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Aspects of Causality: A Verdict Inquiry of a Case with SSRI Use



Author(s)

Robertus Cornelus Brouwers, Anthonius Joseph Maria Loonen, Elisabeth Maria Carolina Groenewoud-van Nielen and Tjoe Ing Oei

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DOI:10.17265/2328-7136/2014.01.002

Sometimes more than one expert advises the court. They use different notional frameworks in doing so, and may report different opinions about the case they examined. In this case, the authors discuss the relation between the use of a SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and a fatal tragedy in a family where the mother was accused of killing her husband and daughter a few days after use of the SSRI. No fewer than seven experts were heard (four behavioral experts, one behavioral toxicologist, one pharmacist and one pharmacologist) at the ensuing trial, and various possible diagnoses were dealt with in the experts’ reports and at trial. More attention must be paid to the mentally debilitating influence of SSRI medication on certain psychological functions shortly after its intake. Although a mono-causal relationship between that influence and the accused’s intention is necessary to exculpate the accused from guilt, the authors believe that a singular connection is never happened in the case.

Violence, medication, causality, judgment