14-Year-Old’s Suicide Causes Coroner To Question If Prozac Was The Real Trigger — (Inquisitr)

A Dublin coroner is questioning whether the suicide of 14-year-old Jake McGill-Lynch was the result of the Prozac he had been recently prescribed by a psychiatrist. Friday, coroner Dr. Brian Farrell stated he has asked child psychiatrist and clinical director at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dr. Brian Houlihan, to find information within medical texts regarding the potential link between Prozac and suicidal ideation, according to The Independent.

Jake had been seeing a psychologist to talk about things after being diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. That psychologist told Jake’s mom that she thought Jake should see one of her colleagues, according to CCHR. There had been plans in the works for Jake to meet with an Occupational Therapist, so she believed that the referral was for an OT.

John, Jake’s dad, took him to the appointment which actually turned out to be an appointment with a psychiatrist. Within ten minutes of meeting Jake, according to John, the psychiatrist prescribed the antidepressant Prozac. At that time, John voiced his concern about his son being prescribed Prozac, but the psychiatrist managed to assure him that it was the right thing to do, so he signed the consent form. Prozac has been prescribed to treat autism spectrum disorders.

Often, people prescribed Prozac (fluoxetine) are already depressed (considering that Prozac is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressant), so it’s hard to know if Prozac is actually associated with suicide, according to many in the industry.

According to The Independent, the drug does carry a black box warning in the United States that states that Prozac is associated with increased risks of suicidal thoughts and actions when taken by people younger than 25.

Jake was prescribed Prozac for anxiety only. Stephanie said she was never warned of any risk from Prozac, which her son had been prescribed only weeks before he committed suicide. She states that she was never even given an informational leaflet from the pharmacy. She stated that if she had known it was a risk, she would have never allowed her son to take Prozac for his anxiety, according to The Herald.