July 20, 2012
CCHR International

We are horrified, saddened and shocked over the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting  that has left 12 dead and dozens more wounded (see full story here).

As the world’s leading mental health watchdog, CCHR has for decades investigated hundreds of similar acts of senseless violence in coordination with the press and law enforcement as well as in legislative hearings, such as those held following the 1999 Columbine  massacre  (ringleader Eric Harris was found to be under the influence of the antidepressant Luvox, Dylan Klebold’s autopsy reports were never unsealed).   And while there is never one simple explanation for what drives a human being  to commit such unspeakable acts, all too often one common denominator has surfaced in hundreds of cases—prescribed psychotropic drugs which are documented to cause mania, psychosis, violence, suicide and in some cases,  homicidal ideation. It would be an injustice not to explore all possible reasons for the senseless tragedy, and so we once again present the facts about psychiatric drugs and violence:

The Facts—Studies, Warnings and Medwatch Reports:

Between 2004 and 2011, there have been over 11,000 reports to the U.S. FDA’s MedWatch system of psychiatric drug side effects related to violence.  These include 300 cases of homicide, nearly 3,000 cases of mania and over 7,000 cases of aggression.  Note:  By the FDA’s own admission, only 1-10% of side effects are ever reported to the FDA, so the actual number of side effects occurring are most certainly higher.

There have been 22 international drug regulatory warnings issued on psychiatric drugs causing violence, mania, hostility, aggression, psychosis, and other violent type reactions.  These warnings have been issued in the United States, European Union, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

Nearly every mass school shooting has involved a minor under the influence of such drugs, as well as many other highly cited cases, an example of which we have listed below.

In determining what would prompt James Holmes, identified as the 24-year-old gunman in the Aurora, Colorado shooting  to commit such a brutal and senseless crime, the press must ask the right questions,  including:  What, if any, prescribed psychotropic drugs Holmes may have been on (or in withdrawal from).

Read the international drug regulatory warnings issued on psychiatric drugs causing violence, mania, hostility, aggression, psychosis, and other violent type reactions.

Visit CCHR’s Psychiatric Drug Dangers Database at http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangersto search these side effects and to also see international studies relating to psychiatric drugs causing violence, aggression, mania and hostility. Also see the recent study from PLoSOne here on psychiatric drugs being linked to violence.

Watch this short interview with Michael Moore, author, director and producer of Bowling for Columbine, where he calls for a federal investigation into the link between prescribed drugs and mass shootings such as the 1999 Columbine massacre.