Legitimate claim or scapegoat tactic?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP - U.S. Headlines:Ok, at this point, I'm not buying it. The story goes on...
A teenager who shot and killed his grandparents as they slept is "a shy, decent boy" who was led to kill by the antidepressant Zoloft, his attorney said as the boy went on trial.
Christopher Pittman, now 15, is being tried as an adult for two counts of murder in the November 2001 slayings of Joe and Joy Pittman with a pump-action shotgun. Their house was set ablaze and the youth, then 12, drove off in the family car.
Defense attorney Andy Vickery said Monday that Zoloft was to blame.
Prosecutors contend Pittman shot his grandparents because they disciplined him for fighting on a school bus."This is not a case about Zoloft. This is not a case about Pfizer," prosecutor Barney Giese told the jury in opening statements. "This is a case about Chris Pittman."
I agree. Yes, it is a tragedy and, no, I don't like the idea of a 15 year-old kid going to prison for the better part of his life, but neither do I like the idea of two people being blown away in their own home because they disciplined a 12 year-old boy...their own grandson, no less.
I'm sure there are many issues to be dealt with in this case, but at some point, there comes a time when we stop placing blame everywhere else and put responsibility on the one to whom it belongs. Perhaps someone has a good argument regarding the strength of Zoloft of which I'm not privy, but I've known people who have been on Zoloft and there seems to have been no signs of maniacal rampages.
No doubt this kid needs (needed) plenty of help and I certainly hope that in the process he gets it, but to say that the drug has taken the three lives is a bit of a stretch. Let's give people an excuse for taking out their aggressions on other people without fear of repercussions for their behavior...give them a prescription and have at it. I don't think our society or our kids will be better for it.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 2/01/2005 01:15:00 PM
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2 Comments:
I was right with you there until you said, "I've known people who have been on Zoloft and there seems to have been no signs of maniacal rampages."
Having studied philosophy and rhetoric, you must see that this is an anecdotal argument. It really does not apply. While I think the defense attorney's contention smells fishy, it is possible that the drug causes this kind of behavior in one person out of 10 million, and this kid just happens to be the one. You could know all 9,999,999 other people (all non-homicidal) taking the drug, but it isn't proof that the drug could not cause this effect. In fact no such proof could exist.
I'm sure this occured to you, but I wanted to point it out explicitly.
But I DO know all 9,999,999 of those people. Just kidding. Yes, I do know that part of my "argument" (if you want to call it that) would not hold up in a debate or a court of law. It was just a cursory comment to point to the relative stretch to blame this incident on the drug.
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