Paxil: Husband Given Probation for Knife Attack on Wife

[Guest guest]

> JustSayNo

> Mon, 2 Aug 2004 19:23:33 -0400

 

> [sSRI-Research] Paxil: Husband Given

> Probation for Knife Attack on Wife

>

> This article reads: " Judge Ruth Ann Franks suspended

> the jail sentence and placed Mr. Heck on probation

> for three years. He pleaded guilty June 10 to

> misdemeanor assault.

>

> The defendant's attorney, Spiros Cocoves, and Mrs.

> Heck told Judge Franks that Paxil, a prescription

> drug Mr. Heck was taking for depression, caused the

> violent outburst.

>

> The couple was in bed watching television about 4:30

> p.m. when Mr. Heck began stabbing his wife. Mrs.

> Heck struggled to keep her composure as she asked

> Judge Franks to give her husband of nearly two years

> a light sentence.

>

> " I am not an abused woman. I strongly feel we are

> both victims from this drug Paxil. We both are

> suffering from that terrible day, and we will

> continue to do so for a long time, " she said.

> " Punishing him is only going to add to our pain and

> suffering. "

>

> Paxil, a top-selling antidepressant, has been the

> subject of lawsuits for allegedly causing some

> children and adolescents to become violent and

> suicidal.

>

>

>

>

> Article published Thursday, July 29, 2004

>

> Sylvania Twp. man sentenced in stabbing He blames

> medicine in attack on his wife

>

>

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040729/NEWS08/407290472/\

-1/NEWS

>

> By MARK REITER

> BLADE STAFF WRITER

>

>

> A Sylvania Township man who claims an antidepressant

> drug he was taking caused him to attack and stab his

> wife was sentenced yesterday in Lucas County Common

> Pleas Court.William J. Heck, 35, was sentenced to

> six months in the Corrections Center of Northwest

> Ohio, Stryker, for the Feb. 22 stabbing of his wife,

> Angelia, in their home at 2733 Westmar Ct.

>

> Judge Ruth Ann Franks suspended the jail sentence

> and placed Mr. Heck on probation for three years. He

> pleaded guilty June 10 to misdemeanor assault.

>

> The defendant's attorney, Spiros Cocoves, and Mrs.

> Heck told Judge Franks that Paxil, a prescription

> drug Mr. Heck was taking for depression, caused the

> violent outburst.

>

> The couple was in bed watching television about 4:30

> p.m. when Mr. Heck began stabbing his wife. Mrs.

> Heck struggled to keep her composure as she asked

> Judge Franks to give her husband of nearly two years

> a light sentence.

>

> " I am not an abused woman. I strongly feel we are

> both victims from this drug Paxil. We both are

> suffering from that terrible day, and we will

> continue to do so for a long time, " she said.

> " Punishing him is only going to add to our pain and

> suffering. "

>

> Paxil, a top-selling antidepressant, has been the

> subject of lawsuits for allegedly causing some

> children and adolescents to become violent and

> suicidal.

>

> The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended in

> June, 2003, that Paxil not be given to adolescents

> and children for depression, and recently required

> antidepressant makers to strengthen suicide warnings

> on labels of antidepressant medicines.

>

> Authorities said Mrs. Heck, 34, was stabbed about

> six times in the head and the neck and suffered

> defensive wounds on her right hand that required

> stitches. She was treated at Toledo Hospital and

> released the next day.

>

> Mr. Heck was indicted on one count of felonious

> assault. However, prosecutors reduced the charge

> after they learned Mrs. Heck would be unwilling to

> testify at trial.

>

> " I could have presented a prima-facie case against

> the defendant without Mrs. Heck's cooperation.

> Whether or not that would have been sufficient to

> prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt could have

> been questionable, " said Tracy Sniderhan, an

> assistant county prosecutor who handled the case.

>

> Judge Franks also ordered Mr. Heck to continue

> counseling sessions with a psychiatrist and that

> evaluations be submitted every three months to his

> probation officer.

>

> In a memorandum to the court, Mr. Cocoves said the

> crime was among the most unusual cases he has

> encountered in nearly 20 years as a lawyer. " The

> episode certainly represents aberrant behavior in

> the most-true meaning of the term, " he wrote.

>

> At sentencing, Mr. Cocoves said Mr. Heck was

> prescribed Paxil for work-related anxiety about four

> months prior to the attack, and his doctor increased

> the dosage about two-months into the prescription.

> Mr. Heck is no longer taking the drug.

>

> A spokesman for British-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC,

> the maker of Paxil, did return phone calls seeking

> comment.

>

> Last year, the New York Attorney General accused

> GlaxoSmithKline in a civil lawsuit of hiding

> negative data and exaggerating the effectiveness of

> the drug. Glaxo denied the allegations.

>

> Contact Mark Reiter at:

> markreiter

> or 419-724-6009.