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Jeanette Swanson was taking an antidepressant that can cause delusions and mania -- and is similar to the drug taken by Texas mom Andrea Yates, recently convicted of drowning her five children in a bathtub.
Swanson of Augusta is accused of shooting two of her children Monday.
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, director for the International Coalition for Drug Awareness, blames the medication, saying it's been involved in numerous bizarre murders across the country.
"Depressed people don't kill their kids; depressed people kill themselves," Tracy said Tuesday. "Only since you give them the drugs that act like LSD or PSP do they act homicidal."
The coalition is a private, nonprofit group of physicians, researchers and journalists "dedicated to educating others about the dangers posed by many prescription medications."
Swanson's mother told the Tribune that her daughter began taking Paxil, what was described as a mild anti-depressant, last week.
Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline Web site says Paxil, in the same family as Prozac and Zoloft, treats depression, social anxiety and panic disorders. The most common side effect is nausea.
Tracy has testified about anti-depressants in criminal and civil cases for more than 10 years and has written a book about their side effects. She focuses on drugs similar to LSD, which used to be prescribed for depression.
Like LSD, Paxil causes delusions and nightmares, Tracy said.
She listed several cases that have received national attention -- Yates, the Columbine school slayings, the shooting death of comedian Phil Hartman, whose wife then killed herself. All the protagonists had been taking Paxil or other antidepressants in the same drug family, she said.
"It produces a sleeplike state and produces nightmares," Tracy said. "It's only a miracle that (Swanson) didn't kill herself. The rest of the family is lucky that she woke up or she could have killed them."
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