The teen who went on a deadly shooting rampage at a Minnesota high school Monday was on Prozac, adding to the list of youths involved in similar crimes who were taking antidepressants or other mood-altering medications.
"When you look at the school shooters, some were on Luvox, Prozac, Ritalin, and Paxil.
These are mood elevators, but they can push up the psyche and can cause agitation," said Robert Butterworth, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, who specializes in trauma.
Dr. Robert Findling, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry for University Hospitals of Cleveland, said while some youths "may become more agitated or irritable" while on such drugs, their actions are the result of their illness, not the medication.
A cultural coordinator at the school told The Washington Post that he was taking Prozac and had been previously hospitalized for suicidal tendencies.
Other school shooters who took prescription drugs include: �Kip Kinkel, an Oregon youth, who in 1998 when he was 15 years old, killed both his parents and then went to his school, where he killed two classmates and wounded 22 others.
�Jason Hoffman, at age 18, was on Effexor and Celexa, both antidepressants, when he wounded one teacher and three students at California's Granite Hills High School in 2001.
�Cory Baadsgaard had been off Paxil and was taking high doses of Effexor in 2001 when the 16-year-old, armed with a rifle, took 23 classmates and a teacher hostage at his Washington state high school.
�Elizabeth Bush was on "antidepressants" when she shot and wounded another student at Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport, Pa.
In 2002, Mark Taylor, a survivor of the Columbine shootings, filed suit against Solvay Pharmaceuticals, manufacturers of Luvox.
He claimed that Harris' violent actions were a reaction to that drug.
He settled for a $10,000 donation to the American Cancer Society.