ANTIDEPRESSANTS: Police Officer Suicide After Only Days on Samples: NJ

Last two paragraphs read:  “Cillo tried to socialize
normally with his wife and family for the next few days — going dancing and to
a football game — but also sought help through the Cop-to-Cop crisis hotline.
He met with a hotline social worker and his own family physician, who
prescribed sleeping pills and gave him samples of anti-depressant
medications.
Still feeling confused and anxious on Aug.
27,
he went to Morristown Memorial Hospital. One physician gave him
medication to calm him down and an appointment was set for him to see a
psychiatrist in a few days after he denied suicidal thoughts, court records
said.”

On Aug. 28, the day he died, a hospital social
worker called Cillo at home to check on his welfare and he responded that he was
doing better. His wife brought the children to dental appointments, and upon
returning home, found a suicide note. She called police, who went
to the home and discovered Cillo in the
basement.”

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090911/COMMUNITIES/309110001/1005/NEWS01/Wrongful+death+trial+begins+over+Harding+officer+s+suicide

Wrongful death trial begins over Harding officer‘s suicide

By Peggy Wright • Staff Writer • September 11, 2009

A civil trial
is set to start Monday on a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of a
Harding police officer who hanged himself in 2003, a day after he was screened
at Morristown Memorial Hospital for suicidal ideations but not
admitted.

A jury of four men and four women was selected by Thursday
afternoon to hear the wrongful death//medical malpractice claims, and opening
trial statements are set to begin Monday before Superior Court Judge W. Hunt
Dumont in Morristown. At issue is whether the hospital, through a social worker,
registered nurse and psychiatrist named as defendants, was negligent and
breached a duty of care to Harding Officer James Cillo Jr. on Aug. 27,
2003.

Cillo, the 39-year-old son of retired Mendham Police Chief James
Cillo Sr., hanged himself in the basement of his Washington Township home. He
left his widow, Janet, and three daughters, who then were ages 11, 10 and
5.

A key issue in the case is whether hospital staff and its crisis
intervention workers who saw or evaluated Cillo on Aug. 27, 2003, were told that
he had given all his personal firearms to his father for safekeeping, and
stashed his service weapon at police headquarters. Cillo did not use a gun to
end his life, but attorney Donald Belsole, who is handling the case for the
widow, contends hospital personnel should have scrutinized Cillo more closely
for suicidal symptoms if they knew he willingly gave up his weapons.

The
hospital defendants, represented by attorneys Kenneth Fost and Michael Bubb,
contend their clients did all they could to properly evaluate Cillo, who
ultimately declined when asked whether he wanted to be admitted to Morristown
Memorial. Cillo was accompanied to the hospital by his wife of 15 years and his
father, the retired chief.

The lawsuit traces Cillo’s anxiety and
depressed state of mind back to Aug. 17, 2003, 11 days before his death. Working
a midnight shift, he handled a case of a Harding resident who shot his disabled
horse to try to end its suffering but didn’t kill the creature. Cillo responded
to the scene but failed to immediately seize the resident’s firearm or check
whether it was registered. He was chastised by his police chief for this lapse
and feared he would be fired. He grew anxious and couldn’t concentrate or sleep,
according to court records.

Cillo tried to socialize normally with his
wife and family for the next few days — going dancing and to a football game —
but also sought help through the Cop-to-Cop crisis hotline. He met with a
hotline social worker and his own family physician, who prescribed sleeping
pills and gave him samples of anti-depressant medications. Still feeling
confused and anxious on Aug. 27, he went to Morristown Memorial Hospital. One
physician gave him medication to calm him down and an appointment was set for
him to see a psychiatrist in a few days after he denied suicidal thoughts, court
records said.

On Aug. 28, the day he died, a hospital social worker
called Cillo at home to check on his welfare and he responded that he was doing
better. His wife brought the children to dental appointments, and upon returning
home, found a suicide note. She called police, who went to the home and
discovered Cillo in the basement.

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