On February 6, 2003, Dominique was switched to the SSRI Effexor, and during the two weeks that followed, her doctor doubled the dose.
The morning of February 21, 2003, Robert dropped his daughter off at school and they said goodbye as usual. Around 11 am, Dominique told her teacher she needed to go outside for some fresh air. She left classroom and never returned.
Next to nothing is known about Dominique's activities from the time she left school on February 21, until her body was found 3 weeks later in the Delta Mendota canal in California on April 14, 2003.
Lorraine is still racked with guilt and blames herself for giving her daughter the prescribed medication. "How can you imagine I feel, knowing now that I was slowly poisoning my daughter every day as I was dispensing her antidepressant medication?" she said.
Tom and Kathy Woodward's daughter, Julie, who had no history of suicide or self-harm, hung herself in a matter of days after being prescribed Zoloft. "Julie began experiencing akathisia almost immediately," Tom recalls.
But he knew nothing about Zoloft's side effect of "akathisia" at the time. The doctor had stressed that Zoloft was safe and had very few side effects. He never advised Tom and Kathy about the possibility of violence, self-harm, or suicidal acts and the information they received with the drug never mentioned self-harm or suicide either.
According to her parents, Julie was a young woman who had everything to live for. Just weeks before her death, she had scored high on her SATs and was excited about starting college.
However, "instead of picking out colleges with our daughter, my wife and I had to pick out a cemetery plot for her," Tom said. "Instead of looking forward to visiting Julie at school, we now visit her grave," he added.
Like so many other cases of suicides of young people on SSRIs, Julie's body apparently could not handle the drug. "We now know from a blood test from the coroner's office, that she was not metabolizing the drug," Tom said.
Tom and Kathy are angry at government officials. "The FDA has placed the interests of the drug industry over protecting the American public," Tom said, "if the trials don't favor a drug, the public never hears of them."
"It is clear that the FDA is a political entity," he continued, "and its leadership has protected the economic interests of the drug industry."
Tom believes that suppressing unfavorable studies should be illegal, "the drug industry must be compelled to produce all of their findings and studies," he said.
Cheryl and Mark Miller lost their 13-year-old son, Matthew to suicide, after a psychiatrist gave him Zoloft. His parents were told that Matt had a chemical imbalance that could be helped by a new, wonder drug called Zoloft.
"It was safe, effective, only two minor side effects were cautioned with us - insomnia, indigestion," they said.
While on the drug, Matt became agitated, could not eat, sleep, or sit still. The night before the family was set to leave for vacation, Matt hung himself in a bedroom closet from a hook, barely higher than he was tall.
"To commit this unthinkable act," Mark said, "he was able to pull his legs up off the floor and hold himself that way until he lost consciousness."
The morning of February 21, 2003, Robert dropped his daughter off at school and they said goodbye as usual. Around 11 am, Dominique told her teacher she needed to go outside for some fresh air. She left classroom and never returned.
Next to nothing is known about Dominique's activities from the time she left school on February 21, until her body was found 3 weeks later in the Delta Mendota canal in California on April 14, 2003.
Lorraine is still racked with guilt and blames herself for giving her daughter the prescribed medication. "How can you imagine I feel, knowing now that I was slowly poisoning my daughter every day as I was dispensing her antidepressant medication?" she said.
But he knew nothing about Zoloft's side effect of "akathisia" at the time. The doctor had stressed that Zoloft was safe and had very few side effects. He never advised Tom and Kathy about the possibility of violence, self-harm, or suicidal acts and the information they received with the drug never mentioned self-harm or suicide either.
According to her parents, Julie was a young woman who had everything to live for. Just weeks before her death, she had scored high on her SATs and was excited about starting college.
However, "instead of picking out colleges with our daughter, my wife and I had to pick out a cemetery plot for her," Tom said. "Instead of looking forward to visiting Julie at school, we now visit her grave," he added.
Like so many other cases of suicides of young people on SSRIs, Julie's body apparently could not handle the drug. "We now know from a blood test from the coroner's office, that she was not metabolizing the drug," Tom said.
Tom and Kathy are angry at government officials. "The FDA has placed the interests of the drug industry over protecting the American public," Tom said, "if the trials don't favor a drug, the public never hears of them."
"It is clear that the FDA is a political entity," he continued, "and its leadership has protected the economic interests of the drug industry."
Tom believes that suppressing unfavorable studies should be illegal, "the drug industry must be compelled to produce all of their findings and studies," he said.
Cheryl and Mark Miller lost their 13-year-old son, Matthew to suicide, after a psychiatrist gave him Zoloft. His parents were told that Matt had a chemical imbalance that could be helped by a new, wonder drug called Zoloft.
"It was safe, effective, only two minor side effects were cautioned with us - insomnia, indigestion," they said.
While on the drug, Matt became agitated, could not eat, sleep, or sit still. The night before the family was set to leave for vacation, Matt hung himself in a bedroom closet from a hook, barely higher than he was tall.
"To commit this unthinkable act," Mark said, "he was able to pull his legs up off the floor and hold himself that way until he lost consciousness."
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