Health Impact News Editor Comments: The article below was written by Dr. Mercola prior to the recent shooting incident in Ohio, as was the Fox News story above on school shootings and antidepressant drugs which was filmed in 2007. This was a rare story from the mainstream media taking an honest look at the link between psychotic drugs and the increase in school shootings. I am surprised Fox News allowed the story to be aired, given how many of their sponsors are pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these drugs.

As the details from the current school shooting in Ohio become clearer, will there once again be a connection to antidepressant drugs? News sources are reporting that this student shooter “was not a student at Chardon High School. He attended the nearby alternative school Lake Academy in Willoughby, which serves at-risk students. Students may have been referred to the school because of academic or behavioral problems.” Will the mainstream media even look for the prescription drug connection?

By Dr. Mercola

A Canadian judge has ruled that a teenage boy murdered his friend because of the effects of Prozac.

The ruling will not be appealed.

The decision has revived the debate regarding the widespread prescription of antidepressants to young people.

Justice Robert Heinrichs ruled that the 15-year-old boy was under the influence of the medication when he stabbed and killed a close friend.

He was sentenced to 10 months on top of the two years he had already spent in jail.

“Prozac is meant to curb the effects of depression, but Justice Heinrich concluded it set off a steady deterioration in the young murderer’s behavior,” CCHR reports.

“He had become irritable, restless, agitated, aggressive and unclear in his thinking,” the judge said.

“It was while in that state he overreacted in an impulsive, explosive and violent way. Now that his body and mind are free and clear of any effects of Prozac, he is simply not the same youth in behavior or character.”

Should Antidepressants Carry Black Box Warning for Homicidal Tendencies?

In 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided SSRI antidepressants must carry a black box warning that the drug can cause suicidal tendencies. But what about violence and homicidal tendencies? Despite mounting evidence that antidepressants and certain other drugs can induce violent behavior and has led to the tragic death of spouses, family members and friends, the FDA has done nothing to warn or curb the use of such drugs.

According to CCHR:

“It is well documented that psychiatric drugs, particularly antidepressants, can cause a host of violent side effects including mania, psychosis, aggression, violence, and in the case of the antidepressant Effexor, homicidal ideation … [P]eople with no prior history of violence (or suicide) became homicidal and suicidal under the influence of antidepressants. … However, despite all the documented violence-inducing side effects of these drugs, the FDA has never issued black box warnings on antidepressants causing violence or homicide despite the fact that at least 11 recent school shootings were committed by kids documented to be on or in withdrawal from psychiatric drugs.”

The expert testimony in this case was supplied by Dr. Peter Breggin, an outspoken critic of psychiatric drugs. The featured article quotes him as saying:

“These drugs produce a stimulant or activation continuum… That continuum includes aggression, hostility, loss of impulse control … all of which are a prescription for violence.”

Other still feel the link between antidepressants and homicide is thin, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s just because they’re refusing to look at the evidence and give it the attention it deserves. The CCHR website includes a helpful search feature, allowing you to search for all sorts of reports and research relating to psychiatric drugs and their side effects. It took 13 years before the FDA finally agreed SSRI’s can cause suicidal thoughts and behavior. How many decades-worth of evidence will have to mount up before the apparent link to uncontrolled violence and homicide is addressed?

Antidepressants Top List of Most Violence-Inducing Drugs

It’s certainly worth paying heed to drug interactions such as violence and homicidal leanings, both as a patient and as a concerned parent, family member or friend. According to a 2010 study published in the journal PLoS One, half of the top 10 drugs disproportionately linked with violent behavior are antidepressants:

  1. Varenicline (Chantix): The number one violence-inducing drug on the list, this anti-smoking medication is 18 times more likely to be linked with violence when compared to other drugs
  2. Fluoxetine (Prozac): This drug was the first well-known SSRI antidepressant
  3. Paroxetine (Paxil): Another SSRI antidepressant, Paxil is also linked with severe withdrawal symptoms and a risk of birth defects
  4. Amphetamines: (Various): Used to treat ADHD
  5. Mefoquine (Lariam): A treatment for malaria which is often linked with reports of strange behavior
  6. Atomoxetine (Strattera): An ADHD drug that affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline
  7. Triazolam (Halcion): This potentially addictive drug is used to treat insomnia
  8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox): Another SSRI antidepressant
  9. Venlafaxine (Effexor): An antidepressant also used to treat anxiety disorders
  10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq): An antidepressant which affects both serotonin and noradrenaline

Read the Full Story Here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/25/legal-system-rules-antidepressants-cause-kids-to-kill.aspx

See Also:

FACT: Antidepressant drugs no better than placebos

The Emperor’s New Drugs
Exploding the Antidepressant Myth
by Irving Kirsch Ph.D.

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