City woman's fatal drug OD spurs $3.7M lawsuit

From the Edmonton Sun:
The drug-overdose death of an Edmonton woman was the result of negligence by her physician and pharmacists, a $3.7-million lawsuit claims.

The legal action, filed in Calgary Court of Queen's Bench, says Dawn Merrill Johansson wasn't properly monitored while on antidepressants, even though she had survived an earlier overdose.

Johansson died on Sept. 25, 2006, after consuming a fatal dose of the drug citalopram, under the brand name Celexa....

...Pharmacists at the Great Canadian Superstore where Johansson had her prescriptions filled were also negligent for "filling a prescription for an antidepressant which the defendants knew or ought to have known was associated with ... suicidal ideation," claims the suit....more

Antidepressant good as antipsychotic for dementia, fewer side-effects: study

From the Canadian Press:
An antidepressant appears to work as well as the most commonly prescribed antipsychotic medication in treating agitation and aggressive behaviour in people with Alzheimer's - but without the severe side-effects, a Canadian study suggests.

Researchers at Toronto's Baycrest geriatric centre and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health teamed up to conduct a head-to-head trial of the antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) and the antipsychotic risperidone (Risperdal) in non-depressed patients with dementia.

During the 12-week study, 53 patients were treated with citalopram - one of the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, or SSRIs - and 50 received risperidone. Researchers found that the two medications were almost equally effective in controlling psychotic behaviour in patients. ...more