illi News - CCHR: Misinformation Clouds Debate on Psychiatric Drug Toxicology Transparency

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A mental health watchdog warns that misleading claims from special interests may hinder vital data collection on psychiatric drugs linked to suicide and violence, urging legislators to advance transparent toxicology reporting for public safety.

LOS ANGELES - illiNews -- By CCHR International

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a 50-year mental-health industry watchdog, is urging legislators to ensure that policy decisions are grounded in evidence—not in misinformation from vested interests. The appeal follows testimony before the Wyoming Joint Labor, Health & Social Services Committee, which recently considered but postponed sponsorship of the proposed Wyoming Death Data Collection and Toxicology Transparency Act.[1]

The bill—similar to a recent Tennessee law—would require coroners to test for and report the presence of psychiatric drugs in suicides and violent deaths—using only anonymous, aggregate data. This information would provide lawmakers with transparent, population-level evidence that can improve public safety.

Although the bill's focus is limited to non-identifiable, aggregated reporting, the committee chose not to sponsor it as a committee bill, instead leaving the door open for individual legislators to introduce it, keeping the proposal alive for future debate.

Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International, said there was "a shocking amount of disinformation presented to lawmakers in the hearing by state officials and psychiatric representatives opposing this important public-awareness bill." She added, "Such resistance reflects a broader national pattern of efforts by psychiatric-pharmaceutical interests to suppress information about the risks associated with these drugs."

During the hearing, a county coroner claimed that "if someone is taking their medication like they're supposed to, ten to one they're not gonna die by suicide." Yet, in stark contrast, an April 2025 University of East London analysis of nearly 8,000 U.K. coroners' inquests found antidepressants were linked to 2,718 hangings, 933 overdoses, and 979 other suicides.[2]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required black-box warnings on antidepressants since 2004, the agency's most severe warning label, citing increased suicide risk for individuals up to age 24. A 2023 Neuropsychopharmacology study confirmed that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can triple suicide-attempt risk among minors and double it in young adults.[3]

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Internationally recognized researcher Dr. Peter C. Gøtzsche concluded in The BMJ that antidepressants "can cause suicide and homicide at any age," citing drug-induced agitation, impulsivity, and aggression.[4] Psychopharmacology expert Professor David Healy likewise found that SSRIs caused one in four healthy volunteers to become agitated or suicidal—symptoms seen in 5% of clinical-trial participants, compared with 0.5% on placebo.[5]

CCHR's submission emphasized that these findings are highly relevant to Wyoming. In 2019, about 11.8% of Wyoming's 578,759 residents—roughly 68,000 people—were prescribed antidepressants. Based on Healy's data, more than 3,000 people could experience agitation severe enough to heighten suicide or violence risk. This, CCHR argued, underscores why the proposed toxicology transparency law is a vital public-safety measure.

Wyoming juries have previously recognized such risks. In 2001, a Cheyenne jury found that an antidepressant was a substantial factor in a man with no prior mental or violent history killing his family within days of being prescribed the drug—determining that it was 80% responsible for the acts.[6]

Similar court findings worldwide have linked antidepressants and stimulants to psychosis, suicide, and homicide:

Kentucky: A worker on an antidepressant killed eight co-workers; the coroner found the drug "in certain individuals has caused a violent, hostile type of reaction."
North Dakota: A father on a prescribed stimulant killed his infant daughter; the court accepted evidence that the drug induced a psychotic state acknowledged by its manufacturer.
Australia: A judge concluded that an antidepressant likely caused a father with no history of violence to kill his family, ruling the crime "would not have occurred" without the drug.

During the Committee hearing, a recent mass-violence Wyoming case was mentioned, yet the psychiatric drugs involved were not discussed. A mother from Cheyenne prescribed ketamine—an hallucinogenic anesthetic not FDA-approved for psychiatric conditions—and the sedative-hypnotic clonazepam killed her four daughters. Her husband blamed "mental illness," unwittingly repeating the disproven notion of "chemical imbalances in the brain"—a myth long used in pharmaceutical marketing, and thoroughly debunked. Ketamine's known effects include hallucinations, delirium, and dissociation, all of which can distort perception and judgment.

A psychiatrist testifying at the hearing claimed antidepressants require time to "make new RNA and DNA" in the brain before taking effect.

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There is no scientific evidence proving that antidepressants create new DNA and RNA. The FDA states in official product information for many antidepressants that they do not produce genotoxic effects—meaning they do not damage or alter genetic material.

Despite championing the use of psychiatric drugs, the same psychiatrist admitted that "once you take more than three medications, it's hard to predict what is going to happen," adding that "polypharmacy could be a significant problem." CCHR says these statements only strengthen the case for mandated toxicology testing.

CCHR maintains that measures like the Wyoming bill are vital because they would allow legislators to monitor the prevalence of psychiatric drugs in suicides and acts of violence through confidential, aggregate data. Wyoming already requires autopsies in cases of violent or criminal acts, and adding tests for antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs would involve routine toxicology screening. Testimony during the hearing raises legitimate concerns over whether such tests are currently being performed at all.

Public access to aggregated, de-identified toxicology data would not breach privacy laws but would ensure transparency about how often psychiatric drugs are present in these tragedies—an area the FDA has long recognized as relevant—rather than allowing the issue to remain obscured behind vague attributions to "mental illness."

CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz, a professor of psychiatry. It has helped achieve hundreds of laws globally to protect patients and obtain transparency about psychiatric drug risks.

Sources:

[1] "Wyoming Coroner Claims, 10 to 1 If You Are Taking Your Psych Meds Correctly You Won't Die, Bill Fails to Test for Psych Drugs After Death," AbleChild, 19 Oct. 2025, www.ablechild.org/2025/10/19/wyoming-coroner-claims-10-to-1-if-you-are-taking-your-psych-meds-correctly-you-wont-die-bill-fails-to-test-for-psych-drugs-after-death/

[2] John Read, Ph.D., "Antidepressants and Suicide: 7,829 Inquests in England and Wales, 2003–2020," Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 25, Issue 1, 2023, connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrehpp/25/1/8

[3] Lagerberg, T. et al., "Effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment following diagnosis of depression on suicidal behaviour risk: A target trial emulation," Neuropsychopharmacology. July 28, 2023, doi.org/10.1038/s41386-023-01676-3

[4] Peter C Gøtzsche, "Antidepressants and murder: case not closed," BMJ, 2 Aug. 2017, www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3697/rr-4

[5] David Healy, Andrew Herxheimer, and David B Menkes, "Antidepressants and Violence: Problems at the Interface of Medicine and Law." PLoS Medicine, Sept. 2006, 3(9): e372, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1564177/; www.opednews.com/populum/page.php?f=genera_evelyn_p_061207_experts_battle_over_.htm

[6] David Healy, et al., "Antidepressants and Violence: Problems at the Interface of Medicine and Law," PLoS Medicine, Sept. 2006, 3(9): e372, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1564177/