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Assailant Pleas, ‘The Drugs Made Me Do It’
March 23, 2008 01:12 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Defendants have claimed in a number of cases involving violent crime that antidepressants were to blame. An assault in Indiana is the latest example.
30-Second Summary
An Indiana man, Leo Wantuch III, arrested for assaulting a friend, allegedly told police he did it to draw attention to the effects of the antidepressant Paxil.
The attack is the latest in a long line of crimes involving such drugs. Another family says Paxil and a number of other medications are the reason David Ragsdale stands accused of killing his estranged wife earlier this year.
Paxil isn’t the only antidepressant or medication that has been implicated in violent episodes. A South Carolina boy was sentenced to 30 years in prison after his lawyers argued that he killed his grandparents in a psychosis induced by Zoloft.
Though some disparage the antidepressants and their manufacturers for the drug's ineffectiveness, problem side effects and a lack of available information, others worry these “Paxil defenses” will frighten people away from taking a legitimately useful medication.
Pharmaceutical companies have responded to these legal cases, in some instances, by helping prosecutors and even creating guidelines for them to use.
Millions of people take antidepressants every day. While the medications are useful to some, a writer for Slate tried Paxil to research an article and regretted the decision: “In retrospect, it was a bad idea to screw with my brain chemistry and possibly inflict lifelong damage just for the sake of experiment.”.
The attack is the latest in a long line of crimes involving such drugs. Another family says Paxil and a number of other medications are the reason David Ragsdale stands accused of killing his estranged wife earlier this year.
Paxil isn’t the only antidepressant or medication that has been implicated in violent episodes. A South Carolina boy was sentenced to 30 years in prison after his lawyers argued that he killed his grandparents in a psychosis induced by Zoloft.
Though some disparage the antidepressants and their manufacturers for the drug's ineffectiveness, problem side effects and a lack of available information, others worry these “Paxil defenses” will frighten people away from taking a legitimately useful medication.
Pharmaceutical companies have responded to these legal cases, in some instances, by helping prosecutors and even creating guidelines for them to use.
Millions of people take antidepressants every day. While the medications are useful to some, a writer for Slate tried Paxil to research an article and regretted the decision: “In retrospect, it was a bad idea to screw with my brain chemistry and possibly inflict lifelong damage just for the sake of experiment.”.
Headline Links: ‘Man Claims Devil Inspired Attack’
Leo Wantuch III told police he hit his long time friend over the head with a metal bar to “draw attention to the effects of Paxil,” according to the Associated Press. Wantuch’s friend had a fractured wrist and needed 20 stitches for a head wound after the attack. Wantuch also allegedly told police he had been controlled by the devil since he started taking Paxil six years ago. Paxil’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, did not comment on the story.
Source: Associated Press/Indianapolis Star
David Ragsdale, who allegedly shot his estranged wife in January, was on Paxil, Ritalin, Provigil, Doxopine and testosterone, said his older sister Tamara Ragsdale. The family, she told KSL TV, is planning legal action against the unnamed nurse practitioner who prescribed the medications.
Source: KSL TV
Reaction: ‘Paxil Defense’ has worrisome implications
In this seven-minute podcast, Howard Gurr, a psychologist, recaps two cases. One concerns an embezzler who received a light sentence because his lawyer told the doctor he couldn’t control himself due to taking Paxil. In the other, relatives received more than $6 million because they said taking two Paxil pills caused a man to kill his immediate family a few hours later, then himself. Gurr worries lawyers will jump on the “Paxil defense” and scare people into not using the medications or make it too expensive to take. “Don’t take these cases and believe that these medications are going to make you into a terrible criminal or a killer,” he said.
Source: The Shrink Is In
Background: Pharmaceutical companies get involved, antidepressants criticized
Pharmaceutical companies are working with prosecutors to fight defenses involving medications, according to Mother Jones. One company, Pfizer, even developed a manual to help district attorneys. In 2004, Pfizer, maker of Zoloft, assisted a South Carolina district attorney in the case of Christopher Pittman, who was 12 when he killed his grandparents. His lawyers said a Zoloft-induced psychosis caused the crime, but a jury ultimately disagreed.
Source: Mother Jones
Antidepressants are some of the world’s most widely prescribed medications. Recent studies and reviews have questioned the medications’ effectiveness.
Source: findingDulcinea
Related Topic: Experimenting with Paxil
Seth Stevenson, a writer, decided to take Paxil for a few weeks to see whether it would lessen his fear of speaking before large groups and meeting new people. He chronicles his experience in an article for Slate and concludes, “In retrospect, it was a bad idea to screw with my brain chemistry and possibly inflict lifelong damage just for the sake of experiment.”
Source: Slate
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