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

By Dawn Papple
Published on: 16:28 PST, Mar 14, 2015

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.

Jake’s story is not an isolated event. Parents across the globe are asking themselves the same difficult question. Does Prozac cause kids to commit suicide? This woman also believes it does.

Last year, the Inquisitr reported that 16-year-old Maddie Yates took Prozac before her suicide. Head Meds has an urgent warning linking suicidal thoughts and Prozac. In fact, according to an old CNN report, Eli Lilly may have known of this alleged risk for decades. Many people believe that suicide can be an adverse drug reaction to Prozac.

Previously, the Inquisitr reported that renowned psychiatrist believes that SSRI drugs could even be linked to been linked to mass murder and serious violence in addition to suicide, when taken by teens.

The Dublin coroner said that Dr. Houlihan will not merely present the popular opinion from medical literature, but also “a view setting out the pros and cons in relation to the question.” Is Prozac associated with an increased risk of suicide ideation? Dr. Houlihan’s report is expected before the end of April. Dr. Maria Migone, the doctor prescribed Jake the Prozac, stated that the black label warning in the U.S. was based on a meta-analysis from over a decade ago, and that later studies found no such link between Prozac and suicide.

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