CNN: Pittman case could expose drug makers to future lawsuits,

[Guest guest]

SSRI-Research@

Tue, 8 Feb 2005 22:36:52 -0500

 

[sSRI-Research] [drugawareness] CNN: Pittman case could

expose drug makers to future lawsuits, hurting sales

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you appreciate that statement as much as I do! This is an

article on

the Pittman case from CNN News. Note the following quote:

 

 

The boy's attorneys contend that Zoloft, a prescription drug

manufactured by

Pfizer, made him hallucinate and drove him to kill.

 

" He had these command hallucinations inside his head, " Vickery said before

the trial. " They didn't come externally. They came from inside his

head: 'Kill,

kill, kill.' "

 

The lawyers won a court fight to subpoena previously confidential drug

test

files from Pfizer and plan to use them in the trial.

 

If he is acquitted, some of the nation's largest drug makers could be

exposed

to future lawsuits linked to their antidepressants, possibly hurting

sales.

________________________________

 

All I can say is that it could not happen to a more deserving group of

folks!

Who gave them the right to harm so many with such deadly drugs?! Not

even one

of these tragedies is worth millions feeling " happy " for a while

before they

too crash into their own drug-induced nightmare. How can someone

feeling good

for a while compare to the pain and suffering of just this one little

boy and

his family?

 

As I have said over and over again, the research was there BEFORE

these drugs

were ever designed to demonstrate that they would become the nightmare

they

have become. For those of you who have read all of that documentation

in my

book, Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare, you know

that as

well. There was no scientific reason whatsoever to ever develop and

market these

drugs.

 

Unfortunately lawsuits are our only recourse in this situation. Any of the

rest of us would be charged with premeditated murder for what these

companies

have done in releasing and promoting these drugs.

 

Dr. Tracy

_________________

 

Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D.,

Executive Director, International Coalition For Drug Awareness

Website: www.drugawareness.org

Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare

& CD or audio tape on safe withdrawal: " Help! I Can't Get

Off My Antidepressant! "

Order Number: 800-280-0730

________________________

 

 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/31/zoloft.killings/

 

Defense blames Zoloft as trial opens

 

Boy faces murder charges in deaths of grandparents

 

Monday, January 31, 2005 Posted: 10:48 PM EST (0348 GMT)

 

 

Christopher Pittman, 15, is charged as an adult with the murder of his

grandparents.

 

 

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- Fifteen-year-old defendant Christopher

Pittman sighed and wiped his eyes as the prosecution argued Monday

that the

shotgun deaths of his grandparents were crimes of " a dark heart, an

evil heart. "

 

But the minor's defense lawyer blamed the killings on the

antidepressant drug

Zoloft, which Pittman was taking at the time, and called his client " a

shy,

decent boy who was acting under the influence of a powerful, mind-altering

drug. "

 

Pittman, who police say has confessed to the killings, is being tried

as an

adult and could face 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

 

" This is not a trial about Zoloft. ... Chris Pittman is on trial, "

prosecutor

Barney Giese said in opening arguments.

 

He said the boy, who was 12 at the time of the slayings, " knew what he was

doing was wrong, legally and morally. "

 

Pittman's lawyer, Andy Vickery, said he plans to call a series of

psychiatric

experts.

 

" The defense, in this case, will focus on the fact Zoloft causes

violence, "

Vickery said.

 

The first two prosecution witnesses were firemen who recounted how the

bodies

of the grandparents, Joe Frank and Joy Pittman, were found in the ashes of

their house after the murders on the night of November 28, 2001.

 

The opening statements came shortly after nine women and three men were

selected to serve on the jury in the double-murder trial.

 

Wearing a tie but no coat, Pittman bowed his head during the jury

selection,

occasionally sighing, his fists clenched and held together.

 

Drug test files subpoenaed

 

Police have said Pittman gave them a written statement admitting he

shotgunned his grandparents to death as they slept in bed, then used

lighter fluid and

candles to burn down their house before fleeing in a family vehicle.

 

If he is acquitted, some of the nation's largest drug makers could be

exposed

to future lawsuits linked to their antidepressants, possibly hurting

sales.

 

At the time of the killings, Christopher Pittman was living with his

grandparents outside Chester, South Carolina.

 

They had taken him in after he had run away from his parents' home in

Florida

and had spent about a week in a psychiatric treatment center.

 

His father, Joe Pittman, said that shortly before the killings a South

Carolina doctor gave Christopher a sample pack of Zoloft and doubled

his dosage a

week later.

 

Two days before the killings, according to court files, Christopher

Pittman

got into a school bus fight with a younger boy. His grandparents then

discussed

returning him to Florida.

 

The boy's attorneys contend that Zoloft, a prescription drug

manufactured by

Pfizer, made him hallucinate and drove him to kill.

 

" He had these command hallucinations inside his head, " Vickery said before

the trial. " They didn't come externally. They came from inside his

head: 'Kill,

kill, kill.' "

 

The lawyers won a court fight to subpoena previously confidential drug

test

files from Pfizer and plan to use them in the trial.

 

In testimony at a federal Food and Drug Administration hearing a year ago,

Joe Pittman read a letter he said was written by his son.

 

" Everything just kept getting worse, then I snapped and took

everything out

on my grandparents who I loved so much, " said the letter.

 

" When I was laying in my bed that night, I couldn't sleep, my voice kept

echoing through my mind telling me to kill them until I got up, got

the gun, went

upstairs and pulled the trigger. "

 

Pfizer officials declined to be interviewed but denied any connection

between

the drug and the deaths.

 

The company said in a written statement: " There is no scientific

evidence to

suggest that Zoloft contributes to violent behavior in either adults or

children. "

 

Zoloft is not recommended for use by children with depression. Yet it and

other antidepressants are widely prescribed for younger patients and

adults.

 

In October, the FDA announced there was a link between antidepressants

such

as Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil and suicidal actions or thoughts among

some younger

patients.

 

The FDA asked the manufacturers to adopt a warning to alert doctors and

parents to watch carefully for signs of anxiety, agitation and aggression,

particularly when children and teenagers start taking these drugs.

 

But the FDA has never suggested there is any connection between the

antidepressants and violent behavior toward others.

 

Zoloft is in a class of anti-depressants known as selective serotonin

reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, that increase the level of a brain

chemical,

serotonin.

 

In 2002, almost 11 million prescriptions were dispensed to patients

under 18

for SSRIs and other newer antidepressants to treat depression and a

host of

other conditions, according to the FDA.

 

Trial moved to Charleston

 

Pittman's trial was moved to Charleston after both the judge and the

prosecutor withdrew from the case for personal reasons.

 

Judge Daniel Pieper has said he expects the trial to last about two weeks.

 

The boy has been held in the state's juvenile facility for more than three

years. In addition to the murder charges, Pittman also faces family court

charges of arson.

 

Under South Carolina law, a juvenile found guilty in family court can

be held

until he is 21.

 

Prosecutors pressed successfully to try Pittman in adult court to seek a

longer sentence.

 

Speaking at a 2003 hearing, John Justice, the case's original prosecutor,

said the killings were among the worst of his career.

 

" This kid waited until his grandparents went to bed, went to sleep,

came in,

shot them in the face -- in the mouth -- with a shotgun, " Justice

said. " It's

as cold and brutal an act as I've witnessed in 25 years of prosecuting. "

 

CNN's Jim Polk contributed to this report