Prozac New Zealand - Toran Henry used Prozac as "recreational drug"

His records, shown to me by his mother, show that Brightly:



* Medicated him immediately without conducting a thorough assessment


* Made no diagnosis of depression or any other mental disorder


* Failed to monitor his reaction to medication


* Ignored Toran and Maria’s repeated reports that he was suffering the sideeffects of medication which are known pre-cursors of suicide


* Failed to treat general medical conditions revealed in blood tests undertaken by his GP at his mother’s request


* Failed to check that concurrent use of an SSRI and Toran’s migraine medication was safe (it is not, and can cause potentially fatal serotonin syndrome).


* Provided Toran with a pamphlet advising that SSRIs protect against suicide and that it is safe to overdose on Prozac. (This pamphlet has been withdrawn after the Ministry of Health advised Waitemata District Health Board [WDHB] that overdosing on Prozac can be fatal).


* Took no action when she discovered Toran had used fluoxetine as a recreational drug and self harmed several hours later.


* In error provided Toran with prescriptions for 6 months worth of Prozac in a 24 day period.


* Increased his dose of medication in response to Toran’s worsening moods and behaviours.

Surely even a psychiatric registrar would know the dangers of stopping an SSRi abruptly? It's basically cold turkey and although Prozac has a longer half life than most SSRi's, more than 48 hours without it could push even the mildest mannered of people over the edge.