sad news
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=avBw74V2Lsuk&refer=us
You may remember the case of Christopher Pittman, a 12-year-old boy who shot his grandparents to death while they slept.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison without the chance of parole. His lawyers argued that that was too harsh of a sentence for a 12-year-old, especially since he was taking antidepressants at the time.
We know antidepressants have been proven to cause suicidal thoughts in kids and teenagers. and Christopher's behavior changed for the worse after he took some samples of Zoloft. Yet, the Supreme Court just refused to hear the kid's appeal.
To me, that is refusing an amazing chance to really explore the dangers of the drugs. We are messing with people's brains -- how could anyone say that's irrelevant to their behavior? It's a slap in the face to science and to knowledge, and could very well be the cause of more deaths like this in the future. I can't say for sure but guess that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court doesn't want to put any shadow of blame on any pharmaceutical companies.
I wonder if there has ever been a case of a Supreme Court ordering a randomized controlled scientific trial or other scientific investigation to prove a case one way or another.
You may remember the case of Christopher Pittman, a 12-year-old boy who shot his grandparents to death while they slept.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison without the chance of parole. His lawyers argued that that was too harsh of a sentence for a 12-year-old, especially since he was taking antidepressants at the time.
We know antidepressants have been proven to cause suicidal thoughts in kids and teenagers. and Christopher's behavior changed for the worse after he took some samples of Zoloft. Yet, the Supreme Court just refused to hear the kid's appeal.
To me, that is refusing an amazing chance to really explore the dangers of the drugs. We are messing with people's brains -- how could anyone say that's irrelevant to their behavior? It's a slap in the face to science and to knowledge, and could very well be the cause of more deaths like this in the future. I can't say for sure but guess that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court doesn't want to put any shadow of blame on any pharmaceutical companies.
I wonder if there has ever been a case of a Supreme Court ordering a randomized controlled scientific trial or other scientific investigation to prove a case one way or another.