Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
At GunsAmerica, our general policy is to avoid glorifying mass shooters by naming them. But the 2012 Aurora Theater shooting demands we break this rule, not to focus on the shooter, but on a potentially overlooked catalyst – Big Pharma.
Here’s the shocker. The world has been fixated on the “orange-haired psycho” responsible for the carnage at the Aurora movie theater, where 12 lives were lost and 70 were injured. But it’s time to challenge the one-dimensional villain narrative.
What if the real story has been hiding in plain sight?
Enter the compelling insights of Dr. David Healy, a leading psychiatrist and a beacon of clarity in a sea of pharmaceutical ambiguity. In a sobering interview with Dr. Josef on YouTube (see above), Healy tears down the mainstream facade. His point? We’re missing a critical piece of the puzzle.
Healy paints a picture of the shooter before the tragedy: a typical college student battling shyness, not a natural born killer.
“I was struck by the fact that it was a very normal human being; this was not a monster in the sense of someone who kills 12 other people and injures 72 others,” he tells Dr. Josef.
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Healy interviewed the suspect at the behest of his legal defense team prior to the trial. Dr. Healy also had the opportunity to examine all the suspect’s medical reports.
What Healy found was the twist in his tale began with the Pfizer-produced Zoloft, an SSRI prescribed for his introversion.
As the patient’s mental state deteriorated (likely suffering from “disinhibited delirium,” per Dr. Healy), his dosage was ramped up – a move Healy slams as disastrously misguided. The result?
A once-timid student morphing into an unrecognizable version of himself, engaging in uncharacteristic behaviors.
“He’s beginning to do things, like he finds it easy to go and ask girls out. He picks the prettiest girl in the class and asks her out. You know this kind of behavior just wasn’t happening before,” explains Dr. Healy.
“He’s beginning to buy things that, you know, he wouldn’t have ever bought before including guns, and he goes along to a shooting range to teach himself how to shoot and things like this. This is all very unusual behavior for him; there’s never been anything like this before.”
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Then, according to Dr. Healy, he goes to his psychiatrist and says, “Look I’m not much better, and if I was to tell you what I was thinking you’d lock me up.”
Eventually, he drops out of school, stops taking the Zoloft and goes into an abrupt withdrawal. Post-medication, the suspect’s actions escalated to the point of no return. Everyone knows what happens next.
And, Healy’s conclusion is stark: “You know you can’t be absolutely certain that the drugs caused it but I think it’s highly likely that the Zoloft he was on and the withdrawal from it caused the problems.”
Healy doesn’t stop there. He links a potential genetic factor to the shooter’s adverse reaction to SSRIs, a factor ignored or overlooked by his doctors.
“Both of his parents at one point or another had had an SSRI and that they’d had reactions not unlike the ones that he’d had, and things became terribly vivid and abnormal,” he says.
The Aurora Theater shooting saga, spotlighted by Dr. Healy, isn’t just an isolated incident of potential medication-induced violence. It’s a tip of an iceberg in a sea of pharmaceutical implications, extending far beyond SSRIs like Zoloft.
Consider the eye-opening case of Singulair (made by Merck), an asthma medication. A forceful letter this week from the NY State Attorney General’s Office to the FDA blasts the lid off concerning reports of Singulair causing aggressive behavior ( e.g. “rage”) and suicidal thoughts.
This isn’t just a footnote; it’s a glaring alarm signal!
The Attorney General’s direct call to the FDA paints a grim picture, revealing a critical oversight in medication monitoring.
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The Singulair debacle corroborates Healy’s argument – the problem of drugs triggering violent reactions is more widespread and insidious than we’ve been led to believe. This isn’t about one type of drug or one tragic event; it’s a systemic flaw.
As Dr. Healy told Dr. Josef, “There’s a range of drugs that can cause these things so my key take-home message is if you go on any drug and feel weird you’re probably right.”
But, “Now the world we live in is one where you’ll be told don’t go off your drugs, whether it’s even an asthma drug or whatever, ‘don’t come off your drugs without consulting your doctor.’ That’s not safe anymore.”
“If you’ve got a good doctor it may work. But all too often doctors will increase the dose of the drug you’re on when you say you feel weird,” warns Healy.
The Aurora Theater case, when seen in this expanded context, becomes even more alarming. As mentioned, it’s no longer just a story of a single shooter and an SSRI. It’s a wakeup call echoing across the entire medical and regulatory landscape, urging a serious, unflinching reexamination of how all medications are monitored, reported, and discussed.
It’s high time for a bold, unvarnished conversation about the full spectrum of potential medication side effects. This is about public health, public safety, and the urgent need for transparency and accountability from Big Pharma and the FDA.
As Healy noted explicitly in the interview, “the Pfizer articles on Zoloft are ghost written; you realize that not even FDA has seen the data from the clinical trials.”
What?!!! How is that even possible???
It’s evident that we’re standing at a crossroads demanding answers. These answers aren’t just crucial pieces of a complex puzzle; they could very well hold the key to averting future mass killings.
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No. Hey, ‘owner-of-9..” ‘s comment finally showed up, here. Quite the system.
“Ownwer of 9..” sends me personal msg, declines to let y’all see his silly comment. This shows some serious spine-‘itude!
There is no direct evidence that the Aurora shooting was caused by the increased prescribing of SSRIs in adolescents. Every scientist, physician and reasonable person knows that correlation isn’t causation.
stop with the excuses, it’s entitiled little shit punks trying to impress the world
The article expands accountability. In contrast, your comment excuses all the individuals and factors that brought this drug to market.
yup use the baldwin defense……blame it on everything and anybody but the person pulling that trigger because it wasn’t their fault
whats the matter mr ai no snappy comeback?
I refer you to my original statement.
Unfortunately yes, and to blame big pharma for the Aurora shooting, is patently false.
Interesting. Certainly there’s an element of truth to the Doctors opinion.
However other types of medication can cause mood swings like some blood pressure and steroid medications just to mention a few. In addition the liberal/conservative media is to quick to blame all on mental illness. Just reported from brain analysis imaging the Main shooter didn’t have mental illness as reported but TBI traumatic Brain Injury that can be caused from many types of areas in life like playing football. Furthermore the the Las Vegas shooter was prescribed a benzodiazepine anti anxiety medication from a general practitioner not a specialist psychiatrist who understands this medication better. Plus from my research the Jack of all trades and master of nothing ( general practitioner) knew the patient had a drinking problem. A benzodiazepine is a class one controlled substance as is only prescribed in worse case scenarios for limited time. Doctors against guns are particularly responsible for mass shooters through miss management of understanding and miss diagnosis of the patient. It’s come to my opinion that we’re all playing a role in the problem especially when society ostracizes and bullies individuals have disabilities or less common traits found among the majority.
No evidence that the doctor’s opinions are accurate.
old Art Bell coast to coast at night show, repeatedly had one gal doing reports on research on SSRIs and other things like prions, and their psychotic effects in humans and animals. Not a new story, but not well enough known either.
No evidence that the doctor’s opinions are accurate.. Antidepressants don’t kill peoples, people kill people!
Great article. In almost every of these mass shootings, the authorities–the police, school officials, mental health professionals–knew the shooter had significant mental/emotional issues and failed to intervene. Why is there no discussion on improving these interventions? Because that would mean the problem isn’t guns but incompetent bureaucrats.
You missed the entire point of the article!!!
The common denominator in mass shootings committed by young males is that all of them were prescribed SSRI’s for their depression or bipolar disorder. It’s not the drug, per se, that causes them to go on a rampage but when they abruptly stop taking the meds that creates the problem.
I have yet to meet a 2A advocate that knows anything about mental health.
I have yet to meet a 2A advocate that knows anything about mental health.
Take your meds and then sit down and shut up,