Fact: Despite 22 international drug regulatory warnings on psychiatric drugs citing effects of mania, hostility, violence and even homicidal ideation, and dozens of high profile shootings/killings tied to psychiatric drug use, there has yet to be a federal investigation on the link between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless violence.
Fact: At least 31 school shootings and/or school-related acts of violence have been committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs resulting in 162 wounded and 72 killed (in other school shootings, information about their drug use was never made public—neither confirming or refuting if they were under the influence of prescribed drugs).
Fact: Between 2004 and 2011, there have been over 11,000 reports to the U.S. FDA’s MedWatch system of psychiatric drug side effects related to violence. These include 300 cases of homicide, nearly 3,000 cases of mania and over 7,000 cases of aggression. Note: By the FDA’s own admission, only 1-10% of side effects are ever reported to the FDA, so the actual number of side effects occurring are most certainly higher.
Fact: It took months for the release of information showing that police had found psychiatric drugs in the apartment of Aurora Colorado movie theater shooter, James Holmes—including the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam and the antidepressant sertraline, the generic version of the antidepressant Zoloft.
Colorado shooter James Holmes was under the care of psychiatrist Lynne Fenton prior to the shootings. Police found antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs in Holmes apartment.
Click here to sign the Petition: Call for Federal Investigation of Psychiatric Drugs, School Shootings & Senseless Violence
Of the 31 people who committed acts of violence that were documented to be under the influence of psychiatric drugs, ten were seeing either a psychiatrist or psychologist. See the list of school shootings and/or school-related acts of violence by those on psychiatric drugs here.
School-related acts of violence aren’t the only cases commonly found to be under the influence of psychiatric drugs. There are 12 other recent acts of senseless violence committed by individuals taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs resulting in an additional 46 dead and 23 wounded.
A bill introduced in New York in 2000 proposed police investigate psychiatric drug in all cases of violent crimes and suicides. This is a bill that must be reintroduced and passed on state and federal levels. Click image to read the bill
Despite 22 international drug regulatory warnings on psychiatric drugs citing effects of mania, hostility, violence and even homicidal ideation, and dozens of high profile shootings/killings tied to psychiatric drug use, there has yet to be a federal investigation on the link between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless violence.
The correlation between psychiatric drugs and acts of violence and homicide is well documented – both by international drug regulatory warnings and studies, as well as by hundreds of cases where high profile acts of violence/mass murder were committed by individuals under the influence of psychiatric drugs.
Unfortunately that bill stalled out in the finance committee. By reviewing the international drug regulatory warnings, studies, and adverse reaction reports submitted to the US FDA below, it is evident that the reintroduction of the New York bill is needed on a federal level in order to determine just how many crimes and acts of violence are being committed by individuals under the influence of drugs documented to induce violence, mania, psychosis, aggression, hostility and homicide.
As the world’s leading mental health watchdog, CCHR has for decades investigated hundreds of acts of senseless violence, working alongside investigative reporters, law enforcement, as well as legislative hearings, such as those held in Colorado following the 1999 Columbine massacre (ringleader Eric Harris was found to be under the influence of the antidepressant Luvox, Dylan Klebold’s autopsy reports were never unsealed).
And while there is never one simple explanation for what drives a human being to commit such unspeakable acts, all too often one common denominator has surfaced in hundreds of cases—prescribed psychiatric drugs which are documented to cause mania, psychosis, violence, suicide and in some cases, homicidal ideation. It is an injustice that the general public are not being informed about the well documented links between psychiatric drugs and violence, and so once again we present the facts:
There have been 22 international drug regulatory warnings issued on psychiatric drugs causing violence, mania, hostility, aggression, psychosis, and other violent type reactions. These warnings have been issued in the United States, European Union, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
Click image to read MANIA—The shocking link between psychiatric drugs, suicide, violence and mass murder
In determining what would prompt a person to commit such brutal and senseless crimes, the press must ask the right questions, including: What, if any, prescribed psychotropic drugs the perpetrator may have been on (or in withdrawal from).
Read the international drug regulatory warnings issued on psychiatric drugs causing violence, mania, hostility, aggression, psychosis, and other violent type reactions.
See the recent study from PLoS One here on psychiatric drugs being linked to violence.
Watch this short interview with Michael Moore, author, director and producer of Bowling for Columbine, where he calls for a federal investigation into the link between prescribed drugs and mass shootings such as the 1999 Columbine massacre.
At least 31 school shootings and/or school-related acts of violence were committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. It is important to note the following lists cases where the information about the shooters psychiatric drug use was made public.
It took months for the release of information showing that police had found psychiatric drugs in the apartment of Aurora Colorado movie theater shooter, James Holmes—including the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam and the antidepressant sertraline, the generic version of the antidepressant Zoloft.
Note that all these mass shootings didn’t just occur in the United States.
Of these 31, ten were seeing either a psychiatrist (8 of them) or psychologist (2 of them). It is not known whether or not the others were seeing a psychiatrist, as it has not been published.
- St. Louis, Missouri – January 15, 2013: 34-year-old Sean Johnson walked onto the Stevens Institute of Business & Arts campus and shot the school’s financial aid director once in the chest, then shot himself in the torso. Johnson had been taking prescribed drugs for an undisclosed mental illness.
- Snohomish County, Washington – October 24, 2011: A 15-year-old girl went to Snohomish High School where police alleged that she stabbed a girl as many as 25 times just before the start of school, and then stabbed another girl who tried to help her injured friend. Prior to the attack the girl had been taking “medication” and seeing a psychiatrist. Court documents said the girl was being treated for depression.
- Planoise, France – December 13, 2010: A 17-year-old youth held twenty pre-school children and their teacher hostage for hours at Charles Fourier preschool. The teen was reported to be on “medication for depression”. He took a classroom hostage with two swords. Eventually, all the children and the teacher were released safely.
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – September 21, 2011: 14-year-old Christian Helms had two pipe bombs in his backpack, when he shot and wounded Socastee High School’s “resource” (police) officer. However the officer was able to stop the student before he could do anything further. Helms had been taking drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.
- Huntsville, Alabama – February 5, 2010: 15-year-old Hammad Memon shot and killed another Discover Middle School student Todd Brown. Memon had a history for being treated for ADHD and depression. He was taking the antidepressant Zoloft and “other drugs for the conditions.” He had been seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist.
- Kauhajoki, Finland – September 23, 2008: 22-year-old culinary student Matti Saari shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine. He was also seeing a psychologist.
- Fresno, California – April 24, 2008: 17-year-old Jesus “Jesse” Carrizales attacked the Fresno high school’s officer, hitting him in the head with a baseball bat. After knocking the officer down, the officer shot Carrizales in self-defense, killing him. Carrizales had been prescribed Lexapro and Geodon, and his autopsy showed that he had a high dose of the antidepressant Lexapro in his blood that could have caused him to be paranoid, according to the coroner.
- Dekalb, Illinois – February 14, 2008: 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amount of Xanax in his system. He had been seeing a psychiatrist.
- Jokela, Finland – November 7, 2007: 18-year-old Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School in southern Finland, then committed suicide.
- Texas – November 7, 2007: 17-year-old Felicia McMillan returned to her former Robert E. Lee High School campus and stabbed a male student and wounded the principle with a knife. McMillan had been on drugs for depression, and had just taken them the night before the incident.
- Cleveland, Ohio – October 10, 2007: 14-year-old Asa Coon stormed through his school with a gun in each hand, shooting and wounding four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon had been placed on the antidepressant Trazodone.
- Sudbury, Massachusetts – January 19, 2007: 16-year-old John Odgren stabbed another student with a large kitchen knife in a boy’s bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. In court his father testified that Odgren was prescribed the drug Ritalin.
- North Vernon, Indiana – December 4, 2006: 16-year-old Travis Roberson stabbed another Jennings County High School student in the neck, nearly severing an artery. Roberson was in withdrawal from Wellbutrin, which he had stopped taking days before the attack.
- Hillsborough, North Carolina – August 30, 2006: 19-year-old Alvaro Rafael Castillo shot and killed his father, then drove to Orange High School where he opened fire. Two students were injured in the shooting, which ended when school personnel tackled him. His mother said he was on drugs for depression.
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina – April 2006: 17-year-old William Barrett Foster took a shotgun to school and took a teacher and a fellow student hostage at East Chapel Hill High School. After being talked out of shooting the hostages, Foster fired two shots through a classroom window before fleeing the school on foot. Foster’s father testified that his son had stopped taking his antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs without telling him.
- Red Lake, Minnesota – March 21, 2005: 16-year-old Jeff Weise, on Prozac, shot and killed his grandparents, then went to his school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation where he shot dead 5 students, a security guard, and a teacher, and wounded 7 before killing himself.
- Greenbush, New York – February 2004: 16-year-old Jon Romano strolled into his high school in east Greenbush and opened fire with a shotgun. Special education teacher Michael Bennett was hit in the leg. Romano had been taking “medication for depression”. He had previously seen a psychiatrist.
- Red Lion, Pennsylvania – February 2, 2001: 56-year-old William Michael Stankewicz entered North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School with a machete, leaving three adults and 11 children injured. Stankewicz was taking four different drugs for depression and anxiety weeks before the attacks.
- Ikeda, Japan – June 8, 2001: 37-year-old Mamoru Takuma, wielding a 6-inch knife, slipped into an elementary school and stabbed eight first- and second-graders to death while wounding at least 15 other pupils and teachers. He then turned the knife on himself but suffered only superficial wounds. He later told interrogators that before the attack he had taken 10 times his normal dose of antidepressants.
- Wahluke, Washington – April 10, 2001: Sixteen-year-old Cory Baadsgaard took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage. He had been taking the antidepressant Effexor.
- El Cajon, California – March 22, 2001: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman, on the antidepressants Celexa and Effexor, opened fire on his classmates, wounding three students and two teachers at Granite Hills High School. He had been seeing a psychiatrist before the shooting.
- Williamsport, Pennsylvania – March 7, 2001: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was taking the antidepressant Prozac when she shot at fellow students, wounding one.
- Oxnard, California – January 2001: 17-year-old Richard Lopez went to Hueneme High School with a gun and shot twice at a car in the school’s parking lot before taking a female student hostage. Lopez was eventually killed by a SWAT officer. He had been prescribed Prozac, Paxil and “drugs that helped him go to sleep.”
- Conyers, Georgia – May 20, 1999: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with the stimulant Ritalin when he opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates.
- Columbine, Colorado – April 20, 1999: 18-year-old Eric Harris and his accomplice, Dylan Klebold, killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 26 others before killing themselves. Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox. Klebold’s medical records remain sealed. Both shooters had been in anger-management classes and had undergone counseling. Harris had been seeing a psychiatrist before the shooting.
- Notus, Idaho – April 16, 1999: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school, narrowly missing students. He was taking a prescribed antidepressant and Ritalin.
- Springfield, Oregon – May 21, 1998: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 25. Kinkel had been taking the antidepressant Prozac. Kinkel had been attending “anger control classes” and was under the care of a psychologist.
- Blackville, South Carolina – October 12, 1995: 15-year-old Toby R. Sincino slipped into the Blackville-Hilda High School’s rear entrance, where he shot two Blackville-Hilda High School teachers, killing one. Then Toby killed himself moments later. His aunt, Carolyn McCreary, said he had been undergoing counseling with the Department of Mental Health and was taking Zoloft for emotional problems.
- Chelsea, Michigan – December 17, 1993: 39-year-old chemistry teacher Stephen Leith, facing a disciplinary matter at Chelsea High School, shot Superintendent Joseph Piasecki to death, shot Principal Ron Mead in the leg, and slightly wounded journalism teacher Phil Jones. Leith was taking Prozac and had been seeing a psychiatrist.
- Houston, Texas – September 18, 1992: 44-year-old Calvin Charles Bell, reportedly upset about his second-grader’s progress report, appeared in the principal’s office of Piney Point Elementary School. Bell fired a gun in the school, and eventually wounded two officers before surrendering. Relatives told police on Friday that Bell was an unemployed Vietnam veteran and had been taking anti-depressants.
- Winnetka, Illinois – 20 May 1988: 30-year-old Laurie Wasserman Dann walked into a second grade classroom at Hubbard Woods School in Winnetka, Illinois carrying three pistols and began shooting children, killing an eight-year-old boy, and wounding five others before fleeing. She entered a nearby house where she shot and wounded a 20-year-old man before killing herself. Dann had been seeing a psychiatrist and subsequent blood tests revealed that at the time of the killings, she was taking the antidepressant Anafranil.
Note: Psychiatric Drugs Can Also Cause Severe Withdrawal Symptoms—Violent and Suicidal Thoughts – Watch This 2 Minute Video
12 additional recent murders and murder-suicides, resulting in 46 dead and 23 wounded:
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – March 8, 2012: 30-year-old John Shick, former patient of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and former student at nearby Duquesne University, shot and killed one and injured six inside UPMC’s Western Psychiatrist Institute. Nine antidepressants were identified among the drugs police found in Shick’s apartment.
- Seal Beach, California – October 12, 2011: Scott DeKraai, a harbor tugboat worker, entered the hair salon where his ex-wife worked, killing her and seven others and injuring one. At DeKraai’s initial hearing, his attorney indicated to the judge that DeKraai was prescribed the antidepressant Trazodone and the “mood stabilizer” Topamax.
- Lakeland, Florida – May 3, 2009: Toxicology test results showed that 34-year-old Troy Bellar was on Tegretol, a drug prescribed for “bi-polar disorder,” when he shot and killed his wife and two of his three children in their home before killing himself.
- Granberry Crossing, Alabama – April 26, 2009: 53-year-old Fred B. Davis shot and killed a police officer and wounded a sheriff’s deputy who had responded to a call that Davis had threatened a neighbor with a gun. Prescription drug bottles found at the scene showed that Davis was prescribed the antipsychotic drug Geodon.
- Middletown, Maryland – April 17, 2009: Christopher Wood shot and killed his wife, three small children and himself inside their home. Toxicology test results verified that Wood had been taking the antidepressants Cymbalta and Paxil and the anti-anxiety drugs BuSpar and Xanax.
- Concord, California – January 11, 2009: Jason Montes, 33, shot and killed his wife and then himself at home. Montes had earlier begun taking the antidepressant Prozac for depression related to his impending divorce and a recent bankruptcy.
- Little Rock, Arkansas – August 14, 2008: Less than 48 hours after Timothy Johnson shot and killed Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney, the Little Rock Police declared they were investigating shooter’s use of the antidepressant Effexor, which was found in Johnson’s house. A Little Rock city police report later stated that Johnson “was on an antidepressant and that the drug may have played a part in his ‘irrational and violent behavior.’”
- Omaha, Nebraska – December 5, 2007: 19-year-old Robert Hawkins killed eight people and wounded five before committing suicide in an Omaha mall. Autopsy results confirmed he was under the influence of the “anti-anxiety” drug Valium.
- North Meridian, Florida – July 8, 2003: Doug Williams killed five and wounded nine of his fellow Lockheed Martin employees before killing himself. Williams was reportedly taking two antidepressants, Zoloft and Celexa, for depression after a failed marriage.
- Wakefield, Massachusetts – December 26, 2000: 42-year-old computer technician Michael McDermott had been taking three antidepressants when he hunted down employees in the accounting and human resources offices where he worked, killing seven.
- Buffalo, New York – May 1, 1998: 37-year-old Juan Roman, an Erie County sheriff’s deputy, pursued his estranged wife into their children’s elementary school and shot her dead, and a school aide was hit in the elbow. Roman was taking antidepressants and seeing a psychiatrist.
- St. Petersburg, FL – May 25, 1992: 30-year-old David Doyle Rittenhouse shot and killed a man that went on a date with his wife. Rittenhouse said he was taking a drug somewhat similar to the controversial drug Prozac, and that the drug impeded his perception abilities and he thought the man had raped his wife, though he said “He knows it didn’t happen that way – but he said that is what was in his mind.”
As far back as 1991, CCHR, along with numerous experts brought evidence before the US FDA that antidepressants were causing suicide and violence. The heavily Pharma-funded FDA panel ignored the evidence provided, and it would take 14 years, and a great deal of public pressure, for the FDA to finally issue it’s strongest warning, the black box, on antidepressants inducing suicidal ideation. 21 years later, the FDA has yet to issue a black box warning on antidepressants and other classes of psychiatric drugs documented by international regulatory agencies and studies to cause violence. This is not in the public’s interest, who deserve to be warned, it’s in Big Phama’s interest, upon whose funding the FDA heavily relies on.
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Tags: Adam Lanza, antidepressant and school shootings, antidepressants, Aurora Colorado theater shooting, Colorado, Columbine, James Holmes, medication, movie theater, psychiatric drugs, psychiatric drugs shootings, psychotropic drugs, shooting
This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2012 at 11:39 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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I wish I had researched antidepressants before I was put on them at the age of 17.
It was a simple process, the antidepressants were always free and fully covered by insurance but the psychiatric therapy was not. I was slowly going crazy being on these concoctions of meds. No drug helped my mood: PROZAC, EFFEXOR, ZOLOFT, CELEXA, WELLBUTRIN AND clonopins. my sister sat me down and told me I was not myself anymore. My dreams were violent and intense. I began having anxiety attacks where I would freak out and act irrationally. This was very unlike me. When you are put on psychotic meds and are not closely watched by a loved one, you will lose your mind without realizing it. Almost 10 years later I find out my brain already naturally produces too much serotonin and these drugs did not help me whatsoever. SSRIs poisoned me. Without knowing I actually overdosed and now I pay the price. DO NOT TAKE THESE DRUGS. These drugs are falsely advertised and dangerous.
My husband was on lithium and risperdal (mood stabilizer and anti-psychotic) for about 20 years. I cried to everyone i could that his emotions were dead and he was incapable of feeling empathy, and instinctively i knew that it was the meds at fault. nobody would believe me – they all insisted he take the stuff. eventually i got him off it regardless despite dire warnings that he could suicide. instead he went psychotic, and then i was told – told you so, he’s obviously schizo (not bipolar, like they’d all been saying before). had to get back on meds to stabilize but found a better psych doc who put him on much lower dose of something else.
but it was the nutritionist i found who saved the day. she told me what nobody else would, that it was getting off the drugs that made him psychotic.
This nutritionist put him on lots of natural stuff, primarily megadoses of vitamins. It helped enormously, and now he’s hardly taking any psych meds. She also said a diet high in sugar is closely linked to psychological imbalance. how many psychs give dietary advice? none, right? how many suggest exercise? relaxation? stress reduction? lifestyle change?
thank you for sharing this. Dr. Breggin is a good resource for you. All the best. Sami
People, it’s eugenics and its happening in this country for the last century. the psychopharna industry looking for the master race and control of the populace. Get the book “War Against The Weak” by Edwin Block then all of you will understand what is happenning has deep roots and its intentional. Profound abuse of our human rights. I speak from expirience, My own only son was eugeniced and left with no intelligence whatsoever, just looking at him gives you stress.He is the poster child of psychopharma wrongdoing. We have suffered horrendously for 17 years with no compensation for the medical malpractice and lost all our assets because we had to hire 3 caretakers to cope with the tragedy and send him overseas to hide him from deadly psychiatry. My campaign will be for the total elimination of these harmful medicines, no social services of any kind in schools but schools of music, dance, gardenning, film making, and much more things where they can practice their favorite hobbies and then those children will grow happy. What happend to my son? I detoxified him at least 30 times by now and he is silent and lonly but sound, I know he is not going to get up in the middle of the night to kill me. He is now sweet, calm and collected. Join and help me to deliver the most extraordinary alternative care for our children for a fraction of the cost of $247,000/bed on average plus what is the use of paying $!000/pill. If we are in a fiscal cliff, we cannot afford such scandolous expenditure. The country will regain the confidence we all need at this moment aof despair. Reparations must be address and big pharma get ready to pay at least $500B, to build or repair large farms for this porpose. They can returned to their families later on when they are very well or continue living at the farms where they will be safe and productive and being educated in what they like besides the intellectual curriculum in their brain still function. President Obama addressed $4B in SAMHSA for innovative care for them, but Samsha didn’t respond. My pledge is now directly to Mrs. Obama, what a legacy this would be! SAMHA didn’t put attention to my wish to help. I have a lot of experience in human services. we could have avoided so much sorrow. But its never too late. Big Pharma made $1.5T in the last years selling this poisonous neuroleptics and we don’t know what is the long term effect besides dementia … brain cancer? Thanks for helping at this crucial moment.
gloria, what a terrible thing that has been done to you and your son. Your ideas for schools are beautiful and close to my own. I wish that there would be a group of parent/people that could be resources for each other. I would welcome the opportunity to help other people in any way I could because of the criminal actions of the people you have mentioned. You are right. I’m with you in spirit and I wish I could be there for you in other ways too. It sounds like with your experience you have a lot to offer other people too. I hope we can find ways to stand by each other and help each other avoid all this tragedy. All the best to you and your dear son. sami
[...] [...] As the except from CCHR below demonstrates, anti-psychotic drugs are a hallmark of mass shooters, but you won’t see any call in the mainstream media to see them banned, despite the fact that even gun control advocates like Michael Moore have admitted the clear connection. 1. Huntsville, Alabama – February 5, 2010: 15-year-old Hammad Memon shot and killed another Discover Middle School student Todd Brown. Memon had a history for being treated for ADHD and depression. He was taking the antidepressant Zoloft and “other drugs for the conditions.” He had been seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist. [...]
To bad 1 in 4 women are using anti depressants, to many people thats ok.
60 minutes had the report that placebos were more effective than the drugs. Life is hard, everyone gets depressed, get over it naturally.
I went to my doctor when I was experiencing depression, negativity, paranoia. This was not normal for me and I wondered if I was experiencing hormonal changes which could cause this. Immediately he wanted to prescribe an anti-depressant. I , in tears, insisted that he do a blood panel to find out the cause- not just cover it up. While waiting for the test results I read a book called “Sleep Thieves” by Stanley Coran. This cued me into some very bad sleep habits I had developed while raising my large family. Having functioned for years on limited sleep, I was trying to get healthy and exercise regularly. This actually put me over the edge of what my body could handle. Forcing myself to sleep earlier on a regular schedule, resolved all my issues. What would have happened if I had accepted those drugs?
Obviously the users or their parents tend to think it OK to use strong psychotropic drugs on children. Unfortunatly their denial is just as unsatisfactory as their child’s behavior. If they looked closely at their own use of drugs before, during and after pregnancy they would probably find the original cause of their children’s behavior. SSRIs are dangerous, they are untested, unethical and DO HARM.
Knowing that pharmaceutical commercials dominate the nightly news time, you can count out the establishment media from ever covering the DANGERS of pharmaceutical drugs and their links to violence and suicides.
While so many blindly focus on guns, the real danger goes unchecked.
If you are interested in learning more about the dangers of antidepressant drugs, here is a list of resources:
Another School Shooting, Another Psychiatric Drug? – Federal Investigation Long Overdue
http://www.cchrint.org/2012/07/20/the-aurora-colorado-tragedy-another-senseless-shooting-another-psychotropic-drug/
School Shootings and Psychiatric Drugs
http://cegant.com/commentary/school-shootings-and-psychiatric-drugs
Deadly Drugs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9S-7aNPf33A
Gun control? We need medication control!
http://www.naturalnews.com/038353_gun_control_psychiatric_drugs_Adam_Lanza.html
Psychiatric Drugs And Mass Murder: Exploring The Connection
http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/08/14/psychiatric-drugs-and-mass-murder-exploring-the-connection/
Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence Towards Others (Abstract of study done by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices)
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0015337
Michael Moore – Reveals the real cause of Columbine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=04UqzYOdGNs#!
Violence and drug correlation chart
http://www.ssristories.com/index.php
Mother Faces Down Swat Team & Tank For Refusing to Drug Daughter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hIlo7KD2L0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Gwen Olson – Activisty, Speaker & Author of: “Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher”
http://www.gwenolsen.com/
Thoughts from Dr. Guy Reikeman, President Life University
https://www.facebook.com/GuyF.RiekemanDC/posts/434032569983646
Psychiatric Side Effects Search Engine
http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers/
PSYCHIATRIC DRUG SIDE EFFECTS: A Relevant, Overdue Topic ~
On the morning of May 21, 1988 I stood before my class of 25 traumatized fifth graders and began a necessary discussion about one of the first school shootings that occurred the morning before at a nearby elementary school in Winnetka, IL. It was also one of the first multiple-victim shootings in which the side effects of psychiatric drugs was considered.
I don’t remember exactly what I said in general – but I do remember exactly what I said when asked specifically, “What would you have done Ms. Hayford?”
“I would have jumped on top of her and done whatever I could to get the gun away. I love each of you as if you were my own child and I would do ANYTHING to protect you.”
It is in this same spirit that I feel called to share with you now, thoughts and information about the VERY REAL and valid concern of dangerous side effects associated with psychiatric drugs. It is my way of metaphorically jumping on the next potential shooter before they get a gun in their hands.
There are of course, MULTIPLE ISSUES that can lead up to violent shootings that are often complex and interwoven. The very real POSSIBILITY of adverse side effects associated with mind-altering medications being a major contributor or even cause, is just ONE of them.
Because there are many things to talk about and the time between shootings has gotten shorter and shorter, there is no better time to start talking about this important, yet often little-known and misunderstood issue, than now.
“As of July 2012, on average, in the United States there is a mass shooting every 2.5 weeks, multiple-victim shooting every 5.9 days…”
Following is a brief overview of FACTUAL information as I know it, followed by resources for further education. It is intended to bring initial awareness and a little more clarity to this issue which is complex in itself, and obviously requires much more thorough investigation and discussion – investigation and discussion that will never happen if people are not aware of it.
(Note: All quotes have been taken from resources cited below. Also be advised, I am providing this information as a concerned citizen for educational purposes only.)
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FACT #1: Most perpetrators of mass shootings were taking psychiatric prescription medications with dangerous side effects that may include violent behavior, suicidal and homicidal thoughts.
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The overwhelming majority of mass shooters have been taking or withdrawing from psychotropic prescription medications. This is a well-documented pattern and possible contributor if not cause of their violent behavior, that is not being addressed by politicians or the mainstream media and consequently, most people are not even aware of as a possibility.
“Between 2004 and 2011, there have been over 11,000 reports to the U.S. FDA’s MedWatch system of psychiatric drug side effects related to violence. These include 300 cases of homicide, nearly 3,000 cases of mania and over 7,000 cases of aggression. Furthermore, by the FDA’s own admission, only about 1-10% of side effects from these drugs are ever reported to the FDA.”
In addition to these reports to the FDA, there are others who have tracked and established these patterns with information largely provided by lawyers, journalists and the media. The image that accompanies this post is from http://ssristories.com/ – and is just ONE of MANY pages that can be viewed with links to more information.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious mental health watchdog that also provides a wealth of information on this topic, including a Psychiatric Drug Side Effects Search Engine:
http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers/
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FACT #2: Violent, dangerous side effects associated with psychiatric drugs are clearly disclosed by the pharmaceutical companies, and the FDA has issued public health warnings with regard to them.
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The assertion that psychotropic drugs have dangerous side effects including, but not limited to, anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, hostility, impulsivity, mania, psychosis, aggression, suicidal and homicidal thoughts — is a FACT that can easily be verified by consulting the Physicians’ Desk Reference, the most trusted and commonly used drug information reference in the medical field. These side effects are also listed in the product inserts provided by the pharmaceutical companies and even television commercials for individual drugs.
(Case in point, while I was preparing this post I actually heard a commercial for Cymbalta that said, “…please talk to your doctor if you experience changes in behavior and or suicidal thoughts which can be intensified in teens and young adults…”)
Antidepressants dominate the list…”The fatal five include the SNRIs Pristiq and Effexor and the SSRIs Luvox, Paxil, and Prozac, the latter of which came in at number two on the list, causing violent reactions in those ingesting it at a frequency almost ELEVEN TIMES GREATER than the average pharmaceutical drug.”
“…Since the introduction of Prozac in December, 1987, there has been a massive increase in the number of people taking antidepressants. Preda and Bowers2 reported that over 200,000 people a year in the U.S. enter a hospital with antidepressant-associated mania and/or psychosis.”
FDA Public Health Advisory — “On March 22, 2004 the FDA published a Public Health Advisory that reiterates several of these side effects and states (in part) “Anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, severe restlessness, hypomania, and mania have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants for major depressive disorder as well as for other indications, both psychiatric and non-psychiatric.”
IMPORTANT NOTE: “…Adverse reactions are most likely to occur when starting or discontinuing the drug, increasing or lowering the dose or when switching from one SSRI to another. Adverse reactions are often diagnosed as bipolar disorder when the symptoms may be entirely iatrogenic (treatment induced). Withdrawal, especially abrupt withdrawal, from any of these medications can cause severe neuropsychiatric and physical symptoms. It is important to withdraw extremely slowly from these drugs, often over a period of a year or more, under the supervision of a qualified and experienced specialist, if available. Withdrawal is sometimes more severe than the original symptoms or problems.”
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FACT #3: These suicidal and other dangerous side effects are intensified in those under the age of 25.
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Black Box Warning – “On September 14, 2004 the FDA mandated that pharmacies provide to all parents or guardians for those younger than 18 an Antidepressant Patient Medication Guide. This guide reads (in part) “Call healthcare provider right away if you or your family member has any of the following symptoms: Acting aggressive, being angry, or violent & acting on dangerous impulses.” This Antidepressant Patient Medication Guide also states “Never stop an antidepressant medicine without first talking to a healthcare provider. Stopping an antidepressant medicine suddenly can cause other symptoms.”
Updated Black Box Warning – “On December 13, 2006, the Black Box Warning for suicidality was updated to include those under age 25. The Black Box Warning is included in the insert to the drugs and in the Physicians’ Desk reference.”
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COMMON QUESTION: Is there any hard evidence that psychiatric drugs have been the definitive cause of mass or multiple-victim shootings?
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Not that I know of. And there probably never will be. Clinical trials would be virtually impossible to run given the circumstances. But further research and investigation is certainly warranted given all of the above, and the fact that the potential for increased violent reactions exists while taking or withdrawing from these drugs.
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COMMON QUESTION: But aren’t these people mentally ill and THAT’s why they are committing crimes, not because of the medications?
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This is certainly a possibility as well and once again, virtually impossible to prove. I personally think a better question is: why are people who are already mentally unstable prescribed drugs that have the potential to exacerbate their symptoms and/or develop new ones – including suicidal thoughts and violent aggression toward others – in some cases 11x more frequently than the average pharmaceutical drug?
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MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: Why are drugs with such dangerous side effects allowed on the market?
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I am not personally an advocate of pharmaceutical drugs in general when there are so many safe, yet effective non-medication approaches available, but for those of you who are, don’t you think the pharmaceutical companies can do better than this? Don’t you think they should be forced to do better?
If several bunches of spinach or cars for example, are linked to sickness or death the whole lot of them are recalled or removed from store shelves for public safety purposes — even if they are not contaminated or defective. Why? Because there is a STRONG POSSIBiLITY that they could cause further harm. Why aren’t pharmaceutical companies held to a similar standard?
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WHERE TO START?
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Another common denominator that experts researching these cases have discovered is that most attackers followed a discernible pattern of behavior for weeks or even months before the attack. They call it “the pathway to violence.” And in almost all cases, the shooter communicated, in many instances, the intent to commit the attack.
Public health warnings are not enough (especially when few are hearing them), but they are a start. If you or a loved one are taking one of these medications, please take these warnings seriously. Take note of changes in mood and behavior and suicidal or other dangerous thoughts and do what the commercial says – talk to your doctor or trained professional and get help!
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MOVING FORWARD
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On a news report last night they mentioned that “…only 30% of those who are mentally ill are on medications…” There will be much more discussion about mental illness in the days to come and many people will be calling for even more of these dangerous drugs to be administered as treatment.
Please educate yourself on this critical topic so you can make wise, informed choices for yourself and loved ones, and whatever public policies and/or laws that me be proposed in the future.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
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I will no doubt get criticisms for posting this information because it is a controversial topic. But if even one life is saved or suffers less because one person read this message, I’m willing to take that chance.
Although it’s been 24 years – 24 years in which sadly the frequency and intensity of school shootings has increased dramatically — I still remember exactly what I said to the students’ that day when they cried, “But Ms. Hayford, you might get shot if you jumped on her!”
“Yes,” I told them, “but at least I tried.”
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By Kelly Hayford, M.A., C.N.C
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
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Another School Shooting, Another Psychiatric Drug? – Federal Investigation Long Overdue
http://www.cchrint.org/2012/07/20/the-aurora-colorado-tragedy-another-senseless-shooting-another-psychotropic-drug/
School Shootings and Psychiatric Drugs
http://cegant.com/commentary/school-shootings-and-psychiatric-drugs
Deadly Drugs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9S-7aNPf33A
Gun control? We need medication control!
http://www.naturalnews.com/038353_gun_control_psychiatric_drugs_Adam_Lanza.html
Psychiatric Drugs And Mass Murder: Exploring The Connection
http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/08/14/psychiatric-drugs-and-mass-murder-exploring-the-connection/
Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence Towards Others (Abstract of study done by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices)
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0015337
Michael Moore – Reveals the real cause of Columbine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=04UqzYOdGNs#!
Violence and drug correlation chart
http://www.ssristories.com/index.php
Mother Faces Down Swat Team & Tank For Refusing to Drug Daughter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hIlo7KD2L0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Gwen Olson – Activisty, Speaker & Author of: “Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher”
http://www.gwenolsen.com/
Thoughts from Dr. Guy Reikeman, President Life University
https://www.facebook.com/GuyF.RiekemanDC/posts/434032569983646
Psychiatric Side Effects Search Engine
http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers/
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NOTE: I will also be posting this on my blog and in my newsletter for those of you who want to share it with people not on FB.
i think generic drugs are a problem i take add med and everytime i get something different there are different results and side effects some don’t work at all one sent me to the er. Brand name drugs are expensive because it takes along time to make a drug and test it properly. once the fda approves it the company gets a patent and are the only ones that make it which is good why make a lot of drugs concentrate on one area not all drugs like TEVA pharamcuticals. Once the patent runs out generic companies pay them to make it and have to use same active ingredient but the binders can be different and that’ts where it goes wrong these generic companies use the cheapest binders they can and thats why they are cheaper they also do tests in test tube not on humans and that is a problem cause everone is different and one of these binders could effect the absorbtion or make it not work at all in my case it put me out. i tell the pharmacists who is very defensive and still tells me it is the same has she taken it has the doctor taken how do they know how it affects me. I told her after the shooting i saw on the news alot of parents were thinking their kids should be medicated and maybe a little consistancy would be good because you are messing with peoples minds which isn’t fair since the only pharmicies left are retail chains that buy from the cheapest company which is appalling. She took it as a threat called my doctor and police when i just said you are wrong all generic medicine is not the same and you should not tell people that it is. 90% of people with add stop taking meds for reasons like this pharmacists should not judge and should not label people im 33 and feel like a new person i can concentrate my self esteem is up and im doing well at work for once.
AVTM #39 Gun control isn’t the issue, you predictable twats!
If you say that gun control doesn’t work because psychotic killers will still get guns or something harmful and guns can stop violence, you’re correct, but you’re also completely missing the point. If all the teachers in America were armed, someone set on hurting people will find another way. While a citizenry capable of defending itself is better than being disarmed, a citizenry capable of uplifting those in need of mental health assistance is far superior.
Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence:
10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) – 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs
9. Venlafaxine (Effexor) – 8.3 times more likely than other drugs to be related to violent behavior.
8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) – 8.4 times more likely than other medications to be linked with violence
7. Triazolam (Halcion) – 8.7 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs
6) Atomoxetine (Strattera) – 9 times more likely to be linked with violence
5) Mefoquine (Lariam) – 9.5 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs.
4) Amphetamines: (Various) – 9.6 times more likely to be linked to violence, compared to other drugs.
3) Paroxetine (Paxil) – 10.3 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs.
2) Fluoxetine (Prozac) – 10.9 times more likely to be linked with violence in comparison with other medications.
1) Varenicline (Chantix) – 18 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs
http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/#ixzz2FHGtnXKB
Dr. Peter Breggin new blog on Newtown school shootings: So what, then, are we to do when our children, one or more, are taken from us in one horrible instant that dashes all of our hopes? And what about the slower, sometimes more torturous tragedies we endure as parents?
[...] Fact: Despite 22 international drug regulatory warnings on psychiatric drugs citing effects of mania, hostility, violence and even homicidal [...]
One mistake a lot of people make is to confuse correlation with causality. We are shown numbers of people killed by guns in different countries, then of course in the US it is very high. From there we are supposed to infer that the large number of guns or gun culture or something similar is to blame. It is a major leap in logic.
What about the fact that many or most or all school shooters have had mental disorders, in many or most or all cases brought on by psychoactive drugs like ritalin? Can you really find no other plausible explanation than the number of guns per capita?
Amid all the talk this week about gun control, another American rights-fetish needs a hard look: The right to refuse treatment for mental illness.
I have signed petition to launch investigation to determine if there is a correlation between psychiatric drugs and Violence. Need 25,000 signatures. Will you?
Government WhitePaper +CCHRInt
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/launch-federal-investigation-relationship-between-school-shootings-and-psychiatric-drugs/25QgKXBc?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
The people speak