Paxil: Aggression and Homicide

[Guest guest]

SSRI-Research@

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 20:43:34 -0400

[sSRI-Research] Paxil: Aggression and Homicide

 

 

 

 

Paxil: Aggression and Homicide

 

http://paxilprotest.com/page23.html

 

I really just did want to win, to say, OK, the drugs did do it -

what's everyone going to do now? And of course, there's been nothing.

I honestly believe until it's somebody of importance it will be very

difficult to get any changes. Here I am, a simple man from Montana.

I'm not exceptionally rich or famous or anything. Who's going to

listen to me?

 

-Tim Tobin

son-in-law of Donald Shell

'Four People Dead is Four Too Many'

8/9/2001

In February 1998, Donald Schell, a 60 year old man, living in

Gillette, Wyoming, became withdrawn and began to complain to his wife,

Rita, that he had difficulty sleeping. Schell had first had nervous

problems in the mid-1980s and between then and 1998 was to have

approximately five nervous episodes, centered on work stressors or

bereavements. Don and Rita appeared to most of those who knew them to

be a close couple who were married for 37 years. They had two

children, Michael and Deborah. Deborah married Tim Tobin in 1992 and

in 1997 she gave birth to the Schell's first grandchild, Alyssa.

Deborah and Alyssa, now nine months old, came down from Billings,

Montana to stay for a few days with Don and Rita in February 1998.

 

Don's means of handling his nerves was to take time off work, as he

could easily get someone to deputize for him. He went for walks with

his wife, spent time talking with friends or Tim if he was around, in

addition to taking care of his diet. Ever since he had had a good

exposure to a Dr. Suhaney in 1990, if he remained low after a week or

two, either Rita or Don himself would suggest going along to see a

doctor. Dr. Suhaney had first put Schell on Prozac and noted that it

made him tense, anxious and jittery, despite the fact that he was on

several antidotes such as Inderal, Ativan and Desyrel. Dr. Suhaney

stopped Prozac and put Don Schell on imipramine to which he responded

rapidly. What Dr. Suhaney didn't know was that Schell may have even

been hallucinating while on Prozac. Having responded to imipramine in

1990, in two further brief episodes in the 1990s, Schell was put on

tricyclic anti-depressants and responded rapidly.

 

In February of 1998, when he began to complain about his sleep, Don

and Rita went to see a primary care physician, Dr. Patel. Dr. Patel

did a thorough examination, which included administering rating scales

that indicated Schell's main problem was poor sleep and that he felt

hopeful about the future and thought well of himself. Dr. Patel

diagnosed an anxiety state and - unaware of the significance of a

prior adverse response to Prozac - put Mr. Schell on Paxil, without

any covering antidotes. Forty-eight hours later Mr. Schell put three

bullets from two different guns through Rita's head, as well as

through Deborah's head and through Alyssa's head before shooting

himself through the head.

 

After more than a year in a mental wilderness, Tim Tobin sought out a

Houston, Texas attorney, Andy Vickery, and took an action for wrongful

death against SmithKline Beecham, which was then in the process of

becoming GlaxoSmithKline, the worlds largest pharmaceutical company.

 

SmithKline Beecham (in a classic example of corporate hubris) risked

it all by squaring off with the families of the deceased in a

backwoods Wyoming courtroom. The company lost the suit, and in

spectacular fashion.

 

According to Dr. Peter Breggin - one of the world's foremost and

respected authorities on SSRIs - and similar class drugs: Paxil,

Zoloft et al. can cause suicide, violence and other criminal acts

through several mechanisms, including:

 

 

a.. SSRI-induced mania, sometimes (but not always) with psychotic

features, such as hallucinations or delusions ... Drug-induced mania

can cause many expressions of disinhibited or out-of-control behavior,

including sexual acting out, road rage, buying sprees and shoplifting.

Drug-induced mania, even when seemingly not intense, can ruin

marriages and destroy careers. All of the features of mania are not

required in order to meet the diagnosis of Antidepressant-Induced Mood

Disorder with Manic Features. If the individual's mood is " elevated,

euphoric, or irritable, " the necessary criteria are met.

 

 

a.. SSRI-induced depression or worsening of depression. In a seemingly

paradoxical effect, antidepressants can cause or worsen depression. In

controlled clinical trials for Prozac that were conducted by the

manufacturer, Eli Lilly and Company, depressed patients taking Prozac

attempted suicide more frequently than depressed patients taking

placebo (sugar pill) or older antidepressants.

 

 

a.. SSRI-induced severe anxiety and agitation, especially in a patient

already suffering from depression with anxiety and agitation;

 

 

a.. SSRI-induced obsessions and compulsions that motivate violence

toward oneself or others.

 

 

a.. SSRI-induced akathisia, an internal sensation of agitation or

discomfort that drives a person to move about, and also to lose

impulse control. During akathisia, the inner experience of agitation

includes many unusual physical feelings, such as electricity in the

head or body. The person suffering from akathisia typically feels

compelled to move the feet when sitting, to stand, or to pace.

Akathisia is known to increase the risk of suicide and violence.

 

Severe Adverse Effects After One or Two Doses

 

Dr. Breggin stated that physicians and patients are not aware that

many severe adverse drug effects can surface after the first or second

dose of any SSRI antidepressant. Because the " therapeutic effect " of

any antidepressant usually takes several weeks or more to develop,

some doctors fail to realize that toxic effects can develop beginning

with the first dose. These doctors are not likely to warn patients and

their families about adverse events occurring after one or two doses.

Furthermore, these doctors may discount the patient's report when

these early reactions occur. They may urge the patient to continue

taking the drug so that the patient ends up developing an

unnecessarily severe reaction.

 

You might be surprised to learn that when someone gets into trouble

with the law because of this type of drug-induced behavior and

inquiries are made by the authorities to GlaxoSmithKline about Paxil,

not only does GlaxoSmithKline deny that Paxil causes such behavior,

but GlaxoSmithKline provides the authorities with a confidential

document - a so-called " prosecutor's manual. " The contents of this

manual have been kept secret by GlaxoSmithKline, but the motivation

behind its existence and use of the manual is to protect Paxil's

" good " name. GlaxoSmithKline knows full well that people may not buy

and take a drug that could cause them to end up in jail.

 

Thousands of Americans are in jails throughout the United States today

because GlaxoSmithKline and the other SSRI manufacturers have not only

failed to tell the public that Paxil (and its feral siblings) can

cause hostility and aggression, but have, behind their backs,

participated in their prosecution. This is unconscionable.

 

Excerpts From Paxil's June, 2005 Prescribing Information

 

Clinical Worsening and Suicide Risk: Patients, their families, and

their caregivers should be encouraged to be alert to the emergence of

anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility,

aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia (psychomotor restlessness),

hypomania, mania, other unusual changes in behavior, worsening of

depression, and suicidal ideation, especially early during

antidepressant treatment and when the dose is adjusted up or down.

Families and caregivers of patients should be advised to observe for

the emergence of such symptoms on a day-to-day basis, since changes

may be abrupt. Such symptoms should be reported to the patient's

prescriber or health professional, especially if they are severe,

abrupt in onset, or were not part of the patient's presenting

symptoms. Symptoms such as these may be associated with an increased

risk for suicidal thinking and behavior and indicate a need for very

close monitoring and possibly changes in the medication.

 

There is a Risk of Suicidal Thoughts or Actions: Children and

teenagers sometimes think about suicide, and many report trying to

kill themselves. Antidepressants increase suicidal thoughts and

actions in some children and teenagers.

 

The following symptoms, anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia,

irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia

(psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania, have been reported

in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants for

major depressive disorder as well as for other indications, both

psychiatric and nonpsychiatric.

 

If you, or someone you know, has become violent, aggressive or hostile

while on Paxil, please report it immediately to the United States Food

and Drug Administration. This is one way consumer leverage can be

applied to GlaxoSmithKline; eventually this official documentation

will compel the company to fully disclose the " adverse side effects "

of Paxil. You can report your side effects at: MedWatch.