Military veterans are at great risk for suicide after leaving the service. USA Today recently reported on disturbing data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which shows that young veterans are dying by suicide at a rate of more than double the number of civilians who lose their lives this way.

While this news is not good and VA officials indicate that the “data show[s] that severe personal issues driving self-destructive tendencies for those in uniform follow them when they leave the military,” the data also shows that social media outreach and mental health treatment can help to reduce this high rate of deaths by suicide. An experienced suicide attorney knows that competent mental health professionals play an important role in recognizing signs of suicide and in preventing these deaths by providing appropriate care and, if necessary, arranging supervision of those who are at risk.

Skip Simpson, a 20 year veteran, says it is extremely important for service personnel and veterans to know the country is solidly behind them in making sure they are receiving competent and timely mental health care.

High Rates of Suicide are Disturbing

According to the VA data, young veterans out of service are dying by suicide at nearly three-times the rate of troops on active duty. Individuals in the Army are at greater risk than troops in other service branches, and have been both during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as when returning to civilian life.

The data shows an alarming discrepancy when comparing military veterans with civilians.

• For example, veterans ages 18-24 who are enrolled in health programs with the VA died by suicide at a rate of 46 per 100,000 in 2009 and at a rate of almost 80 per 100,000 in 2011.
• When this age group is broadened to include individuals aged 18 to 29, the rate of vets who died by suicide increased from 88 deaths in 2009 to 152 deaths in 2011.
• Non-veterans ages 18-24 died by suicide at a rate of just 20 per 100,000 in 2009 and 2010 as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• In 2009, a total of 36 young veterans who were receiving some type of health assistance from the VA died by suicide in 2009.  In 2011, 65 died by suicide.
• The overall suicide rate for active-duty army personnel was around 22 per 100,000 from 2009 to 2011.
• Soldier suicides reached the highest number in 2012, with 185 deaths by suicide.  This was a record of 30 deaths per 100,000, which is the highest it has ever been for the Army.

A preliminary review of information about those who died by suicide suggests that most of the people who lost their lives were not receiving mental health assistance although they had been treated for other medical problems by the Veterans Administration. However, the data also indicates that there has been a dramatic increase in calls to the suicide prevention office, which received several hundred calls in 2009 but received almost 55,000 in 2013. This seems to show that more people are beginning to reach out for the help they need.

If proper mental health services are provided to those who are experiencing suicidal thoughts, hopefully the number of veterans who die by suicide could be significantly reduced.

Contact the Law Offices of Skip Simpson in Dallas, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

Many people believe that the holiday season is a time when there is a higher rate of death by suicide.  The reality, however, is that this is largely an urban myth that is based on movies like It’s a Wonderful Life, which is based on a belief that people get more depressed around the holidays.

An experienced suicide attorney in Dallas knows that the time of the year has some impact on predicting whether someone is likely to die by suicide. However, a person’s own actions and behaviors are the biggest signs when someone is considering death by suicide. Thus, while it is important to know when the highest risk times are for fatalities caused by suicide, it is most important to know what red flags to watch out for at any time of the year.

The Highest Risks of Death by Suicide

Contrary to popular belief, the month of November and the month of December actually have the lowest suicide rates of any months of the year. Scientific American reports that the lower rates over the course of these two months can be partly explained by the fact that there is usually increased emotional and familial support available during holiday times as families and friends come together more often around this time of year. This feeling of goodwill and the benefits that can come from the added support during the holidays can result in a phenomenon called a “depressive calm” that lasts through the winter.

Once the holiday season is over, however, and the months of spring approach, the risk of suicide goes up significantly as the “depressive calm” gives way to an “energized despair.” As a result, the highest rate of deaths by suicide actually occurs during the springtime.

The phenomenon of higher suicide fatalities in spring was first observed in 1897 and has persisted through to this date. Data shows that getting more sunshine, a change to warmer temperatures, allergens and viruses, inflammation, extra vitamin D and melatonin can all jump-start an energized despair that can prompt suicidal thoughts. As Scientific America explains: “as winter thaws into spring, there is the hope for renewal that if not delivered can set into motion agitation and despair.”

Watching for Signs

Although the holidays may not be the highest-risk time, an average of 105 people die by suicide each day in the United States. This means that anyone could experience the loss of a family member at any time. Watching for warning signs and taking action to provide help can be the best way to reduce the chances of death by suicide. You can watch for the “energized despair” that could be experienced in early spring, and you can also watch for:

• A sense of perceived burdensomeness to family, friends and people considered significant.
• A feeling of thwarted belongingness.
• An acquired capability for self-harm.
• A preoccupation with death.
• A focus on tying up loose ends and getting affairs in order.
• Sudden calm after a period of agitation or depression.
• Withdrawing from friends, family or activities.
• Self-destructive behavior.
• Comments like “you would be better off without me, ”I just need to disappear,”  or I am so sorry for making your life miserable.”  These comments in conjunction with sadness and depression require further inquiry

Family members and mental health professionals should all be on the lookout for these indicators that someone is at risk of dying by suicide.  A very helpful book for detecting a suicidal family member and taking action to prevent suicide is The Suicide Lawyers: Exposing Lethal Secrets, by C.C. Risenhoover.  The author interviews Skip Simpson who has seen suicide from every angle.  It is an easy read and can prevent a loved one from an attempted suicide.

If you lost a loved one to suicide, contact a suicide attorney in Dallas at the Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

An experienced suicide attorney in Dallas knows that there are many risk factors that can increase the chances a teen will die by suicide, including a history of depression, substance abuse, or an experience of being repeatedly bullied as a few examples.  Now, however, a new study indicates that teenagers who have family members in the military who are deployed multiple times also face an increased risk of death by suicide.

This information is important to ensure that those who counsel or care for teens with deployed family members are aware of the risk factors, can identify signs that a teen is considering suicide and can get a young person the help that he needs to manage his emotions.

Military Deployments Linked to Suicide in Teens

According to the Los Angeles Times, researchers analyzed survey data from 14,299 secondary school students in California. More than 1,900 of those students had either parents or siblings who were in the military. Based on this analysis, researchers identified a link between a family member’s deployment history and a variety of different mental health issues including suicidal thoughts.

The researcher’s published a study revealing their findings in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The survey was unique because the majority of existing research to-date about the mental health of military children has focused on kids who are either already in treatment or who are attending special summer camps for military children. This study took a different approach by adding questions onto a statewide survey of California public school students in 2011. The researchers added questions for students from four Southern California school districts located near military basis. Seventh, ninth and 11^th graders were all asked about the deployment history of their parents and their siblings as well as being asked about their mental states.

Based on the information that the study revealed, simply having a close relative in the military did not increase the chances that the young person would experience mental health issues or have thoughts of suicide. However, kids whose relatives had been deployed during the previous decade had a surprisingly high rate of mental health concerns. Just one deployment over the past 10 years raised the rate of students reporting extended periods of feeling sad or hopeless in the prior year from 29 percent among all students to 35 percent. Multiple deployments pushed this number even higher to 38 percent. When asked about symptoms of depression, there was also an increase. While 22 percent of all kids surveyed said they had experienced symptoms of depression in the prior month, 24 percent of military kids with family members who had been deployed said they were depressed. When asked specifically about suicidal thoughts, 18 percent of teens who had not had relatives deployed said yes, but 25 percent of teens with relatives who had multiple deployments answered that they had experienced these thoughts.

Knowing that military kids are more likely to face these struggles means that caregivers and mental health professionals should be especially vigilant for identifying signs that someone is having suicidal thoughts.

If you lost a loved one to suicide, contact a suicide attorney in Dallas at the Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

Death by suicide is one of the leading causes of fatalities among people of all ages, but young people are an especially high-risk group. Unfortunately, suicide hotlines designed to prevent death by suicide by helping those with suicidal thoughts may not be reaching young people or providing adequate support to teens because these hotlines are based on phone technologies that could be considered antiquated.

Recognizing hotlines may not be working well for younger individuals, some suicide prevention and outreach groups have added “texting” hotlines. ABC Action News reports that the latest of such programs is starting in San Francisco, and that the father of a victim who died by suicide is leading the charge to increase the availability of counseling via text. The father is driven by the belief that such a program might have saved the life of his 17-year-old son, who tried to reach out to his therapist via text in the middle of the night. The therapist didn’t get the text until the teen had died by suicide.

While mental health professionals must be alert to the signs of suicide and a suicide lawyer in Dallas can assist individuals in taking action against a therapist that failed to live up to its obligations, therapists cannot always be available via phone or text 24-7. Hotlines help, and should reach many people as possible.

Texting Hotlines Could Help to Save Lives

Suicide hotlines provide an important outlet for individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts and who either do not have or cannot get in touch with their own therapist. For teens, however, texting generally surpasses all other modes of communication, with teenagers turning to texting even for serious issues like breaking up relationships.

Teens accustomed to electronic communication are more likely to reach out via text when experiencing suicidal thoughts, which helps to explain why all students who were part of a San Francisco suicide prevention focus group expressed support for adding a text-based service to existing types of suicide prevention help available. A quarter of the teens in the focus group also said they’d prefer to reach out via text, rather than phone, if they were experiencing a crisis. Another 25 percent said their preferred communication method would be chat, while just 25 percent said they’d use a traditional phone hotline.

The texting option available to teens in San Francisco is called MyLife and gives teens a number they can use to send a text message and connect with a trained counselor. When the counselor receives a text, the counselor can alert emergency services if needed and can provide emotional support via text message.

This new texting program is not the first of its kind either. Nevada and Minnesota have also added text-based suicide prevention hotlines and Minnestoa’s TXT4LIFE hotline handled over 3,800 text sessions last year, providing assistance for 1,985 young people who needed help.

Hopefully, as texting systems grow in size and scope and spread throughout the United States, they will work as an effective tool in the fight to reduce death by suicide.

Psychiatric outpatient clinics which serve teens should seriously consider adding this service for their young patients…a great agenda item for suicide prevention.

If you lost a loved one to suicide, contact a suicide attorney in Dallas at the Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

According to Here and Now, September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day. The goal of this day is to make people more aware of the warning signs of suicide and also to alert people help is available. World Suicide Prevention Day serves an important aim, as the number of people who die by suicide has reached record highs in the United States.

One reason why some individuals in the United States die by suicide is because they are vulnerable and a precipitant, like bullying, sparks suicidal behavior. Bullying Statistics.org reveals  there is a strong link between bullying and suicide and that girls ages 10-14 are at especially high risk of dying by suicide because they are being bullied. Just a few short days after World Suicide Prevention Day, one such tragic death due to bullying occurred in Florida. When a person dies by suicide and someone else’s actions may have played a role in causing that death, a suicide attorney in Dallas should be consulted for help and advice.

Ordinarily a high percentage of all suicide attempts are made by teens (and other age groups) who have a psychiatric condition like major depression, anxiety, substance dependence or some similar diagnosis. These psychiatric conditions along with a teen’s perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness add to the suicide risk vulnerability.  Perceived burdensomeness combines self-hatred and the sense one’s existence is a liability to others, and thwarted belongingness is the lack of caring relationships and frequent interpersonal interactions.  Legal advice from a lawyer competent and experienced in the field of suicide is a must.

Suicide and Bullying

The goal of World Suicide Prevention Day is to help families and loved-ones of those with suicidal thoughts to recognize the warning signs and to hopefully take action to prevent a death by suicide. Recognizing that someone is having suicidal thoughts is important, as is recognizing the risk factors, which include bullying.

The link between suicide and bullying has been well-established. According to Bullying Statistics:

• A Yale University study revealed that a victim of bullying is between two and nine times as likely to have suicidal thoughts than someone not being bullied.
• A British study revealed that at least half of all deaths by suicides among young people are related to bullying.
• ABC News statistics revealed that almost 30 percent of students are victimized by bullying or are bullying themselves.
• ABC News data also revealed that as many as 160,000 kids stay home from school daily because they are afraid of being bullied.

The bullying problem has been made much worse in a digital age because kids cannot necessarily escape their tormentors simply by staying home. The Washington Post reported on the tragic story of a 12-year-old Florida girl who died by suicide days after World Suicide Prevention Day.

The young girl was terrorized on social media, and over 15 girls repeatedly sent the victim messages asking why she was still alive and urging her to kill herself.  The 12-year-old died by suicide, jumping off of an old cement building to her death.

The Washington Post indicates police are considering filing criminal charges for cyber stalking in relation to the incident. The tragedy is an important reminder that bullying can have a real effect on a person. The victim who died by suicide in this case had searched for information about suicide online prior to her death and photographs were revealed of the girl with razor blades on her arms and her head resting on railroad tracks.

Besides the potential criminal charges, if there was negligence by school professionals or mental health counselors in getting this young victim the help she needed, surviving family members could also file a civil lawsuit for compensation. Litigation decisions must be carefully made.  School counselors and mental health counselors must be properly trained and competent to detect a teen at risk for suicide. It is their job.

If you lost a loved one to suicide, contact a suicide attorney in Dallas at the Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

This May, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was published. According to the Huffington Post, the DSM-5 has taken a new approach to the topic of suicide.

Our Dallas suicide attorneys know that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of suicides in recent years, making suicide an issue of serious public importance in the United States. The changes to the DSM-5 are intended to reduce this troubling trend by focusing more on suicidal behaviors and ideation as a “cross-cutting” issue of mental disorders. The new DSM-5 also introduces some new methods of both interpreting and reacting to suicidal behaviors and ideation.

DSM-5 Takes New Approach to Suicides

The new DSM-5 has changed many different aspects of how suicides are treated. For example:

• Chapters throughout the DSM-5 now identify specific factors that can make a person more likely to attempt to die by suicide.
• The risk of suicide is recognized in many different diagnoses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and anorexia. This change was made as a result of research that shows that personality or depressive disorders are not the only mental-health issues that can increase the risk of a person dying by suicide.
• A new Section III has been added to the manual providing assessment tools designed to help clinicians evaluate the mental health and suicide risk of patients both more comprehensively and more consistently. There are now 13 different psychological domains that a person should be assessed in, including suicide. This diagnostic guide helps clinicians to distinguish various forms of non-life-threatening self harm, such as cutting, from potential attempts to die by suicide.
• A new condition called suicidal behavior disorder has been added to the DSM-5 as one that deserves further study. Suicidal behavior disorder is defined as having made a suicide attempt within the prior 24-months.
• The DSM-5 defines a clear distinction between non-suicidal self-injury and self injury that occurs with the intent to die by suicide.

These changes occur at a time when 750,000 people attempt suicide each year and when 36,000 people succeed in dying by suicide. Suicide has now surpassed car accidents as the top cause of death and the suicide-death rate is more than twice the rate of people who die by homicide.

The hope is that the changes to the DSM-5 can make clinicians better able to correctly diagnose suicidal tendencies in patients suffering from a host of mental problems.

Clinicians who provide mental health treatment to patients should study the new DSM-5 carefully to ensure that they are providing the best possible care to patients and are best-equipped to help prevent death by suicide. If a clinician falls short in his obligation to provide reasonable care and a patient dies by suicide, the clinician could potentially be held legally responsible for the death in a civil lawsuit.

If you lost a loved  one to suicide, contact the Dallas Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

According to a recent study conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, a link might have been found between adolescents who show psychotic symptoms – particularly those with existing psychopathology – and an increased suicide risk.

At the Law Office of Skip Simpson, our experienced Dallas suicide attorneys understand that the link between treatable mental illness and suicide is well-known. With a strong clinical marker found that links together certain psychological symptoms suicidal thoughts and behaviors, it’s possible that mental health professionals can better serve their patients.

Psychotic Symptoms Found To Indicate Increased Suicidal Thoughts & Behaviors

According to Medscape, the study involved 1,112 school-based adolescents aged 13-16 years and investigated whether the co-occurrence of psychotic symptoms at the start of the study predicted an increase in suicide attempts at 3- and 12-month follow-ups.

What the study found was startling. Teens who reported acute psychotic symptoms had a “10- to 11-fold increased risk for attempted suicide” compared to counterparts who had no psychotic symptoms.

Furthermore, when these psychotic symptoms – hallucinations, delusions, disturbances in thought – are concurrent with existing psychopathologies such as depression and anxiety, the risk further increases. The study reports that adolescents with psychopathology who report psychotic symptoms had nearly a 70-fold increase in their odds of suicidal thoughts, behaviors, and attempts.

With depression and anxiety a major risk factor for suicide, researchers said its prevalence in the population is too high to identify it as a “meaningful group.” Because a much smaller percentage of the population suffering from acute psychotic symptoms and an even smaller percentage suffering from a full-blown psychotic disorder, researchers have suggested that these symptoms are an “under-recognized marker for risk of suicidal behavior.”

New Opportunities For Prevention

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death across the world. With that being said, researchers estimate that a staggering 50% of all patients who die by suicide have contact with a primary care provider within a month before their final attempt. This offers many opportunities for suicide prevention.

This important study illustrates that mental health professionals need to more carefully assess the presence of psychotic symptoms in their patients. When somebody shows signs of psychotic symptoms, they might be at risk to experience increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

As the study has shown, when this is the case, help cannot wait.

If you’ve lost a loved one due to suicide, contact the Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call today at (214) 618-8222 for a free case consultation.

Children, teenagers, and other adolescents can be at an especially high risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. When kids are at school, it’s the responsibility of school officials to detect warning signs of suicide in students and take preventative measures in the event of a crisis.

According to attorney Skip Simpson, an experienced suicide negligence lawyer, failure to do so could yield tragic results. As a recent Delaware Supreme Court ruling indicated, it can also result in a lawsuit against a school district.

Delaware Supreme Court: School District Might Be Negligent

As a Delaware Online news story recent reported, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that the grandparents of a 16-year-old who died by suicide in 2009 have sufficient grounds to sue their grandchild’s school district. The Superior Court initially dismissed the case.

In 2009, the 16-year-old boy had spoken with a school counselor about his suicidal thoughts and other problems he was having. Merely hours later, after coming home from school, the boy died by suicide.

His grandparents then filed a lawsuit against the school, saying not only that the school should have notified them about the boy’s crisis so that they could respond accordingly, but that the district failed to follow essential procedures that could have saved his life.

While the Supreme Court and Superior Court agreed that the school could not be held liable for something he did at home, the Supreme Court accepted the argument from the boy’s grandparents parents that the district, school, and counselor were negligent because there were specific rules on how to handle an adolescent in a crisis.

School District Suicide Protocol Designed To Help Students In Crisis

Often, school districts have particular protocols that they must follow if an adolescent shows signs of suicidal thoughts or behaviors. When a student shows these signs, it’s the moral and often legal obligation of teachers, counselors, and other school officials to address the situation immediately and follow necessary protocol.

In this instance, district protocol mandates that a school official must stay with the student, assess the situation, contact parents, get help, document the file and follow up – something the school might have failed to do.

At the Law Office of Skip Simpson, we understand that these safety protocols are designed to prevent adolescents in crisis from dying by suicide. Even the smallest steps taken by guidance counselors, teachers, and other school officials could go a long way in preventing a tragedy.

While it remains to be seen if the Superior Court, which is now hearing the trial again, will agree, this case should serve as a reminder to all school districts that when an adolescent shows suicidal thoughts or behaviors, the decisions they make immediately afterward can change lives forever.

If you’ve lost a loved one due to suicide, contact the Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call today at (214) 618-8222 for a free case consultation.

In 2011, a law passed requiring the Texas Department of State Health Services and Texas Education Agency to compile a list of suicide prevention programs. Now, the Dallas News reports that another law awaits approval from the governor. The new law would require school districts to train staff members to be alert for the signs of mental illness or suicidal tendencies. If staff members noticed potential problems, they would be required to notify parents or guardians that they suspected an increased suicide risk.

Our Dallas suicide lawyers know that suicide is a major problem among teens and that the more people looking out for signs of suicide, the better the chances that suicide can be prevented. Hopefully, the governor will sign the law requiring suicide prevention training among school staff members. But in the meantime some schools have already begun implementing suicide prevention programs ahead of the law’s passage in order to better protect their students.

Suicide Prevention Programs Aim to Protect Students

After the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Education Agency compiled their list of recommended suicide prevention programs, school districts in the state began adopting the programs that were suggested or began implementing their own program.

Several of these school districts, including Rockwall ISD, are located in North Texas. Unfortunately, despite these policies, two Rockwall students, including a high school freshman and an eighth grader, recently took their own lives.  These deaths, however, do not mean that the existing suicide prevention programs have not been effective at saving other teenagers.

Suicide is a major issue in Texas, with 398 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 dying by suicide in 2010.  During that same year, another 22 young people between the ages of 5 and 14 died by suicide.  This is a high number of youth suicides and even one death is a tragedy for parents and for the community at large.

Taking action to prevent further deaths and to reduce the number of kids who lose their lives is essential and teachers and school professionals who spend a lot of time with kids can provide important assistance in recognizing the signs that something is wrong.

Rep. Garnet Coleman, a sponsor of the current bill that would require staff training, has acknowledged that no program can completely prevent suicides. However, he believes that Texas cannot afford to do nothing and that services for the mentally ill need to be increased along with education about suicide and its risk factors.

Coleman wrote the current bill on staff training in 2011 and indicated that those in state government believe that the best way to attack the high suicide rate is “to have eyes – and more trained eyes.” A requirement that teachers and school staff learn about suicide prevention would provide these additional eyes and could hopefully help to reduce the number of young people who lose their lives before they even really begin.

If you lost a loved  one to suicide, contact the Dallas Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

Anti-epilepsy drugs such as Lyrica work to prevent seizures in patients who suffer from epilepsy and are also used to treat certain health conditions. Unfortunately, many anti-epileptic drugs also have an unexpected side effect: they can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in patients. The consequences of this side effect can be very severe, especially if patients are not monitored carefully. Tragically, some patients taking these drugs can die by suicide as a result of the effects of the medication.  

Our Dallas suicide lawyers know that some anti-epilepsy drugs may as much as double the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in patients. Because of this side effect, physicians can potentially be held legally liable if someone taking an anti-epileptic dies by suicide. This is especially true if the deceased patient was taking the drug after the FDA mandating warning labels on the medications. The most obvious area of concern is the lack of sufficient monitoring of the patient prescribed Lyrica and other epilepsy medication.  Further physicians should warn the patient and family members, after approval by the patient, of the signs and symptoms of an increased risk for suicide.  Failure to warn and monitor appropriately is like throwing the dice with patient safety.

Suicide Risks of Antiepileptic Medications

The dangers associated with anti-epileptic medications have been apparent for a long time. Back in 2008, the New York Times wrote an article warning that patients prescribed certain anti-epileptic medications including Lyrica had double the risks of suicidal tendencies when compared with those not taking the medications. The risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among patients dosed with placebo medications was .22 percent and the risk associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among those dosed with the anti-epileptics rose to .43 percent.

This is a significant increase, especially considering that suicidal thinking can lead to suicidal actions and death by suicide. The increased risk is also a problem because it can begin as early as the first week that the medication therapy is administered and the risk can persist for the entire time that someone takes the medications.

Unfortunately, despite the increased risk, the drugs initially lacked a warning label and, at first, the F.D.A. did not believe that it was appropriate to require a warning.

The F.D.A. conducted placebo controlled studies on the use of 11 anti-epileptic drugs to assess the risk and studied the drug’s use, not just in treating epilepsy, but also in treating other health conditions and disorders. Based on its findings, the F.D.A. issued safety alerts on both December 16, 2008 and January 31, 2009.

On May 5, 2009, the FDA issued an update mandating that manufacturers of anti-epileptic drugs and anti-convulsant drugs needed to alter their product labels to include warnings about increased risks of suicidal thoughts and actions. Manufacturers would also be required to create a medication guide in order to better explain the risks.

The medications affected that the F.D.A. required a new warning for included:

• Carbatrol
• Celontin
• Depakene
• Depakote ER
• Depakote sprinkles
• Depakote tablets
• Dilantin
• Equetro
• Felbatol
• Gabitril
• Keppra
• Keppra XR
• Klonopin
• Lamictal
• Lyrica
• Mysoline
• Neurontin
• Peganone
• Stavzor
• Tegretol
• Tegretol XR
• Topamax
• Tranxene
• Tridione
• Trileptal
• Zarontin
• Zonegran
• Generic versions of these anti-epileptic medications.

Those who lost loved ones due to suicide or who experienced harm as a result of suicidal tendencies may have a legal claim against physicians or other prescribers of these medications due to the increased risk of suicide. Those who lost a loved one or who were injured prior to the label change may be able to make their case based on the drug company’s failure to warn the public about the high risk of suicide the medicine created while others can use strict liability rules to take action against the manufacturers of the defective and dangerous drugs.

If you lost a loved one to suicide, contact the Dallas Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding drug manufacturers accountable. Call  214-618-8222.