Paragraph 7 reads: " Tyson, who is serving a one-year sentence for a road rage attack on two motorists, hurled a television set in a Maryland prison last week reportedly two days after a prison doctor stopped giving him Zoloft. "

The third article in a different news report [attached at the end] reads: "Tyson became violent over the weekend and threw a television set against the cell bars. His lawyers say jailers withheld medication Tyson is taking to help control depression. Tyson has been taking Zoloft for several years"
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TYSON & HARTMAN VICTIMS OF DRUG?
MARTY ROSEN
368 words
24 February 1999
New York Daily News
10
English
Copyright (c) 1999 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

Mike Tyson tossed a television after going off the drug Zoloft, and Phil Hartman's wife had taken the anti-depressant before killing the actor and herself.

But psychiatrists say depression and not a drug-related reaction likely caused their violent behavior.

"A certain percentage of depressed patients have anger attacks. Not all of them throw television sets, but they do have outbursts," said Dr. Jan Fawcett, psychiatry chairwoman at Rush Medical Center in Chicago. "When you stop a medicine, especially if you stop it suddenly in the middle of a depressive episode, the depression will return."

The family of Phil Hartman, the "Saturday Night Live" star fatally shot last year by his wife, Brynn, said they plan to sue Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant that makes the anti-depressant.

They say the Zoloft may have triggered Brynn Hartman's murderous rage.

Tyson, who is serving a one-year sentence for a road rage attack on two motorists, hurled a television set in a Maryland prison last week reportedly two days after a prison doctor stopped giving him Zoloft.

"There's no link in any of the medical literature related to violent behavior and Zoloft," said Pfizer spokesman Andy McCormick, who noted that more than 85 million Zoloft prescriptions have been written since the drug went on the market in 1992.

"It's really helping patients with depression," he said. "The patient needs to stay on the therapy to have the proper effect."

McCormick said a murder defendant in a Florida trial also tried to blame his behavior on the drug, but a jury rejected the argument and found him guilty.

Psychiatrists say it would take scientific clinical trials to prove a link between a drug and certain behavior and anecdotal evidence like the Tyson and Hartman cases doesn't cut it.

"It's a complex and difficult procedure. It takes time," said Dr. Michael Aranoff, a psychiatrist at NYU Medical Center.

Aranoff blamed the legal system's search for a quick answer to tough questions for criticism of the popular drug.

"We've got a legal and adversarial process looking for a quick claim and deep pockets," he said.
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The latest Maryland news from States News Service.
807 words
23 February 1999
States News Service
English
(c) 1999 States News Service

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