Promoting awareness of the dangers of antidepressants
A recent article, originally written by Laura Lynott (right) for the Irish Daily Mail, featured a call for an independent investigation into the involvement of antidepressants in the recent spate of homicides and suicides in Ireland. Leonie Fennell (top),who Continue reading “We need this now, before more people die”
In the past two months, there have been three apparently motiveless homicides reported widely in British newspapers, each of them followed by the attempted or completed suicide of the perpetrator. In each case, the perpetrator was taking antidepressants at the Continue reading Homicide/Suicide: in Search of a Motive
Beneath a headline that referred to “Media Bias”, a recent article from the USA featured an interview with Dr Adam Urato (right), a widely-respected physician who specialises in obstetrics and who is an expert in pre-natal medical care. Dr Amato Continue reading Media Bias and Antidepressants
Tom Boomer was a talented schoolboy from Bloxham, Oxfordshire. He died on March 31st this year when he fell from a multi-storey car park in the nearby town of Banbury. In January, Tom (left) had moved to a new school. Continue reading Tom, aged 14
Professor Sir Simon Wessely (left) blames “overbearing parents” rather than GPs and psychiatrists for the large increase in psychiatric drugs such as Ritalin and Prozac that are prescribed to children. According to the Daily Mail last week, the President-elect Continue reading Pushy Parents and Prozac
In March of this year, I wrote an article about the deaths of Patrick, Martha, Pauline and Tallulah, all of whom had been prescribed an antidepressant, probably Prozac, before taking their lives. Since that time, I have come across more recent Continue reading Were these children given Prozac?
In March 2011, 16-year-old Dana Baker (above) was found hanged near a roundabout in Kidderminster in Worcestershire. Yesterday, her inquest concluded with a statement from the coroner that the care that she had received from local social services was so Continue reading Dana’s Human Rights – and ours
A few weeks ago, I received an invitation (above) to the official launch of the Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry (CEP), hosted by the Earl of Sandwich at the House of Lords last Wednesday. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but Continue reading The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry
My attention was drawn recently to an article by Gary Null, PhD on the GreenMedInfo website. Dr Null (right) is described as “an internationally recognised thought leader and activist” who holds a Ph.D in human nutrition and public health science. Continue reading “Manufacturing Madness: The Pseudoscience of Modern Psychiatry” (by Dr Gary Null)
APPGITA is the All Party Parliamentary Group for Involuntary Tranquilliser Addiction, which was set up in the UK Parliament in 2008. Its stated aims are to raise awareness of Involuntary Tranquilliser Addiction, and to lobby for support from health Continue reading Depression and Anxiety – the Benzo Connection
Last week, an inquest heard 15-year-old schoolboy Patrick Roberts (left) described as a “loveable” teenager who “had so much to look forward to.” On December 3rd last year, some of Patrick’s school-friends received messages from him saying that he Continue reading Why we shouldn’t give Prozac to children
Yesterday morning, I was able to watch the documentary “A Search for Justice: Death in Bray”, shown the previous evening on TV3 in Ireland. The programme was a re-telling of the events of August 16th 2009, when 22-year-old Shane Clancy went Continue reading No Justice in Bray … or Carlow
65-year-old Derek Smith was a popular musician and entertainer, who performed under the name The Amazing Mr Smith. In his act, he featured a variety of innovative home-made instruments, some of which can be seen on this video of Continue reading The Amazing Mr Smith
A report in today’s Western Mail revealed that, in Wales, the number of prescriptions of antidepressants has doubled in the last decade. Last year, more than 4 million prescriptions for antidepressants were issued. The population of Wales is a little Continue reading Wales: The Missing Link
On October 14, 2012, Tallulah Wilson (above), aged 15, died after being struck by a train in St Pancras Station, London. After her inquest this week, Sarah Wilson, mother of the gifted young ballerina, demanded action against the “toxic Continue reading Tallulah, aged 15
On the main railway line between Manchester and London, about 7 km south of Stoke-on-Trent station, is the now disused Wedgwood Station (right), where no trains have stopped for the past 10 years. In July last year, the local Continue reading Struck by a Train
(This article was originally published as a podcast, but is no longer available.) New research says millions of people in the UK who are simply feeling sad are being incorrectly diagnosed with depression. A study published in the British Medical Journal Continue reading “Sadness misdiagnosed as depression, expert warns” (by Vivienne Nunis)
Towards the end of 2012, I compiled a list of over 1600 antidepressant-related “suicides” in England and Wales from the past 10 years. The basic details gleaned from the inquest reports were also entered into a database. I published the Continue reading Review of the Year: 2013
“If ever there was a clear cut case of prescription drug induced suicide-homicide, this surely is it” was what Leonie wrote when she re-printed the report that I wrote originally for the News and Comment section of this website. Vehicle fitter Continue reading The Perfect Couple
At some point each day, if I get the chance, I throw a few search terms into Google, and see if any inquest reports have been published online during the past 24 hours. Any that I find that happened in Continue reading A Week of Inquests
Ever since her son’s tragic death as a result of an adverse reaction to Citalopram, Leonie Fennell (left) has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the dangers of psychiatric medication. She has taken on recalcitrant Government ministers in her Continue reading “Vanessa’s Law – Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs” (by Leonie Fennell)
Ten years ago, 22-year-old Jon Medland (right) was in the final year of a medical degree course at Manchester University. He was known for his outgoing personality and his great intellect, and was looking forward to a successful career. The Continue reading Dying for Clear Skin
“This is one of the worst cases of post-natal depression I have ever seen,” commented the assistant coroner for Wiltshire this week as he summed up the inquest into the death of Emma Cadywould (left), a 32-year-old researcher who Continue reading Medicating Post-Natal Depression
On June 2nd 2010, Police were called to a house in Holbrook, Derbyshire, where they found 3 bodies in the sitting-room. On September 12th of this year, coroner Dr Robert Hunter opened the inquest into the deaths of Andrew Cairns, Continue reading Under the Coroner’s Carpet
The inquest was held yesterday of 61-year-old Terence “Terry” Anderson of Barrow-in-Furness, a company director and former amateur boxer, who died after self-harming near Walney Channel in January this year. The previous day, Mr Anderson (left) had been taken Continue reading Failed in Furness
I was privileged to have been invited by APPGITA to a talk yesterday by Professor David Healy (left) on Antidepressants and the Politics of Health at the Houses of Parliament in London. David has devoted a large part of his illustrious Continue reading Antidepressants and the Politics of Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. So when the NIH Continue reading Important Warnings
20-year-old Hannah Groves (right) was studying French at Southampton University. She had moved back to her mother’s Southampton home after transferring from the University of Kent to be near her boyfriend. She grew anxious about her studies and, Continue reading Students, Anxiety and Antidepressants
Yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Day. It was a day where, in my mind, I ended up with a lot more questions than answers. I think it started with Louis Appleby (@ProfLAppleby), chair of the UK National Suicide Prevention Strategy Continue reading More Questions than Answers
Company director Christopher Foster lived with his family (below) in the Shropshire countryside. Although the 50-year-old was enjoying a lavish lifestyle, he kept to himself the fact that his business had collapsed, leaving him in a considerable amount of debt. Continue reading Family Annihilation and Antidepressants
A very good friend of mine has recently undergone training to become a healthcare assistant. She was successful, and as a consequence has a job in a mental health unit. Part of the training consisted of studying a number of Continue reading Who is going to tell us?
Although I can be rather sceptical where statistics are concerned, this excellent article on the BBC website by their home editor Mark Easton (right) grabbed my attention because of the sheer scale of the numbers involved. I have therefore Continue reading “Is England a Nation on Antidepressants?” (by Mark Easton)
A few days ago, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) produced its annual report on deaths during or following police contact. The most prominent statistic was that: There was a considerable rise in the number of apparent suicides within two Continue reading Post-Custody Suicides
In 2002, 20 years after the Falklands War, it was reported that: “More (UK) veterans have taken their own lives since the South Atlantic conflict ended than the number of Servicemen killed in action.” This information came from SAMA (the Continue reading The Armed Forces, PTSD and Antidepressants
Mr Robin Balmain (Coroner for the Black Country) For those unfamiliar with English geography, the Black Country is an area west of Birmingham that gained its name in the mid 19th century due to the smoke from the many thousands Continue reading Coroner’s Progress 4 (Robin Balmain)
(updated April 2015) Yesterday at Manchester Crown Court, former hotel manager Paul Stones (38) was found guilty of the apparently motive-less murder of his beloved 58-year-old mother Marian, with whom he lived in Eagley, near Bolton. He was sentenced to Continue reading Murdered by Sertraline?
Recently, the BBC TV documentary series Panorama exposed cases of birth defects brought about by the anti-epilepsy drug Epilim, and the antidepressants Seroxat and Citalopram. The programme is available to watch on YouTube. With timing that is unlikely to Continue reading Post-Natal Depression and Antidepressants
Earlier this month, I came across a report of an inquest into the tragic death of a lady from West Yorkshire in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Here is an edited version of the report – the full report can be Continue reading One inquest, two reports
Last week, an inquest in Newport, South Wales, heard about the death of 45-year-old lorry driver Darren Williams (left), who armed himself with a sawn-off shotgun and burst into the hairdressing salon where his estranged wife worked. He shot her Continue reading South Wales Suicides
Robert Keywood was married and had two daughters, lived in Kent, and worked for an international company as director of human resources. A few weeks before his death, he had travelled to Poland and America on business and was having trouble sleeping. Continue reading When is a Suicide not a Suicide?