Rich Zeoli Column: Disarming A Population One Pill At A Time
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- "Nearly two in three gun deaths are from suicide. So a lot of our work is to prevent people from hurting themselves." - President Barack Obama
"Antidepressants increased the risk compared to placebo of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in children, adolescents, and young adults… FDA "Black Box" warning.
"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, But They Were Laying Bricks Every Hour" - John Heywood
How do you disarm a population? There are over 300 million guns in the United States of America. As much as I do believe President Obama would love to see all of them confiscated, even he knows that's an incredibly difficult proposition. So like anything else in life, you start by taking incremental steps which eventually yield substantial outcomes. How does disarming 30 million Americans sound as a small, achievable goal on your quest of disarming a population of 320 million?
Baby steps, baby. Baby steps.
Antidepressants are the third most frequently prescribed medication in the country with as much as ten percent of the population on an SSRI or other antidepressant. Since 2004, Antidepressants have come with a black box warning to let patients and providers know that the drugs may increase suicidal thoughts.
President Obama wants to use the powers of the federal government to fight suicide by disarming Americans who have a potential of ending their own life. My question is very simple: does taking an antidepressant qualify a person as having a high probability of suicidal behavior? The FDA seems to think so which is why it has issued the black box warning.
The FDA warning states: All patients being treated with antidepressants for any indication should be monitored appropriately and observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, and unusual changes in behavior, especially during the initial few months of a course of drug therapy, or at times of dose changes, either increases or decreases.
Suicidality? During said monitoring period should patients using these medications be allowed to possess or acquire a firearm? The better question is will the federal government allow them to possess or acquire a new firearm?
Consider that the FDA states the following may happen to an individual's personality when they are on certain antidepressants: The following symptoms, anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia (psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania, have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants for major depressive disorder as well as for other indications, both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric.
Hostility? Mania? Agressiveness?
I can't imagine President Obama allowing individuals who have any of those symptoms to buy a gun, can you? Given that any of the 30 million people who take an antidepressant could theoretically develop any or all of these symptoms, what's a gun grabbing president to do? My guess is ban anyone who is taking the medication from being able to buy a gun. Hey, you've just taken 30 million Americans off the eligibility list to enjoy their 2nd Amendment rights without any due process whatsoever.
Only 290 million more to go. Baby steps, baby. Baby steps.
Incidentally, this will probably result in many individuals choosing to forgo antidepressants or mental health care in general to protect their privacy from the federal government. Nobody wants to be put on a crazy list. For the record, I am calling the list crazy, not the individual. The end result is less people will seek out mental health treatment and that will be another depressing legacy of the Obama presidency.
