03/12/2000 • Spiral of Violence Blamed on Prozac

http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/Print/0,3858,3973045,00.html

Anthony Browne, Health Editor, The Observer
Sunday, March 12, 2000

"The study is the strongest vindication yet of mental health campaigners,
who claim dozens of people have been wrongly imprisoned because of the
effects Prozac has had on their behaviour. "

Prozac, the world's best-selling anti-depressant, is being blamed for
turning healthy, placid people violent. It is thought to have led to crimes
that include murder.

Clinical research to be published soon will show that up to one in 10 adults
who take Prozac can become belligerent and pose a risk to others and
themselves.

The study is the strongest vindication yet of mental health campaigners, who
claim dozens of people have been wrongly imprisoned because of the effects
Prozac has had on their behaviour. In the US, school shootings have been
linked to number of children given Prozac and other anti-depressants. In the
first clinical trial of its kind, Dr David Healy, director of the North
Wales Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Wales, gave
Prozac to a volunteer group of mentally healthy adults and found even their
behaviour was affected. He said: 'We can make healthy volunteers
belligerent, fearful, suicidal, and even pose a risk to others.' Healy says
between one in 20 and one in 10 people who take Prozac can be affected by
akathisia, whereby they become mentally restless or manic and lose all
inhibitions about their actions 'People don't care about the consequences as
you'd normally expect. They're not bothered about contemplating something
they would usually be scared of,' he said. The study is a potentially
devastating blow for the US drug company Eli Lilly, which has made millions
from Prozac. In a statement last night the company said: 'Since its
discovery in 1972, Prozac has become one of the world's most studied drugs.
An extensive review of scientific evidence has demonstrated no causal link
between Prozac and aggressive behaviour.' Previous studies linking Prozac to
violence have been discredited because aggressive behaviour could be caused
by patients' personality disorders, not the drug. Healy's study is the first
to show Prozac can affect even healthy individuals.

Pam Armstrong, co-founder of the Counselling and Involuntary Tranquilliser
Addiction helpline, said: 'I have come across a huge number of cases, from
bizarre behaviour to aggression.'

Stephen Bryson, a surgical nurse, was prescribed Prozac after a close friend
died, and his associates were alarmed by his increasingly bizarre behaviour.
'I was swearing, touching friends up in private parts and would pick
arguments for the sake of it and threaten their lives. I ran around town
stark naked and ran up debts of £10,000. I became quite violent,' said
Bryson. 'I had no awareness of ... right from wrong. I was high as a kite.'
Bryson eventually attacked his partner with a knife. 'He was saved by the
bell. If the phone hadn't rung, I would have killed him.' Bryson was given a
12-month jail sentence. Three months after ditching Prozac, he was 'back to
my old self'.

Ramzia Kabbani, who set up the Prozac Survivors Support Group a year ago,
said: 'People are going to prison for what amounts to medical negligence. If
they're throwing the book at vulnerable individuals, they should be throwing
the book at the doctors who prescribe the medicine as well.' In the US, the
widespread use of anti-depressants and easy availability of guns is thought
to be responsible for mass killings. Eric Harris, 18, from Columbine High
School in Colorado, who last year shot 12 fellow students and a teacher, had
been taking Luvox, similar to Prozac. In 1998 Kip Kinkel, 14, killed his
parents before going on a shooting spree at his high school in Springfield,
Oregon, killing two and injuring 22. He took Prozac. Last month a US judge
in Connecticut acquitted a bank robber who blamed his behaviour on Prozac.
In what is thought to be the first ruling of its kind, Superior Court Judge
Richard Arnold freed Christopher DeAngelo, a 28-year-old insurance agent,
because the defendant was unable to appreciate his actions were wrong.
Defence lawyer John Williams said: 'This was someone who was driven to
commit crimes because of prescription drugs.' Eli Lilly said it has been
successful in helping defeat 70 other cases where alleged criminals blamed
their behaviour on Prozac. However, Healy said: 'Eli Lilly is legally
trapped. They might like to admit that Prozac causes violence, but they
could open themselves up to all sorts of claims.'

anthony.browne@observer.co.uk

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