Citizens Commission on Human Rights of St. Louis

New Study Shows Antidepressant Risks for Newborns  How many of America’s 40,000 pregnant women taking the drugs are aware of the risk?  A new study in the August issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry found that antidepressants pose significant risks to newborns. Researchers determined that 12% of the pregnant women taking antidepressants in the study had premature births compared to none in the group not taking the drugs. Infant admissions to a special care nursery were 21% when pregnant women took antidepressants compared to 7.1% among the participants not taking them. 

The evidence is overwhelming that antidepressants prescribed to pregnant women could cause miscarriage. Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Prozac, reported this in 1993 when a study showed spontaneous abortion in 15.9% of pregnant women taking the drug. Since 2004, the Food and Drug Administration has issued four warnings about antidepressant use during pregnancy placing infants at risk of premature birth, congenital birth defects, heart malformations and a potentially fatal lung condition called persistent pulmonary hypertension. Health Canada, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and the German drug regulatory agency, BfRaM, have issued similar warnings.  However, according to the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a mental health watchdog group, pregnant women are not fully informed of these risks. The American Medical Association estimates that 40,000 pregnant women are taking antidepressants, helping to fuel a lucrative $13.5 billion a year industry. 

Recently, lawsuits have been filed in relation to Paxil causing birth defects. In one case, several surgeries were required to correct the damage that antidepressant use during pregnancy is alleged to have caused.  A study published in the February 2006 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine found that women who took Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants during the second half of their pregnancy are about six times more likely to give birth to a baby with persistent pulmonary hypertension. A November 2006 study published in the journal Epidemiology found that pregnant women who took SSRIs have a 34% higher risk of delivering a baby with a birth defect than mothers who do not take them. If taken during the second or third month of pregnancy, the risk increased to 84%. 

Another major risk to infants is addiction and withdrawal. In February 2006, a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine determined that nearly one-third of newborn infants whose pregnant mothers took SSRIs experienced withdrawal symptoms that included high-pitched crying, tremors and disturbed sleep. The Journal of Psychopharmacology published a study in 2005 in which researchers found that the infant’s withdrawal symptoms began on the first day after birth and persisted for ten days, even though toxic levels of paroxetine (Paxil) were undetected on day six.  In addition, CCHR maintains that few mothers prescribed these drugs are aware that antidepressants are no more effective than taking a placebo. The July 2005 issue of the British Medical Journal published a review of SSRI data that found SSRIs have no clinically meaningful advantage over a placebo and considering the risks, recommendations for prescribing the drugs should be reconsidered. For more information about the dangers of psychiatric drugs, read The Report on the Escalating International Warnings on Psychiatric Drugs (http://cchr.org/files/14851/White%20Paper%20-%20Report%20on%20the%20Escalating%20Number%20of%20Drug%20Warnings.pdf).

 ().To learn more about conflicts of interest in the mental health field, read CCHR’s publication, Psychiatric Diagnostic Manual Link to Drug Manufacturers (http://www.cchr.org/files/13164/DSM_paper.pdf). 

Pro-Wrestler Chris Benoit: Another Tragic Example of the Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and Senseless Violence

New  information fuels call for full disclosure by Virginia Tech panel and federal investigation into drug-induced homicide

18 July  07
For immediate  release

Toxicology reports today  revealed that pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and  seven-year-old son before committing suicide last month, was taking psychiatric  drugs (Xanax), in addition to steroids and painkillers at the time of  the murder/suicide.

The Citizens Commission on  Human Rights, a psychiatric watchdog group, says this revelation has  once again focused the nation’s attention on the increasing correlation  between psychiatric drugs and acts of seemingly inexplicable  violence.

As with the Virginia Tech  shooter Seung-Hui Cho, the public has been anxious to learn about Benoit’s  prescription drug use, which has now been made public.

However,  the reports on the investigation into Cho’s mental health treatment  history and records have been disturbingly inconsistent. The public has a  right to know the facts about what may have caused Cho to commit these  atrocities, yet contradictory statements and undisclosed information have  increasingly obscured the facts and left the public confused about the extent  of Cho’s psychiatric treatment history and prescription drug  use.

On April 18, The New York Times  reported, officials said prescription medications related to the  treatment of psychological problems had been found among Mr. Cho’s effects.  However, investigators later denied that any prescription medication was  found among Cho’s belongings, yet The New York Times was  obviously given this information by someone. Moreover, Cho’s roommate, Joseph  Aust, still maintains that Cho took prescription drugs as part of his morning  routine, though no mention has been made of what prescription drugs he was taking.

Although officials have  reported that Cho’s toxicology results did not show psychiatric drugs in  Cho’s system, the actual toxicology reports have not been released.  Without viewing the actual toxicology report, the public has no way  to know whether tissue samples were tested to see if Cho was in withdrawal  from antidepressants or other drugs at the time of the murder/suicide  which would explain Cho’s roommate’s statements that he witnessed Cho  taking prescription medications. This is an important factor, seeing that  several psychiatric drugs will not show up in blood tests even if the  person was in severe withdrawal from the drugs, so tissue samples must be  tested to accurately determine if drugs were a factor.

It was widely reported  that Cho never received psychiatric counseling following his recommended outpatient treatment, yet it has now been revealed by Dr.  Les Saltzberg, director of the New River Valley Community Services Board, that  Cho did in fact show up for mandated outpatient treatment. Also, James W.  Stewart III, the state mental health inspector general, confirmed that Cho  made an appointment with the Cook Counseling Center, and that treatment  generally begins in that first session. What was the extent of that  treatment? What do Cho’s medical records reveal? Had Cho taken prescription drugs?  Was he in withdrawal from psychiatric drugs?

In order to truly  understand what is causing the recent spate of school shootings, psychiatric drug  use must be fully investigated, given the fact that eight school shooters  under the influence of antidepressants have resulted in 29 dead, 62 wounded  since 1998.

International drug  warnings substantiate the need for a full investigation into the  psychiatric drug-violence link; 11 international drug regulatory agencies have  warned of side effects associated with psychiatric drugs. The U.S. Food  and Drug Administration and drug regulators in the UK, Australia, Canada,  Japan and Germany have issued warnings that antidepressants and other  psychiatric drugs can cause suicide, homicidal ideation, hostility, psychosis,  psychotic depression, akathisia (severe restlessness), hypomania  (abnormal excitement), agitation, anxiety, irritability, impulsivity, mania  and hallucinations.

The public has a right to  full disclosure regarding the psychiatric drug use of Seung-Hui Cho and  all the other school shooters whose medical records have not been released  before the psychiatric/pharmaceutical industry calls for more kids being  put on potentially violence-inducing drugs, creating more time bombs in  our nation’s schools.