"-convinced him that there was no proven link between the use of the drug and violent behavior. "The whole problem is, would they have done it anyway? Would they have taken a violent, destructive path regardless? That's the $64,000 question" (Aprile, 2). Drugs to fight depression have existed for more than thirty years. The first type was Tricyclic antidepressants, like Elavil. MAO inhibitors, such as Parnate and Nardil, then followed those. Both of these types of drugs relieve depression by acting on substances in the brain that regulate emotional highs and lows. Prozac is considered a breakthrough because of the "selective" way it works. Unlike tricyclics, Prozac rarely causes the adverse effects typical of Tricyclic antidepressants-dry mouth, confusion, constipation, dizziness, blurred vision, heart problems, and weight gain. Also, it is easy to take a 20-milligram pill, once a day, which is a standard beginning regimen, and tends to lift depression relatively quickly and appears difficult to overdose (3). According to Edward West, director of corporate communications for Lilly, the company knows of fewer than ten physical assaults and two murder-suicides committed by anyone on the medication. These do however, include Wesbecker's rampage. West told a Courier-Journal reporter that the firm sees "no trend that suggests a casual relationship between Prozac and assaultive type of behavior." The FDA agrees. Eva Kemper, a spokeswoman for the federal agency, said the number of Prozac-related homicides and violent incidents is "not-high" for an antidepressant as popular as it is (4). In the 1992 British Journal of Psychiatry, authors, A.C. Power and P.J. Cowen analyzed a broad number of studies involving Prozac and suicide. They concluded that controlled trials do not show Prozac leads to a worsening of suicidal ideas. Eli Lilly's spokeswoman, Kelly Weston, says that the drug's suicidality was repeatedly tested in cli...
