for these drugs and their unholy alliance with big pharmaceutical companies keep violent inducing drugs in production.

It is up to each of us to educate ourselves on the side effects of these drugs. There is often a medical reason behind a so-called mental disorder, and examination by a competent (not psychiatric) medical doctor can often trace back the problem to a physical cause.

Treatment with psychiatric drugs is very much playing Russian roulette with the lives of our loved ones.

SOURCES:

http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/chantix-side-effects.html

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/prozac-side-effects.html

http://www.theroadback.org/paxilsideeffects.aspx

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm088676.pdf

http://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/drug-injury-press-releases/paxil-maker-held-liable-in-murder-suicide.php

http://www.drugwatch.com/prozac/lawsuit.php

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-1089/luvox+oral/details/list-sideeffects

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/adderall-psychosis-suicide-college-students-abuse-study-drug/story?id=12066619

http://www.drugs.com/mtm/luvox.html

RX Dangers

How prescription drug abuse is helping to fuel violence in America

Local Column by "Dr Manny" on violence in America

My heart aches and my soul is full of sadness for the nine innocent lives lost in Charleston, South Carolina, and the community left reeling due to yet another senseless crime. This horrific mass murder will no doubt be remembered in American history, just like the many others that have come before it, and unfortunately the probable ones yet to come.

While we know that accused killer Dylann Roof was fueled by hatred and racism, I wonder if there is a pattern in some of these tragedies. In conjunction with what other experts will tell us, I believe that an epidemic of drug abuse in this country is helping to fuel the violence. I am not talking about marijuana, cocaine or heroin – I am specifically singling out prescription drug abuse.

It is alleged that Roof was taking Xanax and Soboxone. A high school classmate even referred to him as a “pill popper.” The Wall Street Journal reported that in a police incident report from February, Roof was found to have strips of Suboxone -- a pain drug used to treat opiate addiction -- on him, but did not have a prescription for the drug. From what we know thus far, Roof was not under any kind of psychiatric care, either.

Now, I don’t know for sure whether or not Roof had a prescription for Xanax, or if he purchased it off the street like his former classmate inferred, but the drug has been linked to many potential dangerous side effects without careful monitoring. Xanax may cause a person to become depressed, irritable, an insomniac, to have difficulty concentrating, and to act in an aggressive manner. When psychiatrists and physicians prescribe Xanax, they are aware of these side effects, and determine the proper dosage to prescribe to patients based on any underlying mental illnesses. However, when the drug is purchased off the street, there could be undiagnosed disorders like bipolar disorder or another mental illnesses that could cause the above-mentioned side effects to come to life, often in tragic ways.

Suboxone is another powerful drug that requires a degree of professional monitoring. This is typically prescribed for narcotic addiction because it contains both a narcotic element, along with an anti-narcotic ingredient. The combination of this drug and Xanax could create a poisonous cocktail that may spell trouble for the user.

Many of these drugs are sold on the streets by people who have obtained them illegally. A National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicated that an estimated 36 million U.S. residents aged 12 and older abused prescription drugs at least once in their lifetime. In breaking that number down, it found that 2.7 million of those individuals were aged 12 to 17, and 6.9 million were aged 18 to 25. Those purchasing the drugs are unaware of potential side effects or the dangers that they may pose to others while on the medications.

Make no mistake about it, these are powerful drugs intended to treat many mental illnesses. Most of them, if they are taken as intended, do provide great relief to patients. However, there are instances of violence that have occurred while suspects were under the care of a psychiatrist and were taking the prescriptions legally.

Let’s look at James Holmes, the accused killer who opened fire on a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and wounding 70. Holmes had been prescribed a generic version of Zoloft, which is used to treat depression, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Clonazepam, which treats anxiety and panic attacks. Zoloft has the potential to cause suicidal ideation, while Clonazepam also carries the potential for serious side effects.

Next, let’s consider Eric Harris, who along with Dylan Klebold, opened fire on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School, murdering 13 classmates before killing themselves. Harris had been prescribed the powerful antidepressant Luvox.

One in 10 Americans now takes antidepressant medications and many others illegally acquire these drugs for recreational use. I am certainly not suggesting that one in 10 of us is a killer. What I am saying, is that when these powerful medications are given, they must be medically supervised, and all of the side effects must be considered by the prescribing doctor. When there is no medical supervision, or lax guidance, these drugs can enhance aggressive behavior and further fuel irrational thinking. The illegal prescription drug abuse on the streets is far too great for us to ignore.

As the nation once more looks for answers to an unthinkable tragedy, many will race to call for better gun control and background checks. Others will want social answers and call for better ways to mend the racial divide that exists in some of our communities. But what I ask our leaders is to also address the epic level of untreated mental illness in our country, which when paired with illegal drug abuse, has only left us reeling time after time.

We all need to work together. Just recently the Justice Department arrested 243 people across the country and charged them with submitting fake billing for Medicare which totaled $712 million. Among those arrested are 46 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals. In one case, a doctor in Michigan prescribed unnecessary narcotics in exchange for patients’ identification information to generate false billings.

Uncontrolled drug abuse in people that already possess racism and hatred in their hearts makes for an incredibly dangerous situation.

Each and every one of us will play a role in righting this wrong, and it begins with caring for each other. If you notice changes in any of your loved ones, friends or colleagues, then you must speak out. Too often after the fact we hear of all the warning signs that were there for us, whether it was the lack of compassion for your fellow man, drug abuse or mental illness, it is our responsibility to get them help. Let us hope that this hate crime will make every single American know how to love and respect and care for each other, because that will be the definitive cure that will make us stronger and better people.

NY lawmakers probe care for mentally ill inmates

As seen in the Houston Chronicle, much more info at the link.

The head of the troubled New York City jail system said Thursday it's critical to send mentally ill inmates to treatment programs instead of a lockup.

Department of Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte told state lawmakers that Rikers Island is poorly equipped to be a mental health treatment center. The primary goal, one he shares with the medical staff, is to keep staff and inmates safe, he said.

"Violence at Rikers Island the past five or six years has gone through the roof," Ponte said, adding that assaults on his medical staff have tripled.

Dr. Homer Venters, head of the jail's health services, testified alongside Ponte. He said admission medical screenings done on every incoming inmate show about 25 percent have mental illnesses, though that diagnosis applies to about 38 percent of the daily population of about 11,500. Those inmates tend to stay twice as long.

which brings up the question of:

Are the shrinks are competent to handle the problem? That is, beyond the usual quick fix of chemical straight jackets, or even just doping up the prisoners . . .