Waubonsee Community College

The Dark Side of a Pill, [produced by Filmakers Library]

eng

videorecording

The Dark Side of a Pill

945217500

[produced by Filmakers Library]

59

The Dark Side of a Pill is an exclusive, case-driven investigation into the one of the medical success stories of our time. One in ten adults in the Western world is on antidepressants. With global sales of approximately 20 billion dollars, these prescription drugs are among the most lucrative products of the medical industry. But the wonder drug has a dark side. In the US, David had never had a record of violence nor problems with the police, until suddenly he committed a terrible crime just days after taking antidepressants: he stabbed and killed his twin daughters. In Canada, a grieving mother is distraught that her son's killer was released from prison after a short 14-month sentence. The judge ruled that Prozac was to blame for her son's death. In Germany, a wife and loving mother committed suicide just weeks after beginning to take Prozac. Her husband is convinced that there a link between suicide and antidepressants. Is he right? In Holland, an extraordinary court case could change the way that Europe sees antidepressants. The case is considering the possibility that a murderer be acquitted for his crime because he was involuntary intoxicated by antidepressants. Could there actually be a connection between antidepressants and violence? Is it possible that this connection has long been known, even before the pills were approved? This is not a film that is for or against antidepressants. It is about informed consent and about openly acknowledging the real problems with medicating 10 to 15 percent of the population with a drug that changes the chemistry of the brain with an effect that at times can be overwhelming, even fatal

adult