VIDEO - A Prescription for Murder?

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Episode only available in Canada.

Could a pill prescribed by your doctor turn you into a killer? Canadians are among the world's biggest users of antidepressants, with about 9% of the population on one depression-fighting drug or another, according to a recent study. Many of these antidepressants are SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. For the vast majority of people these drugs are very helpful, but A Prescription for Murder? reveals the devastating side effects on a tiny minority that can lead to psychosis, violence, possibly even murder.

Patients should not change or stop taking their medication without first seeking medical advice.

With unique access to psychiatric reports, court footage and drug company data, reporter Shelley Jofre investigates the mass killings at the 2012 midnight premiere of a Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado. A 24-year-old PhD student, James Holmes, who had no record of violence or gun ownership, murdered 12 and injured 70 people. Did the SSRI antidepressant he had been prescribed play a part in the killings? A Prescription for Murder? also uncovers other cases of murder and extreme violence which developed after people took SSRIs - including a Canadian father who strangled his 11-year-old son.

http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/m/episodes/a-prescription-for-murder