LOS ANGELES - ColoradoDesk -- A recent panel of medical and legal experts discussed the "overwhelming evidence from clinical studies and from tragic events that antidepressants can cause homicide,"[1] igniting further demands for stronger consumer warnings. The panel webinar was led by Prof. David Healy, a UK psychopharmacology expert, U.S. patients' rights attorney, Jim Gottstein and Christopher Lane, Ph.D., who noted that "Judges and prosecutors both acknowledge this to be true." The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a mental health industry watchdog, which is independent of these experts, says pharmaceutical companies and prescribers have a greater duty to warn consumers about risks such as violent and homicidal thoughts.

"While not all patients will experience this, the evidence shows a percentage will. Therefore, prescribers must inform patients of these potential risks or be held accountable for the consequences of harmful actions resulting from their failure to do so," states Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International.

CCHR points to the 2012 case of a French psychiatrist found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence after her patient killed a man with an axe. A court ruled the psychiatrist had committed a "grave error" for failing to recognize her patient posed a threat to the public.[2]

The patient had been under care for nearly four years and had been repeatedly and mandatorily hospitalized, where, arguably, he was "medicated." There was "an escalation of acts of aggression, of increasing severity" perpetrated by the patient while he was in treatment. Under the French penal code, when a psychiatrist's patient harms someone, "cases of recklessness, negligence or breach of duty in terms of providing adequate care or safety," may be established where "the perpetrator [doctor] has not completed the normal due diligence required."[3]

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CCHR says that due diligence must include ensuring patients fully understand the potential for violent and/or suicidal behavior as part of the informed consent process. This is particularly crucial when there is no prior history of aggression, as prescribers are obligated to be aware of drug-induced homicidal and suicidal thoughts, which can serve as precursors to violent acts or suicide.

Even bar tenders serving an intoxicated patron can be held legally liable if the person causes damage. Many states have enacted laws allowing for the prosecution and civil suits against establishments that serve alcohol to visibly intoxicated individuals or minors.[4] Now consider prescribers who fail to warn patients about the well-documented violent and suicidal side effects of certain drugs, and the patient goes on to commit a violent crime. The responsibility should be no less clear.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System has at least 1,530 cases of homicide/homicidal ideation recorded as linked to psychiatric drugs.[5] In 2005, the FDA added "homicidal ideation" as a side effect of the antidepressant venlafaxine extended release.[6] A common stimulant, dexamfetamine (dextroamphetamine) carries an Australian drug regulatory agency warning of homicidal thoughts.[7]

A 2017 BMJ study, "Antidepressants and murder: case not closed," noted: "The FDA admitted in 2007 that SSRIs can cause madness at all ages and that the drugs are very dangerous; otherwise daily monitoring wouldn't be needed." Anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, irritability, hostility, and aggressiveness have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants.

Professor Peter C. Gøtzsche, an internationally renowned researcher, reviewed 64,381 pages of clinical study reports (70 trials) from the European Medicines Agency, showing "for the first time that SSRIs in comparison with placebo increase aggression in children and adolescents, odds ratio 2.79 to 4.81. This is an important finding considering the many school shootings where the killers were on SSRIs."[8]

Psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin are now being offered as mental health treatment, although not FDA approved. Psychedelics could unleash another arsenal of violence-inducing drugs on our community, according to CCHR. In October 2020, Vice's article, "Killer High: Exploring the Phenomenon of LSD-Fueled Murder," detailed how during the prior three years, there were at least 11 reported incidents of somebody killing another person while high on LSD. In October 2018, a 22-year-old in Florida took acid with his girlfriend and ended up stabbing her father to death. In March 2019, an Australian teen ingested two tabs of LSD and killed an 82-year-old stranger.[9]

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CCHR says this should be a wake-up call for a society on the threshold of having more psychotropic drugs put on the market when already the existing ones have the potential to wreak violent havoc, cause murderous rages and mass shootings murderous rages, and suicide.

There needs to be greater drug-regulatory agency warnings about violent adverse reactions and accountability for those prescribing the drugs when they've been warned of the risks, and such prescriptions lead to the commission of a crime.

CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and eminent professor of psychiatry, Thomas Szasz. Its psychiatric drugs side effects online searchable database is part of its public education campaign to warn of adverse events, warnings and studies.

Sources:

[1] Antidepressants and Homicide: Automatism Spectrum Disorders Tickets, Oct 5, 2024, Eventbrite, www.eventbrite.com/e/antidepressants-and-homicide-automatism-spectrum-disorders-tickets-1020994190107; www.madintheuk.com/2024/09/october-5th-mia-panel-on-antidepressants-and-homicide-automatism-spectrum-disorders/

[2] www.foxnews.com/world/french-psychiatrist-sentenced-to-prison-after-patient-commits-murder

[3] "Psychiatric Liability: A French Psychiatrist Sentenced After a Murder Committed by Her Patient," Psychiatric Times, 10 Apr. 2013, www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/psychiatric-liability-french-psychiatrist-sentenced-after-murder-committed-her-patient

[4] alcohol.org/laws/over-serving/

[5] www.cchrint.org/2022/12/09/common-stimulant-prescribed-to-children-and-teens-has-homicidal-warning/ Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide, CCHR International, 2017, p. 12, www.cchrint.org/pdfs/violence-report.pdf

[6] Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide, www.cchrint.org/pdfs/violence-report.pdf citing "Detailed View: Safety Labeling Changes Approved By FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) – November 2005

[7] www.cchrint.org/2022/12/09/common-stimulant-prescribed-to-children-and-teens-has-homicidal-warning/, AUSTRALIAN PRODUCT INFORMATION ASPEN DEXAMFETAMINE (dexamfetamine sulfate) tablets, 15 Oct. 2021

[8] "Antidepressants and murder: case not closed," BMJ, Aug. 2017, www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3697

[9] Gavin Butler, "Killer High: Exploring the Phenomenon of LSD-Fueled Murder," VICE, 25 Oct. 2020, www.vice.com/en/article/acid-lsd-fuelled-murder-homicide/