Fwd: [SSRI-Research] Eric Harris was taking Luvox (a Prozac-like drug) at the time of the Littleton murders

[Guest guest]

JustSayNo

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 23:21:40 -0500

[sSRI-Research] Eric Harris was taking Luvox (a Prozac-like drug) at

the time of

the Littleton murders

 

April 30, 1999

 

Eric Harris was taking Luvox

(a Prozac-like drug) at the time of the Littleton murders

http://www.breggin.com/luvox.html

 

by Peter R. Breggin, M.D.

 

On April 29 the Washington Post confirmed that Eric Harris, the leader in

the Littleton tragedy, was taking the psychiatric drug Luvox at the time of

the murders. On April 30 the same newspaper published a story quoting expert

claims that Luvox is safe and has no association with causing violence. In

fact, Luvox and closely related drugs commonly produce manic psychoses,

aggression, and other behavioral abnormalities in children and young people.

 

Luvox is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) that is approved

for children and youth (up to age 17) for use in the treatment of obsessive

compulsive disorder. However, doctors often give it for depression, since it

is in the same SSRI class as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil.

 

According to the manufacturer, Solvay, 4% of children and youth taking Luvox

developed mania during short-term controlled clinical trials. Mania is a

psychosis which can produce bizarre, grandiose, highly elaborated

destructive plans, including mass murder. Interestingly, in a recent

controlled clinical trial, Prozac produced mania in the same age group at a

rate of 6%. These are very high rates for drug-induced mania--much higher

than those produced in adults. Yet the risk will be even higher during

long-term clinical use where medical supervision, as in the case of Harris,

is much more lax than in controlled clinical trials. These drugs also

produce irritability, aggression or hostility, alienation, agitation, and

loss of empathy.

 

Reports suggest that Eric Harris may have had a relatively good family life.

If so, it adds to the probability that he was suffering from a drug-induced

manic reaction caused by Luvox. The phenomenon of drug-induced manic

reactions caused by antidepressants is so widely recognized that it is

discussed several times in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association and many times in The

Physicians' Desk Reference.

 

I have lectured widely and written extensively about violence in association

with taking SSRI antidepressants in Talking Back to Prozac (St. Martin's

Press, 1994) and Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry (Springer

Publishing Company, 1997).

 

I have testified as a medical expert in three teenage cases of murder in

which SSRIs were implicated in playing a role. In one case, a sixteen year

old committed murder and tried to set off multiple bombs and incendiary

devices at the same time. I have also testified in cases of adult murderers

who were under the influence of SSRIs, including one mass murder of twelve

people followed by suicide. The comparisons to Littleton are obvious.

 

Psychiatric drugs including Ritalin and Prozac have also been taken by at

least one other school murderer (Kip Kinkle). Psychiatric drug use is only

one of the contributing factors to the episodes of school violence. However,

it is one of the most easily prevented factors. There is strong scientific

evidence to support the view that SSRIs should not be given to children and

teenagers.