A Prescription for Murder?
Episode 29 · 2017-07-26
- Documentary
- News
Episode overview
Is it possible that a pill prescribed by your doctor can turn you into a killer? Over 40 million prescriptions for SSRI antidepressants were handed out by doctors last year in the UK. Panorama reveals the devastating side effects on a tiny minority that can lead to psychosis, violence, murder and possibly even mass murder. With exclusive access to psychiatric reports, court footage and drug company data, reporter Shelley Jofre investigates the mass killings at the 2012 midnight premiere of a Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado. A 24-year-old PhD student James Holmes, who had no record of violence or gun ownership, murdered 12 and injured 70. Did the SSRI antidepressant he had been prescribed play a part in the killings? Panorama has uncovered other cases of murder and extreme violence which could be linked to psychosis developed after the taking of SSRIs, including a father who strangled his 11-year-old son. Panorama asks if enough is known about this rare side effect.
Season 65 episodes
1. Terror on the Beach: Why Did It Happen?2017-01-09
2. Trump: The Kremlin Candidate?2017-01-16
3. The Battle Against Legal Highs2017-01-23
4. The Mystery of the Unknown Man2017-01-30
5. Revealed: Britain's Mental Health Crisis2017-02-06
6. Behind Bars: Prison Undercover2017-02-13
7. Life in Immigration Town2017-02-27
8. Sleepless Britain2017-03-06
9. Marine A: The Inside Story2017-03-07
10. Britain's Home-Care Crisis2017-03-20
11. Westminster Terror Attack2017-03-27
12. Marine Le Pen: Who's Funding France's Far Right?2017-04-03
13. The Benefits Cap: Is it Working?2017-04-05
14. The Big Bank Fix2017-04-10
15. The Spy in the IRA2017-04-11
16. Trump's First 100 Days2017-04-24
17. Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On2017-05-03
18. What Facebook Knows About You2017-05-08
19. Contaminated Blood: The Search for the Truth2017-05-10
20. Inside the Litter Police2017-05-15
21. Manchester Attack: Terror at the Arena2017-05-29
22. Back to the Falklands: Brothers in Arms2017-06-05
23. Election 2017: What Just Happened?2017-06-12
24. London Tower Fire: Britain's Shame2017-06-19
25. Cadet Abuse Cover-Up2017-07-04
26. Britain's Food and Farming: The Brexit Effect2017-07-10
27. Trump's Fortress America2017-07-17
28. Men, Boys and Eating Disorders2017-07-24
29. A Prescription for Murder?2017-07-26
30. Trouble at the RSPCA2017-08-03
31. Plane Drunk2017-08-14
32. Undercover: Britain's Immigration Secrets2017-09-04
33. Why Mum Died: Britain's Sepsis Crisis2017-09-11
34. Africa's Billion Pound Migrant Trail2017-09-18
35. Germany's New Nazis2017-09-19
36. North Korea's Nuclear Trump Card2017-10-02
37. When Kids Abuse Kids2017-10-09
38. Hate on the Street2017-10-10
39. How Safe is Your Operation?2017-10-16
40. Life at 1002017-10-23
41. Out of Jail: Free to Offend Again?2017-10-25
42. Offshore Secrets of the Rich Exposed2017-11-05
43. Britain's Offshore Secrets Exposed2017-11-06
44. Student Loan Scandal2017-11-13
45. The Billion Pound VAT Scam2017-11-27
46. Jihadis You Pay For2017-12-04
47. The Operation that Ruined My Life2017-12-11
48. Myanmar: The Hidden Truth2017-12-18
