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| 18 year old Sara Carlin |
Today [May 6] marks the 6 year anniversary of the death of Oakville teen, Sara Carlin.
Sara tragically took her life back in 2007 and her much publicized 2010 inquest saw her parents, Neil and Rhonda, face teams of lawyers representing doctors and GlaxoSmithKline.
Sara had, around a year or so prior to her death, been prescribed Glaxo's Paxil [paroxetine], a drug that is infamous for inducing suicide, particularly in children and adolescents.
Sara was just 18.
The inquest, that I labelled the Glaxo & Friends Vs The Carlin Family, rolled out apparent SSRi experts who made various claims that 'suicide is much more strongly related to cases of untreated depression' and in any event Paxil induced suicide is more common when first starting the drug.
Oh really?
Sara had missed her dose for three to four days leading up to her suicide. This was disregarded by the experts because "the information provided did not suggest that Ms Carlin suffered from the usual triad of symptoms seen with withdrawal" - Oh really?
Completed suicide is a symptom of withdrawal. There is no greater suffering than death Mr Expert Man!
Anyway, Sara's story went global and many, myself included, believe that her suicide was brought on by Paxil. Yes there were other factors, all of which were used by lawyers representing both Glaxo and doctors during the inquest. I've mentioned before how Glaxo like to blame everything but their product, Sara's inquest is a classic example of this.
We see this played out all the time in coroners courts. I don't envy anyone who has to sit through so called experts blaming the victim but softening the blow with terminology such as 'troubled youngster' or 'mentally ill'.
Coroners courts put the victim on trial and offer opportunity for people that didn't even know the victim to say how bad they was, be it through drinking, illegal drug-taking or being an uppity teen. We've seen victims of suicide bad mouthed before and after Sara's inquest, Toran Henry and Shane Clancy are two that spring to mind.
A whole heap of recommendations were made at the end of Sara's inquest. I have wrote about the word 'recommendation' before. It means nothing.
None of the recommendations made back in 2010 have been implemented.
Today my thoughts are with Neil and Rhonda
Here's a video I did for Sara back in 2010, a video that has been viewed over 13,000 times.
Nessun dorma Sara
Related Sara Carlin articles
Sara Carlin Inquest – Failure of Oakville Medical Profession
Sara Carlin – ‘Death by Paxil’ Inquest – The ‘Expert’
Sara Carlin Inquest – Coroner’s Witness In U-Turn… And That Man Shaffer!
Coroner’s Inquest – Glaxo & Friends Vs The Carlin Family
Sara Carlin Inquest – Local MP Slams GlaxoSmithKline
SARA CARLIN INQUEST - What The Jury Should Know
Sara Carlin Inquest - "Paxil likely played important role in teen's suicide"
Sara Carlin Inquest - The Eli Lilly 'Links' & Today's Recommendations.
**Exclusive - Sara Carlin Inquest: The Bias Of Coroner's Counsel, Michael Blain & Coroner, Bert Lauwers?
The Inquest of Sara Carlin and the Moderation of Yahoo Groups
Bob Fiddaman
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