Oh wow can I say from experience that Zoloft nearly killed my then 13 yr old, and that was withdrawals! 2 months of hell, is the least I can write.

I'm not saying I have sympathy for violent people but this seems like an example of an ssri being thrown at a problem, anger towards girlfriend perhaps, and then exacerbating that problem. SSRI's exacerbate violence in angry people by releasing inhibitions whether the violence is suicide or violence against others. And since this dude was likely told any negative effects were impossible, and withdrawal non existent, I hope his lawyer uses an involuntary intoxication defense.

If there were no problems with Zoloft, why did Pfizer make a manual to defend it?

[PDF] Pfizer's Zoloft Litigation ManualFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
The following contains the Zoloft Defense Manual obtained lawfully from Messrs Pfizer. Inc by way of a web cast from Court T.V. located at ...
ssri-uksupport.com/files/pfizerzoloftdefensemanual.pdf - Similar -
by A Purpose

If the drug affects the higher brain functions, the prefrontal cortex (in a bad way, but what other way but "bad" can a drug affect the brain? a chemical makes it work better?), the patient is more animal-like since what makes a human, human is in their prefrontal cortex. If the alleged abuser can establish his brain was chemically messed up/addicted/withdrawal from the Zoloft, it looks like a good excuse to get a softer punishment.

There are two cases on www.SSRIstories.com where the defendant was found not guilty by using the Zoloft defense. One took place in California and the other was in Australia.

Here they are:

http://www.ssristories.com/show.php?item=508

The second paragraph reads: "Jurors on Thursday found a Southern California man innocent of attempted murder and assault after a prominent neuropsychiatrist testified that he struck his friend in the head four times with a pronged brass knuckles-type weapon because of an adverse reaction to Zoloft, a popular antidepressant."

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/April/24/local/stories/05local.htm

April 24, 2004

Man found innocent of attempted murder
By CATHY REDFERN
Sentinel STAFF WRITER

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.ssristories.com/show.php?item=1921

http://abc.net.au/news/regionals/riverina/regriv-24may2001-3.htm

Court finds drug made man kill wife

A New South Wales Supreme Court judge has found an elderly man would not have
killed his wife if he had not taken an overdose of the anti-depressant,
Zoloft.

Justice Barry O'Keefe says the case is a tragic reminder of the possible,
even dangerous, detrimental side-effects of the drug.

David Hawkins, 76, of the southern New South Wales' town of Tumbarumba,
strangled his wife of 50 years in August 1999, after a night in which he took
five times the recommended dose of Zoloft.

He gave himself up to police almost immediately and was found by
psychiatrists to have been in a drug induced toxic delirium at the time,
suffering hallucinations and psychosis

Wow -- thanks XX/A Purpose -- I've been trying to get my hands on that manual for some time. Also I was at the Pittman trial and know just how despicable Pfizer (and the prosecutors) were. It was a very discouraging sight to behold. They managed to keep a lot of important evidence from even being introduced at all so frankly I am all for as many trials as possible that use the "Zoloft defense" because I have no doubt at all about the very profound effects both taking Zoloft and withdrawing from it have.

"Anyone who makes that claim has not withdrawn from an anti-depressant or other psych med."

I have, and I do. The Zoloft Defence is bullcrap.

Philip Dawdy responds: man aren't you a bundle of fun today?

While tapering Effexor I had not only drug induced suicidal ideation, almost killed myself two times, but also got violent.
I have push the wind-shield of a car with my fist and kicked the door of my neighbour.
I was always creating arguments and did things I don't even like to remember.
I had the desire of burning my skin with cigarette but fortunately I didn't.
The suicide and self-harm ideation I knew it was caused by the withdrawal but the violent behavior I didn't realize it was drug-induced.
I've just remember that I have beaten a taxi driver during one of this arguments.
He hit me back.
This is my anecdotal contribution.

I remember that in October, 1991 Newsweek has published an article about a man who was on trial because he killed someone, I guess it was a family member, while he was on Halcion.
I have already searched for this article but couldn't find it at magazine.

I found the article!

I remember reading it in a book shop but I didn't buy it.
It's been a long time I looking for this article:

"The latest chapter in the Halcion controversy started with a Utah woman named Ilo Grundberg, who killed her mother while taking the drug in 1988. After court psychiatrists absolved Grundberg of responsibility for the killing, she filed a $21 million suit against Upjohn, charging that the firm had misled the FDA and the public about Halcion's known hazards (NEWSWEEK, Aug. 19). In preparing Grundberg's case her lawyers requested thousands of pages of company documents. Those documents included an unpublished study called Protocol 321, which the company had used in its license applications."

Best part:

"Dr. Theodore Cooper, the company's chairman, denies that any of the material Upjohn then produced cast doubt on the drug's safety. "There is absolutely no scientific or medical evidence that warrants withdrawal of Halcion,"

Don't you love it?

No scientific data= hypocrisy to say the least.

I'm fun, but not as fun as Zoloft.

Zoloft -my sister who is quite and meek-well she hit some one when she started on this drug-in the end she hid in her bedroom until the drug worked its way outta her system-my story which involves a 4 day stay in a public general hos-I SO wanted2hit ppls-Iam NOT that way inclined-!!-
this drug terrifies me-!!-out of the 12 or so ppls I know-they ALL had nasty side-effects on this drug-None of the other ssris have made me feel violent-my2cents worth

Sara,
Any idea if Christopher Pittman's case will be heard in a higher court? I haven't been able to find new info. Any possibility of him getting out before serving the entire 30 year sentence?

I've had my mind altered by Zoloft and other drugs. I feel lucky I didn't hurt anyone. Not better or more in control, just lucky. Probably wouldn't have been if I was 12 years old and 100 lb.s or less. My heart breaks for him.

Pittman's appeal went all the way to the Supreme Court but the appeal in the SC had to do with trying a juvenile as an adult which is what happened to him and he lost that. Now I just heard that he is appealing for a new trial in South Carolina. Not sure on what basis but I truly hope he gets it and a lot of the evidence about Zoloft (and Paxil) is allowed this time. Honestly that kid got a rotten deal I kid you not. What happened was horrible -- there is no doubt about it -- but he should not be in jail for 30 years as a result nor should he have been tried as an adult and I'll tell you another thing. The country bumpkin doctor who thought giving Chris free samples of Zoloft in a brown paper bag with the dosage instructions scribbled on the outside (probably incorrectly) was doing him a favor ought to go to prison himself. Chris had run out of Paxil and no one, I repeat no one, had told the family that maybe this might be a problem for a 12 year old (or anyone else for that matter). He didn't have insurance so the doctor thought he was doing him a favor to give him some of those free samples of a different antidepressant, the only one he had on hand at the time. No one really thought dosages would matter that much so they were pretty careless about making that all crystal clear to his elderly grandparents -- yes, a perfect storm of disasters created by ignorant medical professionals and pharma reps handing out their free samples and now a little kid (not so little, several years later) is paying the price. I am outraged and enraged and know that this story is far from unique. If you really know all these details it's so obvious what happened. Heads should roll and they are not Christopher Pittman's I can tell you that.