Barbara Kumbatovich is the sister-in-law of Nikolas Cruz’s mother who died several months before her son’s murderous assault on his former high school. According to the Sun Sentinel, Kumbatovich told the newspaper about Cruz, “I know he did have some issues and he may have been taking medication. [He] did […]
Huge efforts have been made by the pharmaceutical industry to prevent the public and the health professions from knowing that antidepressant drugs can cause violence and suicide. Joe Wesbecker had threatened his co-workers in the past, but had never been violent. In 1989, Wesbecker was placed on Prozac (fluoxetine). One month later, he became agitated and delusional.
For the first time ever, and for a brief moment in time, two knowledgeable and highly credentialed public figures have commented on the fact that psychiatric medications cause violence and must be considered suspect in the case of the Newtown shooter. But then, as if it never happened, and as if psychiatric drugs could not possibly be implicated in violence, the issue was dropped by the media.
The Newtown tragedy has sent us searching for answers to mass killings. There are many important questions to be addressed, such as “Is tighter gun control feasible and consistent with the Second Amendment?”, “Can we prevent so much teen exposure to violent games and movies?”, “Would it help to put armed guards in schools or to arm teachers and principals?”, and “How much mass murder is driven by psychiatric drug exposure?” These are critical issues.
