Veteran Committed Suicide After Zoloft

Grieving Father: VA Isn’t Doing Enough To Prevent Vet Suicides
CBS Pittsburgh
Andy Sheehan
KDKA-TV Investigator
April 23, 2015

(Photo Credit: KDKA) 

PITTSBURGH

(KDKA) — His son survived the war, but lost the battle at home.

“Everything seemed to be well with David, going his way and then all of a sudden this drops out of the sky, like an anvil hits you on the top of the head,” said Bob Cranmer.

Just last month Iraq war veteran David Cranmer joined the growing ranks of US veterans who have committed suicide. His father is former Allegheny County Commissioner Bob Cranmer.

“Twenty-two suicides a day,” said Cranmer, “that’s a crisis.”

He thinks vets suffering from PTSD — post-traumatic stress disorder — are not getting the treatment they need and deserve from the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

“It’s gone beyond, with me anyway, the tragedy of my own son,” said Cranmer, “to many, many other veterans that are out there, like him who are just being given medication by the VA and pushed out the door.”

David Cranmer enlisted in the marines and served in a forward area of Iraq. He returned home to meet and marry a young woman, they bought a house and had a daughter who is now 5 years old.

But recent stresses led him to a VA therapist — who after one session prescribed the psychotropic drug Zoloft. 

It carries an FDA warning that it can sometimes lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. A month later — David Cranmer hung himself.

“He had some marital issues,” said Cranmer. “Nothing that I think rose to the level of committing suicide, but when you add to that mix this, what I feel is a very dangerous drug.” “We don’t have a proven medication or a proven therapy that we know will prevent suicide, but we’re trying,” said David Macpherson.
read more here


Seriously? They don't have enough information? After all these years?

Nearly 40% of Army suicide victims in 2006 and 2007 were on Prozac or Zoloft Nearly 40% of Army suicide victims in 2006 and 2007 took psychotropic drugs like Prozac and Zoloft.

The military’s invisible wounds
by David Isenberg
August 4th, 2008

Yesterday I was a panelist on a television program talking about the rising number of suicides and suicide attempts in the American military.

Being a veteran myself, and having acted as a veteran’s advocate in my undergraduate days vets issues have always been of special interest to me. So let me summarize some of the facts that you may be unfamiliar with.

Currently, many veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from invisible wounds. As in previous wars, service members can leave a war zone, but the war often follows them in their minds.

Numbers are always iffy but according to a RAND study released in April, nearly one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. It estimated that 830,000 veterans - 300,000 of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan - suffer from depression or PTSD symptoms.

I checked the link to the story and it is still active. You can read more of Military's Invisible Wounds here
There are a lot more reports on this and what the VA should have known. By the way Congress knew.

Where has common sense PTSD research gone?

Where has common sense PTSD research gone?
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
December 6, 2012


The latest headlines on PTSD are;

Bath Salts Dr. Nicholas Cozzi of the University of Wisconsin collaborated with the National Institute on Drug Abuse in a study of methylone earlier this year. He says anecdotal evidence suggests the drug holds promise for treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety-related conditions.

Ecstasy
A recent study conducted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies found that 83 percent of the people in the study, who were given MDMA along with psychotherapy didn't need any more therapy sessions after two months. The researchers will now be analyzing the effects of MDMA in treating 24 first-responders and military veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD.

Mindfulness and behavior activation Kornfield evaluated 141 veterans who had subclinical levels of PTSD. The veterans were categorized into two groups: those from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (recent war veterans, or RWV), and those who were not deployed in those wars (nonrecent war veterans, or non-RWV). Kornfield found that the most common symptom exhibited by the RWV was arousal, while the most common symptom among the non-RWV participants was avoidance. Both groups demonstrated high levels of depression. This raised concern for Kornfield because the first course of treatment for subclinical symptoms of PTSD in the new model is to target avoidance. Because the most distressed veterans—those who recently returned from war—exhibited arousal symptoms more often than avoidance symptoms, Kornfield believes the current treatment approach may not be adequately meeting their needs.

Veterans are not stupid. They understood that if they take something that can numb them, it doesn't matter what it is. Ever talk to a WWII veteran that drank too much? The last thing on their minds was trying anything illegal and medications were not available to them when they came home in the 40's. In the 50's research on what was still being called "shell shock" was too sparse to matter to Korean War veterans.

Veterans like my Dad were self medicating with alcohol but in his case he was an alcoholic. Some of the veterans he helped to get sober later as an AA sponsor had given up because the fact was they were not addicted to alcohol, but instead clinging to the relief it offered them.

Vietnam veterans did what their parents generation did. Research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder started in the 70's and by 1978 the DAV had 70 Veterans Centers set up across the country along with a report stating there were 150,000 Vietnam Veterans with PTSD. Again they were trying to get numb an stop feeling.

Since 2002 the research into PTSD has gone overboard, repeating studies that were done 40 years ago, pushing medications no matter what the side effects were. They continued the practice even while troops with PTSD were being redeployed back into Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of the Hartford Courant reported on this in Zoloft and a Rifle There is a long list on this report that includes stories like;

When Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren was diagnosed with depression soon after his deployment to Iraq, a military doctor handed him a supply of the mood-altering drug Effexor.

Marine Pfc. Robert Allen Guy was given Zoloft to relieve the depression he developed in Iraq.

And Army Pfc. Melissa Hobart was dutifully taking the Celexa she was prescribed to ease the anxiety of being separated from her young daughter while in Baghdad.

The common sense that has been missing in this country has supported therapy over medication since medication numbs but does not heal.

By the time these veterans turn chronic, they will more than likely be on medications the rest of their lives if they end up seeking treatment but they will not get enough help to heal.

As for the stigma think of it this way. When reports state that less than half of the veterans needing help for PTSD seek it, we need to wonder why. Considering if they do get diagnosed with service-connected PTSD, they get financial compensation along with free medical care, just as any other service related disability. Topping off this fact we also have hacks suggesting that veterans file claims for PTSD just for the money. Yep, after all these years.

Elspeth Cameron Ritchie wrote on Battleland that "to give automatically 50% disability for one particular diagnosis creates a major incentive to get that diagnosis — and keep it.

"To get that diagnosis and keep it?" First that would imply doctors just decide that they do not have to provide any medical evidence that the veteran has PTSD. Next that would also imply veterans are willing to endure taking medications that can make them feel worse on top of accepting this diagnosis on their medical records that will stay with them the rest of their lives during a time when most still think the diagnosis of PTSD means they are defective. The stigma is a lot stronger than the implied financial gain which is also a baseless claim considering if this was the case, you wouldn't see so many decide they'd rather "suck it up" and get on with their lives the best they can instead of filing claims, waiting for months if not years while fighting the VA to have their claim approved.

Common sense on PTSD is gone and will be AWOL as long as people get away with just claiming what they want, when they want and reporters don't know enough to ask the right questions.

Law suit says Pfizer hid birth defect risks to pregnant mothers

Feb. 6, 2012, 3:49 p.m. EST
St. Louis-based Carey, Danis & Lowe Announces Suit Against the Maker of Zoloft
Alleges Pfizer hid birth defect risks to pregnant mothers prescribed the antidepressant

ST. LOUIS, Feb 06, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- St. Louis--based law firm Carey, Danis & Lowe announces the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of 18 plaintiffs against Pfizer PFE +0.05% , maker of the antidepressant drug Zoloft.

Zoloft (generic name sertraline) belongs to a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Zoloft for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, acute post--traumatic stress disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder and social anxiety disorder.

The lawsuit, Shainyah Lancaster, et al. v. Pfizer, Inc., cause no. 1222-CC00766, was filed on Feb. 2 in St. Louis Circuit Court on behalf of 18 children born with defects after their mothers were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant. The suit was brought on behalf of the plaintiffs by the law firms of Carey, Danis & Lowe; Matthews & Associates; Freese & Goss; and Clark, Burnett, Love & Lee.

The suit notes that SSRIs have been found to cause severe birth defects in the children of women who were prescribed the drug while pregnant and alleges that Pfizer knew or should have known of SSRI studies revealing that children born to mothers who had taken SSRIs during pregnancy had a greater risk of congenital birth defects such as atrial septal defect, multiple holes in the heart and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. The plaintiffs also allege that Pfizer knew that physicians were prescribing Zoloft to women of childbearing age but failed to adequately warn the medical community and the public of the danger.
read more here

Website selling Zoloft to anyone?

At first I thought this had to be a bad joke, but there it was.

Zoloft Online No Prescription Cheap 50mg-100mg
Buy Zoloft without a prescription from the world's leading online pharmacy at great low prices. UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world
Published on September 11, 2010
http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=217256

It is being given to a lot of our troops and veterans. The problems are too many to count but for this post, two things stand out. This website is offering Zoloft to anyone without a prescription and that is a dangerous thing. Once you read the warnings on this site, that is very clear.

The other issue is that since the DOD is giving it to the troops, this warning screams out!

This medicine may cause drowsiness. Do not drive, operate machinery, or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how you react to this medicine. Using this medicine alone, with other medicines, or with alcohol may lessen your ability to drive or to perform other potentially dangerous tasks.

Would anyone in their right mind give this drug to soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq when they need to stay alert? Would anyone in their right mind think the warning about "dangerous tasks" should be taken seriously when we're talking about combat?

Spc. Kenneth Jacobs death a year ago and tragedy goes on

Soldier from Holly Springs dies
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

HOLLY SPRINGS (WTVD) -- The Army is investigating the death of a Schofield Barracks soldier from North Carolina found dead on base earlier this week.

Spc. Kenneth Jacobs, a 22-year-old from Holly Springs, N.C., was found unconscious and not breathing Monday.

Paramedics tried to revive him but were unsuccessful and declared him dead at the scene.
Jacobs was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He moved to Hawaii in 2006. He returned in October from a deployment to Iraq.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6228338

I receive a lot of emails, heart tugging emails, and once in a while the sender is begging for help. They feel they are out of hope and out of help. This is one of them. I was asked to post this and I'm doing it praying someone out there can help this widow get the justice denied her husband.

Huffing deaths are not suicide. They are doing it to seek relief. Spc. Jacobs was put on Zoloft and we all know there are problems with this. You can't give them medication this strong and simply hope for the best without any kind of therapy. Yet when Spc. Jacobs was found dead in the barracks, that was the end of it. There were no more follow up stories of yet one more non-combat death not counted. Not one more headline grabbing story of a young soldier's death following PTSD and not treated properly. Above all of this no story of the young widow and her children left behind with no income, no death insurance and no help from the military under survivors benefits. Read her story and if you can help her, contact me and I'll give you her contact information. There has to be help for her out there somewhere. My God! Do we really support the troops and honor military families or don't we?

I’m writing to you to tell you about my husband, SPC. Kenneth Robert Jacobs who passed away on June 23rd 2008.



Ken graduated basic training from Ft. Benning GA , in August 2006 and was stationed at Schoffield Barracks in Hawaii. The unit that he was assigned to was already in Iraq and he joined them there in Nov. 2006. Ken’s duties in Iraq included house to house searches, guard duty, tower duty, and gunner on Humvees. During Ken’s 1 year deployment his hummer had been hit by 4 IED’s. He never complained about being there and said he knew they were helping the Iraqi people. Ken was the only one in his unit that received The Leader of The Pack award twice while deployed.



His deployment ended in Nov. 2007 and Ken said they all had to have a physical and debriefing before they could come home. He said they were told how to answer any questions asked, if they wanted to go home right away and not to stay for more evaluation. They were told that nightmares were normal and would go away in time, and not to mention anything they had to do over there to anyone. He was also told “anyone who had been hit with an IED go stand in that line” which he did. Then they were all asked as a group “who wants more testing done?” and no one raised their hands. Ken said he “didn’t want to look like a loser in front of the other guys” so he didn’t raise his hand.



Because Ken had answered all of the questions “correctly” he got to come home on leave for 4 weeks. After his leave him and I flew back to Hawaii and got married. Myself and my 3 year old daughter moved to Hawaii in Feb. 2008.

At this time I noticed that Ken became very angry easily. His drinking was out of control and he would have terrible nightmares, thrashing around in bed. We were getting into terrible fights and one night the MP’s were called. Ken had to see a Psychiatrist and told him about some of the things he had to do and things he saw in Iraq . The doctor told him “No wonder you’re messed up!” This doctor diagnosed him with PTSD and put him on Zoloft. I believe this was in March of 2008. After this he really wasn’t getting any better. In May of 2008 I was out on the porch and heard Ken yelling at my 3 year old to go out the window. He was screaming “Go! Go! Go!” Then fell to the floor and started to have some type of seizure. When it was over, he got up and sat in a chair and started typing on the computer. I asked Kenny “What just happen?” and he didn’t remember any of it. I told him he needed go back to the doctor. He went back to the doctor and told him what happen and he increased his Zoloft.

That’s it! No counseling for him or I to understand what was going on, nothing.

The two of us were still fighting horribly and after another blowout he decided to spend the night at the barracks with his buddies on June 22, 2008. Ken went to his detail the next morning and we made up. We had an OBGYN appointment that morning, because I was 4 months pregnant, and Ken was going to meet me there. He asked his friend if he could take a nap in his room until the appointment and his friend said yes. That was around 9:00am. His friend came back to his room at 1:00pm and found Kenny lying in bed not moving. He rolled him over to find Ken had passed away in his sleep.



Because Ken was found alone in the room there was a criminal investigation. They determined there was no foul play and ruled his death accidental. The initial autopsy report did not show anything so all of Ken’s reports and test were sent to DC to be analyzed to determine cause of death. After waiting for 4 months the doctor who wrote the autopsy report said there were no drugs or alcohol in Ken’s system. They also didn’t find any Zoloft which I knew he took every day. The only thing they could find was a trace of difluoroethane which is a common ingredient in “dust-off” So in his opinion, this was probably Ken’s cause of death.



The investigators did find one can of dust-off in the room behind the T.V. on the opposite side of the room where Ken was found. According to the National Institute on Drug abuse the key danger of inhalant abuse is Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome. This is when a huffer dies within seconds of taking a hit of the inhalant, usually from heart failure. Since the only can of dust-off was found on the other side of the room on a shelf behind a T.V, wouldn’t this cause of death be unlikely? I may never know how my husband died, and nothing will bring him back. But I do know the Army did not provide him or I with counseling for his diagnosed PTSD. He was given medication and told that would solve all of his problems. Ken was scheduled for deployment again in Nov. 2008



Why isn’t there a program in place for these soldiers to get the help they need when returning home from deployment? Why are these kids given a choice to get counseling, and make it seem like punishment, or an embarrassment? Scheduled counseling should be mandatory when a soldier is put on any anti-depressant or antipsychotic medication. More intense screening should be done to determine brain injury for soldiers who had been hit with IED’s. Sgt. Sipes (kens team leader) told me that “one of the IED’s that they hit was so bad that Kenny was bleeding from his ears. He and Ken were taken to a Med Aide station to be observed for 48 hours but no tests were done.

He said Ken was never the same after that. He was always the comic relief guy, he said. Ken would make light of any situation they were in, and always had a smile on his face. He told me after that day his personality changed. He kept to himself and the sgt. knew that there was something wrong with him. They came home shortly after that. Sgt. Sipes was one of the soldiers who found Ken that terrible day and tried to revive him.



My husband was 21 years old. He left behind a wife, stepdaughter, mother, 2 younger brothers, sister, grandparents, many friends, and a son who he will never get to see.

Please don’t let this happen to another soldier, or family. Better screening of Traumatic Brain Injuries and mandatory counseling for returning solders’ who are prescribed anti depressants or anti psychotic medication should be our governments’ top priority.



Because of the autopsy determination myself and my children have been denied the VA's DIC benefits. My husband had not changed his beneficiary from his mother to me after our marriage of which he was supposed to be counseled on and never was after our marriage. My mother in-law has received the insurance money. She does not help me out. I am on SSI and live with my mother, daughter, son, brother, sister and nephew. Why am I and my family being punished for what the military has "determined" to be my husband’s cause of death? Why didn't my husband receive the help he needed instead of the medications handed out like candy. If my husband had been receiving help for his diagnosed PTSD this would never have happened. Now, I am without my husband. My children without a father. How are families of soldiers that commit suicide awarded the benefits and not mine? Isn’t it time the military supported it's soldiers and their families? Please help me to receive the DIC benefits that my husband's family deserves for his service to our country.



It is time the military stands behind its families of the soldiers that have served our country. Death should not be discriminated and families should not suffer any more then they have. If a soldier gives up and commits suicide the family is taken care of. These families have a right to know that if what the servicemen and women are asked to do and if what they have seen affects them mentally, their service to our country is forgotten and the surviving family’s will also be forgotten.



We have also been in contact with Mrs.XXXXX. Her husband passed away days after Kenny from the same circumstances. She was told before she received the death certificate that the cause of death would need to be changed in order for her to receive her benefits (which read the same on my husband’s certificate). She did so before applying and has received the benefits. We were not told this. Also, her husband did not receive the help he also deserved to prevent his death from happening. We are not alone and unfortunately unless mandatory counseling is given to these soldiers no mater the rank, there will be more of us. Please help us with our fight for our survivor benefits, to reclassify my husband’s death, and to enforce counseling for these soldiers to prevent this from happening. My husband did not die from huffing, an overdose or suicide. My husband’s death was clearly service related and he never came home from Iraq.

How can this be ignored?



Sincerely,

Chriscedia D. Jacobs

Nearly 40% of Army suicide victims in 2006 and 2007 were on Prozac or Zoloft

Nearly 40% of Army suicide victims in 2006 and 2007 took psychotropic drugs like Prozac and Zoloft.

The military’s invisible wounds
by David Isenberg August 4th, 2008

Yesterday I was a panelist on a television program talking about the rising number of suicides and suicide attempts in the American military.

Being a veteran myself, and having acted as a veteran’s advocate in my undergraduate days vets issues have always been of special interest to me. So let me summarize some of the facts that you may be unfamiliar with.

Currently, many veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from invisible wounds. As in previous wars, service members can leave a war zone, but the war often follows them in their minds.

Numbers are always iffy but according to a RAND study released in April, nearly one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. It estimated that 830,000 veterans - 300,000 of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan - suffer from depression or PTSD symptoms.

Why might troops be medicating themselves? Well, consider that repeated deployments to the war zones also contribute to the onset of mental-health problems. Nearly 30% of troops on their third deployment suffer from serious mental-health problems, a top Army psychiatrist told Congress in March. The doctor, said that recent research has shown the current 12 months between combat tours “is insufficient time” for soldiers “to reset” and recover from the stress of a combat tour before heading back to war.
click above for more

Miracle Drug, Poison or Placebo?

Miracle Drug, Poison or Placebo?
Do antidepressants work?
Effectiveness may vary from person to person
By Maia Szalavitz for MSN Health & Fitness


Modern antidepressants have been blamed for deadly shooting rampages and violent suicides. At the same time, they’ve been hailed as miracle drugs that transform baleful Eeyore-types into bouncing Tiggers.

Now the latest review of the research claims that the effects of the drugs are only marginally different from those of placebos or sugar pills.

It seems impossible that the same substances in the same dosage ranges could simultaneously be poison, miracle drug and placebo. But the diversity of responses is remarkable—and it points to the possibilities and pitfalls of personalized medicine.

For example, Stacy*, a 48-year-old woman who works in public relations in Ohio, describes her experience with Zoloft like this: “It felt like water after being in the desert. It wasn't an experience of elation or anything bi-polar … I'm far happier, more confident, far more relaxed.”

Lisa*, a 33-year-old business consultant from Maryland, had experienced severe suicidal thoughts as early as kindergarten. She says of taking Effexor, “My entire life is different and I finally feel like a normal person with normal emotions. These days I can honestly say I am a happy, well adjusted person.”

But JoAnne*, a 35 year-old educator and dancer living in the Washington, D.C. area, reported that both Zoloft and Prozac produced muscle weakness and excessive sweating—and no benefits.

And Bernice*, a 53-year-old science journalist in California, described her experience with a Prozac-like antidepressant this way: “It made me feel disconnected from myself and my family, so that I no longer felt any empathy and did not really care what happened to them or to me. It was a terrifying sensation of flatness and I definitely felt depressed and hostile in a way that I had never felt before.”

Bizarre experiences abound as well: Bernice had “a vivid nightmare of being shot in the head,” and the sensation she felt of dripping blood did not immediately disappear on awakening. Others report elimination of sexual desire, weight loss, weight gain, heart palpitations and elevated blood pressure.

go here for more

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100202836&GT1=31009

Links to medications suspected with non-combat deaths

This is a reposting to go with the Ambien post. We need to consider all of these as well.

Suspected Lariam links

April 27, 2004DoD, VA to study malaria drug’s side effectsAssociated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.
The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs will study the side effects of Lariam, a drug given to servicemen to prevent malaria, Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner said.
The use of Lariam came up in investigations of murders and murder-suicides involving Fort Bragg soldiers in the summer of 2002, when four soldiers were accused of killing their wives. Two of those soldiers committed suicide immediately and a third killed himself in jail.
The three soldiers who killed themselves had served in Afghanistan, where Lariam is routinely used by U.S. troops. The fourth, who is still awaiting trial, did not serve there.
A November 2002 report by the office of the Army Surgeon General said two of the four soldiers had taken Lariam, but the Army would not say which. The report said Lariam probably did not factor in the killings.
Turner said a subcommittee of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board met two weeks ago to consider ways to study the use of Lariam among service members. A Veterans Affairs spokeswoman said the VA will review the issue but has not issued a report on the study.
Lariam, which is also known as mefloquine, is routinely prescribed to soldiers working in countries where malaria is a problem. Some people have blamed it for causing psychotic reactions, including depression, hallucinations and thoughts of suicide.
http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/1-292925-2862062.php

Doctor: Anti-malarial drug may be harmful
In the past six weeks, Dr. Michael Hoffer has treated nine service members who returned from Iraq or Afghanistan unable to walk a straight line or stand still without staggering. Some said objects appeared to spin around them for more than an hour at a time.
A Navy commander and director of the Department of Defense Spatial Orientation Center at Naval Medical Center, San Diego, Hoffer believes the problems are linked to a drug called Lariam "known generically as mefloquine" that the military gives to troops to prevent malaria.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has urged the Pentagon to set a timeline for a Defense Department study, announced in March, of negative effects from Lariam and other anti-malarial drugs.
http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/0-ARMYPAPER-2980109.php

Suspected Seroquel

According to the AP, Private First Class Steven Green told military
psychiatrists he was angry about the war, desperate to avenge the death of
comrades and driven to kill Iraqi citizens. The AP reports medical records show Pentagon doctors prescribed Green several small doses of Seroquel – a drug to regulate his mood – and directed him to get some sleep. One month after the examination, Green reportedly again told his battalion commander that he hated all Iraqis. He also allegedly threw a puppy from the roof of a building and then set the animal on fire while on patrol. But through it all, he was kept on duty manning a checkpoint in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq. Through it all, the U.S. military kept him in combat
http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=10313

Taking SEROQUEL
A bipolar disorder treatment, SEROQUEL for the treatment of depressive episodes and acute manic episodes in bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder

What is Seroquel?
Seroquel is an antipsychotic medication. It works by changing the actions of chemicals in the brain.

Seroquel is used to treat the symptoms of psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depression).
Seroquel may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide

Important information about Seroquel
Seroquel is not for use in psychotic conditions that are related to dementia. Seroquel has caused fatal pneumonia or heart failure in older adults with dementia-related conditions.
Stop using Seroquel and call your doctor at once if you have the following symptoms: fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats, uncontrolled muscle movements, symptoms that come on suddenly such as numbness or weakness, severe headache, and problems with vision, speech, or balance.

You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Your doctor will need to check you at regular visits for at least the first 12 weeks of treatment.
Call your doctor at once if you have any new or worsening symptoms such as: mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.
If you have any of these conditions, you may not be able to use Seroquel, or you may need a dosage adjustment or special tests during treatment.
Seroquel may cause you to have high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). Talk to your doctor if you have any signs of hyperglycemia such as increased thirst or urination, excessive hunger, or weakness. If you are diabetic, check your blood sugar levels on a regular basis while you are taking Seroquel.

You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Tell your doctor if you have worsening symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts during the first several weeks of treatment, or whenever your dose is changed.
http://www.drugs.com/seroquel.html

Pfc. Robert A. Guy 26 Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Willards, Maryland Died due to a non-hostile incident near Karma, Iraq, on April 21, 2005 "Any little thing they do is a help," said Ann Guy of Willards, Md., whose son, Marine Pfc. Robert A. Guy, killed himself in Iraq on April 21, 2005 - a month after he was prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft with no monitoring.http://www.optruth.org/index.php/images/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2232&Itemid=116




Melissa Hobart, the East Haven native who collapsed and died in June 2004, had enlisted in the Army in early 2003 after attending nursing school, and initially was told she would be stationed in Alaska, her mother, Connie Hobart, said. When her orders were changed to Iraq, Melissa, the mother of a 3-year-old daughter, fell into a depression and sought help at Fort Hood, Texas, according to her mother. "Just before she got deployed, she said she was getting really depressed, so I told her to go talk to somebody," Connie Hobart recalled. "She said they put her on an antidepressant." Melissa, a medic, accepted her obligation to serve, even as her mother urged her to "go AWOL" and come home to Ladson, S.C., where the family had moved. But three months into her tour in Baghdad - and a week before she died - she told Connie she was feeling lost. "She wanted out of there. She said everybody's morale was low," Connie recalled. "She said the people over there would throw rocks at them, that they didn't want them there. It was making her sad." Around the same time, Melissa fainted and fell in her room, she told Connie in an e-mail. She said she had been checked out by a military doctor. The next week, while serving on guard duty in Baghdad, Melissa collapsed and died of what the Army has labeled "natural" causes. The autopsy report lists the cause of death as "undetermined."


Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren 44 Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Armor Cavalry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team, Oregon Army National Guard La Grande, Oregon Died of non-combat related injuries at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, on January 31, 2005 suicide When Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren was diagnosed with depression soon after his deployment to Iraq, a military doctor handed him a supply of the mood-altering drug Effexor.


All three were given antidepressants to help them make it through their tours of duty in Iraq - and all came home in coffins.Warren,44, and Guy, 26, committed suicide last year, according to the military; Hobart, 22, collapsed in June 2004, of a still-undetermined cause.The three are among a growing number of mentally troubled service members who are being kept in combat and treated with potent psychotropic medications - a little-examined practice driven in part by a need to maintain troop strength.Interviews with troops, families and medical experts, as well as autopsy and investigative reports obtained by The Courant, reveal that the emphasis on retention has had dangerous, and sometimes tragic, consequences

On Aug. 7, Robert Ziarnick, 25, was accused of shooting at Greenwood Village police and carjacking a 2005 Acura before fleeing to Cherry Creek State Park. Seven months earlier, Ziarnick used a knife to cut the words "kill me" into his abdomen. His wife told police he had served in Iraq and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
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