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Lindsay Clancy’s husband, Patrick Clancy, was working from home while his wife underwent intensive treatment for postpartum depression, according to a friend of the family.
He was doing so to be there as her support system.
He is believed to have stepped out of the home for about half an hour on Tuesday evening, January 24, when his wife allegedly attempted to commit a triple murder-suicide.
Patrick called 911 to report his wife’s suicide attempt, and when paramedics arrived, they found an even more gruesome scene.
The couple’s two oldest children, Cora Clancy, 5, and Dawson Clancy, 3, had been reportedly strangled when paramedics arrived.
They were taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
Their youngest child, an 8-month-old boy, was flown to Boston, Massachusetts, where he was placed in intensive care.
He died on January 27, 2023.
A GoFundMe page was set up for Patrick, which reached $449,295 of a $700k goal at the time of publication.
It states that it is for the hospital, funeral, and legal expenses and Patrick’s inability to work after such a tragedy.
Lindsay Clancy is now charged with killing all three of her children.
Lindsay Clancy is currently in the hospital being treated for her injuries after jumping from the second story of the family’s home.
She is reportedly under heavy police detail and will be arraigned as soon as she is healthy enough to be discharged.
Before the death of her youngest child, Clancy had been charged with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation, and three counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, according to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz.
Now, she will likely be charged with all three murders.
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Lindsay Clancy carried out shocking attack while husband picked up take-out: report — (New York Post)
The Massachusetts mom accused of strangling her two young kids and trying to kill her infant allegedly carried out the shocking attempted murder-suicide while her husband briefly stepped out to pick up a take-out order, a friend has claimed.
Lindsay Clancy, 32, was on leave as a labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital and attending “a very intensive five-day-a-week program for PPD, trying to get help,” local radio host John DePetro reported, citing one of the couple’s friends.
Meanwhile, her husband, Patrick, “was working from home instead of going in to work to be able to try and support her daily,” the friend told DePetro.
Patrick on Tuesday stepped out to get some food, but returned to find the horrific scene at their Duxbury home, DePetro said.
“In the 25 minutes it took him to pick up takeout, the unthinkable happened,” the radio presenter wrote on Twitter.
Lindsay Clancy, 32, was reportedly attending an “intense” program for post-partum depression at the time she allegedly killed two of her kids.
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Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer said she was on 13 different drugs for mood disorders, anxiety, and psychosis. Was she over medicated? — (The Boston Globe)
By Kay Lazar, Jessica Bartlett and John R. Ellement Globe Staff,Updated February 3, 2023, 9:08 p.m.
The lawyer for Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother who allegedly strangled her three young children, said regardless of whether his client suffered postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis one thing was clear: His client was overmedicated with 13 different drugs over four months.
The result, attorney Kevin Reddington argued, was a “horrific overmedication of drugs that caused homicidal ideation, suicidal ideation.”
Specialists who treat women with these mood disorders say it’s not uncommon for providers to try multiple medications, either simultaneously or if others are found to be ineffective. Yet, some said that using more than a dozen such drugs in such a short span of time is unusual.
Among the medications listed by Reddington are three benzodiazepines — Klonopin (clonazepam), Valium (diazepam), and Ativan (Lorazepam) — typically used to treat anxiety and insomnia.
Others are for mood disorders, including Zoloft, amitriptyline, Remeron (mirtazapine), and Prozac (fluoxetine), all used to treat depression and anxiety. Zoloft and Prozac are in a class of drugs called SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Another drug Clancy was prescribed called trazodone (often used in small doses for insomnia), shares many properties with SSRIs but is in a separate class of drugs called serotonin receptor antagonists and reuptake inhibitors, or SARIs.
Clancy was also prescribed mood stabilizers Lamictal (lamotrigine) and Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate), which can be used to treat and prevent mania and depression. Her attorney also listed buspirone (an antianxiety drug), hydroxyzine (an antihistamine that is traditionally used for anxiety or insomina), and Ambien (a sedative-hypnotic).
Dr. Nancy Byatt, a psychiatry professor at U Mass Chan Medical School who often treats women with postpartum mood disorders, would not comment specifically on Clancy’s case or her medications. But she said she tries to use benzodiazepines only sparingly because of the risk that a patient builds up a tolerance to the medication and it becomes less effective.
“If someone is in a situation where they need a lot of medications to get by, then you want them to be assessed to see if [they] should be hospitalized,” she said.
It is unclear which medications Clancy was taking simultaneously, at what doses, and who prescribed them. Reddington told reporters Friday she was being treated by a “number of psychiatrists,” and that “there is no doubt she was overmedicated,” but declined to say where she received her treatment.
To view complete harmful recommendations for treating “postpartum depression” and accompanying misinformation by Clancy’s employer, Mass General Hospital, click here
Treatment for Postpartum Illness
Postpartum depression presents along a continuum, and the type of treatment selected is based on the severity and type of symptoms present. However, before initiating psychiatric treatment, medical causes for mood disturbance (e.g., thyroid dysfunction, anemia) must be excluded. Initial evaluation should include a thorough history, physical examination, and routine laboratory tests.
Non-pharmacological therapies are useful in the treatment of postpartum depression. In a randomized study it was demonstrated that short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was as effective as treatment with fluoxetine in women with postpartum depression… These non-pharmacological interventions may be particularly attractive to those patients who are reluctant to use psychotropic medications (e.g., women who are breast-feeding) or for patients with milder forms of depressive illness. Women with more severe postpartum depression may choose to receive pharmacological treatment, either in addition to or instead of these non-pharmacological therapies.
To date, only a few studies have systematically assessed the pharmacological treatment of postpartum depression. Conventional antidepressant medications (fluoxetine, sertraline, fluvoxamine, and venlafaxine) have shown efficacy in the treatment of postpartum depression. In all of these studies, standard antidepressant doses were effective and well tolerated. The choice of an antidepressant should be guided by the patient’s prior response to antidepressant medication and a given medication’s side effect profile. Specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are ideal first-line agents, as they are anxiolytic, non-sedating, and well tolerated. For women who cannot tolerate SSRIs, bupropion (Wellbutrin) may be an alternative; although one pilot study suggests bupropion may not be as effective as SSRIs. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are frequently used and, because they tend to be more sedating, may be more appropriate for women who present with prominent sleep disturbance. Given the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in this population, adjunctive use of a benzodiazepine (e.g., clonazepam, lorazepam) may be very helpful.
Puerperal psychosis is considered a psychiatric emergency that typically requires inpatient treatment. Acute treatment with either typical or atypical anti-psychotic medications is indicated. Given the well-established relationship between puerperal psychosis and bipolar disorder, postpartum psychosis should be treated as an affective psychosis and a mood stabilizer is indicated. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is well tolerated and rapidly effective for severe postpartum depression and psychosis.
Using Medications While Breastfeeding
The nutritional, immunologic and psychological benefits of breastfeeding have been well documented. Women who plan to breastfeed must be informed that all psychotropic medications, including antidepressants, are secreted into the breast milk. Concentrations in the breast milk appear to vary widely. The amount of medication to which an infant is exposed depends on several factors, including dosage of medication, rate of maternal drug metabolism, and frequency and timing of feedings (Llewelyn and Stowe).
Over the past five years, data have accumulated regarding the use of various antidepressants during breastfeeding (reviewed in Newport et al 2002). Available data on the tricyclic antidepressants, fluoxetine, paroxetine, and sertraline during breastfeeding have been encouraging and suggest that significant complications related to neonatal exposure to psychotropic drugs in breast milk appear to be rare. While less information is available on other antidepressants, there have been no reports of serious adverse events related to exposure to these medications.