Prozac - Ingredient in a Deadly Rampage?

http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_ne...st_item&id=034

Roman Bystrianyk, "Prozac - Ingredient in a Deadly Rampage?", Health
Sentinel, March 27, 2005,

As the victims are laid to rest from the horrible rampage that occurred
at Red Lake Indian Reservation just days ago, which resulted in the
deaths of 10 people, some are questioning the role Prozac may have
played in this tragedy.

According to a recent story in the New York Times, Tammy Lussier, Jeff
Weise's aunt, stated that, "They kept upping the dose for him and by
the end, he was taking three of the 20 milligram pills a day. I can't
help but think it was too much, that it must have set him off."

Another relative of Mr. Weise, Lee Cook, said his medication had
increased a few weeks before the shootings on Monday. Mr. Cook states
that, "I do wonder whether on top of everything else he had going on
in his life, on top of all the other problems, whether the drugs could
have been the final straw."

16-year old Sky Grant, a friend of Jeff Weise said he and Weise talked
in detail about antidepressants. He said Weise told him he was taking
40 milligrams a day of Prozac: 20 in the morning, 20 at night. He noted
that, "He was a lot more quiet. I wouldn't say any better."

According to the American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information
2005, "FDA now states that it has determined that antidepressants
increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and
adolescents with major depressive and other psychiatric disorders",
and states that, "FDA states that a causal relationship to
antidepressants has been established in pediatric patients."

The text also notes that a study of over 4,400 children in short-term
placebo controlled studies that the analysis revealed a greater risk of
suicidal behavior or thinking in pediatric patients during the first
few months of treatment. The average risk was 4% among children
receiving antidepressant drugs, including Prozac, whereas those
receiving placebo had a 2% risk. In other words, those taking the
antidepressants were at "twice the risk".

The FDA also notes that, "patients being treated with antidepressants
for any indication be closely monitored for clinical worsening,
suicidality, and unusual changes in behavior, particularly during
periods of dosage adjustment."

According to Drug Facts and Comparisons 2005, there are a number of
possible side effects of Prozac. Among the side effects listed a
apathy, euphoria, hallucinations, hostility, neurosis, paranoid
reaction, personality disorder, psychosis, antisocial reaction,
delusions, confusion, suicidal ideation, and violent behaviors.

An August 10, 2004 Washington Post article, stated that, "Two-thirds
of the trials conducted by drug manufacturers found that the
medications performed no better than sugar pills, but details of the
negative trials were kept from doctors and parents."

In that article, Steven Hyman, former director of the National
Institute of Mental Health, noted that, "more government-sponsored
research is needed to objectively evaluate the issue. All the
company-sponsored trials, for instance, excluded children who were
suicidal to begin with."

Tarek A. Hammand, an FDA medical reviewer, found that compared with
depressed children who got placebos, children who got antidepressants
had 1.78 times the risk of making a suicide attempt or making
preparations toward "imminent suicidal behavior." Another FDA
scientist, Andrew Mosholder, had found that children getting
antidepressants had 1.9 times the risk of "serious suicide-related
events."

Over the years a number of horrific events have made it into the
headlines:

1989 - Joseph Wesbecker walked into a printing plant in Louisville,
Kentucky and killed eight co-workers and then himself. Mr. Wesbecker
was taking Prozac, which had recently been approved.

1998 - 14-year-old Kip Kinkle, who was on Ritalin and Prozac, killed
his parents and then went on a shooting spree at his Springfield,
Oregon, high school, killing two and injuring 22

1999 - Eric Harris, one of the teen gunmen in the infamous Columbine
massacre in 1999, had been prescribed Luvox, an antidepressant similar
to Prozac. The two boys entered the school with an arsenal of weaponry
killed 12 people with many more injured before taking their own lives.

2001 - Christopher Pittman killed his grandparents while taking
Zoloft, another antidepressant similar to Prozac. His lawyers faulted
the drug, but a jury in Charleston, S.C., convicted him of murder in
February.

According to a recent New York Times article, Dr. Frank Ochberg, a
former associate director of the National Institute of Mental Health,
said he once dismissed any links between antidepressants and suicides
or homicidal acts, but that recent research, however, has changed his
mind. "If your intention is shooting the place up and dying as you do
it, you can put the fantasy together," he said. "Suicidal and
homicidal intentions together could theoretically follow the same
path."

As the first funerals began yesterday for victims of the shootings on
the Red Lake Indian Reservation we should pause and examine this
tragedy more carefully. If we don't, then we will not ask,
"whether" there will be another school shooting - but "when".

Website comment:

Our family has no doubt that Prozac was the cause of this terrible
shooting. Jeff was also a victim in his use of a mind altering drug. My
own son was found to be indiminished capacity because of the abrupt
discontinuation of Paxil and the significant dose of Effexor. The
Prosecutor agreed that the drugs had a role in Corey walking into
school with a rifle and holding his classmates hostage for a time.
Corey was released with time served and probation. The Prosecutor had
already prosecuted a school shootings case. Corey still four years
later has no memory of that day. Amnesia is a listed side effect of all
the SSRI antidepressants. How many school shootings have to happen
before the drug connection is taken serious?

"Roman Bystrianyk" wrote in message
oups.com...

http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_ne...st_item&id=034

Roman Bystrianyk, "Prozac - Ingredient in a Deadly Rampage?", Health
Sentinel, March 27, 2005,

Yes, blame the pill...not the ready availability of guns...or the fact that
he had serious problems without the pill....or that he was the victim of
bullying....yes...blame the pill...

Yeah that's right villify the drug. Alcohol causes more harm, death, damage
and is at the heart of more rampage than any other drug known to man. Then
we have cocaine, heroin and meth.

Is it the drug? How can anyone prove that? There is no way to prove it so
all of this is pure conjecture. That's not to say that misuse or drug
imcomptatibility couldn't result in awful side effects. But hey, let's
really stop villifying everything based on a few incidents.




"Roman Bystrianyk" wrote in message
oups.com...
http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_ne...st_item&id=034

Roman Bystrianyk, "Prozac - Ingredient in a Deadly Rampage?", Health
Sentinel, March 27, 2005,

As the victims are laid to rest from the horrible rampage that occurred
at Red Lake Indian Reservation just days ago, which resulted in the
deaths of 10 people, some are questioning the role Prozac may have
played in this tragedy.

According to a recent story in the New York Times, Tammy Lussier, Jeff
Weise's aunt, stated that, "They kept upping the dose for him and by
the end, he was taking three of the 20 milligram pills a day. I can't
help but think it was too much, that it must have set him off."

Another relative of Mr. Weise, Lee Cook, said his medication had
increased a few weeks before the shootings on Monday. Mr. Cook states
that, "I do wonder whether on top of everything else he had going on
in his life, on top of all the other problems, whether the drugs could
have been the final straw."

16-year old Sky Grant, a friend of Jeff Weise said he and Weise talked
in detail about antidepressants. He said Weise told him he was taking
40 milligrams a day of Prozac: 20 in the morning, 20 at night. He noted
that, "He was a lot more quiet. I wouldn't say any better."

According to the American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information
2005, "FDA now states that it has determined that antidepressants
increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and
adolescents with major depressive and other psychiatric disorders",
and states that, "FDA states that a causal relationship to
antidepressants has been established in pediatric patients."

The text also notes that a study of over 4,400 children in short-term
placebo controlled studies that the analysis revealed a greater risk of
suicidal behavior or thinking in pediatric patients during the first
few months of treatment. The average risk was 4% among children
receiving antidepressant drugs, including Prozac, whereas those
receiving placebo had a 2% risk. In other words, those taking the
antidepressants were at "twice the risk".

The FDA also notes that, "patients being treated with antidepressants
for any indication be closely monitored for clinical worsening,
suicidality, and unusual changes in behavior, particularly during
periods of dosage adjustment."

According to Drug Facts and Comparisons 2005, there are a number of
possible side effects of Prozac. Among the side effects listed a
apathy, euphoria, hallucinations, hostility, neurosis, paranoid
reaction, personality disorder, psychosis, antisocial reaction,
delusions, confusion, suicidal ideation, and violent behaviors.

An August 10, 2004 Washington Post article, stated that, "Two-thirds
of the trials conducted by drug manufacturers found that the
medications performed no better than sugar pills, but details of the
negative trials were kept from doctors and parents."

In that article, Steven Hyman, former director of the National
Institute of Mental Health, noted that, "more government-sponsored
research is needed to objectively evaluate the issue. All the
company-sponsored trials, for instance, excluded children who were
suicidal to begin with."

Tarek A. Hammand, an FDA medical reviewer, found that compared with
depressed children who got placebos, children who got antidepressants
had 1.78 times the risk of making a suicide attempt or making
preparations toward "imminent suicidal behavior." Another FDA
scientist, Andrew Mosholder, had found that children getting
antidepressants had 1.9 times the risk of "serious suicide-related
events."

Over the years a number of horrific events have made it into the
headlines:

1989 - Joseph Wesbecker walked into a printing plant in Louisville,
Kentucky and killed eight co-workers and then himself. Mr. Wesbecker
was taking Prozac, which had recently been approved.

1998 - 14-year-old Kip Kinkle, who was on Ritalin and Prozac, killed
his parents and then went on a shooting spree at his Springfield,
Oregon, high school, killing two and injuring 22

1999 - Eric Harris, one of the teen gunmen in the infamous Columbine
massacre in 1999, had been prescribed Luvox, an antidepressant similar
to Prozac. The two boys entered the school with an arsenal of weaponry
killed 12 people with many more injured before taking their own lives.

2001 - Christopher Pittman killed his grandparents while taking
Zoloft, another antidepressant similar to Prozac. His lawyers faulted
the drug, but a jury in Charleston, S.C., convicted him of murder in
February.

According to a recent New York Times article, Dr. Frank Ochberg, a
former associate director of the National Institute of Mental Health,
said he once dismissed any links between antidepressants and suicides
or homicidal acts, but that recent research, however, has changed his
mind. "If your intention is shooting the place up and dying as you do
it, you can put the fantasy together," he said. "Suicidal and
homicidal intentions together could theoretically follow the same
path."

As the first funerals began yesterday for victims of the shootings on
the Red Lake Indian Reservation we should pause and examine this
tragedy more carefully. If we don't, then we will not ask,
"whether" there will be another school shooting - but "when".

JRT wrote:
Yeah that's right villify the drug. Alcohol causes more harm, death, damage
and is at the heart of more rampage than any other drug known to man. Then
we have cocaine, heroin and meth.

Is it the drug? How can anyone prove that? There is no way to prove it so
all of this is pure conjecture. That's not to say that misuse or drug
imcomptatibility couldn't result in awful side effects. But hey, let's
really stop villifying everything based on a few incidents.




"Roman Bystrianyk" wrote in message
oups.com...

http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_ne...st_item&id=034

Roman Bystrianyk, "Prozac - Ingredient in a Deadly Rampage?", Health
Sentinel, March 27, 2005,

As the victims are laid to rest from the horrible rampage that occurred
at Red Lake Indian Reservation just days ago, which resulted in the
deaths of 10 people, some are questioning the role Prozac may have
played in this tragedy.

According to a recent story in the New York Times, Tammy Lussier, Jeff
Weise's aunt, stated that, "They kept upping the dose for him and by
the end, he was taking three of the 20 milligram pills a day. I can't
help but think it was too much, that it must have set him off."

Another relative of Mr. Weise, Lee Cook, said his medication had
increased a few weeks before the shootings on Monday. Mr. Cook states
that, "I do wonder whether on top of everything else he had going on
in his life, on top of all the other problems, whether the drugs could
have been the final straw."

16-year old Sky Grant, a friend of Jeff Weise said he and Weise talked
in detail about antidepressants. He said Weise told him he was taking
40 milligrams a day of Prozac: 20 in the morning, 20 at night. He noted
that, "He was a lot more quiet. I wouldn't say any better."

According to the American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information
2005, "FDA now states that it has determined that antidepressants
increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and
adolescents with major depressive and other psychiatric disorders",
and states that, "FDA states that a causal relationship to
antidepressants has been established in pediatric patients."

The text also notes that a study of over 4,400 children in short-term
placebo controlled studies that the analysis revealed a greater risk of
suicidal behavior or thinking in pediatric patients during the first
few months of treatment. The average risk was 4% among children
receiving antidepressant drugs, including Prozac, whereas those
receiving placebo had a 2% risk. In other words, those taking the
antidepressants were at "twice the risk".

The FDA also notes that, "patients being treated with antidepressants
for any indication be closely monitored for clinical worsening,
suicidality, and unusual changes in behavior, particularly during
periods of dosage adjustment."

According to Drug Facts and Comparisons 2005, there are a number of
possible side effects of Prozac. Among the side effects listed a
apathy, euphoria, hallucinations, hostility, neurosis, paranoid
reaction, personality disorder, psychosis, antisocial reaction,
delusions, confusion, suicidal ideation, and violent behaviors.

An August 10, 2004 Washington Post article, stated that, "Two-thirds
of the trials conducted by drug manufacturers found that the
medications performed no better than sugar pills, but details of the
negative trials were kept from doctors and parents."

In that article, Steven Hyman, former director of the National
Institute of Mental Health, noted that, "more government-sponsored
research is needed to objectively evaluate the issue. All the
company-sponsored trials, for instance, excluded children who were
suicidal to begin with."

Tarek A. Hammand, an FDA medical reviewer, found that compared with
depressed children who got placebos, children who got antidepressants
had 1.78 times the risk of making a suicide attempt or making
preparations toward "imminent suicidal behavior." Another FDA
scientist, Andrew Mosholder, had found that children getting
antidepressants had 1.9 times the risk of "serious suicide-related
events."

Over the years a number of horrific events have made it into the
headlines:

1989 - Joseph Wesbecker walked into a printing plant in Louisville,
Kentucky and killed eight co-workers and then himself. Mr. Wesbecker
was taking Prozac, which had recently been approved.

1998 - 14-year-old Kip Kinkle, who was on Ritalin and Prozac, killed
his parents and then went on a shooting spree at his Springfield,
Oregon, high school, killing two and injuring 22

1999 - Eric Harris, one of the teen gunmen in the infamous Columbine
massacre in 1999, had been prescribed Luvox, an antidepressant similar
to Prozac. The two boys entered the school with an arsenal of weaponry
killed 12 people with many more injured before taking their own lives.

2001 - Christopher Pittman killed his grandparents while taking
Zoloft, another antidepressant similar to Prozac. His lawyers faulted
the drug, but a jury in Charleston, S.C., convicted him of murder in
February.

According to a recent New York Times article, Dr. Frank Ochberg, a
former associate director of the National Institute of Mental Health,
said he once dismissed any links between antidepressants and suicides
or homicidal acts, but that recent research, however, has changed his
mind. "If your intention is shooting the place up and dying as you do
it, you can put the fantasy together," he said. "Suicidal and
homicidal intentions together could theoretically follow the same
path."

As the first funerals began yesterday for victims of the shootings on
the Red Lake Indian Reservation we should pause and examine this
tragedy more carefully. If we don't, then we will not ask,
"whether" there will be another school shooting - but "when".





You say how can we blame it on the drug? From experience. I've taken
this drug and it caused me severe heartburn to the point it made me cry.
I wasn't taking any other meds at this time, and I did take it with
milk or food, still made my chest hurt like crazy.