'Not suicide' verdict in Shane Clancy inquest – time to control antidepressants

The jury in the Shane Clancy inquest returned an 'open verdict' following evidence given at Wicklow Coroner's Court on 15 April 2010 and the coroner's instruction that their choice of verdict had to be either suicide or an open verdict. Earlier, expert witness Dr David Healy, Professor of Psychiatry at Cardiff University in Wales, told the court that behaviour such as suicidal or violent thinking or actions, seen in patients prescribed SSRIs, such as the Cipramil tablets taken by Mr Clancy, arose not from the patient's condition but from the drugs. He said the warnings to patients and doctors which come with SSRIs needed to be strengthened considerably, and that there should compulsory monitoring by doctors of all patients prescribed these drugs. Shane Clancy had levels of citalopram in his blood between 'toxic' and 'lethal' doses, according to Dr Declan Gilsenan, assiatant state pathologist, who performed the autopsy. Declan Meehan of EastCoast FM's Morning Show interviewed Basil Miller about the controversial drugs on the Monday following the inquest. To read more about the case, see here and here.