Zoloft Defense Fails In NY Assault Case
Last month, I wrote about a Long Island man who was allowed to use the Zoloft defense–an unusual move by a judge–in an assault/domestic violence case. The man had beat up his girlfriend and he was arguing that going off Zoloft a few days before had made him do it. As I noted then, I wasn’t particularly sympathetic to his situation, because as real as withdrawal problems can be, I just can’t develop sympathy for anyone who beats up his girlfriend. Period.
Yesterday, he was found guilty of felony assault, attempted assault and second-degree harassment charges. So the Zoloft defense did not sway a jury.
Oddly, Newsday notes:
“The FDA has not blamed such drugs for violent behavior.”
That’s kind of a BS line of thought since the FDA has never examined, as far as I know, that issue outside of the context of suicidality. The paper also reports that Pfizer paid an unnamed Harvard professor $7,500 a day to be an expert witness for the prosecution. The man was being prosecuted by the State of New York, so what the hell is a pharma company doing paying for an outside expert? That’s just odd.
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Posted in Furious Seasons