State Mom Crusades On the Dangers of Medicine

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[sSRI-Research] State Mom Crusades On the Dangers of Medicine

 

 

 

 

State Mom Crusades On the Dangers of Medicine

 

4/25/04

 

http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/2000-12-05-Jacob-Williams-14-prozac3.htm

 

Chanda Temple

The Birmingham News

News staff writer

 

A Wetumpka mother whose 14-year-old son committed suicide after taking

Prozac for seven weeks is on a crusade to warn parents about the

dangers of certain types of antidepressant drugs prescribed for young

people.

 

" The reason I have to do this is I lost a precious possession and I

know that there are other children out there and parents and this is

happening to them, " Terri Williams said. " I'm speaking for my son and

other children who are unable to speak for themselves. That's why I do

it. "

 

In February, Williams attended a Food and Drug Administration public

hearing in Maryland to testify about the drug and her son's suicide.

In March, she and her husband flew to New York to tape Montel

Williams' TV talk show on that topic. The program aired Thursday.

 

Later this summer, she'll return to Maryland to learn of any findings

from the FDA hearing on suicide risks. Williams expects to testify

again, pleading for authorities to require manufacturers to issue

stronger warnings on the drugs and place labels with information on

side effects.

 

Williams believes Prozac caused her son Jacob to kill himself after a

pediatrician found him to have signs of depression and started him on

Prozac in October 2000. Williams said Jacob soon started to have

strange dreams and aggressive behavior and that he became short-tempered.

 

Williams said she didn't know that what she was seeing were side

effects; she thought it was normal teenage behavior.

 

On Dec. 5, 2000, she found her son dead, hanging in the attic. It was

only after Jacob's death that Williams learned there could be a link

between teen suicide and antidepressant drugs.

 

In November 2002, she and her husband, Butch, sued the doctor and Eli

Lilly and Co., the maker of Prozac. The case was resolved last

December; their attorney said the terms cannot be disclosed.

 

Eli Lilly spokeswoman Tarra Ryker said the company does not discuss

specific cases that have been settled. She said there have been a

small number of cases, including the Williams' case, where Eli Lilly

has made a business decision to settle. The company settled not

because of the efficacy or safety of the drug, but so their scientists

can concentrate on research and lifesaving efforts instead of litigation.

 

Ryker denies that Prozac prompts suicidal thoughts or suicide.

Instead, the company believes it's the disease and not the medication

that is to blame, she said. Prozac has been found to be effective and

safe as an antidepressant, and it's the first and only drug the FDA

has approved for use in the pediatric population, she said.

 

Williams' quest to educate people about commonly prescribed

antidepressant drugs and her son comes at a time when news coverage

has placed the issue at the forefront.

 

Although the FDA has not concluded that these drugs worsen depression

or cause suicides, it warns health care providers to be aware that

worsening of symptoms could be due to the underlying disease of

depression or might be a result of drug therapy, according to the FDA

Web site. The agency also cautions that if there's a desire to

discontinue treatment, patients should be tapered off certain

medications rather than stopped abruptly.

 

In March, the FDA asked manufacturers of eight antidepressant drugs to

include depression and suicide-related warnings on drug labels. The

drugs include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, Lexapro, Effexor

and Remeron. They are a class of drugs called SSRIs, selective

serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

 

Williams said the FDA's request is not mandatory, which is why she

wants to see more stringent requirements. Had she known of the

symptoms, she would have never allowed her son to take the drug. She

said she was not told. " I'm not saying ban the drug; I'm just saying

issue a warning, " Williams said.

 

The FDA's March announcement and the February hearing come after

British health officials last December said that all of the SSRIs

except for Prozac should not be prescribed for depressed children.

Prozac was excluded because it has been proved to aid with pediatric

depression.

 

A team from Columbia University is examining data on antidepressant

drug use among children, and is expected to present its findings this

summer to the FDA.

 

Birmingham lawyer Craig P. Niedenthal, who handled the Williams' case,

sees the issue mounting to court battles for some families. He's

evaluating potential claims against manufacturers of antidepressant

drugs to determine whether they are appropriate for a lawsuit.

 

He has another suit against Eli Lilly in Birmingham federal court

involving a 19-year-old girl who was on Prozac and shot herself in

2002 after being on and off the drug for a few months.

 

Ryker said Friday that the company doesn't know enough about the suit

to comment.

 

 

 

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors(SSRI)

 

 

CORY, WATSON, CROWDER & DEGARIS

2131 Magnolia Avenue, Suite 200

Birmingham, AL 35205

205-328-2200

 

© 2003 Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris, P.C.