Original article no longer available
Richmond Times-Dispatch – Richmond, Va.
Author: Susan Winiecki
Date: May 5, 1991
(Document Summary) At least 50 civil suits concerning the drug have been filed against Eli Lilly. Many of those suits charged that Prozac was a catalyst for suicide, murder and self-mutilation. In six criminal cases nationwide, lawyers have tried, unsuccessfully, to build cases on a Prozac defense.
“The bottom line is that Prozac is safe and effective,” said Marie Abbott, an Eli Lilly spokeswoman. “Unfortunately, suicide is part of the disease of depression. Some 15 percent of depressed patients kill themselves.
In May 1990, in a part of Prozac’s package literature called post- introduction reports, which states, “Voluntary reports of adverse events temporarily associated with Prozac that have been received since market introduction and which may have no causal relationship with the drug include the following,” the company added the terms “suicidal ideation and violent behavior.”
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