How a father became delusional, killed his son, and now fights for awareness of the side effects of medications
“David Carmichael lives with loss, sorrow and stigma like no other. In 2004, he strangled his 11-year-old son, Ian. While severely depressed and taking Paxil, Carmichael became acutely psychotic and delusional—he thought Ian had suffered brain damage because of epileptic seizures and would harm others. Charged with first-degree murder, Carmichael was found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder.” [Source: Living with mental illness by Joanne Richard, in the Toronto Sun]
David has written an online account of what happened to him called Killer Side-Effects: What GlaxoSmithKline does not want anyone to know about Paxil [opens to PDF]. While the drug company does not believe its product played any part in what happened, David Carmichael believes otherwise.
We speak with David Carmichael about what happened and what is happening now.
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