[The recognition of this problem is becoming more common.
The more court
cases that go this way, the better the chances that
subsequent cases will,
too. These early cases are serving as reference points for
defense
attorneys. We've still got quite a battle ahead of us. As
you will see,
the solution to this problem was to give the man yet another
antidepressant
AND antipsychotic drugs. --Catherine]
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 · Last updated 8:45 a.m. PT
Man ruled insane in attack on wife, acquitted of attempted
murder
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- An attempted murder charge against an
83-year-old man has
been dropped with a judge's ruling that he was insane,
possibly because of a
reaction to medication, when he stabbed his wife.
Prosecutors did not object to the conditional release of
Eric Attwood of
Yelm, whose trial was set to begin Monday in Thurston County
Superior Court.
Judge Christine A. Pomeroy ordered that Attwood continue to
receive mental
health and medical treatment at Providence St. Peter
Hospital, take
medications as prescribed and accept monitoring by a
probation officer who
will report any changes in his activities to the court.
Defense lawyers said he stabbed his wife Margaret while she
was asleep on
Oct. 3 because of a bad reaction to a prescription
antidepressant. He has
been at a family group home since June, when he was released
from Western
State Hospital following a mental evaluation.
Pomeroy scheduled a hearing on whether Attwood can return
home for Sept. 12.
He has been taking a different antidepressant and has been
prescribed
antipsychotics, and the difference is "night and
day," defense lawyer
Jeffery P. Robinson said.
The couple had been married for 60 years without any
domestic violence
before the attack, which Robinson blamed on a sample of the
prescription
medication Wellbutrin that a doctor had prescribed for
Attwood because his
family was concerned about symptoms of depression.
The attack left Margaret Attwood with a pink seven-inch scar
down the right
side of her neck.
In 2004 Wellbutrin was one of several antidepressants the
Food and Drug
Administration announced could increase the risk of suicidal
thoughts or
behaviors in children or adolescents being treated for
depression. The FDA
issued a similar warning for adults last year but added that
more study was
needed.
Attwood had been taking Wellbutrin for 12 days when the
attack occurred.
---
Information from: The Olympian, http://www.theolympian.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Wi
fe_Stabbing.html
Regards,
Catherine
Do not follow where the path may lead;
go instead where there is no path and
leave a trail.
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