[NPInfo] Why we have to watch what we prescribe

[David Mittman]

Such an interesting case.
-Did the NP really write all these meds?
-Does anyone have personal accountability anymore?
-His sister was an RN and says she knew taking these meds was wrong.  
Why did she not say anything?
In any case, we should all remember to watch what we prescribe.
Dave

Thursday, 06 March 2008
Family: Meds behind Lehi shooting

Provo, Utah
David Ragsdale's family is hoping to show that a cocktail of  
antidepressants and other mood-altering drugs are responsible for the  
shooting death of his wife.

After a hearing at Provo's 4th District Court on Wednesday, Tamara  
Ragsdale said she believed her brother is innocent and that he was  
"not conscious when this tragic act was committed."

David Ragsdale is charged with aggravated murder, a capital offense.  
According to police, Ragsdale shot his wife, Kristy, in the parking  
lot of an LDS church in Lehi on Jan. 6.
At the time of his wife's murder, David Ragsdale, 35, was taking  
seven medications, including Paxil, Doxepin, Ritalin, Provigil and  
two forms of testosterone, his sister said. Tamara Ragsdale said the  
plethora of negative side effects he suffered from the drugs were not  
properly monitored by the nurse practitioner who prescribed them, and  
the interactions chemically altered his brain.
"David put his faith and trust in a nurse practitioner, the [Food and  
Drug Administration] and the pharmaceutical companies that these  
drugs were safe," she said. "David is now living in his own hell as  
he is coming off of these meds. He is waking up to the horror of this  
reality."
At Wednesday's hearing, David Ragsdale's attorney, Gregory Skordas,  
requested a continuance so his client could undergo a psychological  
evaluation. Skordas said the evaluation would be completed by the end  
of the month. Judge Claudia Laycock scheduled the next hearing in the  
case for April 9.
"We want to make sure we have all the evidence together to make the  
correct decisions," Tamara Ragsdale said. "There's a couple different  
tests we're going to have done."
Deputy Utah County Attorney Craig Johnson said the Ragsdales will use  
a private psychologist, not a court-appointed one.
"This is news to us. This isn't something that we had appointed or  
anything in any way," Johnson said.
Tamara Ragsdale read a statement written by her brother in which he  
apologized for Kristy's death.
"Words cannot describe how incredibly sorry I am for the death of my  
wife, Kristy. I want the Palizzi family and everyone to know that I  
would do anything to bring her back, even if it meant giving up my  
own life," Tamara Ragsdale said as she read her brother's statement.  
"It is time for the public to educate themselves of the adverse  
reactions of these mind-altering drugs and how they act on the brain."
Some of the listed side effects of the medications Ragsdale was  
taking include manic reaction, suicide, homicidal tendencies,  
hallucinations, delusions, psychosis, amnesia, panic and seizures,  
Tamara Ragsdale said. She said her brother was suffering blackouts,  
severe headaches and other side effects from the drugs.
Tamara Ragsdale said her brother had gone to the nurse practitioner  
who prescribed the drugs at the urging of his wife. He had been  
taking some of the medications for about a year, she said, while  
others were prescribed just two months before the shooting.
While spending Christmas with David and Kristy, Tamara Ragsdale said  
she noticed marked changes in her brother.
"I'm a nurse, so I knew something was wrong with his behavior and his  
meds," she said. "These medications were altering his brain."
She criticized what she described as a tendency of some people to  
rely on prescriptions to fix their problems. She also said the family  
is considering legal action against the nurse practitioner who  
prescribed the medications.
"I think that when people aren't happy they tend to go to the doctor,  
or ask their spouse to go, and think that there's going to be a magic  
pill that's going to fix something," she said. "David happened to be  
a victim of this and tragically ... what happened was he suffered  
from the adverse reactions."
Carrie Peters, Kristy Ragsdale's cousin, made a brief statement to  
the media after the hearing, but declined to comment on the progress  
of the case.
"We just want everybody to know that we just love Kristy so much and  
we miss her a great deal, and we are hoping that through justice and  
forgiveness we might be able to find safety and closure," Peters said.