Murder Paxil 10/03/2004 Florida Mother Kills her 4 Year Old Twin Sons
Summary:
First paragraph reads: "The maker of the anti-depressant Paxil won a motion hearing Wednesday that will enable them to avoid giving an accused killer all reports of studies, trials and investigations about the risks and safety of the drug."
http://www.staugustine.com/stories/031104/new_2188341.shtml
Reports about drug won't be given to Demeniuk's attorneys
By KEN LEWIS
Staff Writer
Leslie Demeniuk sits in Judge Robert Mathis's courtroom during proceedings Wednesday March 10, 2004. Jury selection for the Demeniuk trial will begin on Monday. Demeniuk is accused of killing her twin four-year-old sons in March of 2001. By JUSTIN YURKANIN, justin.yurkanin@staugustinerecord.com
The maker of the anti-depressant Paxil won a motion hearing Wednesday that will enable them to avoid giving an accused killer all reports of studies, trials and investigations about the risks and safety of the drug.
An attorney for Paxil said it would be practically impossible to comb through the hundreds of clinical trials and millions of documents about Paxil in time for the trial.
A number of other decisions surfaced in hearings about a Ponte Vedra Beach woman accused of killing her sons. Leslie Demeniuk, 34, faces two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of her twin 4-year-old boys in 2001. The state seeks the death penalty, but her attorneys argue that drunkenness and anti-depressants caused Demeniuk to kill in a moment of insanity.
Demeniuk's good behavior in court over the years led Circuit Judge Robert Mathis to rule she can be chain-free during the trial. She can wear a dress as attorneys pick a jury that will be qualified to send her to Death Row if convicted.
Jury selection is set to begin Monday. Mathis denied a request from prosecutors to stay the trial. The prosecutors asked for the stay because they just sent a motion to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach. In that motion, Assistant State Attorney Norma Wendt argued that Mathis erred in ruling that the defense's psychiatric expert may testify in the trial.
The witness, David Menkes of the University of Wales, will testify about selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), anti-depressants that include Paxil and Zoloft. Demeniuk had Paxil, remnants of Zoloft, alcohol and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in her blood during the night of the shooting.
Menkes has said SSRIs can cause compulsive drinking and a condition that can lead to homicide.
Wendt asked for a review from the appellate court because the state wasn't allowed "to present evidence and testimony on how and why the defendant's scientific evidence was unreliable."
The state was going to call a Harvard University psychiatrist to dispute Menkes' claims.
The state's intent was to argue that the science behind the defense theory is not generally accepted in the scientific community.
In February, defense attorneys Gray Thomas and William Sheppard subpoenaed GlaxoSmith Kline, the maker of Paxil, and Pfizer Inc., the maker of Zoloft.
Thomas said he wanted reports and studies that led to certain language in Paxil's advertisements and packaging. That language included references to adverse reactions that include hostility, psychotic depression, delusions, paranoid reactions, stupor and akathisis. Akathisis was described by Menkes as a terrible internal discomfort and restlessness.
"We're not asking for the world," Thomas said.
Mathis granted GlaxoSmith Kline's motion to quash the subpoena.