David Norris (Independent)

The fascinating dialogue between the Minister of State, Deputy Dinny McGinley, and Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh in which the Leas-Chathaoirleach intervened was one of the most interesting and fluent exchanges I had heard in the Irish language for many a long day. I doubt such has been heard in the Dáil for quite a while either, which is another good reason to keep Seanad Éireann going. Let it be recorded that the Minister of State nodded.

I raise a poignant case involving the death of a young man who was a constituent of mine, albeit not one personally known to me. His mother had, however, written to me on a number of occasions about various matters and I know the family is a fine one. The young man in question did not want presents for his 21st birthday; he wanted everything to be given to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. He had also helped out with the homeless and was completely against violence, even when it had been visited upon him. Despite this, in August 2009 he killed himself and another young man. The reason, his mother believes, is that he was having emotional difficulties which she described as a broken heart. While I presume it was a romance that did not work, I simply do not know the circumstances. In any case, she took her son to the doctor who prescribed anti-depressants. After 17 days on the drug citalopram he took the dreadful action mentioned. His mother enlisted the support of a leading Irish authority, Professor David Healy, who has given evidence in trials in the United States and is a world renowned authority on the relationship between certain anti-depressant drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs, and suicide and homicide. He gave evidence to the Coroner's Court that in his opinion the drug had caused the young man in question to become suicidal and homicidal. A number of other Irish academics, whose names I will give subsequently, have come to the same conclusion.

That SSRIs have the potential to cause suicide and homicide is acknowledged in the United States where the relevant patient information leaflet lists these side effects. Unfortunately, the patient information leaflet in Ireland does not include such a warning. Whereas the Canadian leaflet includes a five page black box, the Irish leaflet contains absolutely nothing. I ask that a question be raised about a conflict of interest between the Irish Medicines Board and the interests of the patient in question. The IMB which has links with drug companies continually refers to the European Medicines Agency, a body which is under inquiry because of its conduct with regard to various drug companies.

It is important to note that the jury at the inquest into the death of the young man in question returned an open verdict, in other words, it did not return a verdict of suicide. The drug in question only has a particular effect on specific individuals. While I do not deny it has an anti-depressant effect on some people, a minority experience severe trauma as a result of taking it and this can lead to totally uncharacteristic violence.

After the inquest, the manufacturer of the drug stated on an RTE news programme that its drug could not have caused the events and that there was no evidence to support Professor Healy's claim, despite the fact that it had a kind of "Dear Doctor" letter stating side effects could include self-harm and harm to others, also known as suicide and murder or homicide. The College of Psychiatry of Ireland dismissed the views of Professor Healy as speculative, despite the drug manufacturer accepting the existence of the side effects of self-harm and harm to others.

The drugs in question can cause people to become uncharacteristically suicidal or extremely violent; the facts are known. I, therefore, ask that the issue of a conflict of interest be examined to get at the facts, to establish by investigation what is the impact of the drugs and ensure there are adequate warnings placed before patients in order that they and their doctors will know there is a possibility of side effects. I refer to two learned articles which may be of assistance: Anti-Depressants and Violence: Problems at the Interface of Medicine and Law, by Professor David Healy et al in PLoS Medicine which can be downloaded from the Internet, and Suicidality, Violence and Mania caused by Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, SSRIs: A Review and Analysis, by Peter R. Breggin in The International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine.

While I am aware that the Minister of State, like myself, is not a qualified doctor and that this is not his particular area of responsibility, I would be grateful if he would bring the matter to the attention of his colleague in government, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and ask her if she would be willing to receive a deputation, including the bereaved mother of this wonderful young man. From everything I have learned about him, I wish I had had the opportunity to know him because he seems to have been an adornment to this planet.