The article, researched and written by Andrew Thibault, features a series of assessment reports obtained by Thibault from the FDA (The American drug regulator). It took him a while to secure these documents, all of which were requested under the Freedom of Information Act, many of which have large chunks of information missing.
In his article Thibault highlights just a small handful of the cases taken from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Thibault writes...
In October 2014, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FDA to obtain copies of the FAERS homicide reports. After ten months of “Foot Dragging and Alibis,” which is what Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) once suggested the agency's acronym stood for, the FDA still had not produced a single report. Frustrated with the FDA's stonewalling, I filed a federal lawsuit in August 2015. Within three months of filing the FOIA lawsuit, the FDA coughed up over 3,000 pages of FAERS reports.
What follows are some examples of these reports that leave the reader in no mind that the FDA, along with the pharmaceutical companies are very aware of psychiatric medications being associated with homicidal acts.
It's a must read and kudos should be given to Thibault for his patience during the 10 month period where the FDA were unwilling to release the documents. At the end of his article Thibault tells of the FDA requesting some of the documents back from him. More on that in a future post.
Meantime, here's his work, 'The FDA Is Hiding Reports Linking Psych Drugs to Homicides.'
For now, I'm going to focus on some of those documents that relate to an association with homicide and Paxil (Seroxat) - You'll note that many of the reports sent in are assessed by the pharmaceutical company that manufacture the suspect drug, in this case, GlaxoSmithKline.
The files have been uploaded and a huge database now exists for doctors and patients alike to make up their own minds. I'd include the media but for whatever reason the majority of media outlets tend to shy away from reporting the truth about antidepressants.
AERS Case Number 3951806 (Click on the images to enlarge)
Homicide by a 47 year-old female. The patient was taking Paxil (30mg per day) between August 2001 and May 2002.
--
AERS Case Number 3973882
Homicide by a 16 year-old male. The patient was taking Paxil (unknown dosage) between February 2001 and July 2001.
You'll note in this case that the assessment goes to great lengths to suggest that there were other mitigating circumstances.
--
AERS Case Number 4078438
Homicide by a 15 year-old male. The patient was taking Paxil (unknown dosage) between April 2002 and an unspecified date.
What is remarkably interesting about this case is the comment that suggests the 15 year-old male patient may have carried out murder because, and I quote, "The patient's homicidal tendencies may have been influenced by a video game." - It has to be noted that this report, sent to the FDA by GlaxoSmithKline, was quoting a media article.
One also has to look at the state of mind of this 15 year-old male prior to the homicide. He was sent to a detention centre where his Paxil was discontinued, he then attempted suicide on two separate occasions, he experienced mood swings, violent thoughts, visual and auditory hallucinations and exhibited self-harming behaviour. After stopping Paxil the patient then went on to commit a murder.
But it was probably due to being influenced by a video game, right?
--
AERS Case Number 4100301
Homicide by a 48 year-old female. The patient was taking Paxil (30mg) between April 2002 to 2002.
It appears this report was sent straight to Medwatch via one of the family members.
--
AERS Case Number 4114631
Homicide by a 34 year-old female. The patient was taking Paxil (unknown dose, unspecified dates)
What's striking in this case is that the person who committed murder was a nurse who provided home care. It appears as though she flipped one day and murdered one of her patients.
--
Finally, for now at least as there are literally many more reports (around 3,000 pages), I'll leave you with AERS Case Number 5890599. We know who this case refers to - the report is, as you will see, redacted in places. At the bottom of the report is a link to a heart-wrenching story written by the 'unidentified' person in the report.
AERS Case Number 5890599
Homicide by a 47 year-old male. The patient was taking Paxil (60mg per day)
--
Special thanks to Andrew Thibault for his wonderful research and for the database which is currently available on the Murder Meds website. Hat tip too to Doyle Mills for alerting me to the Murder Meds website.
Over the coming days I'll be posting the documents that the FDA have requested back from Andrew Thibauld - my message here is simple, share them once they are uploaded. Facebook them, Tweet them, let them go far and wide. The FDA want them back, make sure as many people see them before they are sent back.
Bob Fiddaman.
No comments: