Sarah Carlin "deeply upset about her brother's drug overdose"

On cross-examination, GlaxoSmithKline (Paxil manufacturer) lawyer Teresa Walsh asked Desimo if Sara had said anything about Paxil making her fell better.

"She just said she needed her pills," he responded.

Walsh asked how much Desimo had really known about what was going on with Sara since she had only mentioned her brother Brendan to him on one or two occasions.

A previous witness testified Sara was still deeply upset about her brother's drug overdose, which happened during the 1999 New Year's Eve, stating in 2006 that she wanted to be with him again.

Lawyer Nancy McAuley, representing three doctors who put Sara on Paxil, also cross-examined Desimo. Under cross-examination, Desimo said Sara had occasionally smoked marijuana early in their relationship.

McAuley asked if it was fair to say Sara was experimenting with different drugs.

Sara's friends, Stephanie Wood and Lindsay Liptok, also testified about the changes they observed in Sara's behaviour in 2006.

Wood had known Carlin since Grade 7 and described her as a smart person and a great hockey player.

The two became close friends in Grade 10 and spent a great deal of time together.

Wood said they would go to parties and Sara would drink alcohol, but added this was not unusual. Wood said most of her other friends started drinking around Grade 10.

Wood acknowledged Sara would use marijuana on occasion, but nothing stronger.

Wood said this changed in the summer of 2006. During a cottage party Sara appeared to be far more intoxicated than the others present and appeared, said Wood, to be on something besides alcohol, possibly cocaine.

During the party, Wood said, Sara walked out by the lake and made some unsettling statements.

"She was saying nothing matters and if she fell in the water it wouldn't matter and no one should try to help her," said Wood. "She eventually listened to me and came back inside the cottage."

Wood said she witnessed Sara taking her medication while intoxicated, something the literature on Paxil warns against.

http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/830863--erratic-behaviour-alarmed-friends