Psychotropic Drugs Such as Prozac, Ritalin, Luvox, and Paxil
United States House Committee on Education and Workforce Studies Ritalin! Tuesday May 16, 2000
SSRI's Linked To School Shootings- Many Shooters on Anti-Depressants
Shyness Is Now A Major Disorder!
Other News Events Linked to Anti-Depressants
Reference Links to SSRI's and Violence
United States House Committee on Education and Workforce Studies Ritalin! - Tuesday May 16, 2000
From CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/05/17/ritalin.ap/index.html
On May 17th, 2000 the United States House Sub-Committee on Early Childhood, Youth, and Families looked into reported problems with Ritalin. There are problems with over prescribing, giving samples without proper diagnosis, stealing, and selling Ritalin in the school yard! Ritalin is an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) in the same category as Prozac, Luvox, Zoloft, and Paxil. With just a little investigation there is a definite relation between School Violence and kids taking these drugs!
I would hope that the Sub-Committee on Early Childhood is investigating this problem through up dating old education laws, would see the under-lying problem of violence and SSRI's. Gun Control Activists quote that there are 30,000 gun deaths a year (1998). Sixty percent of those, or 18,000 were suicides!
Wow, Incredible! Now figure that thirty percent of those suicides involve taking at least one other life! That's 5400 more deaths related to the suicides! Most of those that get to the point of suicide have had some sort of therapy, and today most therapy includes prescribing mood altering drugs.
Several thousand of those gun deaths are police officer justified shootings and a few cases of a private citizen legally defending themselves. So around 23,000 gun deaths a year are suicide related and another 3000 gun deaths are criminals killed in the criminal act, and that leaves 4000 gun deaths. Of this 4000 gun deaths left, over half are criminal versus criminal in a double cross, a drug deal gone bad, or inter-gang violence. That leaves about 2000 or 6.5% that were un-intentional shootings!
23,000 or 75 percent of gun deaths each year are suicide related, and people want to point at the firearm, when depression and how we treat it is the actual cause of the majority of firearm violence in this country! Most patients diagnosed with depression are going to be prescribed these Anti-Depressants and it's not over-dosing thatis the problem, it's abruptly stopping the medication! When an un-monitored patient abrubtly stops the medication, the suicidal and phsycotic emotions arise. The bigggest feeling is that of a lack of conscience, or an "I don't care" attitude and they can do anything to anyone they want!
The legislature needs to look at all these Anti-Depressants like Prozac, Ritalin, Luvox, Zoloft, and Paxil, and take a close look at the side effects and the follow up care that is taking place.
I would like the US Congress and the NH Legislature to read this article and check into this information so that maybe we can address the cause of the problem, which appears to be these SSRI Drugs and NOT GUNS!
Here are the last major school shooters and the link under each name is a reputable news source that connects them all with SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like Prozac, Ritalin, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil, and others:
1) May 20 1999: T.J. Solomon, a 15-year-old wounds six at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga.. http://add.about.com/health/add/library/weekly/aa052599.htm CNN Reports That T.J. Solomon was on Ritalin.
2) April 16 1999: Shawn Cooper, a 15-year-old sophomore wounds one at Notus Junior-Senior High School in Notus, Idaho. http://www.boiseweekly.com/archive/v7i42/cope/cope_col.html Reports that Cooper was abused and medicated.
3) April 20 1999: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill thirteen and wound twenty three at Columbine High School. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm Eric Harris, The apparent leader of the attack had been on Luvox.
4) May 21, 1998: Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old kills four and wounds twenty three at Thurston High School in Springfield, Ore.. http://www.drugawareness.org/washtimes.html Kinkle Had been taking Prozac.
5) March 24, 1998: Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, opened fire on their classmates and killed five and wounded eleven at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark..
Arkansas Online http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/jonesboro/brygolden24.html Andrew Golden's Medical Records released to Courts but not open to the public!
From Jon Rappaport of the Truthseeker foundation: http://www.nfgcc.org/schoolviolence.htm A Doctor from Georgetown University commented on Network television that one of the boys had previously been treated for violent behavior. (Treated with what?)
AND According to Arianna Huffington the following events are linked to Anti-Depressants as well:
6) Julie Marie Meade from Maryland who was shot to death by the police when they found her waving a gun at them. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html
7) Ben Garris, a 16-year-old in Baltimore who stabbed his counselor to death. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html
8) Kristina Fetters, a 14-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa, who stabbed her favorite great aunt in a rage that landed her a life sentence. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html
9) Pfizer, The Manufacturer of Zoloft is being sued by a Kansas family for the Suicide of their 14 year old son on Zoloft. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061099.html
10) The estate of Brynn Hartman, Wife of the Saturday Night Live Comedian, Phil Hartman, is also suing Pfizer, since Mrs. Hartman had been on Zoloft when she killed her husband and herself! http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061099.html
These drugs cause side effects like insomnia, anxiety, and agitation. (From The New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center), and sometimes suicidal tendencies especially with fluoxetine (Prozac). These results have been found in adults and some young people, but the best course for prescribing SSRI's to the young seems to be extreme caution.
How could so many of these legally drugged up kids have been left with out supervision?
My Article "SSRI's Linked To School Shootings- Many Shooters on Anti-Depressants" explains why this is a major problem that needs immediate attention!
Sub-Committee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families:
Sub-Committee E-Mail and Phone Numbers - Complete with Fax and Phone Numbers!
Find Your United States Representatives to Congress- http://congress.nw.dc.us/congressorg2/congdir.html
E-MAIL YOUR OWN REPRESENTATIVE JUST ENTER YOUR ZIP CODE:
WRITE YOUR REP - http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Reference Links to SSRI's and Violence
Link Between Prozac, Ritalin, Luvox, Zoloft, and Paxil to School Shootings
Journal of the American Medical Association shows 50% increase in Prozac with Preschoolers. 2/23/2000
The Journal of the American Medical Association released a study that shows that there is a tremendous increase in prescribing anti-depressants to preschoolers aged 2 to 4 years old! The "Terrible Twos" are just that! If you start throwing these drugs at preschoolers, what are we going to do for them when they hit their teens? There has been a connection between school shootings and the shooters having been on these drugs!
Gun violence in schools has actually gone down since 1992, while violence in
general has gone up in schools! If a majority of the school
shooters were on (or had abruptly stopped taking) anti-depressants then it
stands to reason that most of the other violence in schools may be related to
these drugs as well! I have read a lot about the Oregon shootings
and how Kip Kinkle had been on prozac. I had heard that, but now a Vermont
Outdoors writer has said that "Just about every massacre that occurred anywhere
in the U.S. and Canada over the last decade has involved an individual using a
prescription drug called Prozac or one of its relatives."
We went through
this in the Eighties for crying out loud! I thought doctors had learned how to
use this stuff and monitor patients since we know that problems occur when they
stop taking it!
We are locking up guns, limiting ammo, doing background
checks, and in some states mandatory waiting periods but these doctors (and
Parents) are putting kids on these anti-depressants without keeping a close eye
on them afterwards!
These anti-depressants known as Selective Serotonin
Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) have been known to help, but the problem arises when
a patient stops taking the drug. We have known this since Prozac got it's
reputation in the Eighties when "everyone" was depressed. That gave us the
"Going Postal" and the "Prozac Moment" sayings and these sayings have truth to
them.
When one of these events happen, people,like our President, point at the guns, gun owners, and gun companies for being responsible! Why do they point at the tool and not the PERSON using the tool!
Automobiles kill more people than guns, but you don't hear anyone calling for a ban on cars!
If there is any truth to the connection between these drugs and the shootings then these Doctors (and parents) are putting these kids on these drugs and not following up on them as necessary then maybe we should start looking a little closer at this situation! If there is any logic (and I don't see it) to suing gun companies, then there is definitely logic in going after these Doctors (and parents) for putting these SSRI drugs into these children without following up and making sure that they don't stop taking it.
From "Time-Outs" to not keeping score in sports, children today are being over protected from loss and failure. When a child seems stressed then they go for these drugs because "it is so much harder growing up these days"-- BULONEY!
Every generation has it's struggles and this generation is no different. Earlier generations had to struggle to survive and when you struggle with nature you have to keep score because if you lose, you die!
Before we fly off the handle, like our President has (more than once), maybe we should stop attacking and restricting law abiding citizens and take a closer look at the families of these children and the doctors that prescribed these drugs in the first place!
I would like the US Congress and the NH Legislature to read this article and check into this information so that maybe we can address the cause of the problem, which appears to be these SSRI Drugs and NOT GUNS!
Here are the last major school shooters and the link under each name is a reputable news source that connects them all with SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like Prozac, Ritalin, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil, and others:
1) May 20 1999: T.J. Solomon, a 15-year-old wounds six at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga.. http://add.about.com/health/add/library/weekly/aa052599.htm CNN Reports That T.J. Solomon was on Ritalin.
2) April 16 1999: Shawn Cooper, a 15-year-old sophomore wounds one at Notus Junior-Senior High School in Notus, Idaho. http://www.boiseweekly.com/archive/v7i42/cope/cope_col.html Reports that Cooper was abused and medicated.
3) April 20 1999: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill thirteen and wound twenty three at Columbine High School. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm Eric Harris, The apparent leader of the attack had been on Luvox.
4) May 21, 1998: Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old kills four and wounds twenty three at Thurston High School in Springfield, Ore.. http://www.drugawareness.org/washtimes.html Kinkle Had been taking Prozac.
5) March 24, 1998: Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, opened fire on their classmates and killed five and wounded eleven at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark..
Arkansas Online http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/jonesboro/brygolden24.html Andrew Golden's Medical Records released to Courts but not open to the public!
From Jon Rappaport of the Truthseeker foundation: http://www.nfgcc.org/schoolviolence.htm A Doctor from Georgetown University commented on Network television that one of the boys had previously been treated for violent behavior. (Treated with what?)
AND According to Arianna Huffington the following events are linked to Anti-Depressants as well:
6) Julie Marie Meade from Maryland who was shot to death by the police when they found her waving a gun at them. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html
7) Ben Garris, a 16-year-old in Baltimore who stabbed his counselor to death. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html
8) Kristina Fetters, a 14-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa, who stabbed her favorite great aunt in a rage that landed her a life sentence. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html
9) Pfizer, The Manufacturer of Zoloft is being sued by a Kansas family for the Suicide of their 14 year old son on Zoloft. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061099.html
10) The estate of Brynn Hartman, Wife of the Saturday Night Live Comedian, Phil Hartman, is also suing Pfizer, since Mrs. Hartman had been on Zoloft when she killed her husband and herself! http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061099.html
These drugs cause side effects like insomnia, anxiety, and agitation. (From The New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center), and sometimes suicidal tendencies especially with fluoxetine (Prozac). These results have been found in adults and some young people, but the best course for prescribing SSRI's to the young seems to be extreme caution.
How could so many of these legally drugged up kids have been left with out supervision?
After an hour or so of research I found this to be quite obvious! The main problem with getting information out is the fact that these are young people who's records are sealed and cannot be accessed with out permission. Three weeks after the Columbine shootings the President held a conference on youth violence and declared "the best ideas from people who can really make a difference: parents and young people, teachers and religious leaders, law enforcement, gun manufacturers, representatives of the entertainment industry and those of us here in government."
The President seemed to miss a very important factor in that conference and that was the mental health industry. Any mental health worker involved may have been able to add important information like the connection between these SSRI's and many of these acts of violence. Everything about these SSRI drugs suggests that close monitoring would be very important due to the fact that the drug must be taken regularly and to stop taking these drugs can cause psychotic reactions.
Instead of spending time and money on the vehicle of violence, the gun, we should be investigating the cause of the violence, which very well may be the prescribing of these psychotropic drugs such as Ritalin, Luvox, Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac to the young people of this country!
Seth Tricky, 13, of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, shot several of his classmates back in December of 1999. This is a small town and this boy attended church on a regular basis. On the evening of the shooting the boy's pastor, the Rev. Jeff Burress of the First United Methodist Church of Fort Gibson, Okla., made this statement:
"At a time like this," he said, "it's awfully easy for us to point an accusing finger and to place blame. As Seth's pastor, I can place a lot of guilt on myself. Maybe I could have said or done something that might have prevented this. Seth's dad, his mom, his brother, his sister, his teachers, his Sunday school teacher, his classmates -- all of us could beat ourselves up for something we did or didn't do. But placing blame and feeling guilty isn't what we need to be doing right now. Of course, we need to accept responsibility for what we have done and for what we have failed to do that has caused others to suffer in this instance and in other instances. But laying guilt on ourselves or others isn't the answer."
We can't blame the automobile that a drunk driver used, or the Pill maker of the drug a person was taking, or any manufacturer or seller of an item used to injure or kill someone!
We can take personal responsibility for what each of us do! If this boy had problems, and he obviously did, then we need to work on the CAUSE of these problems, and not the items a sick person turns to, to release their pent up anger!
Does anyone know if this boy was on any of these anti-depressants?
If this boy has seen any medical professional for depression or behavior problems, you can bet that they put him on these drugs! Parents have to start sharing this information, like some of the one's below who gave permission to release this information! This could be a very important factor in much of todays school violence in general!
JUST REMEMBER THAT GUN VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS HAS GONE DOWN SINCE 1992, BUT SCHOOL VIOLENCE IN GENERAL HAS GONE UP!
The acts of violence are the problem, not the items used in the act!
Reference Links to SSRI's and Violence
SHYNESS is Now A Major Disorder!
An Associated Press Story:
"``I knew I was afraid of a lot of people,'' said Turner, now 26.
``I
didn't have a lot of friends. I thought I was different.''
Turner is among the roughly 10 million Americans who are so shy
they are
considered to suffer from ``social anxiety disorder,''
ranked the third most
widespread mental health problem in the
nation, just after depression and
drug or alcohol abuse."
AND then at the end they say "Some new drugs have been effective in treating the disorder, including Paxil"
From Infobeat: http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563362582-22e
GREAT, Now they are going to prescribe Paxil, another Prozac type drug (SSRI), and start giving it to kids that are "SHY". Teens are emotional enough, and now because of a case of shyness, we are going to start medicating more kids every year with these drugs!
Weren't a lot of these "School Shooters" considered SHY and reclusive?
We already know that most of them were on SSRI type drugs! AND nobody watched over them!
It is about time that the media and the Federal and State Legislators start to notice a bad trend starting here! Did anyone ever wonder why actual school gun violence is down since 1992, but that School violence is up on the whole? Has anyone thought of checking to see if these SSRI drugs may be a factor in this school violence as well?
Being shy is part of who someone is, and if we start teaching kids that if you don't like who you are you can change by taking these prescription drugs, where will this lead?
Please let your State and Federal Representatives know that this connection needs to be looked into!
Exeter NH and Newton NH Representatives: whexeter@aol.com; jkweather@hotmail.com; pepper@ttlc.net; david.welch@leg.state.nh.us; jjet@bit-net.com; kweyler@aol.com; beverly.hollingworth@leg.state.nh.us
NH Congressional E-Mails: Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov; cbass@mail.house.gov; mailbox@gregg.senate.gov; opinion@smith.senate.gov
MA Congressional E-Mails: jim.mcgovern@mail.house.gov; senator@kennedy.senate.gov; jmoakley@mail.house.gov; william.delahunt@mail.house.gov; john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov; martin.meehan@mail.house.gov
Back To Top- School Shootings Linked to SSRI's
Reference Links to SSRI's and Violence
Other News Events Linked to Anti-Depressants
- On May 25, 1997 18-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer raped and murdered a 7-year-old African American girl in Las Vegas, Nevada. Strohmeyer had been diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Dexedrine, a Ritalin-like drug, immediately prior to the killing.
- On October 1st, 1997, in Pearl Mississippi, 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabbed his mother--50-year-old Mary Woodham--to death and then went to his high school where he shot nine people killing two teenage girls and wounding seven others.8 Published reports say he was on Prozac.
- Exactly two months later on Dec 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded, one of whom was paralyzed. Carneal was reportedly on Ritalin.
- Then in February, 1998 a young man in Huntsville, Alabama on Ritalin went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.
- On March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 14-year-old Mitchell Johnson shot 15 people killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.13 According to one report, the boys were believed to be on Ritilan.
- Two months later another grisly school massacre occurred. On May 21, 1998 15-year-old Kip Kinkel of Springfield, Oregon murdered his parents and proceeded to his high school where he went on a rampage killing two students and wounding 22 others. Kinkel had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.
- On April 16th, 1999, 15-year-old Shawn Cooper of Notus, Idaho took a 12-guage shot gun to school and started firing, injuring one student and holding the school hostage for about 20 minutes. Terrified students ran for their lives, some barricading themselves in classrooms. Cooper had been taking Ritalin when he fired the shotgun's rounds.
- The incident in Idaho did not make the national press (no one, thank God, was killed). But all that changed four days later when 18-year-old Eric Harris killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School before killing himself. Harris was on one of the SSRI anti-depressants called Luvox.
- One month later to the day, on May 20th of this year TJ Solomon, a 15-year-old high school student in Conyers, Georgia on Ritalin opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates. Thankfully, none were killed.
- Then there's 14-year-old Rod Mathews who had been prescribed Ritalin since the third grade and beat a classmate to death with a bat.
- 19-year-old James Wilson who had been on psychiatric drugs for 5 years and tool a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school in Breenwood, South Carolina killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers!
Reference Links to SSRI's and School Shootings:
The Journal of the American Medical Association: Trends in Prescribing Phsychotropic Medications to Preschoolers http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v283n8/full/joc91250.html
Town needs grace to recover from shooting, pastor says http://gbgm-umc.org/programs/antihate/shooting.stm From The United Methodist News Service -- http://umns.umc.org/dailynews.html
Sightings and Insight Magazine http://www.sightings.com/health3/doping.htm
Talking Back to Prozac by Peter R. Breggin, M.D. and Ginger Ross Breggin. http://www.breggin.com/luvox.html
The Australian Early Intervention Network for Mental Health in Young People http://129.96.218.17/clearing/depression/gpdepr09.html
Pediatric News http://pharmacotherapy.medscape.com/IMNG/PediatricNews/public/journal.PediatricNews.html
Boise Weekly http://www.boiseweekly.com/archive/v7i42/cope/cope_col.html
The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm
The Washington Times http://www.drugawareness.org/washtimes.html
Arkansas Online http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/jonesboro/brygolden24.html
Arianna Huffington "Arianna On-Line":
Guns,Drugs, and Kids, What's Wrong with This Picture? http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html
The Dangers of the White House Mental Health Conference http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061099.html
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/05/17/ritalin.ap/index.html
E-Mail the Sub-Committee on Early Childhood:
Sub-Committee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families:
Sub-Committee E-Mail and Phone Numbers - Complete with Fax and Phone Numbers!
Find Your United States Representatives to Congress- http://congress.nw.dc.us/congressorg2/congdir.html
E-MAIL YOUR OWN REPRESENTATIVE JUST ENTER YOUR ZIP CODE:
WRITE YOUR REP - http://www.house.gov/writerep/
send comments to CPF&G