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Washington - Children and teenagers taking the antidepressant Luvox - the drug taken by Columbine shooter Eric Harris - experienced mania at four times the rate of adults, a study submitted to drug regulators shows.
There is no way to know for sure how much the drug influenced Harris psychologically or chemically. His medical records are under court seal, and attorneys in the case are forbidden to discuss what they know. The coroner has said Harris had Luvox in his system when he died.
But new information coming out about the class of antidepressants that includes Luvox renews the questions about Harris and the drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March issued a warning that people taking antidepressants have become violent and suicidal, though the FDA said it had not established a direct connection between the drug and the events. Canadian health authorities in June forced makers of Luvox and eight similar antidepressants to add a warning that there have been violent acts associated with the drugs.
"It does become much more important and legitimate to ask" about Columbine, said Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Glenmullen, who has written about antidepressant-triggered violence.
A lawsuit filed against the maker of Luvox, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, was dropped in 2003 after the company made a $10,000 donation to charity.
"We believe that the product had absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Harris' actions," Solvay spokeswoman Gabrielle Braswell said in an interview. "You have to bear in mind that he was acting with Dylan Klebold, who was not taking Luvox to my knowledge or any other antidepressant at the time."
Dr. Peter R. Breggin, the psychiatrist who planned to testify in the lawsuit, said he's positive Harris was suffering from Luvox-induced mania. Another psychiatrist said it amounted to the "Twinkie defense" to blame violence on antidepressants.
The year-long planning of the attack weighs against the possibility that the antidepressant influenced Harris, most said, though Glenmullen and others said it could have made him less empathetic to others' pain. Glenmullen believes all of the new antidepressants can trigger suicide in the first few weeks they're taken, but that there can also be reactions after months or more.
Luvox has not been actively marketed in the U.S. since 2002 but is prescribed in its generic form, doctors said. It was approved by the FDA for use in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder in 1997. It had already been approved for adults.
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